Free Elm Tree Road by Anna Jacobs

way,’ Mrs Totting said. ‘Too many babies would wear anyone down. I had three and that was enough for me.’
    ‘Thank you. Cliff says he’s going to use one of those rubber things, though.’
    ‘Don’t rely on that. When they get randy, they forget to take precautions. You take care of yourself as well, like I’ve told you.’
    ‘I will.’
    ‘I reckon you’ll go all right with the birth,’ the midwife said. ‘You’re small but you’re healthy.’
    ‘How can you tell that?’
    The midwife shrugged. ‘You’ve a good colour, your hair’s shiny not dull, there are all sorts of little signs. Who’ll be helping you afterwards?’
    ‘I don’t know anyone, really. We’ve not been here for long.’ And the other women in Willow Court weren’t really her sort. They spoke to her pleasantly, but they were a bit rough.
    ‘Can you afford to pay for help? I know a couple of women who’d welcome a day or two’s work.’
    ‘If you tell my husband it’s needed, he may agree. He’d not do it just to spare me, though. It’d be a waste of beer money, wouldn’t it?’ She couldn’t help feeling bitter about that.
    The midwife grinned, suddenly looking much younger, in spite of her grey hair. ‘I’ll warn him to let you recover properly if he wants other children, not to mention a wife who can keep up with the housework for years afterwards.’
    Cliff grumbled, of course, but he agreed to have someone in for a few days.
    ‘My mother never needed pampering like that,’ he complained after the midwife had left. ‘She didn’t have relatives nearby to look after her, either.’
    ‘And she never looks well, does she? Sometimes your father has to pay one of the neighbours to do the rough work.’
    He looked at her and frowned, but didn’t complain about the coming expenses again.
    She’d feel happier if he’d occasionally say thank you for what she did. She was a good wife to him, she knew. The house was as neat and clean as hard work could make it and they’d settled into a way of life that ensured that Cliff, as breadwinner, was well looked after.
    But he took that as his right.
    The pains started on Sunday morning and Cliff went for Mrs Totting, who came to check and said the baby wouldn’t be born for some hours. ‘First babies usually take their time,’ she said cheerfully as she prepared to leave. ‘I’ll check you tonight, but I reckon it’ll not arrive till tomorrow.’
    Nell looked at her in horror.
    ‘You’ll be all right, love.’
    The pains went on right through the night and Nell began to get worried. Cliff left her to it and went to sleep downstairs in the armchair. She sent Renie to bed, because her sister had to go to work the next day.
    Cliff came up for clean clothes in the morning and she looked at him in dumb misery.
    ‘I dare say you’ll have had it by the time I come home,’ was all he said. ‘I’ll be glad to get this fuss over with.’
    She heard him downstairs, ordering Renie to get his breakfast, then he went off to work as usual, without even calling a goodbye.
    Renie came upstairs with a cup of tea and some toast. ‘Are you going to be all right?’
    ‘Yes. You eat the toast, though. I’m not at all hungry.’
    ‘Do you want me to stay home from work?’
    ‘No. I’ll manage.’ She felt embarrassed at the thought of her seventeen-year-old sister seeing her give birth. Whatif she screamed? What if the neighbours heard? The walls were very thin in these houses.
    Mrs Totting came back just after breakfast, still as cheerful as ever. ‘It’s moving along now. It’ll be born early this afternoon, I should think. Get up and walk around.’
    ‘Is it all right to do that?’
    The midwife looked at her sympathetically. ‘Haven’t you had anyone to talk to about it at all?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘Eh, you poor thing. Well, you’re not sick and it helps the baby if you move about. I know what I’m doing. You’ll be all right. I can’t stay, though. I have other women to