Impossible to Forget(47)

They found Angie in a bay at the far end of the corridor. She was sitting up in bed, dressed in a baggy paint-spattered shirt with the baby at her breast. Her auburn dreadlocks were tied away from her face in a cotton scarf. She looked tired but radiant.

‘Hi, you two. Come see what I made!’ she said in a stage whisper.

With delicate movements as if she were touching a butterfly wing, she pushed the hospital-issue blanket away from the tiny infant so that the side of her face, the top of her shoulder and a wrinkled little hand were visible.

‘Here she is. Romany Rose Osborne.’

Maggie took a step closer and bent over to look at the baby. ‘Oh, Ange. She’s so beautiful.’

In truth, it was hard to see much of the baby from that angle but actually, it was the fact of her that was beautiful. Angie had created this tiny, perfect little person and her facial features, whatever those turned out to be, were of no importance next to the miracle of her birth.

‘She’s got my nose,’ said Angie proudly, and Maggie was more than happy to take that on Angie’s say-so.

‘And how was it, the actual birth?’ she asked. She had listened to enough birth stories over the years to have a fairly clear handle on what amounted to a good one and what didn’t, even if her own personal experience was lacking.

‘All over pretty quickly,’ said Angie. ‘No pain relief, of course. I used my pranayama breathing exercises. The midwife said she had never seen anyone so calm for a first birth.’

Tiger was looking a little queasy again, but this seemed to be all the detail they were going to get.

‘And have you got everything you need?’ asked Maggie.

Angie shrugged. ‘They’ve got nappies in here, although they said I should probably get some myself. I’m going to use washable ones, so I’ll buy them when I get home. Jax sent a pack of three babygros so that should do her for now. I’m feeding her myself so what else do I need?’

The question was sincerely asked. Maggie thought of the baby shower parties she had been invited to through work, the mountains of tiny clothes and mysterious equipment that one baby seemed to require. But actually, perhaps Angie was right. Clothing, nappies and food – these had to be the basic needs of any newborn.

‘Well, maybe I can get you some nappies to be going on with,’ she offered, ‘and a couple of extra outfits so you don’t have to wash every day.’

Her eyes scanned the room for Angie’s birthing bag and rested on a tiny beaded tote that was hardly big enough to carry her own day-to-day necessities, let alone what was needed for a stay in hospital for two people, even if one of them was very small. She was reminded of their first day at university, to which Angie had also turned up woefully unprepared. This time it was different, though. She couldn’t just wing her way through this. Now she had a child, there were responsibilities that she had to step up to.

Angie must have sensed something of her thought pattern. She spoke, her voice so quiet that Maggie had to strain to hear her. ‘Thanks, Maggie. I can do it, you know. And I will. This baby is going to have the best I can possibly give her. She is going to grow up happy and safe and secure and loved.’

‘Of course she is,’ said Maggie. ‘Of course she is.’ And despite her doubts over the practicalities, she knew it was true.





25


It was only when Maggie got home that she realised that Leon had not shown up at the hospital. She and Tiger had stayed for the whole of visiting time, each taking turns holding Romany and rocking her gently to sleep. Tiger had regaled them with more stories from his travels and when Angie had napped, her head drooping forwards as her eyes closed, the two of them had sat in silent wonder, awed by what they saw.

Of course, Angie wasn’t the first of them to have a baby – Leon had two already – but somehow, the fact that Angie was a mother held more sway so soon after the birth. Fathers faded into the background, unable to hold a candle to the mother. Yes, Leon had two sons, but he hadn’t pushed them forth into the world and so somehow, as far as their group was concerned at least, Angie’s achievement was so much more astonishing.

No one had mentioned whether Jax was coming or how Angie was going to cope, or what she would do with her business whilst she took some time away with Romany, but none of that seemed to matter next to the birth of a healthy child. They were all practicalities, details to be worked out at a later stage.

Maggie made herself a cup of tea whilst she processed all this. And then she picked up the phone and dialled Leon’s number once more. This time he picked up.

‘We missed you at the hospital,’ she said, once the obligatory questions about his family were out of the way.

There was a pause.

‘What?’ he said. ‘Why were you at the hospital? Are you okay?’

‘Yes. We went to see Angie – she’s had the baby. It’s a girl, Romany Rose. I rang last night to tell you, but you were putting Thomas to bed so I asked Becky to pass the message on. Did she not say?’

‘No,’ replied Leon. He sounded confused as to why this might have happened, although if pushed, Maggie might have suggested that Becky had failed to tell him on purpose. ‘She didn’t say. She must have forgotten. I’m sorry. How was Angie? How are they both?’ Maggie could hear the genuine delight in his voice and felt irritated with Becky for denying him the chance to see Angie and Romany for himself.