✨️ONC 2023 Shortlisted✨️
'And I knew then, with an earth-shattering certainty, that everything I'd worked for, strived for, suffered for, had just turned to dust. My life as I knew it, scattered along the pavement with shards of windscreen and the c...
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For the second time since I'd become pregnant... I was being spoken to by the police. I'm sitting in the back of the police car, listening to the occasional crackle of the radio and Sarah huffing unhappily. I was just grateful to sit down. Walking across the city when you're nearly seven months pregnant is not the most comfortable thing. My bump becoming so big I'm battling gravity to stay upright.
Sarah is hunched other, arms folded. Not so much defiant as defeated. Her eyes stare out the window, but I know she's seeing nothing of the streets we drive through. Nothing about her conversation with Becca had gone the way she'd hoped.
"What you need to remember is that nobody knows what they're doing at first, nobody. You can never prepare, no amount of reading or googling will make you ready for those first few days with a newborn. But you will get through it..." PC Waters smiles kindly, twisting to talk to me from the front seat of the car. Her freckled face is as warm as her voice. She took one look at my belly, her eyes a mixture of pity and empathy, and has been telling me everything she's learnt from bringing three children into the world every second since. PC Jenkins, an older man with greying hair and a surprising gut on a small frame, stares ahead as he drives. His face not even trying to hide his discomfort at the conversation. I smile brightly, nodding in all the right places as Waters continues.
"Honestly, this is so useful. I just wish I was taking notes." Sarah looks at me in disgust, but I just ignore her. If we'd done things Sarah's way, we'd have probably ended up down at the police station, but after I'd pleaded with them and shed a few tears, Waters and Jenkins just gave us a few stern words and offered to drive us home instead.
The car pulls into our street and I feel Sarah's body grow tense, her bottom lip jutting out, but it doesn't hide her fear. PC Jenkins parks the car on the street between Dad's and Kitty's houses. I exhale, seeing Mum standing there, looking murderous. Apparently, she'd got the message they'd left her - what a shame. Connor is a few feet away, standing next to Kitty. His arms folded across his chest, looking equally furious.
Jenkins and Waters guide us out of the car, before walking over to Kitty and Mum. I'm not paying much attention to what's being said. Connor storms straight over to Sarah, and though they keep their voices low, there's no hiding their heated words. Connor looks madder than I've ever seen him, but I also see the fear in his eyes, the rage dropping at the flat expression on Sarah's face. PC Waters's soft voice draws me back to the piercing eyes of Mum, Kitty and PC Jenkins.
"Listen, if you need any more childbirth advice..."
"I will definitely make sure I'm in the back of your police car next time I'm picked up." Mum inhales sharply, but PC Waters just waves the joke away, even in the face of Jenkins and Mum's glares. The police officers head back to their car.
"You two..." Kitty spits loudly, silencing Connor and Sarah. "Do you have any idea how stupid that was?"
Sarah rolls her eyes but says nothing. Mum draws herself up and I take a deep breath, but she turns to Kitty and Sarah instead.
