Finding time to go grocery shopping wasn’t so hard because there were supermarkets that regularly stayed open until at least midnight.
Finding time to cook something as amazing as Sophia wanted it to be was another matter. With what felt like a blinding flash of inspiration, a couple of days later she remembered the slow cooker tucked away at the back of one of her kitchen cupboards. Perfect. Getting up a little earlier to get ready for work, she had time to sear meat and brown the vegetables and then all she had to do was push the button and let the cooker work its magic while she worked with Flick for another busy day of home visits.
The concern about her student was still there but had been pushed into the background. Flick had dismissed her reaction to coffee after that Caesarean case as being due to a bit of a tummy bug and Sophia had been embarrassed that she’d blurted out the first suspicion that had sprung to mind—that Flick might be pregnant. The fact that she’d been pale and quiet for a few days after that fitted with her having been off colour and if she still seemed on the quiet side now, that could well be due to the extra studying she was doing. Flick seemed determined to learn everything about her chosen career and today was a great one for introducing her to things she hadn’t done before.
It was good for her to have her teaching to distract her, as well. If she hadn’t had Flick in the car with her as she negotiated the heavy traffic in places, she might have been tempted to wonder about how that meal was progressing as it simmered gently.
Or notice the desire that was simmering a little less gently deep in her belly. Would they go to bed again? Or maybe the real question was when and not if. Before or after dinner?
The car jerked a little with the firm pressure of her foot on the accelerator. ‘What do you think is the most important thing about the postnatal care we give for up to six weeks after birth?’
‘Support,’ Flick answered promptly. ‘Help with things like breastfeeding and bathing baby and how to cope with fatigue.’
‘And?’
‘Monitoring the health of both the baby and the mother. Especially after a Caesarean in case of infection. And making sure they don’t think that breastfeeding is a reliable form of contraception.’
Hmm. Expanding on that topic was not going to help her stay focused. ‘Good. What else do we do?’
‘Watch out for signs of postnatal depression?’
They discussed the kind of signs that could be important as Sophia drove them to their first visit of the day but their first mother—Judith—seemed to be coping extremely well, having had a home birth two days ago.
‘I’m lucky I’ve got Mum staying. I’m getting plenty of sleep between feeds.’
‘Looks like baby’s getting plenty of sleep, too.’ Sophia smiled at the tiny, perfect face peeping from the folds of blanket in Judith’s arms.
‘I’ve been a bit worried about today’s visit, though. I’m not sure I want her to have the test.’ Judith’s voice wobbled. ‘It’s going to hurt her, isn’t it?’
‘They usually cry,’ Sophia said gently. ‘But I think it’s more about having their foot held still than any pain. It’s a tiny prick. And the crying helps. It makes the blood come out faster so the test is over quickly.’
‘It’s important, Jude.’ Their patient’s mother was sitting nearby. She looked over at Sophia. ‘There’s all sorts of diseases it can test for, aren’t there? Treatable things?’
‘Absolutely. More than twenty different disorders, in fact.’
‘Like what?’
‘Maybe Flick can tell you about some of them.’ Sophia smiled encouragingly at her student.
‘There’s hypothyroidism,’ Flick said. ‘And cystic fibrosis. And the enzyme disorders that prevent the normal use of milk.’
‘And amino acid disorders,’ Sophia added. ‘Things that can lead to something like brain damage if they’re not picked up but which can be easily treated by following a special diet.’
‘But she’s not going to need a special diet for ages. I’m breastfeeding. Can’t we put the test off until then?’
‘It needs to be done as soon as possible after baby is forty-eight hours old.’ Sophia checked her watch. ‘And that’s right about now.’
‘I’ll hold her, if you like,’ Judith’s mother offered. ‘Why don’t you go and have a quick shower or something?’
‘No.’ Judith closed her eyes. ‘If it has to be done, I want to be the one holding her. Let’s just get it over with.’
Flick stored the card with its four blood spots in Judith’s file. ‘I’d better remember to take that to the lab later,’ she told Sophia as they drove to their next appointment. She shook her head. ‘Poor Judith. I think she cried more than the baby did. Imagine how hard the six-week vaccinations are going to be for her.’
‘Remind me to give her some pamphlets about that on our next visit. And we’ll talk to her about how important it is.’
They had a hearing screening test to do on a final visit to a six-week-old baby later that morning and a lesson in hand-expressing breast milk for a young mother in the afternoon.
‘I want my partner to share the night feeds,’ she told them. ‘And he really wants to, don’t you, John?’
The young father nodded. The look and smile he gave his partner was exactly what Sophia would want for herself. Overflowing with love and a determination to provide support—even if it meant sacrificing sleep. Unaccountably, an image of Aiden filled her mind. How ridiculous was that? He was so against the idea of ever having a baby that he wouldn’t trust anyone else to deal with contraception.
‘But I really hate the thought of using one of those breast pumps,’ the mother continued. ‘It’s so … mechanical.’
‘Hand expression isn’t hard. We’ll show you how to do it.’
Flick took notes as Sophia provided the instruction. By the end of the day she’d also had plenty of practice taking blood pressures and temperatures on mothers, weighing babies and filling in report forms.
‘You’re getting very competent,’ Sophia told her. ‘You’ll be doing all this on your own in no time.’
‘Thanks. I’m loving it.’ Flick opened her mouth as though about to say something else but then she merely smiled. ‘See you tomorrow, Soph. Have a good night.’
Sophia smiled back. ‘I intend to. You have one too.’
‘Oh, man … that has to be the most amazing thing I’ve ever smelt.’
As an icebreaker, on opening the door to her dinner guest, this was enough to make Sophia smile and stop wondering about what was going to happen before or after they ate.
‘Let’s hope it tastes as good as it smells.’ At least that was something she was pretty sure she didn’t need to worry about. She’d been pretty impressed herself to come home to the aroma of those slow-cooked lamb shanks with red wine and mushrooms. The potatoes were cooking now and all she needed to do was mash them and dinner would be ready.
They had time to relax and, seeing as Aiden was holding out a bottle of very nice wine, it would have been rude not to taste it.
‘Come in. I’ve got the fire going. It’s pretty cold out there tonight, isn’t it?’
‘Sure is.’ Aiden went straight to the flames of the small gas fire and stood with his back to it, his hand fanned out to catch the heat. He looked around. ‘This is really nice.’ His grin grew. ‘Can’t say I really noticed the other night.’
That grin—along with