Conclave Around Freddie The Baby

Six months after the Turner wedding (this is AU, too). There is no Angela yet, and no other events related to infertility have taken place.

There was a bit of baby buzz at the Community Centre kitchen that morning. Before the opening of a clinic day, there was an inspection of just one baby.

Chummy had left Freddie there for a while in the care of nurses and nuns when she had to visit the chemists. Freddie was going from the lap of Sr Winifred to Patsy. Then he cried and Sr Evangelina took him, and she managed with him a little better. Freddie was however soon snatched from her by Doctor Turner. He gurgled at him.

Shelagh had arrived by this time and she stopped at the door, watching the scene. Nobody noticed her at first.

"You look like the idiotic young father you were when Timothy was born," Sr Evangelina mocked, but not without affection.

"Oh thank you, Sr Evangelina, that is complimentary indeed," Doctor Turner replied with a bit of irony.

"Fortunately, you are now older and wiser, and a more useful Doctor, too."

"Oh, Sr Evangelina. Was I really so useless at that time?"

By now, Sr Evangelina had noticed Shelagh and she smiled at her in a helpless manner, if anything that Sr Evangelina did could be called helpless. Patrick turned around and beamed at his wife.

"Hello, Mrs. Turner."

"Hello, Patrick." Shelagh came forward and tickled Freddie under his chin.

Sr Winifred decided to lighten the atmosphere, but her input made things actually worse. "Chummy went to the chemists and left Freddie for us to adore. Doctor Turner seems a natural."

A subdued laughter followed and some gave Shelagh apologetic looks.

Doctor Turner was not very embarrassed, though. "Please, Sr Winifred, I have just had a lot of practice. This is after all a baby clinic. Timothy was a much more, let's say, energetic baby than Freddie, that I remember." He gave the bouncing baby back to Sr Winifred.

"He was a regular riot," said Sr Evangelina. "Running and stumbling into furniture. But he has turned out all right, I say."

"Thank you, Sr Evangelina. He is indeed all right, especially after Shelagh moved in."

Shelagh was laughing with the others. In the back of her mind she had this gnawing discomfort. Fortunately no-one paid any specific attention to her and people left the kitchen one by one to their duties. When Chummy came back, Shelagh was there alone with the sleeping Freddie in his cot. Shelagh had tears in her eyes.

"What is it, Shelagh? Has Freddie been giving trouble?"

"Oh no. I was just thinking…." She left the room hurriedly. Chummy stared after her.