Separate..but not equal…
Chapter 1: Deep in thought
January 1962
Ringing in the new year at Nonnatus House had been eerily quiet. The large group of nuns and nurses were enroute to Poplar from their long visit to the mission home in South Africa. Nurses Patsy Mount and Delia Busby, Sisters Monica Joan and Mary Cynthia and the mothers of Poplar had managed to keep things busy enough over the holidays but the absence of Nonnatuns at meals over the last month was felt. The winter snow falling softly on the streets of Poplar dampened the ever-present noise to almost a whisper.
Patsy and Delia reveled in having more time together than they ever had since their trip to Paris over the summer. It was surreal. In the evenings, Patsy would venture casually down the hall to Delia's room and not appear again until the next morning at breakfast. No one questioned where she had been. No explanation of "new card games" was ever necessary. Sisters Mary Cynthia and Monica Joan would sometimes join the two in watching of Peeky and Perky in the evenings, but retired early, leaving Patsy and Delia to enjoy snuggling in comfort on the sofa together.
"Isn't this nice, Pats?" Delia asked as she held Patsy's head in her lap. She stroked Patsy's red hair softly and massaged her fingers as the television images flickered before them. "Can't we stay this way forever?" Patsy did not immediately respond. Her mind was whirring back to the uninterrupted luxurious time she and Delia enjoyed in their Parisian flat. It was only a few short months ago, but seemed like a century since they had this precious couple time together.
In truth, Patsy was mentally counting each day before Trixie, Barbara, Tom, Nurse Crane, Sister Julienne, Sister Winifred and the Turner family would arrive home. Both women reveled in the welcome respite from their daily life of explanation and subterfuge at Nonnatus, but especially Patsy. The redhead was mourning the comfortable and daily intimacy she and Delia had taken for granted while everyone had been away. She was lost in imagining what if they were allowed to stay in their own little cocoon, and didn't immediately respond when Delia poked her softly and said, "I'll be eager to hear what trouble Trixie found in her travels". Patsy murmured somewhat sadly, "Deels, we'll be back to reality soon enough".
Delia kissed her softly on the cheek. "Try not be so glum, cariad. It will be fun to hear what they experienced at the mission house". Patsy questioned that. She knew the trip was going to be a huge change for the group, far removed from what all of them experienced in Poplar. Patsy's brutal experiences at the internment camp taught her that the cruel indignities of exclusion leave a lasting scar. She wondered if the completely different lives led by white and black South Africans would even register to their colleagues. She brushed her gloomy thoughts aside and returned Delia's kiss with passion. "Don't you think it's well past time for bed?" she asked with a half smirk. "You don't have to ask me twice", responded Delia happily.
Two evenings later, the women were holding each other on the sofa, locked deep in embrace. As usual, the two remaining Sisters had retired early, leaving Patsy and Delia to pursue all of the options the sofa could offer for reclining.
Suddenly, the front door swung open. Patsy and Delia were unexpectedly greeted by the voice of Nurse Crane loudly bellowing "Did anyone think to possibly keep the lights on in the evenings? "Or is it my imagination that we now reside in a primordial cave at Nonnatus House?" Nurse Crane's exclamation was drowned out by the quiet even tones of Sister Julienne and Barbara murmuring about how cold the weather was in Poplar.
Patsy sprung from Delia's arms just in time to see Tom and Fred Buckle staggering in with several large trunks followed by Trixie and Sister Winifred's voices rising in excitement as they spotted the women. "Why, you waited up for us" exclaimed Trixie happily, "How could you have possibly known we would be back so soon?"
"We didn't" replied Patsy.
To be continued...