Let's go to the picnic
Two missing scenes – what happened between the birth of baby Dobson and the Turner's arrival at the picnic
"Placenta is complete," Shelagh stated calmly into the direction of Nurse Anderson who still sat next to Eunice Dobson – even though the young woman now did not need her support any longer, as she was completely taken with her new-born baby daughter.
Shelagh put the container holding the placenta aside and removed her apron. "Let me help you to get mother ready for visitors, Nurse Anderson," Shelagh said and began to pile some used towels and sheets at the foot of the bed.
"Thank you, Mrs. Turner", Lucille said, "but would you not rather want to go home to your family? I can take it from here." Shelagh smiled and cocked her head. "This is very considerate of you, but between the two of us we will be done in a jiffy. Here, let me hold the baby, then you can help Eunice wash up a little and change into a clean nightgown."
Shelagh carefully took the new-born from Eunice and sat down in the chair Lucille had been sitting before while the young nurse helped Eunice to clean and change. She sighed, looking into the deep blue eyes of the tiny baby, remembering the first moments she had with her own baby, not even nine months ago. It seemed so long, and yet, Teddy was still so young.
When Eunice was ready, Shelagh handed her daughter back to her. "I am so very proud of you Eunice," she said, "you were so very brave today. I will leave you with Nurse Anderson now. I wish you all the best." "Thank you, Mrs. Turner", Eunice said meekly, smiling a tired smile.
Shelagh turned towards Lucille and smiled at the young nurse. "Thank you, Mrs. Turner, I appreciate your support," Lucille said. "Oh, nothing to thank for", Shelagh replied, "I did what I found necessary. And I think you and Eunice did the real hard work today." Lucille smiled, too and went back to gathering her instruments and other items.
Shelagh grabbed her suit jacket from the chest of drawers where she had put it upon her arrival earlier this morning and left the room. As soon as she walked through the bedroom door, Kenny Dobson jumped up from his chair with an anxious expression on his face. "Is she all right?" he exclaimed. Shelagh gave him a warm smile. "Congratulations, Mr. Dobson. You have a beautiful daughter. And your wife was so very brave. Mother and baby are doing very well and your daughter is now looking forward to meeting you."
Kenny rushed into the bedroom. Meanwhile, Patrick, who had sat with Kenny for the past hours, had also gotten up from his chair and approached Shelagh. He put his left arm around her shoulders and held her tightly. "Congratulations, Nurse Turner", he said while burying his head in her hair, placing a kiss on the crown of her head. "I am very proud of you today." Shelagh looked up to him and leaned in for a quick kiss. "Thank you, but you should be even more proud of Nurse Anderson. She was a real tower of strength in there."
Patrick smiled at his wife. He would never tire to admire her, nor letting her know about it. "Now I think we should rush home. It is almost noon, oh, the poor boy," Shelagh stated matter-of-factly. "Shelagh," Patrick said in an appeasing tone, "You don't need to worry about Teddy. I am certain Tim has got everything under control."
"It is not Teddy I am worried about, it's Timothy," Shelagh replied. "I think we definitely owe him this time. We woke him up at 2 am and then he had to stay with his baby brother instead of enjoying himself on a Sunday morning. It's a good thing that Angela requested to visit Granny Parker over the weekend or else he would have to entertain her, too." "Never mind", Patrick chuckled. "I think he'll expect a reward in the form of some extra pocket money. He keeps talking about this record player he wants to have for his room." Shelagh smiled at her husband and nodded her head towards the door.
Patrick offered her his arm and the couple left the Dobson's flat. They walked quietly and only when they were seated in the car, Patrick asked: "How do you feel? Do you need some rest?" Shelagh smiled back at him. "To be honest, I feel quite invigorated. It has been some time since I last attended a birth in the capacity of a midwife and I realized again how much I have missed it."
Patrick gently squeezed her right hand and gave her a crooked smile before firing the engine and slowly driving into the direction of their home.
"Was it any different?" he asked after a short while. "I mean, now that you have given birth yourself, was it now any different compared to before, assisting at a birth?"
Shelagh bit her lips while contemplating for a while. Slowly she said: "Well, yes, it was different. I could feel what Eunice was feeling. Well, as a midwife you do have the empathy to feel with the mother, but having gone through all the stages myself, I feel I have reached a new form of appreciation for the mothers. And to be honest I remembered the pain I felt so vividly. But I think it makes me a better midwife."
Patrick smiled. "You already are one of the best." He looked at her and, as he had anticipated, noticed her blushing slightly. She was still so modest that even after all the time of having left the religious life, she still blushed at his compliments and he loved her for this. He would never tire of complimenting her, not only for her beautiful looks but even more for her professional capacities without which he more often than not would feel at a loss, he had come to realize.
"The birth, this little baby", Shelagh suddenly said wistfully, "It brought back so many memories. I feel it was only yesterday that Teddy was so little. He's gotten so big already." "He has indeed," Patrick agreed. He heard his wife sigh and carefully contemplated his next question. "Does this make you want having another one?" he asked, only half-mockingly.
Shelagh looked at Patrick questioningly. "You are not suggesting –?" she asked, baffled. Patrick let out a short laugh. "No, not really." He continued tenderly: "But what about you? You seemed to be quite … yearning right now." "Oh no, not at all, Patrick", Shelagh exclaimed. "Nostalgic perhaps. But I am quite happy with the size our family has right now. And, truth be told, neither of us is getting any younger."
Patrick nodded and both spent the remaining drive in comfortable silence. At home, they entered their front door and Shelagh shouted: "Timothy, we're back!". When she did not get a response, she looked at Patrick slightly alarmed. "He's probably gone for a walk or they're out in the yard," Patrick said and went into the kitchen.
"Shelagh," he called a few seconds later, "they've already left for the picnic. Timothy left a note." Shelagh followed her husband and took a look at the piece of paper with Timothy's boyish doodle placed on the table and weighted with the sugar bowl.
"Oh, he hopes we won't be too late to miss the picnic altogether", she said, looking down at the note. Then she faced her husband: "Well then, let's get changed and hurry up. Poor Tim won't be able to enjoy the outing that much if he's stuck with Teddy all afternoon."
Patrick smiled a wicked smile. "If I remember correctly, being stuck with Timothy got me my beautiful wife." "Patrick!" Shelagh exclaimed half-shocked. "Don't joke about this." "I am not joking. In fact, I could not be more serious", Patrick murmured, taking a step forward to close the distance between the two.
"Now, where do you want to get changed, dear?" he proceeded and placed his hands on her upper arms in an attempt to draw her into an embrace. Shelagh raised her eyebrows and took a step back. "Patrick, no shenanigans. It is past noon already. Even if we hurry up, we won't be at the picnic before two thirty. I think our older son deserves some time to enjoy himself with his friends rather than with his baby brother, don't you think so?"
Patrick squinted his eyes. "Um, don't you think we deserve some time to enjoy ourselves, too?" he said only half-jokingly. Shelagh pursed her lips at him and turned around. She quickly ascended the stairs and went to her bedroom, unbuttoning her shirt on her way. In her room, she took off her clothes and neatly folded them before putting them on the armchair.
Then she went to the bathroom to quickly wash herself. She heard Patrick on the stairs and frowned in anticipation. He would also undress – but unlike her, he would carelessly throw his clothes on the floor and on the bed for her to collect later. Shelagh sighed. In all the years living under one roof with the Turner men, she had not succeeded in teaching either of them the basics of folding their clothes after taking them off. Angela, although still little, was already as careful and tidy as her mother, but Timothy and Patrick…
Shelagh sighed again and watched her reflection in the mirror. She wondered, whether Teddy would also inherit the Turner gene of messiness and was so deep in her thoughts that she did not notice Patrick, wearing only his vest and trousers, entering the bathroom and hugging her waist from behind.
She winced and exclaimed "Patrick, you startled me!" Patrick grinned boyishly and kissed the crook of her neck. "Do you want me to make amends?"
Shelagh smiled and turned around in his arms. "You are hopeless, Patrick Turner," she said and gave him a quick kiss on his lips before retreating. "But no, thanks, not right now", she called teasingly.
Patrick sighed and followed her into their bedroom where he watched her looking at her closet, trying to decide what to wear. "All right, all right, I see you want to get going. But, you know, you and I, we are alone here in our beautiful house. Just the two of us. When may this happen next time?"
Shelagh groaned. "Not anytime soon, I grant you this." "Seriously, when have we two been all alone for the last time?" Patrick asked. "Um, let's see", Shelagh remarked slowly. "I think it was in South Africa." She paused and smiled at him. "And the outcome of this is one third responsible for the fact that we are hardly ever alone at the moment."
Patrick chuckled. "So you still want to get going? Or could I tempt you to perhaps start with a delay of about 30 minutes?"
Shelagh raised her eyebrows. "You are hopeless", she smiled. "And my "no" still stands. I don't want to spoil Timothy's day any longer. And to be honest, I do miss my little Teddy".
"Can I have a say in your choice of clothes?" Patrick asked, sensing that he would not succeed in convincing his wife to do anything else than heading towards the picnic right now. Shelagh tilted her head and raised her eyebrows at him. "I like the dress you bought a while ago, the one with the blue flowers. You have only worn it once or twice. Would you wear it for me?"
Shelagh laughed "Oh Patrick, I think I can do that." She took the dress from her cabinet and quickly walked over to her husband. She placed a kiss on his cheek and whispered into his ear: "I assume that after today's outing both boys will be very tired and are going to sleep tightly all night".
Ten minutes later, both Turners were dressed in their summer outfits and on their way to the car. "Should we pass by Nonnatus House to see if there is anyone in need of a lift?" Patrick asked his wife. "Yes, this would be nice. And I think there is a bakery somewhere in this direction that is open on Sundays. We might get some cake so we don't turn up empty handed at the picnic." Shelagh said.
Both looked at each other, happy in anticipation of a nice outing and even happier in anticipation of an evening and night to be spent in intimate togetherness.