Free The Cold Cold Sea by Linda Huber

remote and silenced the evening film, holding her breath as she listened. The last thing she needed was Hailey up again. The wretched child had woken every hour on the hour all through the previous night - another session like that would be the end of them both. And Jennifer hadn’t even been able to nap while Hailey was sleeping after lunch because there was too much to do, and the babies had spent all afternoon using her bladder as a trampoline. She was exhausted.
    Just thinking about the babies seemed to activate them again; a sudden surge from the inside made tiny circular waves tremble across the surface of the tea she was balancing on her bump. Tiredness forgotten, Jennifer massaged her swollen belly, pleasure warming through her as the answering knock came from within.
    It was amazing. Even now she could hardly believe it, especially after everything that had happened. She was pregnant again. With twins. By the end of November she would have two darling babies to love and treasure and dress in beautiful new baby clothes. Phillip would be so surprised. She had been four and a half months pregnant when he left, but she had kept the news to herself. He would only have made a silly fuss if she’d told him, and there was no need for him to worry - they were all just fine.
    The fact that it was twins seemed to make up for everything. Twice the amount of luck and twice the amount of love. Jennifer laughed aloud. And darling Hailey was right here with her too, and in a funny way that was even more wonderful.
    The monitor remained silent, and Jennifer relaxed back on the sofa. Of course staying at Thea’s ex-farm cottage wasn’t the usual thing for Hailey, and children of that age were creatures of habit when it came to bedtime routines, weren’t they? But this was better than going home to Truro. Long Farm Cottage was miles away from everywhere; they’d have peace and quiet here. Jennifer was only too glad she’d had the key to this place, so even with Thea in Canada she’d been able to bring Hailey straight here yesterday morning. The seclusion was perfect.
    Jennifer smiled happily. It was marvellous having friends when you needed them. She’d phoned Thea earlier that evening when it was mid-afternoon in Toronto, and her friend had believed every word when Jennifer said that she was going to join Phillip in the States and needed a stopping-off place on the way to Heathrow. Just for one night, of course. Phillip and Thea didn’t know each other well enough to start comparing notes on Jennifer’s whereabouts, so she could stay right here at the farmhouse for as long as she needed to.
    The monitor crackled again, and Jennifer rose to her feet. She could
not
go through another night like the last one. Another magic pill was needed. That had worked beautifully yesterday, the child had slept all afternoon while Jennifer collected a carful of necessities from home. So if she gave Hailey the same dose now they should both have a good night.
    She stared at the packet of blue pills. They were indeed magic. They’d helped her through the Black Patch but of course she had stopped taking them as soon as she’d realised she was pregnant again. Now they would help Hailey with... but she didn’t know what was wrong with Hailey.
    It wasn’t just that the child wasn’t sleeping well, she’d been crying, too. Was she feverish? Jennifer could remember her own mother coming to her bedroom at night when she’d had a high temperature saying, ‘Time for the magic medicine.’ Back then it had been a crushed junior aspirin. These weren’t aspirin, but drugs had evolved a lot since her own childhood. You didn’t even need to crush these ones, they were small and easy to swallow.
    Carefully, Jennifer extracted the other half of yesterday’s tablet and took it upstairs with a glass of water. Half a pill was surely alright for a small child. She’d read the leaflet but the dosages were confusingly varied. Hailey was quiet again,