Two For Joy (62 page)

‘Don't be such a wussy. Go and have your shower and give her a call.' Heather kissed him again and gave him a little shove out of the door.

‘Will do.' Oliver pinched her ass, making her squeal.

Heather smiled to herself as she boiled the water for the basmati rice. Now that he was home, she felt perfectly content.

*   *   *

‘Hello, Noreen,' Oliver said as he sat, wrapped in a towel, on the side of the bed. ‘Heather told me you called.'

‘She sounds lovely, Oliver. I'm really glad for you,' Noreen said warmly.

‘Are you, Noreen?' Oliver said gravely.

‘Honestly I am. I guess I don't feel so guilty about us, knowing you're happy with someone else.'

‘And are
you
happy, Noreen?' he asked quietly.

‘I'm very contented, Oliver. I'm so looking forward to bringing the babies home. Can't say I'm actually looking forward to the birth itself.'

‘That's understandable. And Rajiv will definitely be with you? You know I would have come if you'd been stuck.'

‘I know that, Oliver. He's here with me right now. And thank you. I'm fine. I'll ring you as soon as I can once they're born. Say a prayer for me, won't you?'

‘You know I will, Noreen. Be assured of that,' he said firmly.

There was a silence at the end of the phone and he knew she was crying. ‘For heaven's sake, woman. Not the waterworks again. We should send you to Africa to cure the drought,' he teased.

‘Oh, Oliver,' Noreen gulped, half laughing, half crying. ‘You're very special.'

‘You're pretty special yourself.' He smiled down the phone. ‘Go and get him to cook you a curry – I heard that's supposed to bring on labour.'

‘Yes, Doctor Flynn,' Noreen managed a laugh. ‘I'll call you as soon as I have two little babies.'

‘You do that, and take care of yourself. 'Bye now.' He hung up the phone gently and sat towelling his hair dry. It was good that they could keep in touch and be concerned for each other. It meant that their relationship wasn't a total failure. He wished for her sake that the birth was over, then she'd be truly in her element with the children she'd always wanted.

Would that beautiful, warm, loving woman down the hall in the kitchen ever want babies, he wondered. She kept saying no, that she was happy as they were, and she certainly looked very happy. Maybe it was different for her from how it had been for Noreen, because she had made the choice herself. She knew what the score was with him and she'd still wanted to get involved. They could always adopt if she wanted. He only wanted what she wanted.

Smiling, Oliver dressed in the clean clothes Heather had laid out for him on the bed and went down to the kitchen. He stood beside her at the cooker and wrapped his arms around her.

‘Are you sure you're happy?' he asked against her hair.

‘Oliver, dearest, I'm the happiest woman in the universe.' She turned sideways in his arms to look up at him. ‘Why wouldn't I be? I'm with the most wonderful man in the world.' She kissed him soundly, winding her arms around his neck until all he could do was believe her.

*   *   *

‘Push, Noreen, one last push, that's all,' the midwife encouraged as Noreen, red in the face, hair plastered against her head, pushed as hard as she could and was rewarded moments later with a lusty roar.

‘One fine healthy boy, to join his fine healthy sister,' the gynaecologist said cheerfully. Noreen burst into tears. It was all over. Finally all over and she had two healthy babies, born normally, and Rajiv standing beside her in his mask and gown looking as though he would burst with pride. The nurse put her son in her arms.

He was beautiful, with melting brown eyes, a little snub nose and a shock of black hair that made her laugh. His sister, born five hours earlier, was asleep in her cot, awaiting the arrival of her brother.

Noreen's heart swelled with love and joy as she held her son's tiny hand and felt his fingers curl tightly around her little finger. What perfection. What blessings God had bestowed on her, she thought gratefully, as all the years of pain and grief she had endured wafted away and vanished into nothingness. It was five thirty on a frosty December Sunday morning in London and she felt she was the luckiest woman in the world.

‘Here, Rajiv, you hold him,' she whispered.

‘We will hold him together, Noreen,' Rajiv murmured tenderly as he put his arms around them both and kissed her lovingly on the top of her head.

‘Will you ring Maura for me later if I'm still asleep and tell her she can book her flight whenever she wants to? And will you ring Kay?' Noreen asked.

‘Of course I will, my dear. And what about Oliver?'

‘I'll ring him myself as soon as I wake up. He's the one person I want to tell myself.'

‘And rightly so.' Rajiv smiled. ‘He's the most important one of all.'

*   *   *

‘When I dropped Ma home after early Mass, I had a cup of tea with her. I can tell you one thing, Heather Williams, you're getting an honour bestowed on very few,' Oliver informed Heather as they tramped around the lake, crunching frost-curled leaves underfoot, their breath freezing on the icy morning air.

‘And what's that?' Heather asked with a smile, delighted to see Oliver so carefree. He'd been a bit tense, to say the least, about his mother's invite to Sunday lunch. He'd warned her to take no notice if she made snippy remarks about their situation. Now it looked as if he had no worries on that score.

‘You're getting her very best linen and lace tablecloth, reserved only for visiting clergymen and royalty. I couldn't believe it. When I commented, she said she wanted the table to look nice for Martha Jackson's granddaughter.'

‘Ah, Oliver. Isn't that nice?' Heather snuggled in to him, chuffed. ‘I hope she likes the book of quilting I bought for her, and the shortbread.'

‘She will, Heather, stop worrying. If you're getting the linen and lace tablecloth you're away on a hack. Now come on, we have another twenty minutes to go to get our hour's walk in. You'll be hungry for your roast beef and Yorkshire pudding by the time I'm finished with you,' Oliver announced.

‘Wait a minute,' she demanded, reaching up and wrapping her arms around him before kissing him passionately. He kissed her back until they drew away breathless and red-cheeked, grinning from ear to ear.

‘You're a brazen hussy,' he told her, ‘and I know exactly what you're up to with these delaying tactics. It's still twenty minutes, you'll just have to walk faster. Stop dawdling, woman, you'll never lose weight meandering along like this,' Oliver instructed, setting off at a brisk pace.

‘Slow down, you meany,' Heather protested, but he was gone, loping along, urging her to keep up with his long-legged stride as she panted behind him, protesting loudly all the while. His phone rang and he stopped to answer it, giving her a chance to catch up.

‘That's wonderful, Noreen,' she heard him say. ‘I'm very happy for you. Was it hard going? You don't have to tell me everything,' he added hastily.

Heather saw his face, intent and serious, as he listened to his wife at the other end of the phone. ‘That's good. Of course we will. Noreen, say hello to Heather and let her congratulate you.' He handed her the phone.

‘Hi, Noreen. Are you all right? Did it all go OK? Were you induced?' Heather asked excitedly.

‘No, I went by myself and I've got a little boy and a little girl, five and a half pounds each. We're calling them Meera and Michael. Will you and Oliver come over for the christening in the spring?'

‘Oh, thank you, Noreen, we'd be honoured,' Heather said delightedly.

‘Would you mind if I asked Oliver to be one of the godfathers? Rajiv's son is going to be the other and Kay and Maura are going to be the godmothers. I haven't asked him yet – I wanted to ask you first if you'd mind?' Noreen said hesitantly.

‘Of course I wouldn't mind, Noreen. When they're older they can come and spend holidays,' Heather said warm-heartedly. ‘Ask him now.'

She handed Oliver back the phone and watched his face crease into a smile. ‘Of course I will, Noreen. Thank you for asking. Get some rest now and we'll talk later in the week. Take care, and congratulations to Rajiv.' He clicked off, put the phone in his pocket and smiled at Heather. ‘Thank God that's over for Noreen. She's on a high. I'm really glad for her,' he said, tucking his arm into hers as by unspoken agreement they turned and began to walk back towards the hotel.

‘Don't you even feel a little pang that it's not you?' Heather asked, uncertain of his answer, wondering if he would prefer to be with Noreen.

He stopped and looked at her in surprise. Seeing the look in her eyes, he cupped her face in his hands. ‘But Heather,' he said. ‘If I was with Noreen, I wouldn't be with you and would never have known it could be like this. How could I have any pangs or regrets now? I do love you, you know that. You bring joy to my life.' His eyes were warm and loving as he stared down at her.

‘Oliver, that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me,' she murmured tearfully.

‘Oh woman, don't go all weepy and mushy on me,' he groaned, hugging her tightly. ‘Quick, quick, look! There's two magpies for you.' He turned her in the direction of the lake and she saw two beautiful black and white magpies gracefully soaring and dipping in flight. She nestled in against him and his arms tightened around her as they watched the birds glide over the treetops in consummate symmetry.

‘How perfect, Oliver.' Heather squeezed his hand tightly. ‘For Noreen, and for us. Two for Joy.'

Also by Patricia Scanlan

Apartment 3B

City Girl

City Woman

City Lives

Foreign Affairs

Mirror, Mirror

Promises, Promises

Finishing Touches

Francesca's Party

THOMAS DUNNE BOOKS
.
An imprint of St. Martin's Press.

TWO FOR JOY
. Copyright © 2003 by Patricia Scanlan. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, address St. Martin's Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

www.stmartins.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Scanlan, Patricia.

Two for joy / Patricia Scanlan.—1st U.S. ed.

p. cm.

ISBN 0-312-32895-8

EAN 978-0312-32895-5

1. Dublin (Ireland)—Fiction. 2. Married people—Fiction. 3. Mothers-in-law—Fiction. 4. Sisters—Fiction. 5. Weddings—Fiction. I. Title.

PR6069.C32T86 2004

823'.914—dc22

2004046628

First published in Great Britain by Bantam Press, a division of Transworld Publishers

First U.S. Edition: June 2004

eISBN 9781466854062

First eBook edition: September 2013