Page 46 of It's Now or Never

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Tom and Angie would be delighted if you could join us to celebrate the Christening Day

of our daughter

Liberty Rose

on Sunday 21st February at 11.30a.m.

at St Barnabas Chapel, Casterton

‘Hi Jen, fancy seeing you here!’ Alex Fellows winked at me and my heart, despite me giving it a stern talking to beforehand, treacherously went pitter patter, pitter patter. ‘You are looking absolutely gorgeous as always.’

‘Why thank you!’ I said, accepting his kiss on my cheek with feigned coolness, catching a whiff of his familiar aftershave in the process. I’d seen him a couple of times briefly since the night of Liberty’s birth, mainly around at Angie and Tom’s.

Now, we were standing in the grounds of St Barnabas Chapel, following a beautiful service celebrating the christening of our dear little goddaughter, Liberty. The morning sunshine wasmaking a valiant attempt at breaking through the trees and cast a warmly benevolent glow over the proceedings.

Inside the church, I’d made a concerted effort not to catch Alex’s eye. I was fully aware of his surreptitious gaze upon me, but I’d been determined to fix all my attention on Angie and Tom, and their beautiful baby.

‘How lovely to see you.’ I plastered on my best smile. Even if I’d wanted to avoid Alex for the rest of my life I was beginning to realise that might not be realistic. Thanks to Angie and Tom, our lives would always be inextricably linked – birthdays, Christmases, barbecues, all those Cooper family celebrations to come, and I felt sure there would be a lot of them, occasions where our paths were bound to cross.

If I’d hoped that putting some distance between us might lessen the strength of my feelings towards him then I’d been very much mistaken. His proximity could still turn my legs to jelly even after all these weeks.

‘We’re getting very good at this, aren’t we? Weddings, births, funerals. You know we could consider renting ourselves out as professional guests.’

I laughed. ‘That’s not a bad idea.’

Angie and Tom spotted us and came over to join us, their faces alight with happiness and pride.

‘Jen and Alex, I just wanted to say a huge thank you for being here today.’ Angie slipped her arms around our waists while Tom stood to one side cradling Liberty. ‘I can’t tell you how much it means to us to have you two, our very best friends, as godparents to our precious little girl.’

‘I see it as a great honour,’ said Alex. ‘I will take it upon myself to teach this young lady everything she needs to know about rugby, real ales, fine wines and fine art. As you know, I’m an expert in these things.’

‘Poor child,’ I said, with a rueful grin. ‘And it’ll be my duty to ensure that she isn’t bored senseless by her godfather’s outlandish tales.’

‘I know you’re not impressed by me and my worldly ways, Jen, but I think this little lady will have much better taste than you and will come to adore her Uncle Alex.’ He chastised me with a look and I didn’t doubt for a moment that it would be a mutual admiration society as far as these two were concerned. ‘Come on,’ he said to Tom, growing impatient now, ‘I think it must be my turn for a cuddle.’

Talk about smitten. Tom handed over Liberty Rose wrapped in an intricate white lace shawl, placing her carefully into Alex’s arms, and Alex’s face lit up, a picture of wonder. There was no hesitancy in his movement, only a natural affinity with the tiny bundle in his arms as he gently ran a finger over her cheek, undeniable adoration in his eyes. I’d been on the receiving end of one of those looks before, the reminder making my stomach swirl deliciously and viewing it from any angle made me realise just how hard it was to stay immune to Alex’s charms for any length of time.

Tom dragged Angie away to speak to some guests and Alex and I were left literally holding the baby.

‘Wouldn’t you love one of these?’ Alex said, rocking Liberty in his arms.

‘Not right at the moment, thank you,’ I said with a smile and his eyes hooked onto mine, that undeniable fizzing chemistry rearing its head again. It was weird, but even when I hadn’t seen Alex in a while, we always quickly picked up where we left off. It made me realise just how much I’d missed him, how much I enjoyed his company. I peered over to examine Liberty, marvelling at her utter perfection. ‘To be honest, I’ve not had a lot of experience of small children. They scare me abit. I worry that I’m going to drop them or hurt them in some way.’

‘Really? That surprises me. They’re very resilient you know. I can’t wait to have kids of my own. It’s what life is all about, don’t you think? Family, friends?’

I nodded my agreement, but for some reason felt unsettled by the intimacy of the conversation. ‘I guess so.’

Alex passed the baby into my arms and, much more awkwardly, I jiggled her up and down hoping to goodness she wouldn’t do anything that might require me to look as though I knew what I was doing. ‘I’m hoping Tom and Angie are going to give me a crash course in baby care before they ask me to do any babysitting duties. Or else I won’t have a clue as to what I’m supposed to do with this little one.’

‘Oh, there’s nothing to it, Jen. Kids don’t come with an instruction manual. You just make it up as you go along. And go with the flow.’

He made it sound so easy and I suspected, with Alex, it would be. I could imagine him as a father; very hands-on, capable and confident, always knowing exactly the right thing to do.

‘You know what your trouble is, don’t you, Jen?’

‘No, but I think you’re about to tell me.’

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