Second Time Around (18 page)

The new midwife came to the opposite side of the bed from where Alec stood.

“Let’s get you on your side,” she said to Halley. I think you’ll be more comfortable.”

Alec helped the midwife ease Halley onto her side and not knowing what else to do he started rubbing her back with the hand he still had feeling in.

“You’re a good Dad-to-be,” the midwife told him approvingly. She gave Halley’s hand a reassuring pat. “Don’t worry love. It’ll be all over soon and you’ll have your new baby to hold.”

“Five minutes?” Halley asked hopefully, relaxing her fingers for a moment. Alec took the opportunity to swap hands, fearing for his circulation in the one she had been crushing.

The midwife gave her a sympathetic look.

“It might be a little longer than that.”

Halley locked her eyes on the skinny red hand counting off the seconds on the face of the clock on the wall. She thought she could last another five minutes. She wasn’t sure about ten. The midwives and Alec thought she was having a baby but she was certain she was dying.

She felt Alec’s hand on her shoulder and she grabbed it as though it were a lifeline. Out of the pain came the random thought that if she did die at least her fingernails looked beautiful.

Halley barely noticed the midwife attaching the name bracelet to her wrist then having a conversation with the other midwife.

“Would you like some gas?” one of them asked her. By that stage Halley barely knew which one it was.

“I want drugs,” Halley croaked, the pain feeling almost continuous in her midsection.

“I think she wants an epidural,” she heard Alec say from behind her.

The midwife had the temerity to look amused.

“It’s a bit late for that.”

Halley was outraged and if she wasn’t in such agony she was sure she would have said something cutting. Instead she whimpered and the reassuring hand patted her again before hooking up a tube to something she couldn’t see. Then a mouthpiece was placed before her and Halley clamped it between her teeth.

“It’s not working,” she complained out the side of her mouth.

“Breathe deeper dear,” the midwife advised. Halley did as she was told and after a few breaths she felt her fingers tingling. “Better?” the midwife enquired and Halley almost smiled around the mouthpiece.

“Good,” the midwife said and returned to the foot of the bed where the other midwife was filling in details on a chart.

Alec leaned over her shoulder.

“Can I try some?” he asked.

Halley twisted her head to gaze up at him incredulously. Alec held up his free hand so she could see the crescent shaped marks her fingernails had left on him.

“My hand is really sore,” he cajoled. “Just a couple of puffs and I’ll give it straight back, I promise.”

Halley almost laughed at the earnest look on his face despite the agony she was in. She spat the mouthpiece out.

“Make it quick,” she gasped, flicking a glance at the midwives who were conferring about something.

Alec didn’t have to be told twice. He picked up the mouthpiece and sucked in a breath then took it away from his mouth.

“It’s not working,” he complained.

“Suck harder,” Halley advised through clenched teeth as another contraction rolled through her. “And hurry.”

Alec rapidly sucked in deep breaths then dropped the mouthpiece.

“I don’t feel so good,” he said just as one of the midwives looked up.

“Grab a chair Lil.” The midwife swiftly intercepted Alec before he could crumple to the floor.

A chair was pushed into the back of Alec’s legs and he gladly collapsed on it.

“Put your head between your knees,” the first midwife said as she helpfully shoved his head down.

“Can I get you some water?” Lil, the second midwife asked.

Alec nodded, feeling dizzy. He didn’t know how Halley could handle breathing in great lungfuls of the stuff.

Halley could hear the commotion Alec had made being briskly dealt with behind her but she was facing the wrong way to see what was going on. Even worse, the pain was now continuous and she felt the urge to bear down.

“Can I push now?” she gasped.

Behind her, Alec was forgotten.

Alec smiled as Rufus answered the phone before it could ring even once. He had phoned Rufus shortly after arriving at the hospital to let him know that Halley had gone into labour. Obviously Rufus was keen to hear how everything had progressed.

“Well?” Rufus asked without preamble.

“It’s a girl,” Alec announced proudly as though he alone had been responsible for the baby’s presence in the world.

“Congratulations Dad,” Rufus replied. Alec could hear Leonora asking questions in the background then after the sounds of a struggle her voice came on the line.

“How’s Halley doing?” she asked.

“Halley’s great,” he said. “She did really well.”

After a short conversation Leonora enthusiastically told him that she and Rufus would bring the children to meet their new sister in the morning. Alec glanced up at the clock as he returned the phone to his pocket and was amazed to see that the time was only a few minutes past ten.

He returned to Halley who was gazing in awe at her daughter who was snuggly wrapped in a blanket on her lap. One of the baby’s tiny hands poked out of the blanket and Alec stroked his finger against it and the baby gripped it tightly.

Alec marvelled at the difference in size between his finger and her hand. He had forgotten how small Em had once been.

“I really thought she was going to be a boy,” Halley murmured, looking up at him.

Alec smiled at the look of wonder on her face. He was glad that he had managed to keep that information to himself and not spoiled the surprise.

“A girl is a good thing?” he asked.

“Yes. Now the males in the house will be outnumbered,” Halley told him with satisfaction. “That should keep you all in line.”

Alec ignored the chair and perched on the side of the bed since the baby refused to relinquish his finger. After hearing Halley’s story of the baby’s conception he had felt nothing but contempt for Halley’s deceased husband. He had wondered how he would manage being a father figure to a child who shared that man’s genes but as his eyes fell on the baby’s face he knew he had been worrying for nothing. He knew he would do anything for this little girl.

“Do you have a name for her?” he asked roughly.

Halley shook her head.

“I was convinced she was going to be a boy,” she said again, not taking her eyes off her daughter.

Alec cleared his throat.

“What about her last name?” he asked.

At his question Halley looked up.

“I’d like her to have my surname.” Halley cleared her throat. “If that’s okay,” she quickly tacked on.

“Which surname is that?” Alec asked warily. Miranda had kept her maiden name after they had married and for some reason it hadn’t bothered him as much as the thought of Halley choosing to do the same now.

“Barrington,” Halley replied in surprise and Alec released the breath he hadn’t realised he had been holding. He smiled at her in relief.

“I’m more than happy for her to be a Barrington,” he said.

“But I want Casey, Corey and Cassie to keep their surname,” Halley said, answering his next question before Alec could ask it. “Paul was a decent man,” she explained, leaving the rest of her statement unsaid.

The baby yawned and Halley was entranced.

“Do you have any girl’s names you like?” she whispered.

“I think you should choose her name,” Alec said.

“I think we should both choose it,” Halley pressed.

“Nothing starting with a C. We have enough of those already,” Alec said decisively. “And nothing beginning with a B either.” At her look he explained. “I’m not really into alliteration.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not either,” Halley assured him as she wriggled back on the bed to get more comfortable. “Krystal and Paul weren’t either. It just worked out that way.”

“How did that happen?” Alec asked, happy just to listen to Halley talk.

“Casey is Liz’s surname so he wouldn’t forget his roots despite Liz not being around that often.” Halley smoothed her daughter’s blanket over her chest. “Krystal and Paul couldn’t agree on a name for the next baby so Krystal had naming rights for a girl and Paul had naming rights for a boy. He was the one who chose Corey’s name.” She smiled at Alec. “It was just as well that Cassie was a girl.”

“Why’s that?” he asked.

“One of Paul’s friends joked that their sons were a hard case and hard core so Paul told everyone that if the third baby was a boy he would be named Lucky so they would finish off with hard luck.”

“I hope he was joking,” Alec said.

Halley shrugged.

“It was sometimes hard to tell with Paul. Anyway Cassie is the name that Krystal had her heart set on for a girl so I didn’t see any reason to change it,” she finished. “Don’t worry, I don’t intend to call this one Lucky either,” she added, returning her gaze to her daughter.

“Lily is a pretty name,” Alec offered, thinking of his favourite from the baby name book he had worked his way through.

“Can you close the door for a minute?” Halley asked instead of commenting on his suggestion as he’d hoped.

Alec freed his finger from the baby’s tight grasp, ambled over to the door and shut it.

“Liiiileeee!” Halley yelled out, startling both him and the baby in Halley’s arms.

Halley rocked the baby to settle her then looked up at Alec with a satisfied grin on her face.

“Lily works for me,” she said.

The next afternoon the front door buzzer went and Alec rushed to answer it. Halley had insisted upon coming home from the hospital that morning and he had finally convinced her to have a rest because she didn’t look as though she had got much sleep during the night. With the children out with Rufus and Leonora at the movies he had no intention of allowing her to be disturbed.

Alec yanked open the door to find Chantelle on the other side.

“Tell Halley to get her butt out here,” Chantelle said testily, slapping her handbag under her arm.

Instead, Alec pulled the door shut behind him.

“My wife is sleeping,” he told her. “Perhaps I can help.”

At the word ‘wife’ Chantelle’s eyes had shot to Alec’s ring finger.

“I don’t believe this,” she muttered spying the white gold band. She huffed out a breath and returned her eyes to his face. “Okay, fine,” she snapped. “Tell your wife she has to return all the stuff she took from Krystal’s house.”

“Why would she want to do that?” Alec asked, irritated by Chantelle’s audacity. Who was she to tell Halley what to do?

“Because the will is being disputed,” Chantelle told him in a condescending tone. She crossed her arms and started drumming the fingers of her right hand on her sleeve. “Now put it all back.”

Several responses came to the tip of his tongue but Alec swallowed them all. Instead he studied Chantelle. Today she was dressed in another power suit, this one a navy blue pin stripe. White lace peeked from the plunging neckline of the blouse she wore underneath her jacket but Alec found he had no trouble ignoring her wrinkled assets.

Between what Halley had mentioned about Chantelle and his observations of her, he knew her claim about wanting the children wasn’t genuine. If it had been she would have made an effort to see them beyond her initial visit. During the past fortnight the only thing that seemed to have interested her was seeing the lawyer and challenging the will.

Alec knew she had the potential to become a formidable foe. They all knew that she would eventually lose whatever case she brought against the estate but Alec suspected Chantelle was the sort of person who would make things difficult for them because she didn’t like being thwarted and because she could, especially if there was the possibility of something in it for her.

The only thing he had come up with to get her to bow out before she managed to erode the children’s inheritance away with legal fees was to buy her off. Unfortunately he was no financial position to do so… but she didn’t know that.

With the germ of an idea beginning to form, Alec stepped towards her.

“Are you telling me that you don’t want your grandchildren to have clothes to wear or a bed to sleep in at night?” Alec demanded, going on the offensive.

Chantelle’s eyes widened at the accusation.

“What a stupid thing to say. Of course I do. Whatever gave you that idea that I wouldn’t?”

Alec gestured to the house on the other side of the camellia hedge.

“You just told me that you wanted all the items removed from the house put back,” he reminded her.

Chantelle’s hands flew to her bony hips.

“I obviously didn’t mean personal items,” she said indignantly. “I’m talking about the big ticket stuff.”

“Those items are still in the house,” he said, lying only a little bit. Paul and Krystal’s surround sound system had been better than his one so he had swapped them over.

“Then you won’t mind if I see for myself,” Chantelle challenged.

“Be my guest.” Alec fished his keys out of his pocket and marched towards the front door of the other house, not bothering to check whether Chantelle followed. The click of her stiletto heels indicated she was right behind him so Alec took the steps to the porch, unlocked the door and went in.

The stairwell on his left reminded him that he had yet to change the light bulb that hung out of reach above the stairs. Oh well. When everything was settled Halley was likely to sell the house so it would become the new owner’s problem.

Chantelle swept past him and entered the lounge. Unable to recall whether there were any small items of value that she could slip into her pockets Alec hastened after her.

He found her examining a large oil painting of a pond with water lilies on the wall above the couch. Halley had once told him that Krystal had found it at a flea market and had bought it, thinking it might be valuable. She said Krystal had taken it to an art dealer then had got excited when she was told that a Monet similar to the one she had brought in had recently sold at an auction for over twenty-seven million dollars.

The dealer had closely examined the painting then had burst Krystal’s bubble by telling her that although it wasn’t a genuine Monet it was nicely done and she could possibly get a few hundred dollars for the frame and possibly more if she left the painting in it.

Watching Chantelle eye the painting speculatively, Alec found his vague plan coalescing into a form he could work with.

“You like that painting? Halley told me it belonged to Rob’s grandparents,” he remarked casually.

“Do you know much about art?” Chantelle asked, forcing herself to face him.

“I’m not really into pictures of ponds.” Alec shrugged.

Chantelle delved into her handbag and pulled out a camera.

“What’s that for?” he asked as she started taking pictures of the room from different angles.

“I think it’s the easiest way for me to tell if anything else is removed,” Chantelle said tartly as she continued to snap off shots. Although she moved around the room, Alec noted that her lens kept returning to the painting. He fought a smile.

When she moved into the dining room Alec followed.

“Why are you going to this trouble?” Alec asked as he watched Chantelle crouch down, open the doors of a china hutch and start photographing Rob’s mother’s tea services. “We both know that you don’t want the children.”

Chantelle lowered the camera and looked up at him.

“I want my share,” she told him almost petulantly.

Alec stuck his hands in his pockets.

“This is not a good situation,” he said with a sigh.

“What do you mean?” Chantelle asked suspiciously.

“Halley and I are determined to keep the children, whatever it takes.” Alec kept his eyes on Chantelle as she closed the hutch door and stood up. “I’m sure that by now you’ve checked out my company on the internet and you know where I live. You must have a fair idea that I have greater resources than you do.”

“What’s your point?” Chantelle stuck one hand on her hip.

“My point is that it must be a very expensive exercise for you to be away from work for an indefinite period when you must know that the only outcome will be the lawyer’s fees eroding the value of the estate to a point where it’s no longer worth pursuing it.”

“Then what do you suggest?” Chantelle asked coolly. “I have no intention of going home empty handed.”

Alec pretended to give the matter thought.

“I suppose that since Halley and the children have moved in with me we no longer need this place,” he mused. “How about we sell the house through you?” Alec gazed around thoughtfully. “The commission on this place would be decent. More than enough to make this trip worth your while.”

He watched Chantelle consider what he had said then her expression became calculating.

“That’s not nearly enough,” she sniffed. “I should at least get the car and whatever I want from the house as well.”

“I think you’re being greedy,” Alec said mildly. “Halley wants to trade the car in for something bigger that can fit everyone in. I’m sure she would have issues if you insisted upon having the car.” He stroked his chin thoughtfully, using his thumb and forefinger to hide his smile. Chantelle was hanging on his every word.

“No,” he continued with a shake of his head. “Whatever you get in addition to the commission on the house has to be something portable that you can walk out of here with in one trip.”

“Why is that?” Chantelle asked, her plucked eyebrows crinkling in puzzlement.

“Because I’ll be telling Halley whatever we decide the moment I see her.” Alec dropped his hand from his face. “With the history between you both I doubt she’ll be interested in letting you return for seconds.”

The phone in his pocket pinged. Alec pulled it out and smiled when he read the message.

“Halley wants to know where I am.” His fingers hovered above the phone, ready to respond. “Do we have a deal?”

Chantelle wanted clarification.

“I can get whatever I can carry?”

“First you phone the lawyer and have him draw up papers to say that you’re withdrawing any claim on the estate and you no longer want guardianship of your grandchildren. The moment that is signed you can come back for whatever you can carry in one trip.”

“How can I trust you?” Chantelle asked suspiciously, her eyes narrowing.

“I’ll give it to you in writing.” Alec strode into the hallway and brought back the notepad and pen that had been sitting by the phone. He set the notepad on the dining table, took a seat and started scribbling down his version of a legal document.

“Give me one item you want; I’m not going to wait for ages while you do a stocktake of the house,” he said. To hurry Chantelle up he texted Halley to let her know he was next door. “What’s it going to be?”

The phone pinged.

“Is Halley on her way over?” Chantelle asked, instead of answering.

Alec checked the message.

“Yes,” he lied. It was actually Rufus telling him that Corey had thrown up in the theatre after eating too many sweets and they were on their way home.

Chantelle wrung her hands as she eyed the contents of the china cabinet wistfully.

“Halley’s going to be here any moment,” Alec reminded her.

“The painting,” Chantelle declared reluctantly.

Alec decided to pretend ignorance.

“What painting?”

“The one in the lounge,” Chantelle said quickly. “The one of the pond with the water lilies.”

“Oh, that painting,” Alec said. When he had finished writing ‘picture of pond with water lilies’ he looked up. “Do you want to go and read the name at the bottom so I can put it on here? Just so I don’t swap it with another one or something.”

“No, no, that won’t be necessary,” Chantelle hastily assured him. “I have my photos and I doubt that there are other paintings in the house like it.” She eyed him speculatively. “Are there?”

Alec shook his head then continued writing. After he jotted down a few more words a thought came to him and he raised his head.

“Would you like a dog to sweeten the deal?” he asked.

Chantelle considered it.

“Is it a pedigree?”

Alec thought of Buddy who only seemed to live for food and to retrieve tennis balls.

“Probably not,” he admitted.

“Then, no.”

“It was worth a shot,” Alec mumbled under his breath as he continued writing. When he finished he signed his name with a flourish.

“Okay, sign here,” he said holding up the pen for her to take. Chantelle snatched the pen from his hand, grabbed the notepad and scanned what he had written. Satisfied, she signed her name as a witness and tore the top piece of paper off and slipped it into her handbag.

“I’ll be back,” she promised as she picked up her camera and handbag.

Alec watched her stalk out of the room, not bothering to hide his pleased grin.

“Gotcha,” he murmured.

The next morning Halley received a phone call from the lawyer to tell her that Chantelle was no longer going to apply for guardianship of the children or contest the will. In addition to that welcome news he told her that everything to do with the will would be wrapped up by the end of the week.

Relieved beyond belief, Halley practically flew down the stairs to tell Alec the good news. She found him by the front door shaking out his umbrella.

“I thought you got back from taking the kids to school ages ago,” she said in surprise, momentarily forgetting her purpose.

“I did. I’ve just been next door,” Alec said cheerfully as he placed the umbrella in the stand.

“Oh. Well, I have something wonderful to tell you,” Halley told him with excitement, grabbing his hands.

“I have something pretty wonderful to tell you too,” Alec replied. “But you go first.”

“Chantelle’s given up and the will should be sorted by the end of the week,” she said gaily.

Her smile lit up her face and Alec realised that he had never seen Halley look so happy. He knew he had done the right thing.

“I just heard that too,” he said, taking the copy of the document that Chantelle had signed for the lawyer out of his jacket and holding it out to her.

“What’s this?” Halley took the piece of paper and perused the contents. “I don’t understand. I only just found out about it. How can you possibly know and have this?”

“Because I convinced Chantelle it was the right thing to do.” Alec took her hand and led her through the house to the open plan kitchen/dining/living area. Reaching the largely empty room he headed towards the bar stools under the breakfast bar, pulled one out for Halley and gestured for her to sit.

Halley remained standing, feeling irritated. She didn’t like the thought of Alec taking it upon himself to deal with her problems without even telling her. Things might have been tough before he had come along but she had been managing.
Most of the time
.

“Chantelle doesn’t care about doing the right thing,” she said sceptically. “What did you say to convince her?”

“I told Chantelle that we were determined to have custody of the children and our standoff would result in nobody getting anything,” Alec admitted.

“But that wouldn’t bother Chantelle. She would hang on in the hope that we would break first.”

“Let’s just say I gave her an incentive to go away.”

“And what was the incentive?” Halley was curious despite herself.

“Since we have to sell the house anyway I said she could have the listing.” He gave a shrug. “I figured that the commission is an expense we would have no matter what so it might as well go to her.”

“That would only be her starting point. She would be greedy enough to want more.” Halley sat on the bar stool, feeling that she wouldn’t like what she was going to hear next. Crossing her arms, she started tapping her foot on the cross bar while she waited for Alec to continue.

The tapping sound carried in the empty room and Alec knew he’d have to confess. Halley would eventually notice that the painting was missing.

“You’ll be pleased with what I did,” he assured her. “I told her that there wasn’t any way that you would ever let her back in the house…”

“You got that right,” Halley muttered under her breath.

“So I said she could only take what she could carry in her arms in one trip,” Alec said proudly.

Halley thought of the large empty boxes sitting in the house that she had yet to fill since the only things they had brought over were the contents of the bedrooms. If she had only been allowed to have a boxful of items she knew exactly where she would go.

The hutch cabinet in the dining room was full of heirloom china and boasted a silver tea service dating back to the 1700s which had been brought to Australia by Paul’s ancestors who had arrived as free settlers a few years after The First Fleet. If Alec had allowed Chantelle to walk out of the house with any of that she would strangle him.

“What did she take?” Halley tensed her folded arms so she wouldn’t reach for Alec’s throat.