“Do you think he feels strange not being with her so close?” He placed Seph in my arms.
Holding two new borns was interesting. “Probably. The midwife’s suggested they sleep together in the Moses basket at first, which makes sense.” I stared at my new babies, utterly and hopelessly in love with them, which would be useful as I knewhow much tiredness they were going to induce over the next few months.
“It does. Back in five. Will you be okay?”
I nodded, amused at how much fussing he was doing.
He was only gone a minute or two before four very quiet children entered. The room had been cleared up by Bernie and our au pair, so the bloody towels and clothing had been taken away, windows opened for a bit of fresh air and it felt calmer. I didn’t want Max and the rest to realise that giving birth was a bloody affair yet. I didn’t want to put them off.
“Why are they so small?” Max peered at them. “They’re tiny.”
“Because there are two, so twins start off a bit smaller, but brand new babies are tiny anyway. Do you want to hold one?” I looked at Grant who was spellbound with everything around him.
Max nodded. “What are they called?”
“Your brother is called Joseph and your sister is called Payton. Who do you want to hold first?” I sat up further.
Max stared at them both. “I can’t chose.”
“I want to hold my sister.” Claire prowled to the bed. “I finally have a sister. It’s not just me and the boys.”
I laughed even though it hurt and a little bit of wee felt like it came out. “Grant, help Claire hold Payton.”
He got Claire to sit down in the chair and settled her with Payton on her knee, supporting her with the baby’s head and talking her through what to do.
Max climbed on the bed with me, very, very carefully. “So this is Joseph?”
“Seph?” Callum was scrambling up too. “This is Seph.”
Grant and I looked at each other. We’d not thought about shortening Joseph’s name.
“Joseph,” Max corrected. “He’s called Joseph.”
Callum shook his head. “Seph. My brother’s called Seph.”
I guessed that was that then.
Ava was born just over two years later, a surprise and a shock and the source of five months of morning sickness and a complete inability to work for most of it, which I’d accepted with a grumble. She was fair haired, just like my youngest sister, and demanded attention from all of her siblings from day one, mainly because I’d gone into labour unexpectedly when it’d been me and the brood and the phone wasn’t working.
Luckily, Max and Jackson were quick runners and both had decent brains which I credited to having a step mother who oozed common sense. Max had gone to a neighbour and called an ambulance; Jackson had ran to the offices and hunted out Grant, who’d obviously dropped everything to get back at the same time as a paramedic turned up and I was about to give birth in the middle of the kitchen floor.
Fast deliveries could lead to shock for both baby and mum, so my poor children had watched me driven away in an ambulance, following in a car behind while their father somehow held his shit together and drove.
We’d sat together in a little room, three big kids, one middle sized one, two toddlers and a squalling baby, along with the man holding her while I had a cup of tea, that was rather nice and a bit of a relief.
“No more.” Grant said when the kids had been collected by our au pair, who’d been enjoying a well-earned afternoon off.
“I’d quite like another one though.” Despite being rapid, the birth had been a lot easier this time.
“No. We have seven children. That’s seven heads of grey hair. Seven lots of dramas. We need to be done.” He held Ava tenderly. “Besides, I think she’ll enjoy being the youngest.”
I had a feeling he was right.
We got back to our London home the following day, no shock or any other apparent issues. The house was decorated in pink, which Claire was secretly loving despite going through a tomboy stage. Max wore a T-shirt saying ‘biggest brother’ which surprised no one, and Callum had found the biscuit stash and made sure he and Seph were covered in crumbs and chocolate before hugging me and covering me in it too.
Max had sat down next to me, holding out his arms to take Ava, which he was already adept at doing. “Dad says no more babies.”
“He has done. I think seven is probably enough, don’t you?”
