Amelie and I were allowed to go home the following day. Mum had stayed overnight with me in the hospital, sleeping on the pull-out mattress beside me. Amelie had slept mostly and woken for a feed every few hours. I was exhausted, partly from being awake, and from giving birth and I hadn't slept well for months before this, but I was happy and so was Amelie and I was desperate to go home.
Peter came to pick us up from the hospital the following morning, bringing the car seat from my car with him.
"Oh, Orla love, she's a little cracker." He said as he gently placed her in her car seat as we waited for the midwife to bring along the discharge forms.
"Thank you." I said as I put my arm on his shoulder and looked down at her.
"Well done love." He kissed my cheek before moving out of the way so I could strap Amelie into her seat.
When we got home, the big four kids were all at school. Isla and Rosie were just starting Year 3, Ella was in Year 1 and Raffy had just joined their school in Reception. Tala however was at home with Michelle as she wasn't due to go to the childminder's today. She was sat in the back room playing with her dolls when we walked through the back door.
"Orla." She shouted as she gasped in excitement, catching a glimpse of Amelie sleeping in her car seat.
"Hello Tally bug." I said as I placed Amelie's car seat down on the table and then gently lifted her out. Tally stood beside me, skipping with excitement. I sat down on the sofa and settled Amelie in my arms as Tally climbed on beside me. I was glad of the fact the big four kids were at school as it meant the house was quiet, in comparison to usual. Mum took my bag upstairs while Peter went into the bar to give Michelle a break as she'd been working all morning. Michelle came through and went to the kitchen to make us all a cuppa.
"She's little, like my doll." Tally said as she gently stroked Amelie's dark brown hair. I could see how desperate she was to hold the baby.
"Do you want to hold her Tal?" I asked. She nodded excitedly so I placed a cushion on either side of her and then gently placed Amelie on her lap. Mum appeared at the door of the back room as Tally beamed from ear to ear while continuing to stroke Amelie's hair.
"Do you love her Tal?" Mum asked as she knelt down in front of the sofa and put a hand on my knee and the other on Tally's.
"Yeah Mumma, she's so cute and her hair is so soft like a puppy." Tally said. Mum and I giggled as Michelle came through with a cuppa for each of us.
"Carla, you have got to get a photo of those two." She said, putting my tea down on the table in front of me. Mum nodded, taking her phone from her back pocket and taking a picture of the three of us sat on the sofa.
"I need that framed." She said once she'd finished and slipped her phone back into her pocket. "You alright?" she asked as she turned to me. I nodded.
"Yeah, yeah, just tired." I told her. "I'll give her a feed and drink my tea and then I'll take her upstairs for a lie down."
"Ok my girl. I'm so proud of you." Mum said as she stood up and then leaned over me to kiss my forehead.
The house was much louder after Amelie and I had both slept that afternoon. I could hear Mum and Michelle desperately trying to keep the kids quiet. I fed Amelie in bed before changing her and then going downstairs where the kids were sat on the sofa watching a film.
"Hello you lot." I said, pushing the back room door open. The big four erupted into screams and yells of excitement. Michelle and I both hushed them before eventually getting them to sit down on the armchair so each of them could have a go holding the baby. Michelle sat with Isla first, while I sat down on the sofa, Tally crawling onto my lap as I did. It was lovely to have a Tally cuddle and watch as the big four took it in turns to hold Amelie.
While the kids ate their tea, I picked at their chips and then took Amelie out into the bar where Daisy was working. Daisy and I had become really good friends and she was so excited to meet Amelie. She had a little cuddle while I chatted to Rita and Liz, who were stood at the bar having a drink.
"Sorry, I think she wants you." Daisy said, as Amelie started to get restless in her arms. I took her and gently soothed her as I swayed her back and forth as I went into the back room. The kids were just finishing their tea. I sat down with them and chatted before Amelie needed changing so I took her upstairs.
The next few weeks, the first of Amelie's life were both long and short. The nights in my bedroom with feeds and changes were long, but her naps were short. We built a little routine and I loved having her with me all the time. We'd spend our mornings at the pub usually with Michelle and sometimes walking the kids to school. We'd pop into the bakery and check on things, usually well timed with Amelie's nap. We'd have lunch back at home and then we'd both sleep in the afternoon before popping over to the factory to see Mum.
And the weekends were lovely, Tally and Ella would pile into my bed in the morning, and we'd watch a film while I feed Amelie or she slept in her cot beside me and our weekends were either spent at the park or in town or at home playing games and baking and it was so lovely.
It was on a Sunday afternoon towards the end of November when Ben's Mum came back. Amelie was almost three months old. Michelle was out with Rosie and Raffy so Mum, Peter and I were sat on the sofa, while Isla, Ella and Tally played in their room and Amelie slept, when Lou stood in the doorway of the back room.
"Hi Orla, I hope it's alright that I popped by." She said, knowing that it wasn't.
"Not really Lou. I've said before, I really don't have anything else to say to you. Please will you go." I said as I stood up from the sofa.
"Not yet, first there's something I need to do." She said.
"What is that?" I asked.
"A DNA test, on your baby, I presume by the size of you, you've had it by now. I want to know if it's Ben's. I've done some research and this test will test for a grandchild and grandparent." She said, pulling a plastic bag out of her bag. She handed it to me, and I read the information on the front.
"When I do this and it comes back to say that my baby isn't Ben's daughter, will you leave us alone for good?" I asked.
"A daughter? Ben's daughter?" she said.
"She is not his, and this test will prove that. So, if I do this, I need you to promise me you will have nothing else to do with me or her ever again." I demanded.
"Fine." She said before handing me the plastic tube which had a large cotton bud inside. I took it and then left the room and went upstairs. Tally was playing on the landing with her barbies.
"Come here Tal." I said quietly and she followed me into her bedroom, where Amelie was still asleep. I sat down on the end of my bed and pulled Tally to stand opposite me. "Listen I just need to put this in your mouth and then tomorrow, I'll buy you a special treat if you do it." I said quietly. She nodded and opened her mouth wide for me. I swabbed the inside of her cheek with the cotton bud before placing it back in the tube.
"Is Amelie sleeping?" she asked afterwards. I nodded as I screwed the lid shut. "Can I give her a cuddle when she wakes up?" she asked, and I nodded before kissing her forehead. She went back to her dolls, and I went back downstairs.
Mum and Peter didn't look happy as I handed the test back to Lou. She returned it to the plastic bag and thanked me. I showed her out the front door of the pub before returning to the back room, where Mum and Peter sat looking concerned.
"She is never ever going to leave you alone after this Orla. How are you so calm?" Mum asked as she stood up.
"Because I will never see that woman again." I told her.
"What? Did you listen to anything she just said?" Peter said from the sofa.
"Yes, I did, which is exactly why that test went nowhere near Amelie." I told them.
"Orla, if there's no saliva on it, she'll just come back again." Mum said.
"Well, it's lucky there is saliva on it, it's just not Amelie's, it's Tally's." I told them. "So unless you're hiding something seriously dodgy, then that test will come back to say there is no biological match."
"Ahhh, you're good." Peter laughed.
"Uh, Peter, are you kidding? Orla that's never gonna work." Mum said.
"Of course, it is." Peter and I both said in unison.
"Mum, all that needs to happen is that test needs to come back and say that Lou and Amelie are biologically not related and as far as we're all aware, that will be the case if the test was actually done on Tally, right?" Mum nodded. "The test isn't going to come back and say that Peter is the father of whoever the test was done on, it will only say that Amelia and Lou aren't related and that is all I need it to say." Mum realised what I had done, and she understood now why I'd done it on Tally instead of Amelie.
"Sorry Orlie, Peter's right, you are good." She said as she pulled me into her and hugged me. "You are rid of her now Orlie, you never have to see her again."
Although I did, a few days later when I was stood in the pub with Amelie in my arms chatting to Mum and Michelle who were working behind the bar. Lou walked in the front door and I immediately felt myself squeeze Amelie into me. Mum put her arm around me as she walked up to the bar. She slammed a piece of paper down on the bar.
"I'm sorry." She said before turning around and walking out again as Michelle picked the piece of paper up. She handed it to me and the three of us crowded round to read it. In big red letters in the middle it read:
Louise Constance Lewis and Amelie Connor have no biological match.