Three Amazing Things About You(121)

‘Ah, that’s lovely. He looks really nice,’ said Ceecee. ‘What d’you think of mine, then?’

What could she say? ‘He looks nice too,’ said Flo.

‘You reckon?’ Ceecee gave her a cheery nudge. ‘Ha, looks like a no-good cheating bastard to me.’

‘Oh my darling, look at you!’ Margot entered the side ward like a queen, on the arm of one of the nursing staff. ‘You are glowing.’ She gave Flo a gin-scented kiss on the cheek before settling herself carefully on one of the visitor’s chairs. ‘Now, let’s see this baby of yours. Oh I say, hello, Alexandra. You’re a beauty! Can I have a hold?’

Flo passed Alexandra over to her. There was something particularly lovely about seeing a newborn baby being cradled in the arms of an octogenarian. Her heart expanded with love and pride as Margot admired her daughter, now twelve hours old.

‘How did you get here? By taxi?’

‘No, Patrick brought me. He’s gone to park the car. Everyone from Nairn House sends their love, of course. You’ll get all manner of strange knitted items sent to you, I’m sure. But seeing as I don’t knit, I thought Alexandra might like these from me.’

Flo opened the faded leather jeweller’s box. There, nestling amongst the folds of ivory satin, lay a pair of diamond stud earrings, small but perfectly formed. ‘Oh my goodness, Margot, you can’t give me these!’

‘They’re not for you, they’re for her. And I insist.’ Margot’s dark eyes softened. ‘Give them to her on her eighteenth birthday. I’ll be dead long before that, but it’s nice to think of them being worn again by a pretty young girl. My parents gave them to me when I was twenty-one. I wore them when I was presented at court. No, don’t look at me like that. I want your daughter to enjoy them. And please don’t try to argue with me, because we both know you won’t win.’

‘Well in that case, thank you. They’re beautiful. It’s the nicest present anyone’s ever given her.’ Flo leaned over and hugged Margot again.

‘And how are you feeling, my darling?’

‘Happy and sad. I’m doing OK.’

‘You’ll be fine, I know you will. You’re a coper,’ Margot pronounced.

‘Here’s Patrick.’ Flo waved as he hesitated in the doorway. ‘Hi, come on in.’

She’d seen Patrick a couple of times at Nairn House before going on maternity leave. His relationship with aerobics instructor Jade had run out of steam before Christmas, and Patrick was now unrepentantly wearing his untrendy trousers and favourite old shirts once more.

‘Congratulations. Here’s a little something for the baby.’ He handed Flo one of the smart cardboard bags from the shop. ‘Sorry it’s not diamonds.’

It was a tiny pink and green woolly hat with knitted roses and leaves attached.

‘That is gorgeous,’ said Flo, touched. ‘Thank you so much.’

‘And I did buy you a bunch of tulips on my way over to Nairn House, but I left them on the roof of the car when I was fiddling with my keys. Next thing I knew, I was heading down the dual carriageway and they’d fallen into the road behind me.’ He shook his head sorrowfully. ‘Got run over by a Tesco delivery truck.’

‘Never mind. It’s the thought that counts,’ Flo said with a smile.

‘Well?’ Margot was holding Alexandra up so he could admire her. ‘What do you think?’

‘She looks like a baby.’

‘That’s not good enough, Patrick!’

He winked at Flo. ‘She looks . . . lovely. Well done.’

‘Typical man,’ Margot tut-tutted good-naturedly. ‘Now come along, take lots of photos of us so I can show everyone when I get back. I feel like a proud grandmother.’

Patrick said to Flo, ‘How was the . . . you know, the whole giving-birth thing?’

‘Pretty excruciating. Would you like me to describe it in revolting technicolour detail?’

He winced. ‘Maybe not.’

Thirty minutes later, Lena arrived. She looked from Margot to Patrick and said, ‘Who are you?’

‘They’re my friends,’ Flo explained patiently. ‘Margot lives at Nairn House. Patrick’s her nephew.’

‘Right. Well I was going to buy something for the baby, but I didn’t know what. So I didn’t get anything.’

‘That’s fine,’ said Flo.

Lena, catching the look Margot was exchanging with Patrick, said, ‘What did you get for it, then?’

‘Diamond stud earrings,’ replied Margot easily. ‘From Cartier.’

‘Well that’s just barbaric.’ Lena’s eyes narrowed. ‘Babies shouldn’t have their ears pierced; it’s a ridiculous idea.’