“Oh, Sil! We’re gonna have another! It’s gonna be so much fun!”

We burst back into the front room to tell the children, who were too little to have cared, and found Alexander lying on the floor being pummelled with tiny little fists.

“Let me guess,” He grinned. An elbow glanced his jaw, “It’s a baby?”

It was another effortless pregnancy, with the exception that my nose bled constantly and I woke up with horrid cramps in my legs that brought me near tears. Most of the time, though, I didn’t even remember I was pregnant since I was so busy chasing the three wee Dickinson’s about the wood. They kept me occupied, to say the least. I was more thankful than ever for Duncan, who stood guard with all of them and would head them off if they tried to leave the lawn, barking and yelping so that I would see and tell them to come back where it was safe. He’d do the same if a fight broke out. If ever I didn’t react quickly enough, he’d grab one by the seat of their trousers and pull until they gave up, cried, or, in Natalie’s case, fell on top of him. God bless our Duncan. He was assistant nanny and head referee at all times.

My water gave way while I was, of all places, standing in the middle of the waiting room of Oliver’s office. There were children crawling the walls in there, including my own, and suddenly my socks were soaked.

“Oh, shite!” I said very loudly. About half the mothers looked at me, aghast. “Sorry,” I told them, “Plug your ears and grab a mop!”

“Oh, my goodness!” One woman cried, pointing at the dark spot where I was standing, “You’re in labour!”

“Aye, I think so,” I said casually as I could, “Nigel! Get off that table right now! You’ll tumble off and break your head!”

When Oliver was told what had happened, he was ready to send them all packing and take me to hospital, but I told him no. “I’m not even having contractions yet, Sweetheart. Go and get as many appointments as you can in and I’ll ring. Can I leave the children here, though?” I asked, “I know your staff has enough to do, but your mum will come and I’m very wet. I don’t think in an hour I’ll be up to looking after them.”

“Yeah, yeah. Of course! Are you going straight over then?” Oliver was standing in the waiting room with me, his hands on my belly.

“To hospital? I think I should, don’t you?” I asked. He nodded, “Can you go home and get me a bag before you head over?” I asked, realising all the things I hadn’t done yet, “And I haven’t even packed a bag for the baby yet…oh, damn,” I felt a cramp sweep through me.

“I’ll reschedule our appointment, Doctor,” Said a blonde woman with two blonde daughters. She had stood up when I’d grabbed my middle, “What you’ve got going on is much more important than having a wart removed!”

“We’ll reschedule, too,” Said another and about three more followed.

“Doctor,” A woman holding her baby sounded near panic, “My Macsen is so sick!”

“Oh, he’ll see your Macsen,” I told her, “Don’t fret, Ma’am. I’m not in any danger of having the baby right here right now,” I turned back to Oliver, “Take care of little Macsen for her, Sweetheart. And of our three little muffins,” I never differentiated Nigel and Natalie as not being my own children from Carolena, “Get the bags and come soon as you can.”

“I really don’t want you to drive yourself, Sil.” He said seriously.

“I can make it, it’s not far.”

“No, let me ring Mum. She can bring you.”

“No way!” I held up my hand, “You know I can’t handle her when she dotes.”

“Alex then.” He was looking at my belly.

“He’s at work.”

“I’ll take her,” The blonde woman interrupted with a smile, “I’d be happy to.”

“Oh, you don’t need to!” I protested.

Oliver clapped his hands, “The wart comes off for free if you do that, Missus Howland!”

She chuckled at his enthusiasm as she gathered up her girls.

Oliver nodded. That amazing, insane smile that I loved so much began taking up most his face. His eyes were ablaze, “I’ll be there just as soon as I can, Love. Don’t you dare go having our baby without me!” He kissed me with more passion than was acceptable for standing the middle of his waiting room in front of clients, “Ring me when you settle in.”

“First thing!” I left the office to the best wishes of a very excited crowd.

Missus Howland saw me to the hospital. “Your husband is the nicest man,” She told me on the way. “All the children love him. My son wants to invite him to his birthday party!”

“He has a way with little ones,” I agreed, breathing through a contraction as I clung to the seat. “I’m sure he’d come if you asked him.”

“Well, you’re very lucky to have him, Missus Dickinson,” She pulled up to the hospital. “Do you need me to walk you in?”

“No, no. No thank you,” I opened the door, “They’ll just pop me into a wheelchair and see me on my way. But thank you for everything!”

“Oh, my pleasure! Good luck!”

I nodded, “Thanks again! Cheers!” I closed the door, and waddled up into the hospital. “Hello!” I said brightly to the woman behind the desk, “I'm here to have a baby!”

I had just settled into the first room when Alexander came bursting in, huffing for breath, “Bloody…” He leaned against the wall with one arm and held his side with the other, “…car died just at the end…of…the road… I think I might…be out of petrol…”

“Do you need a bed yourself, Alexander?”

He gasped out a laugh, “You seem OK. I could have… walked instead…” He dropped two bags on the floor, “I…got some stuff from the cabin…Oliver phoned me…I was at lunch…”

“Do you need to go back to work?”

He shook his head and waved his hand at me. “I told them…to reschedule my calls…I left the kids off at mum’s…” Alexander fell into a chair, “Bloody hell! I’m getting old!”

We sat for about an hour until Oliver arrived, still wearing his office jacket. I was becoming increasingly uncomfortable. We watched a few television shows, East Enders being one and I don’t know why because we never watched that show. My mood was steadily heading southward and I found myself rolling from side to side to ease the pressure as the cramps grew worse. Finally, I chucked a Kleenex box at the television, “Shut that woman up!” I demanded, “And, Oliver, if you say one more damned thing to make me laugh I swear I'll kill you!”

“We’re getting close,” He said knowingly. He nodded at his brother to support his statement, “Mind, last time if I told her I was excited one more time she was going to bite my nose off.”

“Shut up!” I snapped.

“Do you want me to check your cervix, Love?” He asked.

Alexander laughed. I did my best to slap him, but another contraction crushed me and caused me to fall short.

Oliver called a nurse, who did just that and checked my cervix, “Oh, you’ve made great progress!” She proclaimed, “Congratulations! You’re ready to go down to delivery!”

“Can I get real drugs this time?”

“Of course, Dear,” She unlocked the bed and whirled me around, “We have plenty!”

I really liked that woman.

The epidural was not pleasant going in. “You said it’s going to cramp a little?” I asked the nurse who was helping to steady me as I sat on the edge of the gurney. My arms were on her shoulders, my hands balled into tiny fists. I honestly wanted to strangle anyone I could reach, so I kept them tightly closed. This did not keep me from having the urge to pound them against her, even as innocent and kind as she was being, “This is bloody hell!”

“Just relax, Ma’am. It’s in. It takes about ten minutes to get to its full effect. You’ll feel much better then.” She patted my arm, “There, there, Love. Lie back. That's it…”

I lay on that bed and watched the clock for ten minutes, counting the seconds. But she was right. After eight minutes passed, I was relaxed and nearly pain free. “This is like heaven,” I told Oliver, “Can you do this for me at home?”