God Gave Me You 29
"Mummy? Are you awake yet?"
Angela tried to whisper, but it came out as more of a hushed yell.
Shelagh lay facedown on her pillow, covers pulled up to her ears and head splitting from one too many bitter lemons given to her the previous evening. She groaned inwardly at the noise before answering her daughter.
"Yes, Angel...I'm awake. How long have you been up?" Shelagh asked as she gingerly sat up and put her glasses on, trying to get the world around her to focus.
"Ages! We already had breakfast! And Sis Juyenne said to let you sleep!" Angela climbed up onto her mother's bed and crawled to sit on her lap. Taking a closer look at her mother, Angela started giggling. "Mummy, you forgot to put on your jammies!"
Looking down, Shelagh groaned again, audibly this time. She was still in her dress from last night. Trixie Franklin was going to get an earful as soon as she saw her. Thankfully today was only the rehearsal, not her wedding day, or else Shelagh would have been utterly beside herself.
"If Sister Julienne said to let me sleep, what are you doing waking me up, hmm?" Shelagh asked as she started mercilessly tickling her little girl and delighting in her giggles.
"Mummy! Stop!" Angela begged.
"Come here, you. Let's have a cuddle since there's nowhere we need to be yet." Shelagh pulled her into a hug and laid down, planting kisses in Angela's hair.
"Come on, Mummy! We have to go downstairs!"
Shelagh knew that tone. That was Angela's determined voice, which if ignored turned into her pouty face and Shelagh needed a strong cup of tea before she could deal with that today.
Sitting up, she grabbed her dressing gown, not bothering to change and left it open to go down to the kitchen for a late breakfast. She followed Angela down the stairs and was surprised when she went running off to the sitting room in front of her screaming "I got Mummy up."
Confused, Shelagh heard a muffled voice respond to her daughter. Turning the corner, her cheeks flushed as she realized who the voice belonged to.
"Patrick! What are you doing here?!" She hurriedly tried to tie her dressing gown around herself to cover the fact that she was still in last night's clothes.
Patrick stood as she entered the room, grinning at her embarrassment and made his way over to her while Angela returned to the pile of dolls she had left abandoned on the floor.
"Good morning, sleeping beauty. Or should I say good afternoon?" He chuckled as he pecked her on the cheek.
"Afternoon?" Shelagh's eyes widened as she glanced at the clock. It was five past twelve.
"I take it you had an eventful evening?"
Shelagh crossed her arms tightly against her dressing gown as if to shield herself from the embarrassment.
"It was...an experience. One that I'm pleased to say will only happen once."
"So I'm not marrying a party girl, then?" He opened his arms and reached for her.
"No...you most certainly are not." Shelagh practically fell into his embrace, her cheek resting against his waistcoat as he rubbed soothing circles on her back.
"I take it Nurse Franklin was the mastermind behind all this?" Patrick could barely hide his amusement by seeing his normally put-together fiancé so disheveled.
"Quite! I'm pretty sure that Patsy was trying to chaperone, but I think we all underestimate Trixie's willfulness...a trait she's passed on to your daughter, I'm sorry to say."
Patrick kissed her forehead, laughing as he pulled back. "I'm sure all the other traits she gets from you will quickly outweigh those of Nurse Franklin...and if not, my timekeeping genes will have an effect sooner or later."
Shelagh smiled into his chest. This felt so natural and comfortable, so right. Just standing in his arms while their daughter amused herself on the floor. After a moment, though, reality came back to her.
"Wait, what are you doing here? Not that I'm not pleased to see you, but aren't you supposed to be on your rounds?"
"As a matter of fact, I finished my rounds early! And upon my return to the surgery, I was greeted with this message from the Chief Medical Officer."
Handing her the paper, he grinned as the crease in her brow appeared, then straightened as her mouth broke into a smile when she'd finished reading it.
'Congratulations on your marriage, Doctor Turner. The London Board of Health wishes you and Nurse Mannion all the happiness life has to offer. In lieu of a wedding present, please be advised that a locum will be taking over your patients from the time you receive this telegram until the end of next week. (Three days is not a suitable honeymoon, Turner.) With all our best wishes, enjoy yourselves.'
"Oh, Patrick..."
"So you see..." He started to speak slowly as he folded the telegram and placed it back into his pocket. "I am effectively, completely, one hundred percent off-duty as of this afternoon. Therefore, I came over here to take my two best girls out for some lunch and a stroll...but seeing as you're still in last night's clothes, I'm thinking staying in may be a better option?"
"A stroll sounds lovely! Um, right." She looked down at her appearance. "Just give me a moment to change...and bathe...and make the room stop spinning."
Patrick sat her down in the armchair he'd been sitting in and knelt next to her. "I'll take Angela with me, we'll grab Tim and stop at the chippy to pick up some lunch while you get settled and then we can all eat here."
"You don't have to-"
"Besides, it's a known hangover cure...how's your head, Nurse Mannion? Pounding away?" He whispered as she leaned her forehead against his.
"Horrendously, actually." She gave him a smile and kissed him softly. "Thank you, Patrick. You're quite the perfect man, you know."
"Well I should hope so!" He replied, holding his hand out for Angela to take. "You're about to be chained to me for eternity come this time tomorrow!"