Free The Promise by Lesley Pearse

damp eyes glowing with delight. ‘I know Mog is going to be thrilled, but I’m not so sure about Garth, he’ll need some time to get used to the idea.’
    ‘We’ll tell them when you shut the bar for the afternoon,’ Belle said. She knew Mog would never let on she knew already.
    ‘And now I’ve got to go back in that bar and act like nothing momentous has happened?’ Jimmy asked. ‘I’d like to go in there and announce it to everyone, but that isn’t really the done thing, is it?’
    ‘No,’ Belle said, smiling at his boyish enthusiasm. Pregnancy was something men didn’t mention or comment on outside their own family, not even when it was completely obvious. The most they would ever say was ‘She’s in the family way’, and only then when there was some very good reason to speak out. Yet for all that, Belle had noticed that the roughest of men were more courteous and kindly to pregnant women. ‘If you do you’ll just embarrass them.’
    ‘They never mind wetting a baby’s head though,’ Jimmy chuckled. ‘And they all pat the new father on the back like he’s done the cleverest thing in the world. He’ll boast about his new son, then promptly ignore him until he’s old enough to be useful.’
    ‘I know you’ll never be that kind of father.’ Belle patted his cheeks affectionately. ‘I’m banking on you sharing everything with me, even changing napkins. So get down to the bar again and smile, but say nothing.’
    ‘I love you, Mrs Reilly,’ he said as he turned to go back to the bar.
    ‘And I love you too, Mr Reilly,’ she called after him.
    As Belle got dressed she thought on Jimmy’s last remark about men boasting about their new son, and then ignoring him until he was old enough to be useful. He had often spoken disapprovingly of men who came into the bar every night, without a thought for their wives and children at home.
    They had both seen women on a Friday night waiting outside the pub door with a baby in their arms, here and in Seven Dials, trying to catch their husbands and get their wages from them before they spent it all. Many saw nothing wrong in beating their wives, treating them like mere chattels.
    Jimmy’s father had deserted his mother while he was still a baby and he knew how hard it was for a woman to raise a child alone. Perhaps this was why he was so sensitive to women’s needs. He had always been very protective of Belle, understanding when she was tired, willing to do anything to help her. Now she was having his baby, she knew she could rely on his strength to keep her safe, and on his sense of humour to lift her spirits, and with him beside her she wouldn’t be scared of childbirth. Perhaps too he would even help her shake off the memories of Miranda’s ordeal. But above all she knew the baby would never want for love and affection. They were going to be a happy family, Jimmy would play cricket and sail boats on the pond with their child, he’d tell him or her bedtime stories, kiss sore knees better, soothe bad dreams; in fact he’d be the kind of father that both she and Jimmy wished they’d had. How lucky she was!
    After the bar was closed for the afternoon, Jimmy and Garth joined Mog and Belle in the kitchen for a cup of tea and some cake.
    They had hardly sat down at the table when Jimmy blurted it out. ‘We’re going to have a baby,’ he said, without any lead-up. ‘Belle told me just a couple of hours ago.’
    Garth’s reaction to the news was not as they had both expected. He got up from the table and did a little jig around the room, whooping with delight. For a big man he was light on his feet, but he still looked and sounded a little ridiculous.
    ‘That is the best news ever,’ he said, giving Jimmy a slap on the shoulder that would have knocked a smaller man down. ‘Not that I’ve had much dealing with babies. I used to hold you sometimes of course, but that was a long time ago. Hope it’s a girl, don’t know that we want another