‘I’m thinking I might get a dog.’
She grabbed my arm. ‘Do it. Theo and I have been talking about the same thing.’
We walked for a while in silence, but my sister’s mood gradually dropped to pensive, her face reflecting the shadows beneath the pine trees.
‘We’ve been having therapy.’
‘What?’ I stopped dead on the path. ‘You and Theo have a great marriage. Don’t you?’
She nodded, pausing beside me. ‘We do. But we needed to figure out whether we have a complete marriage. Or if we want to find another way to grow our family.’
The air in the forest was completely still as I waited for her to go on.
‘We aren’t going to try any more pointless fertility treatments, or adopt. Maybe one day we’ll think about fostering older kids. But right now we’ve decided that focussing on what we have will be enough.’
‘What you have is incredible.’
‘It is. I don’t know why I’m crying about it. I’m married to the best man ever. My closest friend.’ She squinted at me. ‘No offence, sis.’
‘None taken.’
‘We love our work, our hobbies. Our amazing family. We’re healthy, apart from this one thing.’
She shrugged, appearing painfully vulnerable. I reached out and brushed away her tears with my thumb.
‘It’s enough,’ she said, with a watery smile. ‘More than enough.’
‘Now all you need to believe is thatyouare enough,’ I said, slipping my arm through hers, appreciating this rare role-reversal, even as I ached for her. ‘With or without being a mother.’
She nodded. ‘I know. Hence the therapy. And weirdly, Mum being back helps.’
‘Who’d have guessed that our mother turning up would be the answer to so many problems.’
We started walking towards a clearing lit up with August sunshine.
‘Not me.’
‘Hence the therapy!’ we exclaimed together, jostling against each other like little girls.
‘Maybe you should try it.’ Nicky raised her eyebrows, back in big-sister mode. ‘See if it can help mend that broken heart. It seems to be working for Mum and Dad, too.’
‘Yeah. I think I’ll try a dog first.’
We’d just turned around and were heading back to the cottage when Toby phoned. Our holiday was in a couple of days’ time, so I presumed he was going to ask about sleeping bags or a camping stove.
‘Yeah, so there’s someone here, looking for you.’
‘Did you ask who?’ For a second, my heart jumped at the thought it might be Jonah.
‘Hang on, she’s waiting at the front door. Let me ask what she wants.’
There was a brief pause while I heard Toby clomp down the hallway, before he suddenly swore.
‘Um. You’d better get back here, soon,’ he gabbled. ‘I think her water just broke on the doormat. Oh,’ he added, sounding more than a little strained. ‘Her name’s Ellis. And she says her contractions are seven minutes apart.’
47
I felt grateful for weeks of working on my fitness as Nicky and I sprinted back through the trees. Most women had hours, sometimes days, to wait after their waters had broken before labour got into full swing – Daisy being an exception when she’d had Bolt on my kitchen floor – so we didn’t bother calling anyone just yet. However, I was anxious to find out what had brought Ellis to my door.
