‘What? She’s not due for another two weeks.’
‘Are you deliberately acting clueless so I give up and let you go back to your pretend-hero games?’ I snapped. ‘Or are you going to buck up and have a go at being an actual hero for once?’
‘I can’t do it, Libby,’ he whined. ‘I don’t know what to do.’
‘Then how about you start by asking Silva what she needs from you?’ I grabbed a handful of clothes and started stuffing them into a bag, before the whiff put me off and I decided he could fetch his things later. ‘I can guarantee it won’t be you staying here twiddling with your joystick. Even an inept, stressed-out birth partner is better than nothing. All she wants is someone who loves her to hold her hand.’
It took another five minutes of verbal harassment and downright bullying, but eventually Brayden slouched off the sofa-bed and agreed to go home.
‘Nope,’ I said, when he started heading for his own car. ‘I’m not risking that. Get in my passenger seat.’
He started to protest, but one look from me across the bonnet and he was hastily sliding into the seat, not even bothering to brush off the biscuit crumbs.
‘Call your partner,’ I ordered, half wondering what our marriage would have been like if I’d been this assertive.
‘I don’t know what to?—’
‘Tell her you’re sorry and you’ll be there as soon as you can.’
There were a few moments of silence.
‘I’ve sent her a message.’
‘She’s in advanced labour! She’ll not be checking for?—’
‘She replied with okay. Followed by angry face, knife and aubergine emojis. Are you sure this is a good idea?’
By the time I’d found a parking spot and herded Brayden up the steps to his front door, it was eleven-thirty. Nicky yanked her ex-brother-in-law into the living room and stepped outside before I could go in, closing the door behind her.
‘She’s eight centimetres dilated and practically ripped the gas and air out of the midwife’s hand the second they arrived. Our work here is done.’
‘All okay?’
‘With regards to the birth, it’s perfect. The descriptions of how she’s going to exact revenge on Brayden were enough to curdle her colostrum.’
‘That’s the first time you’ve not called him the dropout.’
‘Yeah, well.’ We paused as she reached her car. ‘It’s the first time I’ve felt a tiny bit sorry for him. Almost.’
She wouldn’t have said that if she’d seen him in Clint’s back room.
‘Will they let you know when baby’s arrived?’ Nicky asked.
‘They won’t need to.’ I rolled my eyes, moving on to my car, several metres down the road. ‘It’ll be all over Instagram before they’ve cut the cord.’
45
I arrived home to a cottage in semi-darkness. Dad was sweeping the kitchen floor and Mum was upstairs, scrubbing the bathroom.
A nice gesture, but it was going to take more than cleaning my toilet to win me around.
Stepping in when I needed her, no fuss, no questions? That had produced a definite crack in the concrete wall I’d spent years constructing around my heart.
‘The kids went to bed about ten minutes after you left,’ Mum whispered, once she’d tiptoed downstairs and pulled off her rubber gloves. I didn’t even own a pair of rubber gloves. She must have brought them with her. ‘They were both utterly convinced that you’d be able to find Brayden, so fell asleep with smiles on their faces. I know things have been hard, Libby, but you’ve done a fabulous job with those two. I’m presuming it was mostly you, given tonight’s antics.’
‘Thank you.’ I had to swallow back the lump in my throat. Coming from my mother, that meant far more than I wanted it to. It seemed that beneath the hurt and anger was a daughter desperate for her mum’s approval.
‘We liked Brayden, back when you married him,’ Dad said, asking if I wanted a cup of tea with a twitch of his eyebrows towards the kettle. ‘He seemed good for you. A solid foundation. We honestly thought he’d turn out to be a decent, family man.’
