system!”
“Surprised to see me?” Kelly has bounded up to me, her face shining with excitement and Stila shimmer makeup.
“Kelly!” I fling my drink-free arm around her. I met Kelly in Cumbria, when I was looking for Jess. I was only just pregnant then, and didn’t even know it yet. It seems years ago now.
“Were you really surprised, Bex?” Suze looks at me, her face full of suppressed glee.
“Totally!”
And it’s true. OK, I knew it was happening. But I had no idea anyone would make so much effort! Every time I look around, I notice something else, like the silver “baby” confetti sprinkled over the table, or the little booties hanging from all the pictures….
“You ain’t seen nothing yet,” says Danny, taking a swig of champagne. “OK, everyone, line up, unbutton your jackets, on the count of three…”
I watch, bemused, as they scramble into place, like some kind of motley chorus line.
“One…two…three!”
Everyone, from Mum to Jess to Kelly, flings open their jackets. And underneath they’re all wearing matching Danny Kovitz Tshirts, just like the one he designed for The Look. Except the picture is of a little doll-like pregnant girl. And underneath is the slogan:
SHE’S a YuMMY MuMMY and WE LOVE HER
I can’t speak.
“She’s overwhelmed!” Mum comes bustling up. “Take a seat, love. Have a snack.” She thrusts a platter of tiny Chinese duck pancakes at me. “Waitrose’s own brand. They’re very good!”
“Open your presents,” instructs Suze, clapping her hands. “Then we’ve got party games. Hey, everyone sit down, Bex is going to open her presents….” She heaves all the gift-wrapped parcels into a pile in front of me, then tinkles a fork in her glass. “Now, I have a little speech to make about the presents. Attention!”
Everyone turns expectantly toward Suze and she makes a little bow.
“Thank you! Now, when I was planning this baby shower, I asked Jess what she thought we should buy Becky. And Jess said, ‘There’s nothing left, she’s bought all of London already.’”
There’s the hugest roar of laughter around the room, and I feel my cheeks turn beet-red. OK, maybe I did go a tad overboard. But the point is I had to. I mean, I’ll be far too busy to go shopping after the baby’s born. I probably won’t go near a shop for a year.
“So!” resumes Suze, her eyes sparkling. “Jess suggested we should make things. And that’s what we’ve done.”
They’ve made things?
Oh God, they haven’t all made baby wipes, have they?
“We’ll start with mine.” Suze hands me a rectangular package and I start ripping off the silver paper in slight apprehension.
“Oh, wow,” I breathe as I see what it is. “Wow.”
It’s not baby wipes. It’s an exquisite photo frame, made out of creamy painted wood, with tiny little mirrors and mother-of-pearl set into it. Inside, instead of a photograph, is a cartoon of a stick girl holding a baby in front of a house.
“You can put a picture of the baby in it,” Suze is explaining. “But for now, I’ve drawn a picture of you in front of your new house.”
I look at the picture more closely and can’t help bursting into laughter. The cartoon house has been divided up into rooms and each one given a label. “Pram Room.” “Nappy Room.” “Lipstick Room.” “Visa Bill Room” (in the cellar). “Antiques of the Future Room.”
An Antiques of the Future Room! That’s actually a brilliant idea.
As I open my other presents I’m totally overwhelmed. Kelly’s is a tiny patchwork quilt, with patches contributed by all the lovely friends I made in Scully. Janice’s is a tiny red hand-knitted jumper with Baby’s First Christmas embroidered on the front. Mum’s is the matching Father Christmas hat and booties. Danny’s is the coolest designer distressed romper suit ever.
“Now mine,” says Jess, placing the largest present of the lot in front of me. It’s wrapped in a patchwork of old, crumpled wrapping papers, one of which is printed with the words Happy 2000!
“Be careful taking the paper off!” says Jess as I start to unwrap it. “I can use it again.”
“Er…OK!” Gently I peel the paper away and fold it up. There’s a layer of tissue paper underneath, and I pull it away to see a box about two feet high, made of pale, polished wood. Puzzled, I turn it around to face me — and it’s not a box after all. It’s a little cupboard with double doors and tiny porcelain handles. And Baby’s Shoes carved into the front.
“What—” I look up.
“Open it up.” Jess’s face is shining. “Go on!”
I tug it open, and there are little shelves, sloped and lined with white suede. On one of them is resting the smallest pair of red baseball boots I’ve ever seen.
It’s a little tiny Shoe Room.
“Jess…” I can feel tears welling up. “You made this?”
“Tom helped.” She gives a self-deprecating shrug. “We did it together.”
“But it was Jess’s idea,” chips in Suze. “Isn’t it brilliant? I wish I’d thought of it….”
“It’s perfect.” I’m totally bowled over. “Look at the way the doors fit…and the way the shelves are carved….”
“Tom always was good with his hands.” Janice clamps a hanky to her eyes. “This can be his memorial. We’ll probably never have a tombstone.”
I exchange looks with Mum, who pulls a familiar Janice-has-lost-it expression.
“Janice, I’m sure he’s not dead—” Jess begins.
“We can engrave his dates on the back,” Janice continues. “If you don’t mind, Becky, love.”
“Er…well no,” I say uncertainly. “Of course not.”
“He’s not dead, Janice!” Jess almost yells. “I know he’s not!”
“Well, where is he?” Janice pulls her hanky from her eyes, which are smudgy with mauve eye shadow. “You broke that boy’s heart!”
“Wait!” I suddenly remember. “Jess, I got a package for you this morning. Maybe it’s from him.”
I hurry to the hall and bring back the parcel. Jess rips it open and a CD falls out. On it is written simply “From Tom.”
We all stare at it for a moment.
“It’s a DVD,” says Danny, picking it up. “Put it on.”
“It’s his last will and testament!” cries Janice hysterically. “It’s a message from beyond the grave!”
“It’s not from beyond the grave,” Jess snaps, but as she heads to the DVD player I can see that she’s gone pale.
She presses Play and crouches down on the floor. We all wait in silence as the screen flickers. Then suddenly there’s Tom, facing the camera, against a blue sky. He’s wearing an old green polo shirt and looks pretty disheveled.
“Hi, Jess,” he says momentously. “By the time you see this, I’ll be in Chile. Because…that’s where I am now.”
Jess stiffens. “Chile?”
“Chile?” Janice shrieks. “What’s he doing in Chile?”
“I love you,” Tom’s saying. “And I’ll move to the other side of the world if that’s what it takes. Or farther.”
“Oh, that’s so romantic,” sighs Kelly.
“He’s such a stupid prat,” Jess says, knocking a fist against her forehead. “I’m not going out there for three months!”
But her eyes are glistening, I notice.
