From Here to Maternity (2 page)

‘I’ve literally only just found out.’

‘Well, you won’t need to go to Russia now.’

‘What do you mean? Of course we’re going to Russia. Yuri’s our little boy and this is just an incredible, miraculous bonus.’

‘But you don’t need to adopt somebody else’s child, you’ve your own on the way now.’

‘
MUM
! We love Yuri, we want him to be our son and we’re adopting him officially in five days’ time. Nothing’s changed.’

‘You need to think about it, Emma. He might feel a bit left out now that you’re going to have a baby. He’ll always be adopted and the other child won’t.’

‘Mum, Yuri’s our son in every way. We adore him and I don’t want to hear any more of your opinions. We’re leaving tomorrow to bring him home, so just drop it – OK?’

‘Lord, there’s no need to bite my head off. It must be your hormones. Lie back now and calm yourself. It’s not good for a woman in your condition to be getting het up. You need to mind yourself, Emma. There’s a high risk of miscarriage in older women.’

‘I’m not old,’ I said, gritting my teeth. It never ceased to amaze me how easily my mother could make my blood boil.

‘Well, you’re no spring chicken either.’

‘Who’s no spring chicken?’ asked Dad, wandering into the room.

‘Me apparently,’ I said.

‘Emma’s pregnant,’ said Mum.

Dad looked at me. I smiled and nodded.

‘Jesus, I think I’m having a heart-attack. There’s never a dull moment with this family. Oh, Emma, love, that’s the best news I ever heard,’ he said, hugging me.

‘What is?’ asked Sean, coming in to join the family.

‘Emma’s pregnant and Dad’s getting all soppy,’ said Babs, taking a large bite of the Toblerone.

‘
What?
Really? Oh, Emma, that’s fantastic,’ said Sean, taking over from Dad in the hug department. ‘It’s going to be an exciting year for the family. Emma’s two babies and my wedding.’

‘What about my job?’ demanded Babs.

‘Nose job or real job?’ asked Sean, referring to the nose job that Babs had recently undergone, transforming her from an attractive blonde with a great figure but a large, hooked nose – we’re talking Barbra Streisand, Barry Manilow, Seabiscuit, Shergar, you get the picture – into a very good-looking blonde with a lovely nose.

‘I’m referring to my job as a television presenter,’ said Babs, flicking her hair. She had landed a job selling crappy products on BFL – the Buy For Less channel in London – and thought she was the new Oprah.

‘What are you selling again? Gardening tools and wooden spoons?’ asked Sean, winding her up. Thankfully, before a fight broke out, James came strolling out of the bathroom in his towelling robe.

‘Congratulations,’ said everyone, descending upon him.

Chapter 2

Lucy woke to a knock. Still half asleep, she grabbed a robe and opened the door to be greeted by a fresh-faced waiter, wheeling a table laden with food. ‘Good morning, madam, I hope you’ll find everything here that you need,’ he said, as he positioned the trolley at the end of the bed.

‘Thanks,’ said Lucy, and fumbled for her purse to tip him while her new husband snored beside her.

When he had left, Lucy prodded Donal’s back. ‘Did you order this?’ she asked, staring at the full Irish breakfast, Danish pastries, toast, muffins, smoked salmon and scrambled eggs, cereal and fruit.

‘What time is it?’ asked Donal, rubbing his eyes.

‘Ten. Donal! Look at all the food – it’s obscene.’

Donal sat up, smiling. ‘Ah, yes, I couldn’t decide what I fancied for breakfast so I ticked all the boxes on the menu. I was ravenous after my night of passion. God, you were a tiger last night – you had me worn out. If this is what married life’s going to be like, I’m a happy man.’

‘Very funny,’ said Lucy, squirming, as she handed him a cup of coffee. ‘Sorry about last night. I think the tiredness just caught up with me.’

‘I come out of the bathroom in my red silk underpants, ready for action, to find my beautiful bride face down in her wedding dress.’

‘Which I woke up in at six o’clock this morning. I’ll make it up to you on our honeymoon, I promise.’

‘All the lads said that once you marry them, women stop putting out. I should have listened. I wonder could I get an annulment and trade you in for a young one with more energy?’ said Donal, winking at her as he shovelled a large slice of bacon into his mouth.

‘Right! That’s it. Come here, Mr Brady, till I show you how energetic us oldies can be.’

Later that day, as they waited to board their flight to Thailand, Lucy called me to say hi. James and I had checked out of the hotel early to go home and pack. We were heading to Russia the following morning and we needed to get all the baby paraphernalia ready for Yuri and pick up our visas from the embassy.

‘Hi.’

‘Hello, beautiful bride. Oh, Lucy, you were stunning and it was such an amazing day. Did you enjoy it?’

‘I loved every second of it. Thanks for being such a brilliant bridesmaid. We’re about to board our flight so I wanted to say good luck with Yuri. I’ll be dying to see him when we get back. It’s so exciting, Emma – I’m so happy for you.’

‘Thanks, I’m sorry we had to rush off this morning, but it’s all a bit manic. I’ll have the photos developed for you when you come back. James took some really nice ones. Oh – and, Lucy?’

‘Yes?’

‘I’m pregnant.’

‘What? Oh, my God! Really?’

‘Yes, I can’t believe it.’

‘But it’s just incredible. I’m actually shaking here. After all this time, it’s unbelievable.’

‘I know, we’re in total shock.’

‘I’m so pleased for you,’ she said, voice wobbling. ‘Oh, Emma… it’s… so…’

‘I…
knooooow…’

‘… wonderful…’ she croaked.

‘Thanks.’ I sniffled.

I could hear Donal calling Lucy in the background. ‘I have to go,’ she said. ‘I wish I could see you to hug you. God, Emma, so much is happening, it’s fantastic. Wait until Donal hears – he’ll be chuffed.’

‘Go and catch your flight and have a wonderful time, I’ll see you in two weeks.
Bon voyage
!’

Lucy ran on to the plane and told Donal the news. He was thrilled. He knew how much Emma and James wanted children and had been instrumental in helping them with the adoption process by acting as one of their referees. ‘We’ll have to start thinking about nippers ourselves,’ he said.

‘We’ve been married for twenty-four hours. It can wait,’ said Lucy, and began to blow up a round object.

‘I don’t want to leave it too late. Look at how long it took Emma and James,’ said Donal, but he was distracted by the sight of Lucy’s puffed cheeks. ‘What on earth are you doing?’

‘It’s a neck pillow, vital for long-haul flights. I bought one for you too. Here,’ she said, handing it to him.

‘Lucy, there’s no way I’m sitting on a plane full of people with a dinghy wrapped round my neck. Anyway, back to the children issue, I think we should set to.’

‘I’m thirty-six, not forty-six, and yes, it’s something we need to address over the next year or two but, if you don’t mind, I’d like to enjoy my honeymoon without stressing out about getting pregnant. Now, put these on,’ she said, handing him a pair of knee-high socks.

‘Are they pop socks?’ asked Donal.

‘No, they’re anti-DVT socks.’

‘DVT?’

‘Deep-vein thrombosis. It’s a blood clot that develops in your leg, can stop blood flow and kill you. Long-haul flights can trigger it. These socks are preventive.’

‘What are the symptoms?’

‘Swelling of the leg, redness or just pain that gets worse when you move around.

‘Jesus, Lucy, why couldn’t we go to the west of Ireland for two weeks?’

‘Because it’s the middle of winter and I don’t fancy getting rained on every day of my honeymoon. Thailand will be amazing.’

Lucy had booked the honeymoon. She knew that if she hadn’t she’d have ended up in a cottage in the west of Ireland – all very well for two sunny weeks in the middle of July, although in Ireland two sunny weeks would be considered a miracle – but it was winter, and she wanted sun, sand and luxury. So, she’d booked fourteen days in a top hotel on the island of Koh Samui.

‘These seats are made for midgets,’ said Donal, trying to get his six-foot-four frame into a comfortable position. ‘Considering I’ve to spend the next twelve hours with my legs wrapped round my neck, in a pair of tights – not to mention the dinghy round my neck – it better be worth it.’

While Lucy nodded off, nestling into her neck pillow, Donal sat bolt upright, convinced that every twinge was a blood clot in his leg making its way up to his heart. Every half-hour he got up and walked around, stretching his legs this way and that. The elastic at the top of the socks was digging into his calves and he was convinced that it alone would give him a blood clot. Were they swelling? he wondered, as he looked down at his calf muscles bulging out of the socks. Had Lucy said redness was a symptom? He shook her.

What?’ she grumbled. ‘I was asleep.’

‘Did you say redness was a symptom of that DMT thing?’

‘DVT. Yes.’

‘Right, that’s it. I’m off to have a word with the pilot. My legs are killing me and they’ve definitely swollen up – look, the socks are giving me a blood clot, not preventing it,’ he said, shaking a leg in front of her.

‘Shut up and go to sleep. Your leg looks exactly the same to me.’

‘Well, if you want to be widowed after one day’s marriage that’s fine with me.’

‘Donal,’ hissed Lucy, ‘you’re imagining it. The socks prevent DVT, they don’t cause it. Now blow up your neck pillow and close your eyes.’

‘Fire ahead, Florence Nightingale, get your beauty sleep. Don’t mind me. I’ll just sit here with the circulation cut off from my knees upwards,’ said the resident hypochondriac, as his not-so-young bride curled up and went back to sleep.

They spent the first week with Lucy sizzling herself under the hot sun while Donal sat under a palm tree, swatting flies. He read the newspapers daily, giving Lucy a running commentary on what was going on in the world, something she had specifically travelled halfway across the globe to avoid.

‘Donal,’ she said, after a particularly long tirade on the state of Liverpool Football Club had interrupted her daydream of winning the lotto and how she would spent the millions.

‘Yep?’

‘Would you mind not giving me a blow-by-blow of the sports section today? I’d really like to chill out without having to listen to how Steven Gerrard’s talents are being wasted by that no-good, greasy Spaniard.’

‘Fair enough. I’ll stick to politics.’

‘No, thanks all the same, but I don’t want to know anything topical. I want to switch off. That’s why I travelled here to Thailand – to get away from the news.’

Donal sighed. Lucy could see he was bored. He didn’t like the sun: he just went red and burned. He complained constantly about the humidity, and the fact that every time he got out of the shower he started sweating. She knew he was itching to get back and start training for the new season, which would probably be his last. He was thirty-four now, which was old for a rugby player, particularly a wing forward, and he was beginning to really feel the tackles. But when they won the European Cup last year, it had been the proudest day of his life and he told Lucy that, as captain, he was determined to defend the title this year and keep the Cup at Leinster.

‘Why don’t you go for a swim?’ she suggested.

‘Maybe later. I’ll go and ring Annie, see how she’s doing. I’ll meet you in the bar in an hour.’

Lucy sank back on her sun-lounger. Annie was Donal’s niece and the bane of her life. Before Donal’s sister Pam and her husband were killed in a car crash six years earlier, they had named him as Annie’s legal guardian. She was now almost sixteen and was constantly causing havoc between him and Lucy. Last year she had even managed to break them up for a few days, shortly after they’d got engaged.

Annie hated Lucy because she thought she was going to steal Donal from her. Having been orphaned at ten years of age, Annie had some serious abandonment issues. Lucy had bent over backwards to be kind to her, but Annie had been consistently horrible and eventually told Lucy she wished she’d get cancer and die, at which point Lucy had snapped.

Unfortunately Donal had only heard Lucy’s side of the conversation and had berated her for losing her temper with an innocent teenager. They’d had a huge argument, which had ended in Lucy packing her bags and going to stay with Emma and James. Donal was so heartbroken that he almost single-handedly lost the semi-final of the Cup by playing the worst match of his life.

However, when she saw how dejected Donal was without Lucy, Annie had realized her mistake in breaking them up: she had come clean and confessed to Donal what a wench she had been to Lucy behind his back. She had apologized to Lucy, and Lucy and Donal had got back together. Although Lucy was still a little wary of Annie, she had to admit that the girl had made a big effort and had almost managed to crack a smile on their wedding day. She hoped things would improve. She would have liked to be friends with Annie and for them to get on well for Donal’s sake. That was another reason why she didn’t want to get pregnant straight away. She was worried about Annie’s reaction. She wanted to get to know her better first and maybe then introduce the idea.

Now Lucy pushed Annie to the back of her mind. She’d worry about all that later. For the moment she wanted to enjoy herself and think of no more than getting a tan. They were a week into the holiday already and she was getting a lovely colour.

When she went to meet Donal in the bar for lunch, he was waving a brochure at her and beaming. ‘I’ve a great surprise for you.’

‘What?’ said Lucy, warily. She hated surprises, especially Donal’s.

‘Well, I think we’ve had enough of this lying around so I’ve booked us on a five-day jungle trek in northern Thailand. We fly out the day after tomorrow and head off into the jungle with a guide.’

‘Are you insane?’

‘I thought you’d be pleased. This hotel is lovely but I could tell you were getting restless with all the sunbathing – sure it’s fierce boring. Come on, it’ll be fun and I booked the best one they had.’