Page 19 of The Baby Plan

She hurried back to her bedroom, and settled into bed, grateful Samson wasn’t in the room next door but was much further up the hall. It would be very strange to be able to hear him moving around as he prepared for the night.

She lay down and tried to get to sleep, but it was too quiet without Alana’s snufflings beside her. She’d only just got used to Alana’s night-time noises and to sleeping in the same room as a baby, and now it was suddenly all change again. She hoped this change was very much for the good.

Chapter 6

Now that she was no longer living in it, Sophie was anxious to get on with clearing out Natasha’s flat. She didn’t have a great deal of time before she needed to hand the keys back to the council, and she felt the job was hanging over her. Also, she didn’t have any work lined up at the moment, but hopefully would soon, so this seemed like the ideal opportunity to get on with the task.

She was out of bed early the following morning and in the shower before Alana woke up: there was no way she was facing Samson at the breakfast table in her pyjamas and with unbrushed teeth.

Samson looked gorgeously ruffled when he emerged as she was preparing a bottle for a rather grumpy Alana.

“Would you like me to take her?” asked Samson, stretching and showing a hint of toned, tanned stomach when his T-shirt rode up. Sophie handed Alana over gratefully but without words. She was feeling rather warm for some reason.

“Can I give her the bottle?” Samson asked.

“Certainly.” Sophie handed him the ready formula. “Would you like a cup of tea?”

“Absolutely.”

Sophie pottered around Samson’s kitchen making them both drinks and then toast with butter and marmite. It all felt very ’happy families’, but surreal. Only the morning before she’d been living in a tiny council flat coping with a newly acquired baby completely by herself.

“What are you up to today?” Samson asked.

“I’m going to tackle Natasha’s flat. The sooner it’s done, the sooner I can hand the keys back and sort out my own place I guess.”

“Would you like some help?” Samson asked immediately. “It sounds like a big job to do by yourself. And an upsetting one...”

“I’ll be OK,” she said automatically, although, all of a sudden, what she wanted was for Samson to be with her and not to be alone going through her sister’s things. “Maybe you could watch Alana for a while?”

“Alana and I can come with you. She’ll be fine if we take a few bits for her to play with, and her old cot will be there for her nap. And anything you want to keep, you can store down in the cellar here — there’s plenty of room. Please let me help. I’m not comfortable with you doing this by yourself.”

“Thank you,” said Sophie honestly, feeling a huge weight lift. It would still be a horrible thing to do, but she already knew it would be made easier by having Samson there. She’d be less likely to wallow too if she had someone else with her and it would get it all over with quicker.

Once they’d finished breakfast, they loaded up Samson’s battered pick-up truck with cleaning supplies and Sophie grabbed anything she suspected they’d need for Alana. Samson found a few boxes in his loft which he thought would be handy for packing things up in.

They set to work as soon as they reached the flat, beginning in the kitchen. The paperwork in the drawer Sophie shoved in a box; she’d need to go through that all properly and check everyone who needed to be notified about Natasha’s death had been. As it seemed Natasha hadn’t cooked much, their work in that room was finished quickly, it was the cleaning of it that took the most time.

The same was true of the minuscule bathroom, and once they’d finished that, they filled up the truck with anything which was to be kept and drove back to Samson’s house. Sophie was tired but glad the majority of the cleaning had been done. One more day would finish the job, and Samson said he and Alana were more than happy to help out again. They’d both been good company, and their presence served to keep Sophie’s spirits up and prevent her becoming too maudlin. Samson had put the radio on as a distraction which helped, and working quickly to keep up with him helped to move things along swiftly.

The next morning, Samson dropped Mutt off with one of his friends so he wouldn’t be left by himself for hours again.

“Hop on in!” Samson called out cheerfully when he returned to pick them up. Learning her lesson from a bored Alana the day before, which had led to the prolonged singing of ‘Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star’ and a lot of pans being banged with wooden spoons, Sophie made sure she brought along plenty of snacks and the dreaded noisy baby walker.

Sophie packed and cleaned while Samson made trips back and forth to the truck and put any rubbish into bags ready to take to the dump. Again, they made a surprisingly good team, though Sophie wasn’t in the mood to talk. It hurt her that nothing in her sister’s flat held any significance to her. None of the mementoes from her sister’s travels which Natasha had scattered about her home meant anything to Sophie. She didn’t have a favourite mug Natasha would always make her coffee in when she visited, or a best spot on the sofa in the sitting room when they watched a movie together. The only things she was anxious to keep were anything she felt Natasha had chosen especially for Alana.

They moved into the bedroom and looked around. “I’ll take the cot to the dump along with the bed if you like?” Samson suggested.

“The bed can go, but I’ll keep hold of the cot.”

“But she’s got a cot at my house.”

“Yes, but we don’t know how long we’re going to be staying with you,” Sophie replied automatically. “It’s silly to get rid of a perfectly good cot.”

“It seems a bit rickety to me,” responded Samson, giving it a tug. In fairness, it did wobble more than it should have, but Sophie wasn’t in the mood to be reasonable about this: he was putting down something Natasha had chosen for her daughter. It was probably the cot Alana had slept in all her life.

“I’m keeping it,” Sophie said firmly.

“Where are you going to put it? It’s pretty big.”

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