Babies in Waiting Read Online Free

it was excellent the way they could sit together in silence. Louise turned the page of the newspaper and stared unseeing at the words on the page. She sipped her fruit juice and sneaked a look to see if Simon was watching her. He wasn’t. He was carefully slicing cucumber, humming softly alongwith the music. Ah yes. Companionable silence. So soothing. So refreshingly unusual, so, so
annoying!
    ‘Oh Christ, just ask!’ Louise burst out.
    ‘Ask what?’ Simon asked, innocently.
    ‘If I’m keeping it.’
    ‘Keeping what?’
    ‘Keeping it. Keeping the . . . the baby. My baby.’ As she said it, Louise felt something give gently in her heart, and the tears began to flow.
    Simon stepped around the counter and wrapped his arms around her.
    ‘Well, old girl, there’s my answer.’
    ‘What?’ she hiccupped.
    ‘You called it “my baby”.’
    ‘I know. It’s all your bloody fault. You made it real. I tried to turn it into an inconvenience . . . a problem I could manage, but you came along with your pictures and your plans. Then I started looking at numbers . . . and let me say right now I really, really can’t afford to do this and your niece or nephew is going to grow up in rags and sleeping in a drawer . . .’
    ‘Not if I have anything to do with it. I’ll buy it John Lewis’ finest crib. Promise.’
    Louise hugged him harder. The she spoke quietly. ‘When I started thinking about it as a possibility, I couldn’t unthink it. He or she is real now. I’m going to do it, Si. I’m going to have this baby. I’m terrified, totally terrified, and I have a million problems and no solutions, but I’m going to be a mum.’
    ‘And what about . . . ?’ Simon said carefully.
    ‘Brian? I don’t know. I’ll have to tell him. But I don’t want him involved in any way. I know he won’t want to be, but I want him to understand that I won’t ask for anything from him.’
    Simon nodded. Whether he agreed or not, he clearly wasn’t going to say. ‘Well, first things first, you’re going to eat your dinner. Get your strength up, as Mum used to say,’ he said, giving her one last squeeze and taking the saucepan to the sink to drain the pasta. ‘Then we’ll sit down and look at numbers together and see what I can do to help.’
    A couple of hours later, they sat side by side, staring at the computer screen. They’d been over the possibilities time and time again. They’d made a few plans, but things still looked pretty bleak for Louise.
    ‘It’s going to be tight and no mistake,’ said Simon.
    ‘Really?’ said Louise tensely. ‘Looking at this, it looks like my choice is rent or food.’
    ‘I keep telling you, I’ll give you money . . .’
    ‘Si, I can’t take your money. If, like you said, when I first move down here I can stay with you, that’ll be a big help. But I can’t be your charity case.’
    ‘You’re not a charity case. You’re my sister. And that’s my niece- or nephew-to-be.’
    ‘I know, I know, but you have your own future to think about. You might want to travel. You might get a great new job offer. Who knows? Mr Right might be just around the corner.’
    ‘Rubbish.’
    ‘Not rubbish! And if he is, I don’t want you to miss out on opportunities because you’re financially and emotionally tied up with me and my problems!’
    ‘But . . .’
    ‘No buts. I’ll stay with you for three months. Just long enough to get me on my feet one way or another. Then I want you to be the best uncle in the world. But that’s it, okay?’
    ‘Can I still buy the crib?’
    ‘You can still buy the crib.’
    ‘And lots of cute outfits?’
    ‘Go crazy. The cutest you can find.’
    ‘And can I be at the birth?’
    ‘Are you mad?’
    ‘Not at the business end. Good Lord. I’ve made a lifestyle choice never to view women from that angle. I’m not about to start now. But I could stand at your head and say encouraging things and mop your brow.’
    ‘It’s not a film, Si . . . it’s messy.