CHAPTER 14
The next morning she was singing, some chapel hymn or other, and I couldn’t help but contrast the state Merry was in compared to that of a certain camp-site morning.

“You in pain, aye, making that noise so early?”

“Annie, my sweet, when I compare it to the noises you wrest from that wooden tube of yours, I do believe that I am ahead on more than points, isn’t it?”

“By god, give her a snog and she goes all Valleys!”

Merry blushed, and I felt bad. She was too fragile to push like that, not accustomed to the rough and tumble of the banter I was so used to at work. I gave her a quick hug.

“Love, you know that I don’t mean any harm, aye, it was just that you seemed so happy last night. He’s a really nice man, you can trust me on that one”

She squeezed me back. “And I am an old maid too frightened to play these games, to take those risks, but he has a soul so filled with love of the Lord”

I giggled. “And I do believe you noticed his eyes…what about his bum?”

There was a pause. “Well, I did consider that it was rather suitable for the cracking of walnuts…”

“You strumpet!”

That did it, and she was clinging to me as we let the nerves and her tension dissolve in a gale of laughter. Eric stuck his head round the door, and I just waved him quietly away.

“Merry, here’s the tip, aye? He’s a nice man, we know that, so just go with the flow and see what happens. You never know–EITHER way, aye?”

She lifted her head to look into my eyes, and suddenly she was a little girl.

“He made me feel good about myself, Annie”

“And so you should, Miriam. You are a pearl, aye, and he has spotted that. But, walk first. You have a week at least in which to see how things go, so no hurry. Now, breakfast, then we need to pay a visit to a friend.”

Now, sometimes there are coincidences, sometimes those coincidences are so closely connected that I almost believe in a god–and this was one, as the phone rang.

“Hello, can I help you?”

“Annie!”

“Morning, Den!”

“Annie, her water’s broken!”

“Shit. Ambulance called?”

“Aye! Will you come, Crawley?”

“Be there soon as, Den. Anything you need?”

“No, got her travel bag, just need someone to stop me shitting myself, like”

“See you there. Now, get off the phone just in case, aye?”

I hung up.

“Eric! Baby’s on way!”

Merry gave me an odd look, and I could see her brain turn a partial somersault before landing right way up.

“Whose, Annie?”

“That friend I just mentioned. Would you mind driving us? I have a few calls to make”

I quickly pulled on some jeans and a sweat shirt, and as Eric directed Merry I rang the Woods and then Kate, followed by the nick. Sam had the duty that morning and undertook the job of sorting all the admin crap out. Eric got Merry to drop me at the door before taking her round to the staff car park, and I was swept up by a trembling Geordie giant.

“What do I do, Annie?”

“Let me breathe, for a start!”

Twenty minutes later, the others were with us with cups of tea and chocolate biscuits, Kirsty in a side cubicle as the contractions got closer together. Eric ran a shuttle service between the couple and us up until the moment they were about to wheel Kirsty into the delivery room. That was when Naomi came running in.

“You may or may not want this, my dear, but it is yours for as long as you need it”

She held a digital video camera out to Dennis, and he suddenly burst into tears before kissing her and disappearing after his wife.

Three hours….endless canteen teas, all possible newspapers read, crosswords finished, archaeological examination of the more recent strata of magazines in the waiting room. Fitful dozing on Eric’s shoulder. Microwaved pasties. Strolls outside through the haze of smoke from the illiterate addicts, and calls to Ginny, and the nick, and Simon (“I’ll be right down”, and he was). Three hours, and then a very drawn and tired-looking Sergeant Armstrong was with us. I couldn’t read his face at all, and then suddenly he grinned.

“I–we--have a son!”

I think that our reaction can be guessed at, and he was swaying gently like a birch in a breeze as handshakes and kisses rained on him. Merry was the first to ask the obvious question.

“How is your wife?”

“Dennis, sorry, but Merry is right. How is Kirst?”

“Even more tired than me, Annie. But we have a boy, and…look. This might not be the best thing to ask, like, but…would you mind, would you be upset if we called him Adam?”

That creased me up, and the tension went out of me as laughter. “Annie would be silly, aye? Of course you can, and I know how you mean it, aye? Dennis Armstrong, we love you, and I am particularly flattered that you honour me this way. Thank you, really”

Eric was smiling happily, and I noticed in passing, out of the corner of my eye, not peeking, no spying, that Simon had hugged Merry at the news. It seemed he was a lot more confident in his approach than she was, but I saw that she wasn’t exactly pulling away. I gave Den another kiss on the stubble of his cheek.

“Den, love, you have a family to check up on. We will be here for a while, just tell us what you need.”

“Work sorting…”

“Done. Sam’s on the case.”

“Then a lift home at some point. Apparently I can’t stay here”

Simon held up his hand. “No problem, Dennis”

“They’ve given me this list of stuff, like, that we’ll need at home for when she gets out”

Merry held out her own hand. “Simon and I will sort out what you need, Dennis. I will drive my family home, and then we shall sort out what is needed for your own family”

He looked even more dazed, a stupid smile playing on his lips.

“Family…”

Simon led him away, and I looked across at Merry. “You and Simon will sort it out?”

She didn’t blush, much, but the nerves were clear. “I will change my life, Annie, if He is willing. What clearer signs could He send me?”

A few days later, Kirsty was allowed home, and Merry did the honours there as well. Christmas was so nearly upon us, and the shops were heaving, but vicar and cousin had managed to source all that was needed for the new family. I gathered that Simon had sources available to him other than Mothercare or Boots the Chemist, but there were no complaints, and I made sure to call by the Armstrongs’ as soon as she was home.

“Hiya, Ruthy! How’s the front bottom?”

“Fucking sore, Sarn’t Price! Come on in!”

She was sat up in bed, a blanket laid round her shoulders, and as Den busied himself with tea and stuff I looked at the small form clamped to her left nipple.

“Annie Jessica Price, meet Dennis Adam Armstrong. Takes after his dad, yeah, a real tit man already”

I handed her the flowers I had brought, and she kissed me.

“Den shown you the video yet? Bit fucking gory! Never realised how much blood and shit there is when you sprog”

I smiled, but the pain was back. “Possibly not my sort of film, Kirst”

“Shit, mate, didn’t mean it like that! Sorry, but…look, love, please take this as I mean it, and I know other sods have said the same thing, yeah, but I can’t hardly remember you as Adam, yeah? You just so right, and stuff, just so, fuck, so Annie, yeah? So, you know what I mean. Anyway, you’re a godmother now”

“Pardon?”

“Yeah, I know, gotta get the church bit out of the way, but it’s true. You saved my Den, you saved me and my family, yeah, this kid has to know who his mates are. You are family, Annie, we are the fucking Borg, yeah?”

She started to laugh at that, but her stitches must have pulled and she winced.

“Here, woman, grab hold of your godson for a bit, I need a piss”

She settled the half-sleeping bundle into my arms and gingerly slid out of the bed before walking bandy-legged to the bathroom. I settled little Dennis Adam into the crook of my arm, and he burped gently. His hands were clenching and unclenching, and his head started to butt against my left breast, which was when Kirsty returned. She watched for a few moments, as little hands sought to find the magic fountain, and then she gently took him back.

“See, mate? No way you have ever been a bloke. He can tell!”