Page 14 of Coming Home to Inishbeg Cove

Chapter 10

Sarah

‘What are you doing lifting that?’ Greg said as he came in the door of the post office. ‘Give it here.’ He rushed over and took the parcel from me. ‘You should be taking it easy!’

‘In case you haven’t noticed, I work in a post office and lifting parcels is part and parcel of the job.’ I laughed at my own pun.

‘Very funny,’ Greg said.

‘Anyway, it’s not that heavy.’

‘Hmm.’ He remained unconvinced. ‘So, are you ready to go?’

‘Almost. Just let me put a sign up on the door so the villagers know I’m closed for a few hours.’

The day had finally arrived for my first appointment at the maternity hospital. I had lost count of the number of times I had been sick that morning, and I was beginning to suspect that nerves were making my morning sickness worse.

‘I’m so excited,’ Greg said as we sat in the car. ‘My head is all over the place. I couldn’t concentrate on anything in work.’

We seemed to have such different outlooks on this pregnancy, Greg was Pollyanna-ish in his eternal optimism, but I was more cautious. Realistic.

We set off for the hospital, but driving over the winding mountainous roads did nothing for my nausea. I had the window rolled down as Greg drove along, so fresh air could rush in. I looked out at the patchwork of green fields dotted with marigold-coloured furze under a slate-grey sky. The colours were so vivid, the hues so dramatic. I had driven over these same roads so many times since I was a child but, no matter how often I crossed them, the view down to the coast from the mountains never failed to take my breath away. Lots of people woke up to a view of concrete or grey skies as far as the eye could see – I felt so lucky to live on the very edge of Ireland. We saw the elements in all their technicolour glory every day. I hoped our child would grow up to appreciate it and be proud of being raised in the remote village, like I was. So many of the girls I’d gone to school with had found the village too small. They couldn’t wait to leave and go to college, but I had never felt that pull. Inishbeg Cove was the only place I ever wanted to call home.

Just under two hours later, Greg turned the car into the hospital car park. I got out, stretched my legs and breathed the fresh air deeply into my lungs. I caught sight of a solitary magpie, eyeballing me from his perch on a nearby fence. A shiver spread through my body. Not today, I thought. I had always hated magpies. My mother had been really superstitious about them, and it had rubbed off on me. I saluted him to ward off any bad luck he might be sending my way, and we went into the hospital. As much as I was excited, I was also petrified that something would go wrong.

We followed the signs to the antenatal area and took a seat in the waiting room, where we were eventually greeted by a brusque but smiling doctor. She showed us into her examining room.

‘I’m Dr Hilary McCabe. I’ll be the obstetrician overseeing your pregnancy. Climb up onto the bed there and let’s take a look.’

I did as I was told, and lay back as Dr McCabe began to spread cool jelly across my abdomen and started to move the probe around. She remained silent for what felt like an age. Greg and I held our breath, neither of us daring to talk.

‘Look, here is your baby,’ Dr McCabe said eventually. She pointed at the screen, where we could see the blurry outline of a baby.

‘So, the baby is okay?’ Greg asked, nerves dancing in his voice.

‘The baby is perfect.’

Relief and gratitude flooded through me. I said a silent ‘thank you’ to my parents in heaven. I knew they were looking down on me today.

‘Oh, wait…’ Dr McCabe said suddenly, studying the screen closely. Her face was screwed up as she stared at it intently.

My heart fell. Something was wrong. I knew it was too good to be true.

‘What is it?’ Greg asked quickly.

Dr McCabe didn’t reply as she moved the probe around, sticking it even harder into my stomach.

‘What’s wrong?’ I asked, tensing in panic.

Eventually the doctor spoke. ‘Sarah, there’s another baby in here.’

I couldn’t comprehend what she was saying until Greg started to laugh. ‘Twins? You mean we’re actually having twins?’

‘Congratulations!’ Dr McCabe beamed. ‘Look – the second baby is hiding behind this one, which is why I missed it on first glance.’ She moved the probe. Although it was hard to see, I could make out the outline of two babies.

‘Oh my God, Sarah, can you believe it?’ Greg said, grinning at me. He stood up and moved closer to the screen to get a better look.

‘Look, here’s Twin 1 and over here is Twin 2, sucking their thumb.’