Page 23 of The Baby Plan

The baby giggled and waved her arms in excitement.

“I don’t know...” Sophie, tried to swiftly think of a plausible excuse as to why she and Alana couldn’t possibly go to the beach.

They were interrupted by a furious Helena at the kitchen door. “The truck’s full of boxes and bags,” she huffed.

“Sorry!” Sophie got up immediately. “That’s my stuff. It was late when I got back so I didn’t unload it — I’ll do it now.”

“You let her borrow your truck?” asked Helena incredulously, her eyes flashing dangerously.

“She was clearing out her flat. I thought she might need the extra space.”

“You never let me borrow your truck!”

“You’ve never asked me if you can borrow my truck.”

“Because I know you wouldn’t let me!”

Sophie wished the ground would open up and swallow her whole, or that at least everyone would stop talking about her like she wasn’t there.

Finally, Samson recalled Sophie’s presence. “It won’t take me two minutes to empty it,” he said, ending the argument.

“I can do it,” said Sophie, lamely.

“It’s all right,” Samson said, giving her a reassuring smile. “You watch Alana.”

He left to unpack the truck. Helena stayed and glared at Sophie from the doorway. Sophie ignored her and chatted to Alana as she cleaned the little girl up.

It didn’t take Samson long to clear the truck and to call out, “All done, let’s get going!”

Helena spun around and stomped off, not saying anything to Sophie.

“Well, she was a delight, wasn’t she?” muttered Sophie to Alana, not quite under her breath enough she worried, when she heard Samson say, “We’re off then. Call if you need anything.” He was standing in the doorway, and she was sure she could see a little frown on his face which he quickly tried to hide.

“Great, have fun!” mumbled Sophie, again not daring to meet his eyes in case she started blushing even more than she already was.

* * *

Sophie had a quick shower with Alana watching her from her bouncer and then set about trying to decide what she and her niece would do for the day. She figured they both deserved a bit of fun but was there truly much you could do with an eight-month-old? Would it be worth taking her to the aquarium? She knew part of her reluctance was caused by the fact that she wouldn’t have Samson with her and she’d been excited about spending the day with him, not solely because it would be easier to look after Alana with another adult around, but because she was enjoying his company. Having said that, from a practical point of view, there was no way she was going to attempt to take Alana swimming without help. And she was also absolutely determined to stay well away from the beach.

Maybe it didn’t need to be a full day out, which, to be honest, she’d never done with Alana before and would mean messing terribly with her routine, but something different and exciting enough to show Samson she could manage everything, and that she and Alana could do perfectly well without him.

Sophie decided she’d start small and take Alana to the park she’d spotted a couple of days before. They’d come back for Alana’s nap and lunch, and then maybe head out somewhere else. She could use the time while her niece slept to send some emails to businesses she thought might be interested in her accounting services.

She got Alana ready and checked the changing bag was fully stocked and contained everything she could possibly need. It didn’t, so she had to repack. She suspected Samson had ‘borrowed’ things the day before and hadn’t replaced them.

Finally, they were ready to go. It was overcast but wasn’t supposed to rain. Sophie packed Alana’s raincoat and the buggy’s rain cover just in case, as well as a sunhat and sunblock.

The park was surprisingly busy when they reached it, full of mums with their babies. Presumably, a lot of them dropped older children off at school and then took the little ones to have a run around in the playground. Sophie almost turned right around and went home. All the mothers seemed older than her and to know each other and were chatting in little groups. They also universally gave the appearance of knowing what they were doing with their children. But Alana spotted the swings and started bouncing up and down in her pram with excitement. Sophie didn’t have the heart to upset her niece by heading home without at least letting her have a little go.

Sophie parked the buggy by the entrance to the playground and lifted Alana out. There was a baby swing free and she popped Alana in, before becoming suddenly petrified she would topple out. She debated taking her out again but anticipated a major meltdown if she did. She gave the swing a tentative push and Alana’s face broke out into a grin, making Sophie’s heart lift: it was moments like this which made her think maybe she wasn’t doing such a bad job after all.

The swing next to Alana’s became available and a tall young woman with short, curly brown hair brought her grizzling, chubby little boy over to use it. He had the same hair as his mum and was a little older than Alana from what Sophie could tell.

As soon as his mother started to push the swing the boy began to cheer up and Sophie heard his mother mutter, “Thank goodness for that.”

Sophie turned to look at her, and the woman smiled back.

“It’s been one of those mornings,” she explained.

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