Chapter 9

Although Jo quickly settled back into her courses, with every day that passed she was also acutely aware that her sister was getting near to her due date for the birth of her baby. Jo knew that Julie had a lot on her mind and she didn't want to upset Pete by continually ringing, but usually at least once a day the sisters spoke on the phone.

On Friday morning at around 6 a.m. the phone next to the bed rang; John picked it up and almost immediately passed it to Jo. Then he got straight out of bed and went into the bathroom. It was Jo's brother-in-law, ringing from the hospital to tell her that Julie's water had broken at four o'clock. Jo said that they would be there as soon as possible. When she got down to the kitchen, John handed her a piece of toast and a glass of orange juice. By the time that Jo had eaten the toast, John was back in the kitchen with her jacket and handbag and their travel bag, which had been pre-packed several days earlier. By 06:45 they were in the car and after stopping once for fuel, just over three hours later they were looking for a space in the hospital car park. Jo followed the signs for the maternity unit and when they got there she spoke to someone in reception. As she was a family member, they were directed to Julie's room. Jo could see Pete sitting next to the bed, so they went in. Julie was clearly in some distress, but she held out her arms for her sister.

"How are things?" John said quietly to Pete.

"Rough on me ... so goodness knows what Julie is going through! Thanks for coming so quickly!"

"No problem! Let's hope for Julie's sake that it's over soon!"

Jo was sitting next to her sister, who was tightly gripping her hand. Julie looked over towards John and with a gesture beckoned him over. He walked over to the bed and kissed his sister-in-law.

"Now that you're both here, take Pete and get him some breakfast, John! I promise I'll keep it in until you get back!" she said, smiling.

"Can I get you anything, Love?" he asked his wife. Jo could only smile and shake her head. The two men left the room.

"So how's married life, Big Sis?"

"Better than ever!" Jo replied. She put her hand on her sister's swollen belly, "I really want one ... what's it like?"

"At the moment, bloody awful!" Julie said, "I don't know whether to laugh or cry most of the time! You have to keep telling yourself that it will all be worth it in the end! Goodness knows how our Mam did it seven times!"

"Eight," Jo said, " ... Don't forget she lost one!"

"I didn't know that!" Julie exclaimed, "When did she tell you?"

"I don't know ... years ago ... I always thought you knew!" Jo said, "It was either before or after our Sheilagh."

Julie winced, screwed up her face, and squeezed Jo's hand tightly again. After a few moments she was able to relax.

" ... It's like period cramps, only much worse!"

One of the midwives came into the room to see how Julie was progressing.

"You're dilated just over eight centimetres. I don't think it'll be much longer now!"

Not long afterwards John and Pete returned. Jo got up and stood next to John, with her arm around his waist. All they could do then was wait. They only had to wait about forty more minutes. The midwife came back to look at Julie.

"It's coming quick now: I can just about feel the baby's head."

"We'd better go now!" Jo said. Through her pain Julie overheard her:

"No, stay ... both of you!"

"Is that all right?" Jo asked the midwife.

"I should think so! I'll get you both gowns and masks."

John had seen a couple of births before; but never someone he knew. Jo's younger brothers and sisters had been born at home, but she hadn't seen any of it before: her only experience was gained from films that they showed at school; but only to the girls! When they had put on their gowns and masks, John stood behind Jo with his arms wrapped around her and looking over her shoulder. When the baby's head appeared, Jo gasped and then sobbed with happiness. Within minutes the baby was out and taking it's first breaths.

"It's a bonnie boy!" the midwife exclaimed.

The cord was cut and while the baby was briefly taken away to be weighed and it's airways cleared, Jo and John moved to the other side of the bed. Jo cried again when the baby was placed on Julie's chest. Pete carefully moved across to kiss his wife. Jo and John just stood back watching. Julie looked over towards Jo.

"Come and say hello to your nephew: Daniel Thomas Harding!"

Jo and John kissed the baby on it's head, and Jo gently stroked his back.

"Would you mind leaving now, while we finish up here!" the midwife said to Jo and John.

"Okay!" Jo said, "Would you like me to tell Mam, Pete, or do you want to?"

"No, if you wouldn't mind! Are you going to wait?"

"Yes, we'll wait for a while. We'll speak to you later!"

Julie was weary from her exertions, but she waved and blew them a kiss as they left. They went to sit in the waiting area: Jo sat with her head on John's shoulder. Julie had just done all the hard work, but she was exhausted!

"That has got to be the most incredible thing that I've ever seen!" Jo said.

"So I suppose you want one, now!" John said to her.

"Am I that transparent, Love!"

" ... It's just a natural reaction ... and you are a very loving and giving person."

"But not yet," Jo said, "I've still got other things to do first!"

Jo rang her mother to tell her the good news. As far as they knew, Daniel Thomas was their first grandchild.

"I think our Julie's pretty tired now, but I'll check with Pete, and if he says it's all right, we'll bring you over tomorrow to see them!"

"And how long are you and John staying this time?" Bridie asked her.

"Well, luckily it's a bank holiday on Monday, so the college is closed. So we'll probably go back on Tuesday."

"And are you coming to see us today, Love?"

"I'm not sure, Mam. We left home early this morning, and we haven't even thought about where we're going to stay yet, so we may leave it until tomorrow. Is our Dad working?"

"Yes, his shift finishes at four on Saturday."

"Okay," Jo said, "then we'll probably be round in the morning sometime. Do you want me to ring first?"

"No, just turn up when you're ready, Love!"

"All right! Love you, Mam!"

Pete came out to speak to them. He looked completely exhausted, too; but a very happy man, nevertheless.

"I don't know if you've already made arrangements, but you're welcome to stay at our house while you're here! Julie's asleep, so I'm going home now for a few hours. You can follow me, John, but I'll write down the address if you haven't got it with you, in case we get separated!"

"That would be great!" Jo said, "We can either cook you a meal before you come back later ... I'm rubbish, but John's a good cook ... or we can order in!"

"All right, we'll work something out when we get there!" said Pete. He led the way out, with the others following. "Are you in the car park?" he asked. John said that they were. "So this is mine," Pete said, "I'll wait near the exit for you!"

As they hadn't known how long they would be there, John had paid the all-day rate to park. They pulled up behind Pete's car, then they followed him the short distance home. There was room on the drive for them to park side-by-side.

Jo followed Pete into the house, while John took their things out of the car. It was a spacious three-bedroom semi, in a leafy suburb. They'd obviously been in a hurry that morning, so the house was as they'd left it. Julie had been asleep when her water broke, but luckily they had been using a plastic under-sheet, as a precaution. Jo helped Pete strip the bed and change the soiled bedding, which she carried downstairs to the washing machine. Pete showed them the new nursery, which he had decorated himself, in a neutral colour. Then he showed them the spare room.

"What time are you going back today?" Jo asked him.

"I want to be there for 7:30, but I really need to get some rest first!"

"We'll have a look round and see what food you've got in," John said, "If you're not about by six o'clock, we'll give you a shout!"

"That'll be great! Help yourself to anything you want. I'll see you later!"

John had a couple of hours until six o'clock, so he looked through Pete and Julie's fridges, freezers and food cupboards. There were things in the freezer that he could have used, but there wasn't enough time to defrost them. He thought that lots of people like the flavour and simplicity of Italian food, so he found some dried pasta, then set about making a tasty sauce to serve with it. In fact, he had more than enough time, so he went to look for his wife. Jo was lying on the bed in the spare bedroom, asleep, so John set the alarm on his watch for one hour, then laid down beside her and closed his eyes.