Page 30 of The Baby Plan

Alana was thrilled to see her father. She squealed in delight at the sight of him, bouncing up and down in her buggy until he released her from it, twirled her round in the air and enveloped her in a hug, to her huge delight.

Traitor, thought Sophie, though she had to admit they were very sweet together.

“It’s time for Alana’s sleep now, isn’t it?” Samson asked politely.

“Yes, did you want to take her up?”

“If you don’t mind, I’d love to. Why don’t you put the kettle on? I need to talk to you if you’ve got time?”

“Of course,” Sophie said, following his lead with overstated civility, though the last thing she wanted to do was hear excuses for Helena’s behaviour again.

She went into the kitchen and made them both a cup of tea. Samson joined her as she finished. She handed him his mug and then sat opposite him at the table. Let the battle commence.

“I owe you an apology,” he said immediately. “I was too quick to take Helena’s side.”

Sophie’s heart leapt, but she managed to stay silent, waiting for him to continue.

“I guess I couldn’t believe she’d be capable of treating Alana the way she did. It’s incomprehensible she’d have so little patience, or that she wouldn’t call me and ask for help if Alana was upset and she wasn’t able to manage. But I should have supported you more. You love Alana and were upset, I should have listened to you. You wouldn’t get carried away about something like that, I know.”

“What made you change your mind?” Sophie asked.

“Helena’s story about what happened didn’t sit right last night when I was talking to her and trying to calm her down. The details kept changing. I couldn’t sleep thinking about it, and then I had it out with her this morning.”

“Wow,” said Sophie quietly, relief flooding through her. She hadn’t realised how tense and upset the fact Samson hadn’t taken her seriously had made her, above and beyond her anger at Helena.

“She still doesn’t see she’s done anything wrong, but the little she’s told me gave me enough to fill in the gaps. I won’t have someone like that around Alana. We talked for a long time and it was clear she doesn’t see Alana as becoming a major part of her life, so... we broke up.”

“Oh,” Sophie said, unsure of what else to say. She didn’t want Samson to think she was completely unsympathetic if he was upset, but at the same time, she couldn’t help but be happy about the turn of events. “Are you all right?”

“I think so,” he admitted. “We were never particularly well-suited to be honest, and it had to be done. We couldn’t have a future together with her not willing to fully include Alana in that. I ought to have spoken to Helena properly about things before, about how Alana would affect us, but I was putting it off, hoping she’d get used to Alana, and some buried maternal instinct would kick in.”

“Alana is pretty adorable — it wasn’t a completely stupid idea...”

“Well, it didn’t work, but at least I know now. And I am so sorry my... experiment backfired on you and Alana. I didn’t think for one moment anything bad would happen. It must have been horrible for you to come home to find Alana so upset.”

“It was,” admitted Sophie. “I can’t comprehend how Helena could leave her like that.”

Samson shook his head as if trying to rid his mind of the thought.

“And then when I tried to tell you what had happened, and you took Helena’s side...”

“That was terrible of me,” he said sincerely. He got up and walked around the table. “Come here,” he said, taking her hand. Sophie stood up, and Samson drew her into a hug. Sophie was taken a little by surprise, and her heart started beating double time at his proximity.

“This has all been a huge change for us, and it’s going to be tough at times. But you and I, we have to be a team. Team Alana,” he said gently.

Sophie struggled to contain tears of relief which threatened to pour down her face. She was so glad Helena was now out of the picture. Samson’s words had acted to reassure her that he saw her as a partner in bringing up her niece, and respected her.

“I need to make a couple of phone calls, but I’ll get Alana up from her nap at four. I thought I’d take her to the supermarket with me,” said Samson.

“She’ll like that.”

“I was going to make some seriously delicious salmon for dinner if you’ll join me?”

Seeing Sophie hesitate, he continued, “It’s ridiculous us eating separately, and, let’s face it, you admitted yourself that you’re a terrible cook.”

Sophie laughed — she was certainly tempted.

“I’ll get something for pudding . . .” Samson offered.

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