Page 74 of Seashells at The Summer Hotel Lovely Bay
‘She seems to be changing by the day to me.’
Birdie nodded. ‘Yeah, it feels like that. She still lookssotiny to me. Her little eyelashes…’
‘Yep.’
‘Ready for a nice sit down and a cup of tea?’
‘Thought you’d never ask.’
42
Nina smiled at Nancy as she pushed the pram into Lovely Bay station. She was about to get on a train to London to head over to her old flat to do some packing up. Or at least that was what she’d first told herself and anyone else who’d asked. Underneath the ruse that she was going to the flat to declutter and pack, she knew why she was really going. She watched as Nancy dealt with a trainspotter and pointed over to the other side of the station where the moveable platform had a gathering of enthusiasts waiting for it to do its thing. Nancy finished helping the trainspotter, clipped her keys onto her belt, made her way over to Nina and kissed her on the cheek. ‘All good with you? The train is on time, which is a good start.’
‘Yes, good. You?’
‘I’m well enough. We had a vomiting child on the platform this morning. That’s about the highlight of my day so far. Oh, and a man left a brand new iPhone in the toilet, which I’m going to sell on the Lovely Bay community page,’ Nancy joked. ‘What about you?’
‘I can probably raise you on vomiting. Though, mine is baby sick, so I don’t quite think that’s the same.’ Nina bantered. ‘I’ll make an offer on the iPhone.’
Nancy laughed and then peeked into the pram. ‘Aww, so sweet. Look at her.’
‘I know. She’s such a little darling.’
‘You look more happy and content and in love now than you did when you met our Robby and that’s saying something.’ Nancy noted.
‘I feel it. I really do. I’m in a lovely haze… topped with broken nights and baby milk.’
Nancy smiled warmly. ‘Well, you deserve every bit of happiness, you know.’
‘I've come a long way, haven't I?’
‘I should say so! You really have.’
‘Remember that first day I arrived and you told me about the boat not running on Friday lunchtimes.’
Nancy burst out laughing. ‘You had everything organised and said you’d taken note of the times on the website. I rolled my eyes so far to the back of my head…’
‘I did. Now I know how Lovely really runs.’
‘You do. Too funny.’ Nancy agreed, glancing at the pram again. ‘So, you're off to the flat, then?’
‘Yep. I hope I’m going to be able to navigate the trains with the pram.’
‘You’ll be fine.’
The announcement for Nina's train echoed through the station and Nancy flipped her wrist to look at her watch. ‘Here we go. Have a safe trip. Text me if you need anything.’
‘Will do. See you later.’
As the train approached and she pushed the pram through the doors, Nina manoeuvred it into the carriage. Everything took on new meaning when travelling with Faye and Nina couldn’t believe how tricky it was to get the pram on and off the train. She wondered what it must have been like before things were more wheelchair and pram friendly.
She wedged the pram into a gap, locked the wheels, felt quite relieved that Faye was sound asleep and sat down. She pulled her changing bag around, lifted up the flap and for what felt like the four hundredth time checked its contents. She had a changing bag set up and ready to go at all times—one in use and one perfectly packed, ready for any scenario, including a change of top for herself, clean muslins, nappies, and everything else in between. She might have less time to herself than she’d ever had and was not enjoying the sleepless nights but she was still top of the class at organising her life. At least she thought she was.
As the train pulled away from Lovely Bay station, she sat back in her seat, kept one hand on the pram and just sat and watched the countryside flying past the window. After changing trains to the express service, it hadn’t taken too long to get to London. Deciding to forgo the underground, she wheeled the pram out of the huge old Victorian station and managed the bus easily with the pram. Before she knew it, she found herself outside her old flat. She stood at the entrance on the street and looked up realising that getting up with the pram was going to be quite the expedition. Now she knew why prams were often left in the foyer.
Bumping the pram backwards up the steps she popped it under the stairs, lugged the changing bag onto her shoulder and picked up Faye. As she got to the top of the stairs, she could hear Mrs Gilbert, her neighbour’s radio blaring out Radio 4. All of a sudden, Mrs Gilbert’s door opened, and she stood there, blinked a few times, and shook her head. ‘Oh, Nina! It’s you. I haven’t seen you forsucha long time. I was just thinking about you the other day and wondering what you were up to. Howareyou?’
‘I’m good, thank you. Yes, really good. How are you?’
