There was a pause. Albert Taylor turned away from her and walked slowly over to the cradle where the baby was lying, and peered in. It was too dark for him to see the child’s face, but when he bent down close he could hear the sound of breathing, very faint and quick. ‘What time is the next feed?’ he asked.
‘Two o’clock, I suppose.’
‘And the one after that?’
‘Six in the morning.’
‘I’ll do them both,’ he said. ‘You go to sleep.’
She didn’t answer.
‘You get properly into bed, Mabel, and go straight to sleep, you understand? And stop worrying. I’m taking over completely for the next twelve hours. You’ll give yourself a nervous breakdown going on like this.’
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘I know.’
‘I’m taking the nipper and myself and the alarm clock into the spare room this very moment, so you just lie down and relax and forget all about us. Right?’ Already he was pushing the cradle out through the door.
‘Oh, Albert,’ she sobbed.
‘Don’t you worry about a thing. Leave it to me.’
‘Albert…’
‘Yes?’
‘I love you, Albert.’
‘I love you too, Mabel. Now go to sleep.’
Albert Taylor didn’t see his wife again until nearly eleven o’clock the next morning.
‘Good gracious me!’ she cried, rushing down the stairs in dressing-gown and slippers. ‘Albert! Just look at the time! I must have slept twelve hours at least! Is everything all right? What happened?’
He was sitting quietly in his armchair smoking a pipe and reading the morning paper. The baby was in a sort of carry-cot on the floor at his feet, sleeping.
‘Hullo, dear,’ he said, smiling.
She ran over to the cot and looked in. ‘Did she take anything, Albert? How many times have you fed her? She was due for another one at ten o’clock, did you know that?’
Albert Taylor folded the newspaper neatly into a square and put it away on the side table. ‘I fed her at two in the morning,’ he said, ‘and she took about half an ounce, no more. I fed her again at six and she did a bit better that time, two ounces…’
‘Two ounces! Oh, Albert, that’s marvellous!’
‘And we just finished the last feed ten minutes ago. There’s the bottle on the mantelpiece. Only one ounce left. She drank three. How’s that?’ He was grinning proudly, delighted with his achievement.
The woman quickly got down on her knees and peered at the baby.
‘Don’t she look better?’ he asked eagerly. ‘Don’t she look fatter in the face?’
‘It may sound silly,’ the wife said, ‘but I actually think she does. Oh, Albert, you’re a marvel! How did you do it?’
‘She’s turning the corner,’ he said. ‘That’s all it is. Just like the doctor prophesied, she’s turning the corner.’
‘I pray to God you’re right, Albert.’
‘Of course I’m right. From now on, you watch her go.’
The woman was gazing lovingly at the baby.
‘You look a lot better yourself too, Mabel.’
‘I feel wonderful. I’m sorry about last night.’
‘Let’s keep it this way,’ he said. ‘I’ll do all the night feeds in future. You do the day ones.’
She looked up at him across the cot, frowning. ‘No,’ she said. ‘Oh no, I wouldn’t allow you to do that.’
‘I don’t want you to have a breakdown, Mabel.’
‘I won’t, not now I’ve had some sleep.’
‘Much better we share it.’
‘No, Albert. This is my job and I intend to do it. Last night won’t happen again.’
There was a pause. Albert Taylor took the pipe out of his mouth and examined the grain on the bowl. ‘All right,’ he said. ‘In that case I’ll just relieve you of the donkey work, I’ll do all the sterilizing and the mixing of the food and getting everything ready. That’ll help you a bit, anyway.’
She looked at him carefully, wondering what could have come over him all of a sudden.
‘You see, Mabel, I’ve been thinking…’
‘Yes, dear.’
‘I’ve been thinking that up until last night I’ve never even raised a finger to help you with this baby.’
‘That isn’t true.’
‘Oh yes it is. So I’ve decided that from now on I’m going to do my share of the work. I’m going to be the feed-mixer and the bottle-sterilizer. Right?’
‘It’s very sweet of you, dear, but I really don’t think it’s necessary…’