Chapter 23

With the baby's arrival we were quite pleased that we had our own rooms at the back of the house and furthest from the nursery. She was a good baby, smiley and seldom crying, but she still needed feeding during the night. This meant she woke up about two or three in the morning and made sure she was heard. As the room converted to the nursery was at the other end of the upstairs corridor and since like most teenagers we slept soundly, she hardly ever disturbed us. Since Isa was breast feeding it meant that even if Joe was awakened by the baby's cries, it was still the mum which had to get up and do the feeding.

With the arrival of the baby Isa had taken maternity leave and a temporary replacement had been found for her in the office it meant that Joe could go to work without having lost too much sleep. When we came home from school Katy and I usually volunteered to watch the baby which gave Isa a chance to put her feet up and have a rest from the tasks of motherhood. Although she slept a good bit of the time when we were on duty, and allowed us to get on with our homework and study, we also enjoyed those times when she was active and we had to keep her amused.

Joe and Isa had gone to see the minister of the church in which they were married and he agreed to do the baptism. Although there was no official part in the baptismal service in the Church of Scotland where a God father or God mother took vows, to be God parents to the child, nevertheless there was increasingly unofficial choosing of people who would fulfil this role in its life. Accordingly, Isa and Joe had approached John and Margaret and asked them to accept this part in their baby's life and they were pleased to have this honour.

Thus it came about that when she was just over two months old, family and friends were invited to the service to see her Christened. A meal was laid on at one of the local hotels and all our guests were invited to lunch after the service. The parents of all our friends were invited and although we had been to the Walkers house and met Jenny's Parents, the Baxters, there had not been much contact with some of the others. The only social contact we had with Charlie McFadzean's parents and Bobby Watson's parents had been at swim meets. However, they had all been happy to accept our invitation and had turned up at the church. Now at the lunch they had presented Isa with little gifts for her new baby. Despite the original idea of calling her Josie as a first name; quite early on this decision had been reversed and it was decided that we would use Sinead as her first name. I think its Celtic connection was the overriding reason for this. I was quite happy that my suggestion seemed to have won the day.

During this time we also had two swim meets. In the first competition for the school, we were defeated and both Katy and I finished in second place in our respective races. I think this was in part due to the excitement of the new baby's arrival and the fact that we had to spend more time studying for our standard grades. These events obviously cut in to the time and I think more importantly the effort which we were able to put into our training sessions since we seemed a bit more stressed than usual.

In the second event for the club I was up against John once more and the result was the same as for the school, again I finished second to him in both races. I think this was due to the fact that he did personal bests in both his races while I seemed to be performing below my best so the gap between us was widening. Katy had a first and second, but our team as a whole did not perform to their best and we went down to a second defeat. Our coach was disappointed at by both performances.

Ellie and Jim seemed to be drawing closer and it was to be doing wonders for Ellie's confidence. She was now participating more fully in our lunch time conversations and showing that, a bit like Charlie, she had a wicked sense of humour. This meant you had to be careful what you said to her or you could find yourself the victim of one of her witty retorts. The relationship between her and Katy was also becoming much closer as was the relationship between our two families and along with that a growing closeness also with Jim's mum.

The women were having a night out towards the end of September and Joe and Bill were discussing business matters over coffee while I was studying on my laptop at the same Kitchen table.

"The boss of the company that does the cleaning of our offices is retiring in a couple of month's time." Bill said. "They are also responsible for the help that Margaret gets with the house and they have quite a few other small businesses on their cleaning list as well as some big houses," he informed us

What are you going to do then?" Joe asked with some interest.

"I would like to sound you out on that," Bill said. "His wife is also part of the organisation but she wants to retire at the same time so I think he will attempt to sell the business which has a staff of about twelve people. I don't think any of them are in a position to buy it, or would be capable of managing it, but they are all good workers. I was thinking of making an offer to buy if you would come in with me on it," he finished.

Joe looked at him a bit puzzled,

"Why would you want to buy a small enterprise like that?" Joe asked. "It may be small but it would also need someone to manage it if it was going to work and especially if you wanted to expand it"

"Exactly!" Bill declared. "I think that is why I want to buy it. I think we could have a manager waiting in the wings. I feel Moira is a very bright woman, has a wide range of cleaning experience and with a little help from Margaret to get started would be excellent for that position.

"I think you are right," Joe responded. "So you think we should buy it and give her a leg up by making her our manager."

"I am glad to see that you catch on quickly." Bill said with a smile "Do you think you could put some capital into that project."

"I could do that," Joe said "I have some investments that are about to be realised and I need a new outlet for them.

I looked up at this.

"I would not mind having a stake in this venture either," I told them. "As one of my financial advisers you could consult with Mr. MacMillan and get his approval for such a move. Joe"

How would you be able to put money into it Peter?" Bill asked in surprise.

"Peter's family left him a considerable sum of money when they were killed in a car crash," Joe informed him. "His lawyer also sued the company whose vehicle was involved and he received a very considerable sum in compensation. He now has assets in the region of four point five million pounds. His lawyer, Isa and I are his trustees."

And do you think his lawyer would agree with such a move," Bill wanted to know."

"Yes I think he would," I replied. "He is not just my lawyer, he is an old family friend and when he hears why I want to do this, then I am sure he will allow it." I told them.

"And just why do you want to it Peter?" Bill asked.

"Because I am impressed by Moira," I told them. "She comes from a much humbler background than any of us and yet she accepts the fact that she cannot compete with us and the lifestyle we have, yet she fits in and goes along with what we do for her. She does this without servility and with a gracious acceptance. She does not ask or expect us to do things for her, but can allow us to do so without any loss of dignity. It is not an easy position to be in, but she manages it well and I think she would be ideal in the role you are proposing, for as you have said Bill, she is a bright lady."