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Elsa certainly seemed to know what she was doing and it wasn’t long at all before Polly realised that it actually felt okay to observe her cute little baby being cuddled in someone else’s arms. She wondered about this Wirralong ‘mothers’ group’. Mind you, she had no plans to join anything like that. Being motherless herself, she’d spent her childhood in day care, or kindy and then school.
Her dad had been there for her morning and evening and on weekends. And that had been enough.
Chapter Seven
‘You shouldn’t begetting on a bus with a little premmie baby.’
It was the day before Polly was due to leave the hospital. Summer had regained her birth weight and the medicos were quite comfortable about letting them return to Melbourne.
Seth, not so much.
This evening, he seemed to take up too much space in Polly’s small hospital room. His face was almost thunderous as he stood with his feet apart, shoulders back, hands on hips.
Polly was glad she was also on her feet, having recently tucked Summer back into her cot. Now, she, too, pushed her shoulders back. A challenge was in the air.
‘I admit taking the bus might be tricky,’ she said, knowing that in actual fact, it would be extremely difficult, given that she would have to try to time Summer’s feeds for before and after the journey. She certainly wouldn’t want to use a breast pump or nipple shield on the bus, although Summer was feeding more strongly every day, so she might get away without these. But, given that the bus trip would be several hours, she wouldn’t be able to avoid the whole nappy-changing fuss. ‘Are you offering me a lift to Melbourne, Seth?’
‘I could do that,’ he said. ‘But it makes better sense for you to stay in Wirralong for another couple of weeks.’
‘Does it?’
‘Does to me.’
Polly drew a sharp breath. If she was totally honest, she wasn’t looking forward to going back to her dingy apartment. But that was hardly a justifiable reason to spend more time in Wirralong. She would only be delaying the inevitable. Melbourne was her home now. And even if her current accommodation was less than ideal, Melbourne was where she had always planned to raise Summer.
Seth interrupted her thoughts. ‘There’s a proper bed in the main bedroom now. One in the spare room, too, for that matter.’
Polly frowned at him. ‘Don’t tell me you’re offering me your beautiful house?’
He nodded. ‘I’m sure it would suit you better than my flat in town. So, why not?’
Because it’s your special project, Seth. Because you worked so hard to create it and I don’t deserve such generosity. ‘Because you’ve already done me too many favours.’
Watching her now, his expression softened a degree or two and his pose was more at ease. He slid his hands from his hips into his jeans’ pockets. ‘Don’t forget I knocked you back on that really big favour you asked of me last year.’
Polly’s face flamed. ‘I was crazy to ask you that.’
‘That’s what I thought at the time.’ Seth shrugged. ‘But turns out, life’s even crazier.’
Polly knew he was talking about Summer’s birth and those unexpectedly precious moments of bonding they’d both experienced. Neither of them would ever forget the way Seth had held her baby and watched her take her first breaths.
Since then, every evening this week, Seth had visited Polly and Summer, even though this involved a two-hour return trip from Wirralong. On several occasions he’d held Summer and given her a top-up bottle feed.
Almost like a father.
But that didn’t mean…
She mustn’t be foolish. She couldn’t get carried away and read romantic possibilities into this.
‘Nothing’s changed, Seth,’ Polly felt compelled to remind him. ‘Not really.’
Except she knew this wasn’t completely true. She knew now that it wouldn’t be easy to just wish her old friend ‘Thanks’ and ‘see you later,’ and then head off, to get on with her life with no future contact.
Just imagining this prospect, she felt a sting in her eyes and her throat, and she had to drop her gaze—to her hands, to the floor. She couldn’t let Seth see her tears.
‘Listen, Pollz,’ he said now. ‘You’d actually be doing me a favour, if I didn’t have to worry about you and your premmie kid in that shoebox of an apartment.’
Ouch.Polly couldn’t help flinching.
