A.N: I've been listening to a lot of 60's music lately and since a lot of it reminds me of Call The Midwife i though i'd try my hand at combining the two, enjoy...i hope!
The Twist
"I've never danced to The Twist" Barbara admitted to Patsy and Trixie, the trio were enjoying a free evening in the living room of Nonnatus talking about the latest dance crazes and musical groups that were sweeping England at the time. "Waltzes are my forte, and the occasional square dance"
"Oh Barbara!" Trixie exclaimed standing up quickly "We must remedy that immediately. Wait here, I'm going to get my records".
"Trixie no, I couldn't!" Barbara protested, looking slightly embarrassed
"Nonsense, trust me Barbs, me and Patsy will put you right. I happen to know Patsy is an excellent twister, and besides, even a curate can't resist a woman who can twist". Trixie added as she left the room, leaving Barbara open mouthed in mortification
"She's quite right Barbara" Patsy said as she stubbed out her cigarette "Men can't resist the twist, and it's rather good fun as well".
"My father never really approved of that sort of thing. He even despises Elvis Presley". Barbara admitted
"I assure you we won't do anything scandalous with our pelvises." Patsy joked as she set up the record player in the corner of the room
Barbara knew she had no choice in this matter, by the end of this evening she would have to learn the twist or she would never hear the end of it from her two friends. If only Nurse Crane were here she thought, she would rescue her from this night, but unfortunately she was out attending her Spanish class.
A few minutes later they had cleared ample space in the living room for dancing and Trixie was going through the proper stance to begin the twist.
"Remember, torso square to the knees and hips, one foot farther forward than the other and arms bent at the elbow". Trixie said, explaining the basics of the dance as if she was teaching her keep fit class. "And most importantly remember to let your hips do the work, the rest of your body just follows" the she nodded to Patsy who set the record player going.
Chubby Checker's "The Twist" began filling the room and Patsy and Trixie began swishing their hips and arms in time to the music. The two really were excellent dancers; Trixie especially looked as if her hips were completely fluid as they flowed back and forth with the beat.
"Come along Barbara" Trixie said, still dancing
Barbara tried to mimic the movements of her friends, but she couldn't seem to move her arms and her hips at the same time, when she did it seemed very stiff and robotic, and very humorous to the other girls.
"To trick is to imagine your hips are trying to get away from you" Patsy said, "And you have to keep pulling them back in".
"Gosh it's a lot harder than it looks" Barbara admitted, she felt woefully uncoordinated compared to Trixie who manged to do turns and even bend at the knees all the way down to the floor and up again.
After several records had been played Barbara was beginning to feel like she was getting the hang of it, "Well done Babs" Patsy said happily, "I knew we'd make a twister of you eventually".
Delia meanwhile had arrived home a few moments previously from a late shift at the London and was intrigued by the music coming from the living room. The sight of her friends dancing together so happily made her smile. She didn't want to make her presence know just yet though so she stood just out of sight and enjoyed the view for a moment, the sight of Patsy in particular swinging her hips in time to the music filled her with joy, she had often thought her lover had an excellent body for dancing, and even the sight of Barbara trying to mimic her friends made her smile, she looked looser, more relaxed than normal, she was always a rather prim and proper girl, rather like someone from an Enid Blyton novel Delia had thought.
She allowed herself an excited little giggle before making her presence known to the group and stepping into the room
"Hello?!" She announced, with bemusement
"Delia!" Trixie exclaimed, practically bouncing over to Delia. "You're just in time! We're trying to teach Barbara how to do the twist. Come join us" she said, stepping behind Delia and practically pushing her into the middle of the room towards the others.
"I'm still in my uniform Trixie" Delia protested.
"Oh hush, nobody's watching" Trixie said, and Delia knew it was useless to resist, especially when Patsy looked so good dancing, she was practically beckoning her to join in.
Delia removed her shoes and tried to copy the other girls but she felt about as uncoordinated as poor Barbara did. Her arms could move but if she tried to use her hips as well it all fell apart.
"I've never been good at the twist" admitted Delia "I think I inherited my fathers hips, Welsh men can't dance you see". And with that Patsy winked at Delia slyly, unseen by the other girls. Patsy was a big fan of those hips, whether they came from her father or not.
The girls were all quite lost in the merriment of the evening, before long it seemed they were in a full blown dance competition and nothing was getting in the way of their fun until the music seemed to screech to a halt, making all the girls practically stand to attention when they saw Nurse Crane standing by the record player.
"Is this a nurses home or some kind of dance hall?" Asked Nurse Crane, in an authoritative tone.
"Nurse Crane….." Barbara said quickly, acknowledging her co-worker who no doubt would not approve of their activities. "We were just…."
However Nurse Crane wasn't listening, instead she seemed to be eyeing Delia with a disapproving stare. "And really Nurse Busby" She said "You're still in uniform".
Delia cast a glance to Trixie with a look on her face that said I told you so, but all Trixie could do was supress her laughter due to the situation.
"Delia's not breaking any rules by dancing in her home Nurse Crane." Patsy said, coming to Delias defence. "None of us are on duty".
"But you're still Nurses" Nurse Crane said, "On duty or not. You would do well to remember that. Now…..if you would keep the music to an appropriate level I'm going to study my Spanish place names. Goodnight". She said before leaving the room.
The girls could do nothing except stifle their giggles until Nurse Crane was out of earshot, at which point all of them, including Barbara, who was usually quite meek in the face of criticism, collapsed into a laughing fit on the various chairs around them.
"Do you know I rather had a lot of fun tonight" Barbara admitted when they had all calmed down again.
"I knew you would" Trixie told her. "And now I can't wait until you show Tom your scandalous new moves".
"Trixie!" Barbara exclaimed, once again in total embarrassment.
The End