great deal longer then she'd anticipated.
'She's so passive!' she complained to Neal one evening as she struggled to put Jessica's limp legs into the babygrow.
'What did you think she'd do? Lift up her arms and put her hands down the holes?'
'No, but… '
'Lisa, how many babies have you handled before Jessica?'
'None.'
'And how many have I handled?' 'Three.'
'Then let me assure you that Jessica is perfectly normal, and you are setting ridiculously high standards for a five-day-old baby! God knows what you'll be expecting her to do in a year's time. Compose a symphony or something?' She laughed, but deep down she still wasn’t happy.
On the day that Neal collected her from hospital the paediatrician gave Jessica her final examination. He went over her from head to foot, checking and double checking because he'd been told about Lisa's worries. Finally he put the baby back in her cot and smiled. 'She's perfect in every way. Normal responses, excellent physical development, and if anything a little forward. You've nothing to worry about there, I assure you.'
'Why won't she let me move her from one breast to the other at feeding times?' demanded Lisa.
He shrugged. 'Perhaps she doesn't like change. Her weight gain's fine so it obviously doesn't matter.'
His first sentence was, if Lisa had but known it, a pointer to what was wrong, but it was to be a long time before the truth was revealed, and realising that to continue worrying against all advice was insane, Lisa finally accepted what everyone had been saying all along and told herself firmly that she was taking home a perfectly healthy, normal baby daughter.
At ten-thirty, Neal arrived with a case containing Lisa's clothes, all of them collected from Toby's flat, and a beautiful hand-crocheted shawl for Jessica.
The trio were escorted to the entrance porch where two nurses waited until the chauffeur had ushered them into the back of the car and settled himself behind the wheel before they gave a final wave and turned back to their duties.
Rebekah Geuras had been born in the same private hospital, but although both nurses remembered that, they made no comment, not even to each other. They knew how unwise it would be, and no other hospital offered such superb working conditions. In any case, Mr Gueras looked far more interested in this child—and its mother—then he had been in Rebekah, despite the fact that it was yet another girl.
Naturally they both thought he was the father of the child. This assumption was to be made by other people too, and wasn't discouraged by Neal until later, when the truth about Jessica finally came out.
'Where are we going?' Lisa asked, half-nervous and half-excited. 'To your new home.'
'But where is it? '
'Wait and see! Baby all right? '
Lisa hugged Jessica closer to her, telling herself that it was only natural for the tiny limbs to stiffen in protest against such sudden restriction. She was too young to realise it was a gesture of love and not aggression. 'She's fine. What did Toby say when he heard about her?'
'Who?'
' Toby! I just wondered… '
As the car slid to a halt outside a beautiful Chelsea mews cottage, Neal Gueras turned to the slender, fine-boned girl beside him and put one well-manicured hand lightly on her wrist. 'He's gone, Lisa. He's no longer part of your life. Forget him. As far as I'm concerned, Toby Walker never existed.'
She felt a flicker of apprehension. 'But he's Jessica's father! I can't forget him. She's even got his hair.'
'Then I'd prefer it if you kept your memories to yourself.’
Lisa looked out at the enchanting little whitewashed house and then at the heavy-boned intelligent face of the man next to her. For a moment she wished that there was a choice; that she wasn't so totally dependent upon his good will. Then he smiled at her, his eyes kind, his voice deep and reassuring.
'It's for your own good, my dear. After the things that he did to you, it's only sensible to put him firmly out of
'She's so passive!' she complained to Neal one evening as she struggled to put Jessica's limp legs into the babygrow.
'What did you think she'd do? Lift up her arms and put her hands down the holes?'
'No, but… '
'Lisa, how many babies have you handled before Jessica?'
'None.'
'And how many have I handled?' 'Three.'
'Then let me assure you that Jessica is perfectly normal, and you are setting ridiculously high standards for a five-day-old baby! God knows what you'll be expecting her to do in a year's time. Compose a symphony or something?' She laughed, but deep down she still wasn’t happy.
On the day that Neal collected her from hospital the paediatrician gave Jessica her final examination. He went over her from head to foot, checking and double checking because he'd been told about Lisa's worries. Finally he put the baby back in her cot and smiled. 'She's perfect in every way. Normal responses, excellent physical development, and if anything a little forward. You've nothing to worry about there, I assure you.'
'Why won't she let me move her from one breast to the other at feeding times?' demanded Lisa.
He shrugged. 'Perhaps she doesn't like change. Her weight gain's fine so it obviously doesn't matter.'
His first sentence was, if Lisa had but known it, a pointer to what was wrong, but it was to be a long time before the truth was revealed, and realising that to continue worrying against all advice was insane, Lisa finally accepted what everyone had been saying all along and told herself firmly that she was taking home a perfectly healthy, normal baby daughter.
At ten-thirty, Neal arrived with a case containing Lisa's clothes, all of them collected from Toby's flat, and a beautiful hand-crocheted shawl for Jessica.
The trio were escorted to the entrance porch where two nurses waited until the chauffeur had ushered them into the back of the car and settled himself behind the wheel before they gave a final wave and turned back to their duties.
Rebekah Geuras had been born in the same private hospital, but although both nurses remembered that, they made no comment, not even to each other. They knew how unwise it would be, and no other hospital offered such superb working conditions. In any case, Mr Gueras looked far more interested in this child—and its mother—then he had been in Rebekah, despite the fact that it was yet another girl.
Naturally they both thought he was the father of the child. This assumption was to be made by other people too, and wasn't discouraged by Neal until later, when the truth about Jessica finally came out.
'Where are we going?' Lisa asked, half-nervous and half-excited. 'To your new home.'
'But where is it? '
'Wait and see! Baby all right? '
Lisa hugged Jessica closer to her, telling herself that it was only natural for the tiny limbs to stiffen in protest against such sudden restriction. She was too young to realise it was a gesture of love and not aggression. 'She's fine. What did Toby say when he heard about her?'
'Who?'
' Toby! I just wondered… '
As the car slid to a halt outside a beautiful Chelsea mews cottage, Neal Gueras turned to the slender, fine-boned girl beside him and put one well-manicured hand lightly on her wrist. 'He's gone, Lisa. He's no longer part of your life. Forget him. As far as I'm concerned, Toby Walker never existed.'
She felt a flicker of apprehension. 'But he's Jessica's father! I can't forget him. She's even got his hair.'
'Then I'd prefer it if you kept your memories to yourself.’
Lisa looked out at the enchanting little whitewashed house and then at the heavy-boned intelligent face of the man next to her. For a moment she wished that there was a choice; that she wasn't so totally dependent upon his good will. Then he smiled at her, his eyes kind, his voice deep and reassuring.
'It's for your own good, my dear. After the things that he did to you, it's only sensible to put him firmly out of
Similar Books
