Page 12 of A Christmas Wish for the Village Midwife

‘It won’t be long.’

‘And then I suppose you’re going to say I might wish I didn’t know.’

‘I would never… though I’m reliably informed that I had a habit of dropping my parents in it when I was little, so there might be some truth in that after all,’ Zoe replied with a laugh.

‘I’ll be all right then,’ Billie said drily, ‘as I don’t go anywhere or do anything, there’s no scandal for Louisa to tell anyone about.’

‘That’s not quite true. We’re out today, aren’t we?’

‘Oh yeah, visiting a couple of other mums to sit and drink tea and talk about our babies. Wild.’

Zoe’s smile faded into something a little pained but filled with sympathy. There was no denying that, though she seemed content with her life, Billie’s world had shrunk in a way that few women of her age experienced in this day and age. It was mostly centred around Hilltop Farm where they lived, their neighbours at Daffodil Farm, the village below, and occasionally, if she was lucky, a visit to the next small town where her friends Maisie and Fern now shared a house with their babies. She kept her cards close to her chest, and she’d accepted her lot stoically enough, but Zoe wondered whether Billie sometimes resented what she now had. Not Louisa, of course, because anyone could see she adored her daughter, but perhaps her wider circumstances. Life was quiet in the little Lake District village of Thimblebury, quieter still when opportunities to wander beyond it were slimmed down by responsibilities at home. At a time when she should have been making her mark on the world, she was living with her dad and his girlfriend in a remote house with a baby to take care of, very little social life and no love life to speak of whatsoever. Zoe had asked her once, and though Billie had been instantly dismissive of the idea of dating, Zoe could tell that her words didn’t match her feelings on the matter.

It seemed that the recent visit to Louisa’s other grandparents in Spain had changed things. Or rather, had made what Billie had already been feeling perhaps more acute. She hadn’t said so, but she hadn’t needed to. If she’d occasionally seemed dissatisfied with her life before, since she’d returned from her trip, it was far more obvious. There had been little digs about the village and the people who lived there, and general impatience about the pace of life – Billie’s in particular. She’d always been an introvert, for as long as Zoe had known her, but the more Billie spoke about the social life she’d left behind in Spain, friends she’d reconnected briefly with during her last visit, the more Zoe began to understand that the introvert she’d come to know wasn’t who Billie had always been.

She was saved digging further by the door opening, swiftly followed by an excited squeal. Maisie bounced up and down on the balls of her feet, her face split by a wide smile.

‘Fern!’ she yelled into the house behind her. ‘Fern, they’re here!’

Fern appeared at the end of the hallway with baby Benji in her arms. ‘Hey,’ she said mildly, ‘how was Spain?’

‘Brilliant!’ Billie was suddenly far more animated. ‘Amazing.’

‘You look great,’ Fern replied. ‘Was it hot?’

‘Not boiling, but it was sunny. We went to the beach.’

‘God…’ Fern rocked Benji gently, gazing down at him with love, but it was so obvious that she also had the look of someone who longed for a break. ‘I wish I could go. I haven’t been on holiday for years.’

‘Come with me next time,’ Billie said. ‘Luis’s parents wouldn’t mind, and they’ve got tons of room.’

‘That would be so cool!’ Maisie squeaked. ‘I’ve never been on a plane before!’

Fern gave a tight smile and perhaps recognised better than anyone that there was no danger of her or Maisie going to Spain any time soon. Even if there was somewhere for them to stay, they still had flights and taxis and all sorts to pay for, and Zoe knew they were just about breaking even on the house they’d taken on together.

‘Benji is getting so cute,’ Billie said.

Fern brightened at this. ‘Thanks.’

‘He’s like about eight weeks, right?’

‘Almost.’

‘He’s got loads of hair.’

‘I know.’

Billie sniffed. ‘I bet you know who his dad is now, don’t you?’

Zoe stared at Billie, uncertain how to react to such a blunt observation, but Fern only grinned as she looked at her baby and moved back from the door to let them in. ‘I suppose I do. He definitely looks like him.’

‘You said you weren’t going to tell him you’d had a baby,’ Billie continued. ‘Have you changed your mind?’

‘No, but even if I had, the commune is gone, and I don’t know where he is. It’s better that way, to be honest. I don’t think he was ever dad material.’

‘A bit like Ezra’s dad then.’ Billie paused as they stepped inside. ‘Where is Ezra?’

‘He’s asleep,’ Maisie said. ‘Don’t worry, you won’t wake him.’