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they would have the result from the analyst. To take it for granted that the tumour had been non-malignant would be akin to tempting fate. But today was special and precious to both of them, the first time they had been together as a proper family.
    â€˜Can I hold her?’ He moved the conversation away from their meagre savings. The operation would make a huge hole in them, but none of it mattered as long as she and the baby were well. As he took the tiny form in his arms again his vision misted. ‘So little,’ he muttered. ‘Oh Kathie, she’s a miracle.’
    Kathie nodded, knowing just how he was feeling for it had been the same for her the first time she had held the little bundle in her arms. ‘She’s tiny now,’ she said, ‘but she’ll soon start to grow. Before I had her more than anything I worried that I wouldn’t be able to feed her. I had almost no bosom – you remember. But now –’ she stuck out her chest with pride – ‘if all that gets full of milk she’s going to grow in no time.’
    He couldn’t keep the smile off his face. Bosom or no, what a child she sounded.
    â€˜We can’t keep calling her
she.
Which is it to be? Jessica or Miranda?’ These were the two names they had selected if the baby turned out to be a girl. But in their hearts they had both been sure it would have been a boy, Conrad James.
    Now they concentrated on the mite, still too young for them even to imagine what her features would be.
    â€˜She doesn’t look to me like a Miranda,’ Kathie said. ‘She’d better be Jessica.’
    â€˜Doesn’t look much like a Jessica either at the moment. We’ll just call her Jess, Jessie Hawthorne.’
    It was one of life’s special moments.
    Kathie stayed in hospital for three more weeks, two of them after they had been told the result they had longed to hear. The tumour had been large and fast-growing but it hadn’t been malignant. Now all she had to do was get strong so that she would be ready to look after Jess. That year Christmas passed them almost unnoticed and yet had there ever been one when their hearts had been so full of thankfulness? After that afternoon halfway through December when she had been taken into hospital, Dennis was constantly aware of her appearance and he marvelled how different she looked after these weeks of rest. The years they’d been together had transformed her from a girl to a woman, a radiant woman.
    Once home she obeyed instructions and rested for two hours each afternoon, choosing her time according to when Jess, having slurped her way through her two o’clock feed, was asleep. That was in the beginning, but with each week as Jess grew bigger and Kathie grew stronger, gradually the routine changed. There was always help needed outside so with the pram close by, Kathie undertook the lighter jobs. At that stage, Stanley made himself responsible for Bertram.
    By the time Kathie was once more keeper of the pigsty, Bertram had given place to Hector and Jess was taking her first staggering steps. If a Good Fairy had appeared and said she could hold time still for them, Kathie and Dennis were so aware of all they had that they might have been tempted, except for one thing: each day Jess learnt something new, each day she became more precious. And so with confidence they would have dismissed the Good Fairy’s offer

1939–1945

Three
    Holding it by its two handles, Kathie picked up her basketwork container and started towards the shed. The peas had cropped well and this was her third full load that day. Glancing at her watch, she decided this must be her last. The hard work they put into Westways had ensured that it brought them a comfortable living doing what they loved best. About three years ago they had been able to afford to have electricity brought into the house and more recently a telephone too. And Kathie’s natural flair had