The Parish Hall was positively simmering with noise and a clutter of people had descended for the first Clinic of the New Year.
Around the Midwives, children ran, crawling over chairs and up and down the short flight of stairs as mother after mother filed into the cubicles, offering little privacy but the best that Nonnatus could offer. Between them Cynthia, Trixie, Chummy, Sister Bernadette, and having been joined by Dr Turner, gently balanced the work load of yet another vaccination programme as well as their usual routine examinations. Time was spinning away quickly as the clock ticked although the stream of patients never seemed to lessen.
"Busy day do you not think Nurse Noakes?" Dr Turner commented as another patient was shown out. For a moment they breathed as he determined who was next on the list that was in his hands. He was smiling at her thoroughly feeling the controlled chaos around them and returning the smile she bent down to pick up a clean sheet from the trolley beside them. Standing up the room wobbled and she grasped hold of the edge of the bed.
"Are you quite alright Nurse?" he asked, pausing from the list.
"Yes", she replied, breathing, closing her eyes as the room swam. "A touch of ortostatic hypertension" she whispered. "Circulatory system expanding to accomodate".
The Doctor knew immediately what she was referring to. "Congratulations Nurse" he smiled, also lowering his voice for fear of ears hearing news that might not yet be quite their business. "You know how to deal with it" he continued, having utter faith in her. Chummy nodded. "Plenty of fluids and rest!" she replied.
"At the end of clinic, stay behind though as I would wish to check your blood pressure" he continued, seeing her nod. "And speaking of fluids," he said, tapping the next name on the list with his index finger. "Cup of tea after Mrs Hooper?"
The sight of the well dressed gentleman walking across the room, politely nodding his head at the ladies of Poplar as they waited, caused quite the stir and the hall quietened to what could only be described as a slight din.
"Knock knock" the clipped voice said as Sister Bernadette knelt down to store a box of spanking brand new test tubes from the cupboard below the sink as she tidied the side room.
She stood up immediately seeing Chummy's brother Bob on the other side of the hatch.
"Mr Browne. How lovely to see you" she said, brushing her habit down to straighten it.
"Its Bob, Sister. Please" he replied, smiling at her.
"Bob" the Sister replied. "We didn't realise you were back down to London so soon".
"Oh yes. I was hoping if my Sister was at home" he asked, looking around the room to see if he could spot her amongst the throng of women and children.
"She is", Sister Bernadette replied, pointing through the hatch. "Just in the end cubicle with Doctor".
"Wonder then if she is otherwise engaged, if you could pass a message onto her; just let her know Vronny and me are back".
"You are quite welcome to wait for her?" Sister Bernadette replied. "There will be tea and digestives on offer".
Bob smiled, drifting, but restrained himself. "As much as that is a tempting offer Sister, after the Christmas I've just had, my sweet tooth is oddly exhausted".
Sister Bernadette smiled. "I will pass on your message then".
A few hours later, Chummy installed her brother in the kitchen of Nonnatus after he had decided to make an unnannounced evening visit. He was at a loose end with Veronica sleeping away their journey from Scotland and as a telephone call to his Sister's flat to see if his brother in law was at a similar want had gone unanswered, he had decided to try Nonnatus in person.
"So how was Christmas?" Chummy asked, filling the kettle for them both.
"The usual" he said, tapping his stomach. "Far too much indulgence!"
Chummy nodded and smiled awkwardly. As much as she loved her brothers it thoroughly appalled her that they could spend money like water, a dining table overflowing whilst all around her people scrimped and saved to buy their Christmas Dinner every year.
"Vronny was after popping down to see you all again in a few days. Do you think you could arrange it with the Sisters for her to spend an afternoon in clinic again?" he asked.
"One doesn't see why not" Chummy replied, continuing to make a hot drink to take the chill from her bones. "How is she feeling?"
"Splendid apparently", Bob replied, having seen the colour return to his wife's cheeks. "One thinks the brisk Scottish air and seeing old Algie did her the world of good. Built up in her head how bad he might be".
"Bad?" Chummy replied, not understanding.
"End stages of the old lungs" Bob replied, not realising his sister didn't know. "But he was comfortable and happy to see her. Happy about the addition to the family".
Chummy smiled quietly to herself and realising she there was not another person in sight, she had the time to tell him her news.
"There's going to be another one in the Summer too", she said, keeping her back to him, suddenly not being able to look him in the eye.
"Oh Lord, which one of us is reproducing again? Would've through Him up there would have given Mother and Pops enough grandchildren already!" Bob remarked, not thinking it was his newly married sister.
"Me" Chummy said quietly, gently placing down the kettle; her back still to him.
Silence dripped, Bob realising he had well and truly put his foot in it. She heard his chair scrape across the floor as she lay her hands on the worktop. A pair of hands rested on her arms.
"I'm sorry old girl. Flippant old mouth gets one into scrapes all the blasted time".
Chummy didn't respond. She hadn't planned on telling him and, with her clumsy way she had told Peter, she was starting to think that she was just going to make an appalling mess of it all again. If she couldn't even manage to tell her nearest and dearest about her pregnancy properly then Lord help her when the product was wriggling in her arms.
"A brand new niece or nephew will be spot on" he whispered. "Do the elders know you are repopulating Poplar yet?"
"No" she replied, turning. "Only Peter and Dr Turner. And you now. We are going for tea with his parents on Sunday to tell them and then I'll tell Sister Julienne".
"Can one spill the beans to Vronny? Despite it, she is capable of keeping her trap shut most of the time".
"Of course" she replied. He didn't ask about telling their parents; that was for her and something that he did not particularly plan on becoming involved in even though he knew that in all likelyhood he would be roped in by their mother. Before he could say any more there was a slamming of a door and far too many voices for quiet conversation.
"So she didn't tell him off?" came a voice, clearly the quieter tones of Cynthia.
"No" Trixie replied. "Little horror was running wild around the cubicles and she just sat there when he pulled the bedpan down on his head!"
"Empty?"
"Would that it wasn't!" Trixie replied. "Then we had to put ice on swelling on his head while she fussed around him wondering how he got the bump!"
They greeted Bob and Chummy on arrival, passing comment about hoping whether the kettle was full and whether it was Chummy's intention to be waitressing for them all. With a smile she did and they sat exchanging more stories until Bob glanced quickly at his watch, realising he was in for a roasting if Veronica happened to be awake having spent a rather long time at Nonnatus. They saw Bob kiss his sister on the cheek as he departed.
Almost immediately the telephone rang.
"I'll get it" Chummy said, realising she had been back at Nonnatus far longer and it was frankly, her turn.
"Nonnatus House, Midwife speaking" she said, receiver to her ear, hearing a very familiar voice.
"Hello".
"Peter, you know the Nuns will slay you if you keeping phoning up here". Even though her voice was telling him off, her heart flipped at hearing his voice in an unexpected telephone call. She would hope that feeling would never go away.
"I will have you know its legitimate business thank you very much" he replied, although she could hear through the tone of his voice that he was smiling.
"Oh?"
"Frank brought a woman in before who says she is in labour. Could someone come down?" he asked, his first thought at seeing the prisoner doubled over was to telephone Nonnatus.
"The first question to that is, is she pregnant?" she asked, being actually half serious in the question.
"Well", he paused, entirely unsure how to phrase the description.
"Well?" she repeated.
"She's…I think so. She's, well, a bit…". He was floundering and she had no idea why.
"Peter?"
She heard him take a breath. "She's a bit...well...overweight and we're not sure".
Thankfully he did not see her roll her eyes or her smile at the hesitant response as he tried desperately to be polite.
"I will be down in a jiffy!"