Northfield Chapter 8

"…whatever anyone else might feel, it couldn't be what Doris felt; her daughter was of and from her, they were a part of each other and always would be."

"You leave her alone this instant! Now, go somewhere and you cool off. Do you hear me? Calm down! Because I will call the police, Mr. Aston. Be in no doubt about that."

Shelagh had never before seen Doctor Turner so fierce. He looked quite dashing flush with righteous anger. But the situation with Doris Aston, her husband Cyril and her new mixed-race baby was awful.

Mr. Aston retreated, shaking. He brushed against Doctor Turner's arm angrily as he stomped away.

Doctor Turner pulled Shelagh to the corridor. "We have to take the baby with us now. She can have temporary shelter at Nonnatus House."

"So soon? Mrs. Aston is only just recovering from the birth."

"And what if Mr. Aston should come back tonight? We can't take that risk. I will call Sister Evangelina and she will alert Miss Ellaby. The adoption process must be expedited."

"I don't want to take her baby."

"Nobody wants this. But we have to make sure baby is safe. And she isn't safe here."

Silence hang between them.

"If you can't take her, I will."

Shelagh nodded without saying a word. Doctor Turner touched her arm. "Good. I will go and call Nonnatus House."

XXXXXXXXXX

Shelagh was sitting in the living room with Carole Aston in her arms. The baby was to spend her first night of life under the care of the nuns and nurses at Nonnatus House.

Doctor Turner was about to come in but he stopped at the door, leaning on the frame with his arms, his head hanging. "Battered women. The bastards who beat them. It just gets my goat," he muttered. "Mr. Aston has cause to be upset, but there is never an excuse for violence."

He came in to look at Carole. "What a beautiful little girl." Moving to lean against the fireplace, he exhaled resignedly. "The adoption officials will be here tomorrow."

Shelagh's mouth became pinched. "However will Mrs. Aston get through this?" she asked in a tremulous voice.

He looked mournful. "Mrs. Aston has her family to sustain her. I mean her three other children. " Realistically, she must bear the consequences. " He paused. "But it must hurt. And that husband."

"Yes. That husband."

Shelagh's countenance suddenly lightened. She looked at Carole keenly. "Surely not! It couldn't be! But that did look like a smile."

Doctor Turner's face expressed mild reproach. "You know it's probably wind."

He approached them and took the baby in his arms, raising her towards the lamp. "Ooh, now, that was a smile. For me."

His grin became him so perfectly. It was like a sunray hitting an old, derelict farm house, worn in use, but its ancient Tudor structure still strong. Where do I get these metaphors from, Shelagh wondered? She tried to shake off her…feelings.

"Would you have liked…" She stopped aghast. "Sorry."

"What, Mannion? It's not like you to be reticent." He chuckled and put the baby back in her cot.

"Please, go on. Ask me. Would I have liked what?"

She saw that she could not escape. "I am really out of line here. I was wondering…if you'd have liked more children. I'm sorry. It's not my place to ask. Highly inappropriate."

Doctor Turner furrowed his brow. Then his face became expressionless except for his twitching upper lip. "You and I have both seen how the fate of children is not in our hands. Logically, it is crazy to wish for more children. It is insane." He spread his arms to express his incomprehension. "There should be a Royal Order of Law to check the mental state of people wanting to have children. Yet…"

Shelagh was watching him intently. He seemed to have travelled somewhere far. Then he became focused again.

"I would have liked to have had more children. It is the victory of hope over experience, I guess. It is human. It is not just a primal instinct for survival of the species, but a hope for a better future. Surely my child and his generation shall conquer poverty, disease and stupidity. And find a way to end all wars." He looked at her whimsically. "Do you not think so?"

Shelagh's face was twitching as well, with a smile. "Yes, I do."

He sat down at the other end of the sofa and slouched deeper in to the cushions. From that distance, he inspected her, his eyes narrowing. "Do you want to have children?"

Shelagh was biting her lip and tried hid her embarrassment. She felt a flush of blood on her cheeks.

He rose and was on his way out of the room. "Sorry, I should not have said that," he muttered. And then he was gone.