Chapter 4

Wednesday 18 May 2022

Through that long night, Larissa tracked the contractions using a dedicated app on her phone, held Steph tight, gave her water and ice, gave her tissues, and helped her move around the room when she wanted to. Steph had been positive and upbeat through the evening, but once the contractions came, that collapsed, and she was listless, flat, and sad. She’d do what Larissa said, or the staff told her to, and they checked on her frequently, but she took no interest in any of it, nor did she push hard. She was really going through the motions, and she just grunted if Larissa tried to talk to her. Telling her that Xander was in the car with Julian raised her interest, and she talked to him a little, but even from that end they could all tell she was not good.

Twice she snapped at Larissa, and Larissa took those as positive signs - she was at least interested in the process, and that was preferable to the awful flatness and disinterest Steph had. But they were only brief flashes of involvement and disappeared as quickly as they arrived.

Larissa had a long time to think. She’d prayed for this not to happen, but it had. She’d prayed for strength for Steph, and there didn’t seem to be much of that in evidence. Had she been wasting her time? It was easy for her to feel angry with God on this one, and Steph could too. But she wasn’t? Or was that why Steph was flat? She did remember Tim talking about this - the hard part of faith, so easy to get wrong, so hard to trust, because Christians always asked for an easier life, when Jesus promised a tough one. So what was she praying for here? Too hard to resolve under these conditions. She pushed the thought aside when she started going around in circles in her head.

The only thing that got Larissa through the night was long messaging threads with Amelia, Jane, Isabella and Ella, and then later Layna, and then, very early in the morning, Tui came on board, and woke Anne up to join in. If she hadn’t had those threads and the close companionship they represented, she would never have made it through the night.

Not long before dawn, that nurse who counselled Steph checked on them one more time, her last visit before checking out. She took one look at Larissa and ordered her to sleep for half an hour, she’d sit with Steph for that time. An unbelievable thing for her to do, but Larissa just did as she was told and fell asleep in her chair immediately. Getting woken up after that was one the roughest things that had ever happened to her but she dragged herself up out of her sleep. That was a lovely gift.

Dawn was vaguely visible through the frosted glass window, and when it arrived, something changed in Steph. Whatever place inside she’d retreated to receded, and she started becoming more involved, and Larissa could see her trying to push now. The nurses could see it too now, and their obvious concern dropped away when they visited. Maybe it was helped by something Larissa did once she was awake, another prayer: thanks that Xander was close, thanks that Steph was still OK, thanks for a little nap, thanks for such supportive family. Steph just listened to it, and nodded and smiled. So maybe that helped her mood a little? Or maybe it was the tangible reminder that she had to get home to Rachel because Larissa had to set up her breast pump so she could ease the pressure in her breasts.

But now a new challenge presented itself - Steph’s mind might be back in gear, but the tiredness was ever present, and she fell back breathless after contractions. Time for oxygen, the nurses said, and Larissa went back to watching her saturation like a hawk.

The latest nurse was doing obs for Steph around 9am, and just said that her cervix was now opening nicely, when she got a message on her phone - would she take a call from Minister Gabrielle Williams? Well, that was a call she really had to take, because the minister would be asking whether she was making it to Canberra that night, and she said yes and let Steph know it was coming.

Her phone rang. “Hello, Minister, thank you for calling me.”

“Hello, Larissa, just call me Gabby. I’m just calling to check that you’re still OK to speak tonight? Apparently there’s some question about that?”

“Well, Gabby, I’m not sure. I said I would, and I really want to still, and everything’s ready to go, but a problem came up overnight. My sister-in-law is seventeen weeks along, and she’s got covid, and yesterday we found that her baby has died. So I’ve been in hospital with her overnight, and they induced her, and I’ve promised her I’m here to the end. I’m hoping that’ll be soon, and I can still make it. And I just had covid, so the covid part is not an issue. But I’m really sorry to say that this comes first. Her husband is trapped in Sydney by covid, and our parents are up in North Queensland, so it’s just me. They’re hoping to be back later today, but it’ll be over by then.”

“Thanks for telling me all that, Larissa. There’s not much that comes before tonight, but this is most definitely something that does. Are you OK?”

“Yes, thanks. I have great support from all my various sisters, who took shifts through the night to talk me through it, and Steph is doing OK considering.”

“Good to hear. I’m hoping you can still make it tonight. So this is what I’m going to do. If you miss the plane we’re on, you can still catch the next one at 4pm. I’ll organise with Qantas to hold you a seat on that one. Just turn up and go to the service desk, and tell them who you are, and if the plane’s still on the ground, they’ll make sure you’re on it. If you really can’t make that one, call me.”

“Oh, thanks, that’s such a load off my shoulders. I’m pretty sure I can catch the next one if I don’t make the first one.”

“What about your plus one? What will she do?”

“I think she should catch the first one with you whatever, but I’ll check with her and let you know.”

“OK. Let my secretary know. Larissa, I wish you the best with your sister-in-law who I see is quite high profile in her own right, and I’m looking forward to seeing you tonight.”

“Thanks!”

When she hung up, Steph asked, “When do I need to get this over by?”

Larissa shook her head. “I’m not telling. You need to get it over with for you, and for Rachel. Not for me.”

Steph gave her a look, and said, “Well, I really need to get this done. Here goes.” Next contraction, she groaned and really gave it a push.

Larissa called Layna, and discovered that they were not that far from the hospital. Would’ve been there but for peak hour traffic, and Xander was groaning in despair. “Tell him not to worry, Steph’s been on a go slow waiting for him.” Then she asked about the flight, and Layna said she’d go on the first flight, so she could make sure everything was ready for Larissa.

While they were waiting for Xander, she got a message on her chat with Isabella, Ella and Jane.

✉ Isabella: How’s it going there? You still going tonight?
✉ Larissa: Poor Steph still doing it tough, but we’re getting there. I just told the minister I’m hoping to make it but we agreed I’ll be on the later plane
✉ Larissa: Layna’s still going on the earlier plane, to get things ready for me, but I don’t know how she’ll get ready without me
✉ Larissa: We were going to do each other’s make up and stuff
✉ Ella: That’s something I can help with. I’ll talk to Layna
✉ Larissa: Oh? Wow, that’d be great
✉ Ella: I have contacts everywhere!

Larissa bet she did. It didn’t seem that long after that Xander walked into the room. Steph was sitting up in bed when he did and she just slumped into his arms and cried. Larissa stood up and gestured that she should leave but Xander said for her not to, so she took a photo instead.

Once Xander was there, he brought an energy to Steph that Larissa just hadn’t been able to, and she did find her mojo, and really pushed. Larissa had messaged Xander what her game plan was around calm-ness, and he was on board with that, and they managed to keep Steph calm and unruffled. The exhaustion was always there and Larissa was still busy dealing with that and doing everything physical to help, massaging and more, while Xander played the head game with Steph, so Larissa didn’t get any break, though the only thing she’d do with a break now was collapse on the floor.

Suddenly things started moving quickly. The nurse that visited settled down to stay, and a doctor visited for the first time for hours, and said he’d be back in a few minutes. Steph agreed that she was almost there, and gave several really big pushes, and bang, the baby was born.

Straight away, Larissa could see that this hand-sized boy was doomed; there were definite developmental issues. It wasn’t covid that caused this, that was for sure. The nurse wrapped the baby boy gently in a cloth and asked if Steph wanted to hold him. Steph did, and Larissa took a photo of Xander and Steph holding their son. Steph named him “Daffy”, and looked at her tiny little boy for a long minute and then said, “He doesn’t look right, does he?”

“No,” the nurse said. “It looks to me like he got an infection several weeks ago that affected his development, but we’ll have to see that the report says. But whatever happened, there was nothing you could do different, nothing you did wrong.”

Steph nodded gravely. There was no doubt about that. She’d done everything she could, and whatever this was, it was beyond her control. She turned to Xander. “Enough?” Xander nodded, so Steph pulled her tiny boy up and kissed him gently, said “Bye, Daffy,” and handed him over to the nurse, who closed the wrap over his face, and left. A minute later, a doctor came in and repeated what the nurse had said, and started to talk about what followed, the after-birth, and then the recovery process.

When she next had a chance, Steph said for everything to stop, and then she turned to Larissa, and said, “My precious sister, you stayed with me for the whole thing, and carried me most of it. I owe you more than I can even say. We owe you. Thank you for sharing that with me. But it’s done now, and it’s time for you to go.”

Larissa couldn’t argue with that, and she looked at the time and gasped. That late? She really needed to get moving to be sure of getting that second plane - time had flown. She nodded and said, “You’re right. And I can see that you’re going to be OK. Steph, that was a hard night, but it would’ve killed me if I hadn’t been there for you.” Steph smiled, and they hugged. “I’ll come straight to see you when I get back.”

Suzy was waiting for her outside, and took her home. She sat in the car decompressing, trying to reconnect with herself after that intense experience. She had to catch a plane, get dressed up to the nines, and then somehow turn into an entertaining speaker. After doing all that, and just thirty minutes of sleep? At home, she had time for a shower, and to pack a little overnight bag. Layna had her dress, she’d go straight to their hotel room and put it on, and get prettied up, and then go to the dinner.

Then Julian took her to the airport, and they talked, just the two of them, for the first time since the whole thing started. And how was Julian? Well, he was sad for Steph, but he’d been beyond thrilled to do the hero thing and go rescue Xander. And doing it with Layna ... she’d felt the same and that sustained one on one time with her had really cemented their relationship. Winning all round. Xander was way sicker than Larissa realised - he’d slept most of the way in the car and then loaded himself up on sugar, caffeine and pseudoephedrine right before arriving at the hospital. Amelia and Ross were going to take them home in a few hours, and care for all three of them until James and Sophie got home later that night. Julian and Layna had their own support crew, late night phone calls with friends, including one very funny one with Bob, talking about crazy school stories while Layna slept. And Layna had her own while he slept - he remembered hearing Chez’s voice. And how was Larissa? Hell, she didn’t know anymore. She’d do what she had to do, but she was really looking forward to some actual sleep! Well, Julian said, she had about forty-five minutes to the airport, did she want to do that now?

Apparently she did, because he gently woke her at departures. She kissed him and walked in to the service desk, and said, “Hi, I’m Larissa Wright. You’re waiting for me?”

They were. A lovely woman came around the counter, took her bag, and said, “Come with me.” As they walked, she said, “We heard that you’ve had a big day. How are you feeling?”

“You know, I have no idea how I’m feeling. I’m just doing what I have to do, and trying to stay standing up. So I really appreciate you carrying my bag.”

“Well, my job is to make everything as easy as I can for you. Just come with me, and you don’t have to think about anything.”

She was led to the front of the security line, and the woman looked after everything. Then she was led to a special airline lounge that wasn’t available to the public - for politicians and big wigs, and the woman showed her a seat and said, “You have twenty minutes before boarding. I’ll come and get you myself, so don’t worry if you fall asleep. Can I get you anything?”

Just a little food and water, and she decided to look at her phone for the first time since about 6am. No surprise, the messages were insane. Layna’s decision to take their website down had generated attention very widely, and she had notifications from everywhere. She ignored that, and tried to catch up just on her messaging from family and immediate friends. She gave a high level status update to her several different family message groups, and wrote personal thank yous to all her sisters for their varied help in getting her through the last 24 hours. She was still replying to the follow ups to all that when the Qantas woman came back to take her to the plane. She hadn’t even seen a boarding pass, she realised.

She was last to board, and they showed her to her seat, right at the front, and then she was gone, asleep before they closed the door.

When the stewardess woke her, she first thought that they hadn’t even flown but then she realised the plane was at a different airport. The stewardess handed her phone to her and said, “You fell asleep with your phone in your lap.” Larissa gave her a smile and put it back on line. As she did, she saw the time. Oh shit, what happened? Somehow the flight had taken an hour longer than it was supposed to. Delayed on the ground and in the air, the stewardess told her. Larissa grimaced and her phone went nuts.

Immediately, she called Layna, and they discussed their choices. No doubt for a budget reason, the hotel they were in was fifteen minutes from the high court, their dinner venue. On the other side from the airport. Larissa not only didn’t have time for any extended make up, she didn’t have time to get to the hotel at all. Not if they were going to be on time. Well, she could be late. That was one option. Could they do a quick change and make up session at the venue? Larissa preferred that option - surely there’d be something. She wanted to be on time, and ‘at’ the event as much as possible. They decided to go with that, and hope for the best. But what she could do was do as much of her make up as possible in the taxi. At least the one positive was that she had an hour longer of sleep than she expected and she was feeling better than she expected. Pretty good, actually.

There was a line for the toilet, and a longer one for a taxi. Shit. Could she pull rank? Should she? But she didn’t know how to do that without being rude, so she wasn’t doing it unless it was an emergency. Which this wasn’t; just frustrating. But the queue moved quicker than she feared, and soon she was in the taxi, and the drive was quicker than she feared too - just ten minutes. Jo had given her something that Layna always carried, a mobile make up mirror to attach to the back of the passenger seat, so she put that up, and started working on her make up. She’d been doing that for a couple of minutes when Layna called.

“Larissa, we’ve got a problem.” Oh? “I’m here now, and there’s nowhere. Just nowhere around this place you can change, and ... you know they said a ‘red carpet’ event?” Yep? “They meant that literally. All these big name celebs getting dropped off in limos and doing the walk. I can’t see anywhere we can get you ready. It’s lit up like the daytime here too.”

“Oh, so where will the taxi drop me off?”

“Taxis are dropping people just a bit further down the road. You need a limo to get right to the carpet. The minister said she’s not a limo type, she’s going to meet us at the taxi drop off, but we do the red carpet thing with her.”

Larissa thought that through. “Fuck it. Let’s just do it on the side of the road then.”

“You know, I should’ve thought you’d choose to do that,” Layna said, amusement in her voice. “I don’t know anyone else who would.”

“Is there anyone who can help us?”

“Actually, there is,” Layna said, even more amused. “I’ll be waiting here for you. Bye.”

What was that about? Well, she didn’t have time, and went back to her make up. At least, the bits she’d do herself; Larissa was barely proficient at it, and plan had been that Layna would do it for her. She did the simple bits, prep, and left the rest. But she had a little bit more time than she expected, the taxi drop off queue was a few minutes long, so she got done what she set out to do. Then she just had time repack her stuff, pay the taxi driver, and only once she got out did she look around.

Fuuuuuck.

Larissa was standing on the curb. To her right was a huge imposing stone building, the High Court. The front of the building had a series of massive pillars. Red carpet stretched up from on the road through between the two central pillars, and a crowd was gathered around it. Not huge, a couple of hundred maybe. Security and police were keeping the red carpet clear, and there were floodlights everywhere. Beyond the building a sweeping lawn lead down to Lake Burley-Griffen off in the distance. In front of her, and to her left, more crowd was spread along the curb around where the taxi had dropped her watching people arrive. And there were photographers all over the place.

It was overwhelming, amazing, and her heart thumped. What was she doing here?

But she had no time, because Layna came to her out of the crowd. And wow, Layna...

Layna was the most beautiful person Larissa knew, just gorgeous, face and body. She saw Layna on an everyday kind of basis, and Layna mostly tried not to look her best. Even on her show, the look they went for was casual, active, so she could show skin. Bikinis. But tonight ... Layna had pulled out all the stops. Larissa had known what the look Layna was going for was, they’d planned the night together with Jo for months. But she still wasn’t prepared for the outcome.

They’d had Layna’s dress made by a dressmaker. Not Sharon, though. Larissa had asked Sharon and she’d laughed and said that she didn’t know how to do that sort of dress. It was based on a picture Jo had found from a European Royalty marriage from the 1920s, the most elegant and romantic dress Larissa had ever imagined. The dress was long and form fitting, with a high collar, and the back was sheer and transparent from the waist up, with lace overlays that blended around the front, and a row of buttons right up the middle of the back. It could only be worn by a woman with a perfect body. It was a deep wine red, striking and imposing. Layna wearing that dress, with full make up, classy golden jewellery and her hair up with flowers ... that was an overwhelming experience, and Larissa knew right away that Layna truly was the most beautiful woman in the whole world tonight, genuinely up there with the internationally famous supermodels. Queen Layna.

But Layna was still her friend, and right in front of everyone, with Larissa still in yoga pants and a t-shirt, Layna hugged her tight and long and said “thank you from the bottom of my heart for looking after our dearest friend.” Then she pulled back, kissed Larissa gently and said, “How are you really?”

Larissa shrugged. “I’ve had enough sleep. I’m not prepared for this, but looking at this now, how could I ever be? I’ll be happier when I’m dressed though.”

Layna smiled, and took her hand and led her into the crowd. Right there in the crowd, she found Mary and her mum waiting for her, also with huge smiles on their faces. Her mum was holding her dress bag. “You didn’t think we’d miss this one either?” she said, laughing, as Mary hugged her. Well, Larissa hadn’t expected them but she should’ve thought. Tickets cost in the thousands but that wasn’t going to make Mary blink. Then Mary took the dress and her mum hugged her intensely. “My beautiful baby, you’re still and always the best thing in my world. What an awesome thing you did last night.”

When her mum let go, Larissa said, “What a lovely surprise! I should’ve expected you, huh? And you both look amazing. Wow.” And they really did; they both looked great in long flowing ball gowns, they still had it for sure.

“So we should, Ella came with us, and made us beautiful.” And then Ella was standing there with them. Awesome, and she hugged Ella tight too. Wow, Ella was good, and no doubt she did Layna too. “Now, let’s get to work on you!”

So right there, Larissa dropped her pants and pulled her t-shirt off, and Layna and her mum got her dress ready. Carefully, they lifted it over her head and then she popped her bra off, and they lowered it over her. Hopefully no one took a picture of her tits. Only, when her head emerged through the dress, there was a photographer right there.

“Don’t worry,” Layna said, “I talked to the photographers, and explained why you were doing this, and they agreed that they’d take only respectful photos of this.”

Larissa shrugged. That worked. Now, Mary stood behind her and started doing her buttons up, her mum helped her slip her shoes on since she certainly couldn’t reach her feet anymore, Layna did her hair, and Ella started working on her face. Then her mum put the jewellery she’d scratched up on. Between them all, it only took a few minutes - her face took the longest even though she said to do as little as possible, and then she was done.

Twirl, her mum indicated, and she did. As she did, she realised that she had a real audience, a circle of people watching, and the Minister was one of them - she must have turned up while that was happening. And she had a very amused smile on her face.

When Larissa finished her twirl, Layna gave her a thumbs up. “You look amazing. A total knockout. Everything’s come together.”

“Yep!” Her mum added. “Layna is ... Layna. But you, tonight, you hold your own.” Mary was nodding enthusiastically. “Whoever dressed you ... Jo? ... tell her she did incredible work.”

The dress Larissa was wearing was a clone of the famous Alexander McQueen dress that Pippa Middleton had worn to William and Catherine’s wedding, the one that had created such a sensation. The chest was simpler than Pippa’s, just tight against her breasts with a little cleavage, and it was sapphire blue, not white, but otherwise it was a close as Jo and the dressmaker could get to the same dress. Even to the number of buttons on the back.

“It’s not for nothing that they called it ‘the dress’,” Ella said. “And very few women could wear this at all, let alone well. But you: just perfect.” She shook her head with a wry smile. “No wonder Layna pulled such a beautiful dress for tonight, so she could match you.”

Well, that was gratifying. Really touching, in fact. Larissa felt about herself that she was acceptably pretty, though she knew that guys loved her ass. Well, Julian loved every bit of her, of course. As often as he could. But this kind of attention, and knowing that they weren’t just saying it - she could see the awe in the faces of the crowd around her - it was pretty good for her ego, her soul. Better not let it go to her head.

While she’d been getting ready, her mum had repacked her bag and now Ella had it. Layna took her hand, and said, “Well, Larissa, you’re as ready as we can make you in the time we had. Selfie?”

For sure, and she did feel ready now. How could she not after that? They put their faces together, and Layna took a selfie of both of them, both with huge smiles. Then they gave their phones to her mum, who said she’d return them later after they sat for dinner. “Umm, what?” Larissa said, “Doesn’t mum get the red carpet too? And what about Ella?”

“Oh no, tonight’s it’s our mum’s chance to be there with you, Larissa,” Ella said, “so I’m just support. They do get the red carpet.”

“Yeah we do,” Mary explained with a grin, “but not with you. You’ll see - you and Layna with the Minister - important!” Larissa looked at her in confusion. “You’re one of the speakers!”

Oh. Right. Larissa let Layna lead her to the Minister. “Sorry about that, Minister, the plane was late, and that was the only way we could be on time.”

Gabby grinned. “No need to apologise. It’s lovely that you’re so determined to be on time, and I’m sure it’s just going to add to your legend. Lisa told me to be prepared for the unexpected with you. And I can see that we’re going to grab all the attention on the carpet tonight. Both of you are the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen. Well done.” Then Gabby introduced them to her own +1 for the night, Catherine Andrews, who Layna recognised as the wife of the Victorian Premier.

Then, they headed for the carpet. This was an awesome experience, and life was just perfect. She was amongst the beautiful people, holding the hand of the most beautiful girl in the world, who was also her bestie, and people had told her she was holding her own. And Steph was going to be OK. Great even, later. And she had her friends, her family, her man. Here with her in spirit, though not body. She could experience this without getting derailed. Yep, life was perfect. She almost felt like skipping in happiness. But not in this dress.

She felt a tug on her hand, and glanced over at Layna, to see that Layna had a matching smile. Great, she felt the same. “Shall we, then?” Layna asked her, and gestured, and why not! They stopped and did the little dance she did with her mum, that Layna loved, right out there on the footpath in front of the whole crowd. This dance was OK in these dresses, she found, as long as she was careful: small steps. When they stopped, she glanced at Gabby, expecting some disapproval, but both of them loved it. She shrugged, and told them, “That’s my happiness dance from with my mum when I was a little girl, and I’ve done it with Layna before when we’re extra especially happy, and we just wanted to.”

They’d got nearly to the red carpet when the crowd settled into a chant: “Dance, dance, dance,” Layna said, “Well, we better!” And they stopped and did it again, to cheers from the crowds. When they’d finished, Larissa waved to crowd and Layna blew them a kiss.

A few steps brought them to the red carpet, and as they got to the edge, a limo pulled up. Larissa had ended up at the front of the four of them and paused to let the limo occupants go first, and two very famous Australian sportswomen got out of the limo. As she was waiting, Gabby leant on her shoulder and said, “We go first!” But Larissa was gob-smacked by who’d just got out of the limo, so she ignored Gabby, who moved onto the carpet in front of her, and spoke to a protocol person waiting there. But how could she listen to Gabby? They were both Olympic Athletes!

Then Gabby turned to tell her to come onto the carpet, but something else happened. One of the Olympians turned to Layna and Larissa and said, “Hi, I’m Michelle, what was that dance about?”

Yes, Larissa knew exactly who she was, and she was rather famous for her own dance she did as a warm-up on the track. “Umm, hi, I’m Larissa, and this is my bestie Layna, and that’s my happy dance from when I was a kid that I did with mum, and we just did it because we’re happy to be here!”

Right there, in front of the entire crowd, Larissa and Layna had to teach Michelle and Nina her moves, nice and simple, and then the two pairs did it next to each other. It wasn’t difficult or anything or long, just suitable for a nice spontaneous celebration.

Then she turned back to Gabby to apologise for wasting time. Gabby was looking at her with a wry smile, and shaking her head. “Lisa really was right!” she said over the crowd noise. Larissa shrugged apologetically and followed Gabby up the carpet, still holding hands with Layna, doing her best to remember to walk the way Jo taught her. Gabby showed her how to behave properly - stop every couple of steps so the crowd could take photos, and pose. Sometimes she posed with Gabby and Catherine and Layna, and sometimes just with Layna, and a couple of times they gave into crowd requests and posed with Michelle and Nina for fun. They both got asked to sign things, but they’d been told not to do that. Quite a few people in the crowd wanted a photo of Layna and Larissa kissing; after all, their kissing photos were pretty famous, so they did do that a few times.