Page 83 of The Village Midwife
‘All right.’ He turned back to Billie. ‘What do you think? Anything catching your eye in the discount section?’
Billie shrugged as she looked over the sale models.
‘This one’s nice,’ Zoe said, going over to the one with the buttermilk lacquer, hoping to encourage some sort of reaction from Alex’s daughter.
‘It’s fine,’ Billie said. She wandered over and stared at it for a moment.
‘It’s a good price,’ Zoe added. ‘They’ve knocked a lot off.’
‘Yeah.’ Alex rubbed at his chin as he looked it over. ‘I know she said end of line and there’s nothing wrong with them, but this is an important buy, and I’d rather pay a bit more and know that we’re getting something without faults.’
‘It looks fine to me,’ Zoe said with an encouraging smile, trying to facilitate some middle ground between him and his daughter.
Alex glanced up at her. ‘You think so? I mean, if you say it looks all right…’
‘But Billie is the one who has to decide,’ Zoe added. ‘Like you say, it’s important to pick the right one.’
‘They’re only going to sleep in it,’ Billie reiterated. ‘It doesn’t really matter.’
‘They sleep a lot,’ Zoe reminded her. ‘And as they grow, they’ll wriggle about, and then they’ll be messing with bits, and then they’ll learn how to stand up and they’ll be trying to climb out. You have to have a lot of confidence in your cot – it’s not just a place to sleep; it’s like a little containment unit when you can’t watch them.’
Alex smiled. ‘I never thought of it that way. See, it’s good that you came with us.’
‘The girl said they’re all safe,’ Billie put in. ‘So it still doesn’t matter which one we have because they’ll all protect the baby.’
‘So choose one,’ Alex said with the faintest hint of impatience in his voice now.
‘I am,’ Billie fired back. ‘I’m saying it doesn’t matter – they’re all the same.’
‘Then pick the one you like?’ Zoe said. ‘You must have some sort of preference.’
Alex smoothed his expression and turned back to Zoe. ‘Which one would you buy if it was for you?’
Zoe steeled herself. She walked the row of reductions, not wanting to lead him to something he might feel was out of his price range, considering each one. But then her eye was drawn to something that she knew most would consider old-fashioned, varnished in mahogany and dressed in floral cot bumpers. She went over and ran a hand over the fabric. ‘We had one like this,’ she said quietly. ‘Second-hand, given to us by Ritchie’s cousin. He wanted to take it to the tip and buy a new one and not tell her, but I liked it. I thought it was perfect.’
When she looked up, both Alex and Billie were staring at her with very different expressions. Billie looked sorry and sad while Alex looked as if he wanted the ground to swallow him.
‘Not that it matters,’ she added quickly. ‘We’re choosing for you, aren’t we, Billie?’ She hurried to another, far brighter and more modern cot and stood over it. ‘This is nice and sturdy. A good price too.’
Billie came over to look. ‘It’s all right.’ She undid the section that slid up and down to access the baby and pushed and pulled at it. And then she flicked at the bumpers. ‘Do you have to buy all this other stuff as well?’
‘I would,’ Zoe said. ‘You don’t have to get any of it now, but at some point, you might want to. When baby starts to move more, they might bump their head on the bars.’
‘We should get everything today,’ Alex said. ‘Then we’ve got it when we need it. Plus, it will save us another drive out – we might be a lot busier than we are now in a few months.’
‘OK,’ Billie said. ‘I’ll have this one then.’
‘You don’t want to look at any of the others?’
She shook her head. ‘Zoe says this one is good.’
‘But if you want to choose something—’ Zoe began, but Billie was already walking away to look at soft furnishings.
Zoe glanced at Alex. He watched his daughter for a moment and then turned back to Zoe.
‘I’m so sorry.’
‘For what?’
