Page 57 of Seashells at The Summer Hotel Lovely Bay
‘I thought maybe I’d do a roast, seeing as it’s pretty much the only thing I can cook very well.’
Nina looked at the time. ‘Isn’t it a bit late for a roast?’ Not that she cared. She could barely even think about food.
‘I thought I would stop and get a chicken and do it with some nice potatoes. Not a full roast as it were, just a roast chicken and maybe a few nice veg. What do you think?’
Nina really couldn’t have cared less about what she had for dinner. ‘Yeah, I don’t mind. Whatever…’
Robby chuckled. ‘Don’t sound too enthusiastic!’
‘Sorry! Just tired. No, roast chicken sounds perfect for me.’
‘I’m not quite up to your standards. I can’t really knock up a quick chowder.’
Nina went to offer to make a chowder then she changed her mind. There was no way, with what was going on in her head, she was going to be cooking anything, let alone a chowder. Suddenly, the thought of preparing food actually turned her stomach. ‘I love a good roast chicken.’
‘Yeah, okay, sorted,’ she heard Robby say. There was a pause and then he spoke again. ‘Are you okay? You’re quiet. Actually, where are you?’
‘I’m in the car,’ Nina replied.
‘Oh, okay. Right. Are you on your way home?’
‘Yes, I am.’
‘Okay then. I’ll stop and get a few bits and then see you in a while.’
Nina nodded and smiled to herself. ‘Yes, I’ll see you at home.’
She pressed the button on her steering wheel and looked up towards the traffic lights. She was more or less sure that Robby wouldn’t just be getting roast chicken that evening; he would most likely also be getting the surprise of his life.
34
From the bathroom window, Nina looked out over the rooftops of Lovely Bay and watched as a low-flying plane crossed a twilight sky while she waited for the third pregnancy test to work. She didn’t really know why she was doing it because as soon as she had driven home and assessed how she felt, she was more than sure that she was pregnant. It all made sense as far as she was concerned. Not that she had any notable symptoms, more that she just felt as if some kind of sixth sense was telling her that, yes, indeed, she was pregnant. The two expired tests had said it, and she now justknewit, too. Stranger things had happened at sea.
She watched the water in the harbour as dappled light glinted on and off its top, and the wind whistled through the trees as she flicked her eyes over towards the rooftops of Lovely Bay. She just stood there, gazing at the lighthouse reaching up into the middle of the sky, unsure what to think about what was going on in her body, as if a miracle had occurred. It whirled around her brain. Pregnant. Having a baby. Being a mum.
In a flash, she was back with Andrew. They were sitting in a little restaurant in the hills just outside a little Greek town in the middle of July. Nina had a glass of wine in her hand and therewas a plate of olives between them. Andrew was pouring from a carafe. Tanned and laughing. Oh, so happy. Sunnies. Smiling. They were talking about what they would call their children. Andrew had always been adamant about a classic name, whereas Nina had fancied something a little bit different. Andrew poured from the carafe and shook his head as she’d conjured up a ridiculous name.
Nina shook her head quickly to rid it of the images. Another time, another life. She looked down at the stick and smiled. There was no way that three of them could be wrong. A window on a plastic stick told her what she already knew.Sleepless nights here I come.
With the stick in her hand, Nina closed her eyes and nodded. Part of her wanted to keep the news to herself for a bit. Almost as if wanted to cherish it, hug it to herself and not let anybody else know, not even Robby. She felt as if she might quite like to just walk around for a few weeks on air with the little secret strapped to her chest.
She wasn’t going to do that. Mostly because she knew that Robby was going to be over the moon. Despite attempting to pull the wool over her eyes that he was fairly laid-back about the whole situation, she knew that deep down he was not. So not. It had been very obvious to Nina, once they’d started discussing it, that it was very important to him.
Finding herself googling 'how to tell someone you are pregnant', she decided she was going to make it a bit of an event rather than just blurt it out while they were having their dinner. She looked down the reams of websites that had come up on the search page and started to tap and read as she went downstairs. Curling herself up on the sofa, she read through all sorts. Most of it made her go cold. She wasn’t really up for telling Robby he was going to be a dad by way of a message in his lunchbox at work orspelling it out in pepperoni on a pizza. Wrapping up a tiny pair of shoes. Just no.
Going back upstairs to the bathroom, she decided she’d just come out with it and tell him. She picked up the stick, took it downstairs, walked into the kitchen area and smiled.
‘You okay? How are you feeling?’
‘Really, really, good.’ Nina beamed.
‘Oh, right. Going back to work obviously suits you, then. You did say you were bored.’
‘I don’t think it’s that.’
Robby frowned. ‘Oh, why not?’
‘Close your eyes.’
