Free The Baby Group by Rowan Coleman Page A

sure.
    â€˜So what shall we talk about then?’ Natalie said a little chirpily over the silence. ‘Feeding? Nappies and their contents? What do you do at this sort of thing? Compare stretch marks?’
    The doorbell chimed again.
    â€˜Oh, I invited someone else!’ Meg said, clapping her palm to her forehead. ‘I completely forgot! The neighbours over the road – Jill and Steve?’ She looked at Frances. ‘They had a little girl recently. I dropped a note in last night; I thought Jill might want to come. That’ll be her.’
    Frances looked at the five mugs arranged on the tray and slowly got up and fetched another.
    â€˜I’ll have to make another cafetière,’ she said pointedly. ‘Megan never thinks these kinds of things through.’
    But when Meg returned she did not have Jill or anyone who even looked like Jill with her. She had a man with a baby in his arms. A man who just by virtue of his sex immediately reminded Natalie that she had no make-up on again and that her tummy still flopped over the top of her trousers.
    â€˜Well!’ Meg said. ‘This is Steve and little Lucy. It seems that Steve’s a stay-at-home dad!’
    â€˜Really?’ Jess said politely.
    â€˜How interesting,’ Natalie added, sucking her gut in with the remnants of her abdominal muscles.
    â€˜That’s cool,’ Tiff said in a low voice.
    â€˜But you’re a man,’ Frances said. ‘Men can’t come to a mothers’ group. It’s women only, I’m afraid.’
    It was Meg who took baby Lucy from Steve’s arms and sat the poor blushing man down before giving him back his daughter and pouring him a cup of coffee.
    â€˜Of course Steve’s allowed!’ Meg said as lightly as she could. ‘Ours isn’t a formal group – it’s more of a casual gathering and anyway I think I saw on the local news that Stoke Newington is the capital of stay-at-home fathers, so I’m sure that men are allowed to go to even organised meetings. This is the age of equality, after all!’
    Natalie and Jess murmured in agreement.
    â€˜But she said she wanted to talk about breast feeding and compare stretch marks,’ Frances said, nodding at Natalie. ‘You can’t do that with a man around!’
    â€˜Don’t worry, Frances ,’ Natalie said, carefully enunciating the other woman’s name. ‘I was only joking. It’s just nice to get out of the house. We can talk about football for all I care.’
    â€˜I don’t have to stay,’ Steve said, half rising in his chair.
    Three women ushered him back down. One didn’t and one teenager stared quite hard at the table top and wished she’d stayed in to watch This Morning .
    â€˜You’ll laugh,’ Steve said. ‘But I’ve been wondering and wondering all morning about coming over. Jill said I was an idiot to worry and that of course you wouldn’t mind, but I thought – a bunch of girls together – you won’t want a man hanging round.’ He smiled apologetically at Frances, whose face did not move a muscle. Steve, who had sandy hair and pleasant brown eyes, also seemed to have a treacherous complexion as he flushed perfectly pink once again. ‘Jill earns the most money, you see, as a barrister. And I’ve started working from home as a freelance graphic designer. It made sense for me to give up my old job, it was something I’ve wanted to do for ages anyway – go solo. I like being a full-time dad, I don’t think it’s undermining my manhood or anything. I think I’m privileged actually, to be such a big part of Lucy’s life so early. So many dads miss out on this bit.’
    The women did not actually say ‘Ahhhhh,’ but all of them thought it. Even Frances was touched.
    â€˜Well, good for you,’ Natalie said. ‘Fancy a slice of ginger cake?’
    â€˜Or what about a freshly