As soon as Peter saw the note he cursed under his breath.
Just this once, why on earth couldn't she be at home? He was about to express his dissatisfaction with events again when he stopped himself. It had taken some adjusting with her at work but if he had prevented her, she would have been half the wife he now had. All of it aside, he needed her to be happy as it made him happy to see her so, even if he had to take a breath once in while just like now. The fact remained that he needed to speak to her most urgently - the one time it was more important than ever - and she wasn't where she should have been.
"Had to go in to cover. The baby is at Nonnatus with me". He did still wonder why she referred to Freddie as 'the baby' when he was almost four and a good inch or two taller than his counterparts at nursery. "I love you". It always made him smile, dissolving any hurt away, when she said that particularly as it had been so hard for her to realise what precisely his love meant.
Just five minutes though to assure himself she was still there; not absent and it would allow him to smooth over the anxiety that was building in response to Jean's visit and finding her away from home when he needed her there the most. Still, he though as he put his coat back on, at least she hasn't been up to Nonnatus yet; perhaps Sister Monica Joan had done him an inadvertent favour in her demented state in barricading the way in. It would give him time.
Peter found Freddie, sitting on Patsy's knee on the floor of Nonnatus' dining room next to a roaring fire, head buried in a tattered copy of 'Janet and John' as she talked him through the words.
"I found it in the charity box" Patsy said, noticing Peter from their place on the floor. "Hope you don't mind me helping with his reading!"
Peter smiled, walking across to them both, Freddie not even registering his presence. "It's quite alright. More practice the better!"
"Freddie would you like to take the book home?" Patsy asked, looking down at the boy, not getting a flicker of a response to her question. "Freddie?"
"He gets like that" Peter said, crouching down next to them. "Fred?" he asked, putting his hand on his son's arm. "Auntie Patsy is talking to you".
The boys head shot up, still with tight hold of the book pretending to read. "Sorry Daddy. 'es please" he replied, directing the last two words up at Patsy who was looking over his shoulder.
"Does he always do that?" Patsy asked incredulously. "Make it look like he's not listening but know exactly what you said?"
"Frequently!"
Patsy smiled as the pair stood up. "Come on young man, lets go and get your coat".
"Is Camilla in?" Peter asked as they walked back along the corridor towards the pegs where he could see Fred's blue coat was hanging up, Fred holding tightly onto Patsy's hand still.
"You missed her by about ten minutes" Patsy replied as she took down the coat and her charge held out his arms to be dressed.
"Oh".
Patsy could actually hear the disappointment in his voice. She also knew, however of the visitor to Nonnatus and wondered if they had even had the chance to speak to each other about it, imagining how awful it must be to have a reminder like that of years gone past thrown unceremoniously in your face all of a sudden. "But she is only at Dr Turner's evening clinic and its always like a morgue on a Wednesday. I'm sure Dr T won't mind if you nip in".
With a smile from Peter and a kiss goodbye from Freddie, the former decided they would go up to the clinic; just for a few minutes to rest and be reassured even if it was out of their way.
It was only a ten minute diversion and Patsy was right. Apart from two people and four children, one of which he recognised as a playmate of Freddie's from nursery, it was indeed quite dead. Peter had partly dreaded walking down here as it brought back some very odd, disconcerting memories; his last recollection of going to one of the clinics when Fred was only six weeks old having to take him as Camilla was having a rotten, painful day in her recovery. He was looked at like he had purple skin and three heads as he pushed the pram in and took a seat next to a line of mothers. Thankfully Sister Evangelina had spotted him and skipped him up the queue; telling him this was no place for a man to be. Peter would freely admit that he didn't know whether he was relieved to be ticked off by the Sister or not.
Peter felt Fred's hand slip from his and saw the boy run across the room. Patrick turned around immediately feeling a pull at his white coat.
"Hello Freddie" he smiled, seeing Peter catching his son up. "My my you are getting taller by the day!"
''Ello Docker Turn" the boy replied, eyes wandering to the instruments the doctor had been carefully setting out in the absence of little else to do. Some of them looked extremely interesting indeed!
The two adults smiled. Dr Turner had been 'Docker Turn' ever since Freddie learnt his name and Patrick had no intentions of changing it. Angela had picked it up too as Freddie had become her protector at nursery and he was no longer Daddy but Docker. Shelagh would just laugh at the pair, particularly when Freddie came over to stay and it was all she heard.
"Is Camilla around?" Peter asked, seeing Fred wander off again towards the line of beds sticking his head through one of the curtains before anyone could call him back. It was a good job it was only his mother behind that curtain rearranging the sheets and not a half dressed patient.
"Just there!" Patrick smiled, nodding his head in Freddie's direction hearing Chummy exclaim in surprise at her son's sudden appearance. By the time Peter made it over to the other side of the room Freddie was sitting up on the bed, feet dangling over the side and in mid cuddle with his mother as she sat next to him.
Peter pulled the curtain back around himself so the space was enclosed privately for a while.
"One didn't expect visitors" Chummy smiled.
"I just thought we'd pop in on our way home to say hello" Peter said, quite glad it was quiet.
"Home is in the opposite direction" she pointed out.
"I know it is" Peter replied sitting down on the bed next to her tipping her chin so he could kiss her, holding on until she pulled away from him, forever conscious of other people and particularly Freddie who was actually taking no notice of his affectionate parents; more interested in the pinard that had been on the bed as he twirled it around like a baton.
"What was that for?" she asked quietly feeling Fred lean against her.
"No reason", he replied. "Just saying hello".
Chummy smiled. He could be daft as a brush sometimes but she wouldn't change it for the world.
"When are you likely to be home?" he asked, apprehensive and desperately wanting to shut the door on the house so they could talk or rather he could tell her about Jean. He knew nothing in his innocence that his wife was considering the same, although perhaps more nervous that it was even a subject that she should be bringing up.
"When clinic closes" she replied. "About half past seven".
"Good" Peter responded, before pausing. "I'll put him to bed".
Chummy shook her head. "He can wait an extra half an hour. I'd like us to do it together like we used to".
"Your wish; my command".
"Daddy" Fred announced as they walked along having left the clinic, stopping waiting to cross the road after a rather full bus rolled its way along past them.
"Yes?"
"There's vat lady" Freddie observed, watching the bus as it carried on towards the stop opposite the greengrocers on the other side of the road.
"What lady?" Peter asked, looking around seeing plenty of women around them but none that he recognised.
"On ve bus" Fred replied, pointing across the road. "Ve lady 'ere. At Mummy's work".
Peter thought perhaps it had been one of the patients back at the clinic but if it was she would have had to have made swift work of getting out of clinic and past them to the bus. Maybe it was a patient from a while back as it wasn't the first time that Fred had frequented a clinic or Nonnatus itself and he could have remembered any of them. "A visitor at Mummy's work?" he asked.
"Yes. Ve lady wiv yellow 'air".
"Yellow hair?" Peter asked, heart stopping for a moment feeling suspicious, perhaps far too conscious and it made him veer into paranoia. "Like Auntie Trixie's hair?"
"'es. When Granda Fred came me back" Freddie replied as they began to cross the road.
"Brought me back" Peter corrected, the bus now driving away, unable to see who might be on it. Jean hadn't been to Nonnatus, she had been turned away he knew for a fact. Or did he? She was the only 'yellow haired lady' that he knew of, but then again, Fred hadn't been anywhere near Nonnatus when she said she had been there. He had been there this afternoon though, just before Peter came off shift and right after the visit to the station. If she had been up to Nonnatus she had lied to him after all, or had she gone up after the Station trying to find Camilla and instead got Freddie?
It was no use asking Freddie when; he was too young to tell him and asking Fred Snr would only involve personal business being discussed. Perhaps the older man had no idea who she was anyway.
Peter sighed not wanting to think that she might know about their son. He knew that apart from his brown eyes, Freddie was the image of him as a child; frighteningly so according to Peter's mother, so for anyone that didn't know he may have been somewhat of a shock .
"Come on" Peter breathed, not wanting to think. "Lets go home and wait for Mummy".