Agnes stood and folded her arms. ‘Oh, Elsie. We told you to put the dead pilot down as the father. What were you thinking?’
‘Is it such a problem?’ Elsie stammered, sinking down into a chair opposite the two women.
‘Well of course it is; what are you, stupid?’ Ada retorted. ‘He’s your husband—he has to give his consent! It would have been easier just to have left the father’s name blank. I’ve got all the paperwork here, but it’s useless now you’ve gone and messed up the birth certificate.’
‘I thought you said we had to legally wait six weeks.’
‘Don’t backchat me, Miss,’ Ada yelled.
Agnes sighed and glanced at the old grandfather clock. ‘We’ll have to go first thing tomorrow now, we won’t get there before closing today.’ She turned to Ada. ‘Can we complete any of the other forms now?’
Ada’s angry brow rose in exasperation. ‘We can fill in one or two, but I can’t process it without the birth certificate. Honestly.’ She sat down and pulled a leather bag onto her lap, then removed a large bundle of papers. ‘Right, sit down,’ she directed. ‘I’ll need to take all the details, read you the Adoption of Children memorandum, then get you to sign the forms.’
Elsie nodded, taking a brief glance at her daughter sleeping silently in the pram beside her. As with so much of Christina’s short life so far, she was entirely oblivious to the situation and life into which she had been born. ‘And then that’s it?’ Elsie asked. ‘Kath is just given the baby and I walk away?’
Agnes looked across at her. ‘Well, yes. She’s not your baby, Elsie. She never could have been after your terrible lapse. Besides, I thought that you wanted to get back to the WAAF.’
Elsie wanted that more than anything. She burned inside to leave this house and never to return, frankly. But could she just walk away, leaving Christina behind?
‘I’d like to have her baptised,’ Elsie said.
‘Well, you can’t,’ Ada stated bluntly.
‘Why not? Other girls have done it,’ Elsie replied.
‘They were single—you’re married,’ Agnes retorted incredulously. ‘There’s no way you’re getting her baptised and that’s that.’
‘Can we get on with the forms now?’ Ada demanded.
The paperwork took almost an hour to complete, after which time Elsie took to her room under the guise of needing rest. Once ensconced in her bedroom, she hauled the two suitcases out from under her bed and began to pack so that she could make a swift departure once the birth certificate had been amended in the morning.
Having swiftly completed the packing, Elsie stood back and smiled at the suitcases; with the exception of her wash bag, she was ready to go. Opening her door, she padded down the hallway to the bathroom, tossed her toothbrush and flannel into her wash bag and headed back to her bedroom. The low murmur of conversation filtering up from the front door made her pause. The words were muffled, indistinct but with the definite tone of agitation. Elsie moved to the top of the stairs and craned her head over the banisters. She could distinguish the words ‘resting’ and ‘another time.’ It was Ada who was speaking with somebody outside. The words were lost but Elsie recognised the other voice: it belonged to Susie. She quickly scrambled down the stairs, just as Ada was pushing the door shut.
‘Wait!’ Elsie exclaimed. ‘Susie!’
Ada held the door in place. ‘You should be resting, not flying down the stairs like some wild dog, for goodness’ sake.’
‘Open the door,’ Elsie demanded. ‘Susie, you can come in.’
Ada reluctantly opened the door, then skulked off towards the sitting-room. Susie stood bashfully in the doorway. ‘Sorry,’ she mouthed.
Elsie rushed to her and pulled her into an embrace, sagging into her arms. ‘Oh, it’s so nice to see you, Susie.’ She lowered her voice to a whisper. ‘Some sanity, at last.’
Susie held onto her for a moment, then released her. ‘Golly, things must be mad around here if I’m the sane one,’ she said softly.
‘Come in—come up to my room,’ Elsie implored, reaching for Susie’s hand and almost dragging her up the stairs.
Inside her bedroom, Elsie shut the door, lifted the suitcases from her bed and sat down. ‘Sit,’ she ordered, patting the bed beside her. ‘I want to hear all your news and salacious gossip. Everything.’
Susie laughed, tossing back her blonde hair. ‘Tell me about you first. How was the birth? How’s the baby—if you don’t mind me asking?’
Elsie shrugged. ‘It all went okay—a bit of a blur now, really. My mother-in-law delivered it. All I can remember is her big red rubber apron and a horrendous pain down below that felt like I was trying to pass a small rhino.’
Susie laughed. ‘What was it?’
‘Oh, a girl. Christina.’
‘And what’s going to happen to her?’ Susie asked tenderly.
‘Kath—my sister-in-law—is going to adopt her.’
Susie’s face contorted into sympathy. ‘And is that what you want?’
Elsie paused when she thought she heard a low creaking outside in the hallway. She spoke quietly, deliberately. ‘I don’t have a choice, do I? I’m married.’
‘But haven’t you grown fond of the little thing?’ Susie probed.
Elsie kept her feelings and emotions towards Christina compartmentalised, locked away in a mental chest. At least, that was how she imagined it. With the ending of their relationship being so inevitable and so ghastly, this was the only way to dilute the natural connection between her and the child. If she didn’t become attached, then she couldn’t mourn the loss. But the reality had been so much harder to bear. Elsie began to sob quietly. ‘I just need to get away from here and start my life again.’
‘Oh, Elsie,’ Susie said, placing
