‘I know! I reckon it’s going to be a monster child. There’s part of me that is so excited.’
‘There’s a lot of me that’s so excited.’ Kara grinned. ‘I’d better hurry up on our mission. They can be in the same year at school then, just like we were.’
Star perked up. ‘Aw, that would be amazing. They can play and grow up together just as we did too.’
‘It’s good to see that smile back. Would you like me to come with you tomorrow?’
‘Thanks, but no. I’d rather go on my own.’
‘OK. As for Jack, is he still with Riley?’
‘Very much so, by the sound of it.’
‘Well, leave him to that dysfunctional relationship. He obviously has no balls – whereas Conor appears to have huge ones.’
Star managed a laugh. ‘I could talk for hours but I’m so knackered and stressed. I’m going to have a deep bubble bath and a lie down, I think.’
‘Good idea. Before I go, did Estelle give you any more info about your dad’s death?’
‘None. She’s getting worse, Kara. I think him dying hasbadly affected her. Her drinking isoff the scale. She only fell and broke her bloody toe yesterday. She also told Conor that I was pregnant before I had had a chance to break it to him in my own way. It was mortifying.’ Star closed her eyes for a second. ‘I was so angry, I said … I said … that she was dead to me.’ She swallowed the painful lump in her throat.
‘She probably won’t even remember that,’ Kara comforted her. ‘Don’t worry. Go and have a nice bath and relax, and let me know how you get on at the doctor’s. I’m always just a phone call away, you know that.’
With the click of the front door, a deep-in-thought Star started running a bath. When it was ready, she climbed in, lay back and let the warm water soothe and relax her. And as she began to put things into perspective, a feeling of peace came over her. For amidst all the uncertainty surrounding her, the one thing that she was sure of was that, just like Skye, this baby would be dearly and completely loved.
And at the end of the day, thatwas all that really mattered.
