Free Claiming Noah by Amanda Ortlepp Page A

phone call from Doctor Malapi two weeks after the implantation to tell them they were pregnant, from their first and only try at embryo adoption. Diana had wondered how she would feel carrying a child who wasn’t genetically related to her, but as soon as Doctor Malapi told her she was pregnant she knew the baby was hers, in every sense of the word.
    The teachers Diana worked with were thrilled for her. Ever since she started working at the primary school four years earlier, after finishing her teaching degree, she had confided in her colleagues her desire to become a mother. She told them about the pregnancy the day after her twelve-week scan, not able to keep the news to herself any longer. When she entered the staffroom at lunchtime the next day she was greeted with a cake, a novelty-sized card and a roomful of smiling faces.
    â€˜You didn’t have to do this,’ she said as tears blurred her vision.
    The principal stepped forward and handed Diana a knife to cut the cake. ‘It’s the least we could do. We know how hard it’s been for you to fall pregnant. How are you feeling?’
    â€˜I feel great,’ Diana said, taking the knife from her and slicing through the cake, a three-layered sponge decorated with cream and strawberries, a message of congratulations piped in chocolate on the top. And it was the truth. No amount of nausea, swollen ankles, headaches or sleeplessness could detract from the incredible happiness she felt from knowing she was growing a child inside her.
    The principal took the knife from her and finished slicing the cake. ‘I told you it would happen as soon as you stopped thinking about it.’
    Diana smiled, tight-lipped. She wanted to tell them all that her pregnancy was the result of an embryo donation, but she and Liam had decided to tell only their family and closest friends. They had discussed it again the night before, while Liam sat at the table in their cramped kitchen, watching Diana cook pasta on their old-fashioned gas cooker. ‘No-one will care that the baby wasn’t conceived naturally,’ she said as she tipped the pasta into a colander and deposited the empty saucepan in the sink, trying to make room for their plates on the narrow benchtop cluttered with containers and utensils. ‘What does it matter if they know?’
    Liam was silent as Diana put his plate down in front of him.
    â€˜What’s the matter?’ she asked, noticing his sullen expression.
    â€˜You’re a teacher, you know how kids get bullied for anything.’
    She sat down opposite him and tried not to let her frustration show on her face. ‘There are all types of families at our school. Two mothers, two fathers, single parents, kids living with their grandparents, kids who’ve been adopted. It’s different from when we were young.’
    Liam took a mouthful and started to speak before he finished eating. ‘I’m not giving my child any reason to be teased. No-one needs to know.’
    Diana twirled the strands of spaghetti around her fork. ‘You should tell some of your friends, though. You need someone to talk to if you’re worried, or feel anxious about anything.’
    â€˜No, I don’t. I have you for that. It’s none of their business anyway. I don’t want people judging us, or making comments about how the baby doesn’t look like either of us.’
    â€˜But I’m only saying you should tell your closest friends, not everybody. Your friends aren’t going to judge us.’
    â€˜Everybody judges everybody, Di, that’s just the way the world works. They won’t admit it, but they’ll judge us.’
    She had left it at that.
    Just as Diana had predicted, her mother’s misgivings about the embryo adoption disappeared as soon as she found out Diana and Liam were pregnant and she was going to be a grandmother. By the time Diana was six months pregnant Eleanor had already redecorated one