Page 14 of The Wisteria Tree Cottage

She glanced at Indigo who smiled weakly.

‘I mean…’ Meadow trailed off. There was no rescuing that comment.

‘It’s OK,’ Indigo said, as she tucked into her waffles. ‘There was no way this baby wasn’t going to be big. Look at the size of the Brookfield men. Tierra was nine and half pounds when she arrived. I bet Star was big too when she was born.’

Meadow’s heart leapt and she glanced over to Heath.

‘Star was premature so she weighed four pounds nine ounces when she was born. I don’t think she had time to put on that Brookfield weight,’ Heath said, calmly.

‘Oh my god, I didn’t know, why didn’t you tell me?’ Indigo said to River.

‘I didn’t want to worry you,’ River said. ‘There are lots of reasons a baby is born prematurely, I doubt it’s hereditary. Tierra was born with no issues at all, in fact she was two weeks late, so there’s no reason to worry that our baby will be born earlier than planned.’

Meadow cringed. There were times when she wished she had been truthful about Star from the beginning and this was one of them, she didn’t want Indigo to worry unnecessarily.

‘Was she OK?’ Indigo asked Meadow, despite the fact that Star was sitting there quite clearly full of life. But Meadow knew Indigo was now worried about her own baby.

‘She was in an incubator for four weeks but not all the time, we were able to hold her and feed her for a few hours a day. She was strong, a fighter.’ Meadow decided to change the subject slightly so as to not have to focus on the stress of the first few weeks after Star’s birth. ‘She loved being held by Heath and Bear. She would always open her eyes and look at them when they were holding her as if she knew she was completely safe in their arms.’

‘Bear, you were allowed at the neonatal unit too?’ Indigo said.

‘He was there when I gave birth,’ Meadow said. ‘Heath had gone to London for the day with some friends. There had been no indication at all from the scans or health checks that I would go into labour ten weeks early, so I’d waved him off safe in the knowledge that everything was fine and then two hours later my waters broke. Bear was incredible, so calm and reassuring. He drove me to hospital and held my hand while I gave birth. Any other seventeen-year-old boy would have run a mile but he was there, by my side throughout the whole ordeal. And then when Heath arrived and they realised he was the father not Bear, they wanted to kick Bear out so I told them he was the stepfather, so all three of us were allowed to stay.’

‘There was no way I was going to leave,’ Bear said.

Meadow smiled at him gratefully. He had been her rock and she’d never forget that.

‘I was so glad he was there too,’ Heath said. ‘When I arrived to find my daughter in an incubator hooked up to tubes and cables, I was a complete mess. Bear was… incredible, I’m not ashamed to admit I cried on his shoulder. He was solid, constant. I’m not sure how we would have got through those weeks without him.’

Bear looked awkward for a moment, focussing on his coffee mug.

‘You pretended to be my stepfather?’ Star said.

Bear nodded.

‘That’s funny.’

Bear leaned over the table to look at the photo and Meadow passed it over. Tierra immediately ran round to Bear and he pulled her onto his lap.

‘I can’t believe we’re going to have another baby around the place, it’s very exciting,’ Bear said.

‘Do you want children, Bear?’ Star asked. ‘River and Indigo will have two and Mummy and Daddy have me. You could have one too.’

‘Oh, I’d love to have children, the more the merrier,’ Bear said.

‘Why don’t you have one then?’ Star asked simply.

‘Oh, only women can have babies,’ Bear said.

‘I know that,’ Star said, rolling her eyes. ‘The daddy puts the baby in the mummy’s tummy and the mummy grows it until it’s big and then lays it like a giant egg.’

Bear choked on his coffee. Indigo turned a snort of laughter into a cough.

‘But you need to find a woman who can give you a baby,’ Star said, practically.

‘I probably need to marry a nice woman first,’ Bear said. ‘Before we start thinking about having children.’

‘River and Indigo aren’t married and they are having a baby together,’ Star pointed out.

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