"Oh Lottie, I can't believe it," Darlene whispered as she looked at the baby cradled in Charlotte's arms. "He's absolutely adorable."
Charlotte smiled softly. "Sorry but I'm not letting go of him."
"I wouldn't expect you to." She watched as Charlotte kept tight hold of her baby, her eyes barely leaving him. "Relax, I was where you are not so long ago, I'm not gonna swan in here demanding cuddles."
Charlotte looked at her self-consciously. "Sorry, I just can't help feeling overprotective. Or maybe possessive is more the right word?"
"It's normal, and I don't think the nurses would like you playing pass the parcel with him anyway. However, once you take baby Andrew home he's fair game."
Charlotte winced and she snuggled the baby more closely into her chest. "Please give me a bit of time to settle in. I mean I've waited so long to have him, and if everyone turns up wanting to take over-"
"Lottie I was joking!" She guessed now was not the time to tease her. "No one is going to take over but don't make things hard for yourself by trying to do it all."
"No, I won't but I do worry my mom and Louis's might..." She paused as the door to her room was opened. "Oh hi Ros, come on in."
Darlene's mouth turned dry as Rosalind tentatively took a step forward. Her heart pounded and she felt bile rising in her throat, but one look at Ros's ashen face and she began to calm down.
"Oh my god...I...I'm sorry, I didn't realise you'd be here." Rosalind quickly stepped back, stumbling.
"No, it's okay," Darlene said finding her voice. "I've been here a while, I'll leave."
"No, I should go. Visisting time only started ten minutes ago, I'll come back tomorrow."
Darlene took a couple of deep calming breaths, aware Charlotte's eyes were on her. "Stay. This isn't about us, we've both come to see the baby. And Lottie, obviously." She tried to laugh, the sound shrill.
"Okay, I won't stay long though," Ros said taking the chair opposite her and perching on the edge of it.
"It's fine, I won't bite."
Rosalind laughed nervously. "I'm glad to hear it." She looked over at the baby and made the appropriate cooing noises while Charlotte engaged her in small talk.
Watching Ros from the corner of her eye, Darlene was satisfied that she appeared more unnerved by their encounter than she was. Good, she deserved to feel uncomfortable.
"So how long will they keep you in here?" Rosalind asked keeping her eyes firmly on the baby.
"Just a few more days," Charlotte said with a yawn. "If I hadn't had to have a transfusion I'd be out by now."
"But it's a chance for you to rest up."
"I guess." She tried to stifle another yawn. "Sorry, all this laying around makes me tired."
"We won't keep you much longer," Darlene said speaking for both of them as if they were still friends. "I mean, I'll get going soon."
"Me too," Ros said getting to her feet. "I just wanted to see that you were okay. We'll catch up properly once you're home and rested." She gave the baby a lingering look. "I'm so happy for you."
Charlotte smiled. "You'll be next."
"Maybe." She cleared her throat, glancing towards Darlene. "Actually, I think we'll probably wait until we've sold up, a baby and moving house all at the same time might be a bit much."
Darlene couldn't stop the surge of hope that flooded through her. "You're leaving Glendale?"
"We plan to." Ros finally looked her in the eyes. "We need a fresh start away from here. We've been looking at the new houses in Rose Valley, Dale could commute to work from there."
"That's great," she said not hiding her relief, while Charlotte mouthed at her to be quiet. "I mean, change is good."
"Yes, it is," Rosalind said retreating towards the door. "It was nice to see you again." She ducked through the door before Darlene could respond.
"Wow." Darlene looked at Charlotte and a giggle escaped her. "I cannot believe I have just endured that."
Charlotte smiled at her indulgently. "Don't be silly, you're so much stronger than you think."
~~~
"Hi Dale," Rosalind said joining him in the living room. She sat heavily on the sofa and let out a loud sigh.
"Is something wrong?" he asked putting his newspaper down.
"You'll never guess who I ran into at the hospital!"
"Darlene?"
"How do you know?"
"When you say it like that, who else could it be," he said the corners of his mouth twitching. "But since you don't have any scratches I assume you survived the ordeal."
"Yeah, it was awkward but Darlene didn't make a scene." She'd been surprised she hadn't taken the opportunity to tear a strip off her. "To be honest, she was far nicer than I deserved so I told her we were moving away."
He looked at her frowning. "I don't follow."
"I figured she'd welcome the news, and I owe her that much." She nearly added, I wanted to put her mind at rest, but it would be the wrong thing to say to her husband. "Plus we've moved on with our lives, I don't think it hurts for them to know that either." Her mouth turned down as she remembered her meeting with John and how he'd dared to be dismissive of her marriage.
"So how was Charlotte and the baby?" he asked changing the subject.
"Fine, she was a bit tired so I didn't stay long." She paused and he picked his paper back up. "Dale, on the subject of babies there's something I want to discuss with you."
He lowered the paper again. "Go on," he said sounding slightly anxious.
"I think we should wait until we move house before trying for a baby, it feels like we're trying to do too much at once." She took a deep breath and began to speak rapidly. "I started taking the pill again last month, I know I should have told you but I was beginning to feel overwhelmed and like maybe trying for a baby now was the wrong time and-"
"Ros, stop babbling," Dale said holding up his hand, relief on his face. "I agree with you. We need to focus on our marriage before bringing a baby into it."
Her heart sank, was he still not over the affair? "Dale, I don't think our marriage is all that bad..."
"No, it's not," he said meeting her eyes. "And I think we've been in a pretty good place lately, but I've been thinking things through and I haven't been honest with myself or you."
A wave of nausea hit her, making her feel lightheaded. "You're saying you can't forgive me and you want to split up, aren't you?"
He grabbed her hand. "No I'm not! That's the last thing I'm saying." He paused, gathering his thoughts. "I forgive you, I forgave you a long time ago but I put all of the blame on you. That wasn't fair of me but it was the easy thing to do rather than contemplate my own part in it."
She shook her head. "It was my fault, you did nothing wrong."
"That's not true. I neglected you, I put work first and I took you for granted."
"It doesn't matter."
"It does Ros," he said keeping hold of her hand. "I could see how bored and unfulfilled you were at home at and I ignored it. I ignored you. I told myself that so long as I was supporting you - so long as you had all the material things you wanted - then that was enough. I was selfish and I'm sorry."
Rosalind opened and closed her mouth, fish-like. "I don't know what to say. I think you're being too hard on yourself, we should have both tried to talk to each other."
"You did try to talk to me," he admitted. "And I dismissed you."
She slowly let out a breath while he looked at her shame-faced. Neither of them could deny the truth of his words. She could well remember the dinners she'd made that would be cold before he got home; she'd still try to sit with him while he ate but half the time he'd retreat with his meal to the study.
"Look this happened a long time ago," she said wanting to draw a line under it. "We both probably acted like two single people who happened to share a house when we first got married. I'd like to think we've got better at the whole 'being married thing' nowadays."
He smiled, "I think we have. One good thing to have come out of the past few months, we have got pretty good at talking."
"Yeah, we have but I think we should stop this blame-game, it's time to wipe the slate clean."
"I agree," Dale said visibly relaxing. "We can't keep going around in circles. I forgive you, I hope you can forgive me-"
"Of course, there's nothing to forgive."
"Then I'm never going to mention it again," he said earnestly. "It's the past, it's done with."
Rosalind reached out to embrace him. Finally, it was over.
~~~
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