Page 97 of The Spitfire Girls
LONDON,ENGLAND,1946
MAY
‘What is it that could be such a big secret?’ May asked grumpily as Ben led her into their sitting room. ‘I don’t see why you can’t just tell me!’
Ben gave her a long, hard stare. ‘Can’t a man do something nice without being interrogated?’
May was about to apologise when there was a knock at the door. She rose, but Ben’s hand on her shoulder firmly pushed her back down.
‘Just sit, woman. Would you please follow orders for once?’
May swallowed her smile. ‘Yes, sir,’ she said obediently, saluting. What on earth was going on?
He disappeared and seconds later Ruby burst into the room, looking as frustrated as May felt.
‘Ruby!’ May said, standing to hug her. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘I honestly have no idea,’ Ruby said, hugging her back. ‘It’s lovely to see you, but I don’t know what’s got into Tom. He wouldn’t tell me where we were going and ...’
‘Benjamin!’ May called out. ‘Will you please explain all this?’
She traded glances with Ruby as they both sat down.
‘They’re up to something,’ Ruby said. ‘Why all the secrecy? Why didn’t he just tell me we were coming to your house?’
‘I hope you’re sitting down,’ Ben said, appearing in the doorway. ‘Because this is the best kept secret in the history of—’
‘Lizzie!’ Ruby screamed, her voice piercing through May as she leapt off the chair.
‘Surprise, ladies!’ Lizzie drawled, holding one arm up in the air dramatically, the other cradling a bouncing baby girl on her hip, who frantically flapped her arms in response.
‘Lizzie,’ May whispered, waiting for Ruby to stop squealing and hugging their friend. ‘How are you ... ?’
Ben came up beside her and kissed her cheek. ‘Enjoy your reunion, my love. We’re off to the pub with Jackson.’
She barely heard Ben’s words. She crossed the room and wrapped an arm around Lizzie as a wave of emotion washed over her. Then she opened her arms for the little girl, who was holding out a fist to her.
‘She’s beautiful, Lizzie,’ May laughed, kissing and cuddling her. ‘Look at her! She’s just perfect.’
All of them were transfixed by the smiling, babbling child, who with her halo of blonde hair and bright blue eyes was the spitting image of her mother.
‘I could hardly make you two little Polly’s godmothers and not have you meet her, could I?’ Lizzie asked, her voice cracking.
‘Little Polly,’ May cooed, passing her to Ruby, who looked desperate to get her hands on her. ‘It’s lovely that you named her after our Polly. It means so much to all of us.’ It was true; it allowed Polly to live on in a way, and kept the memory of her alive.
As Ruby held little Polly, stroking her hair and soaking up every inch of her, May took Lizzie’s arm. ‘Come on, let’s go into the garden. Polly can crawl around on the grass and we can sit and talk. How long do we have you for?’
‘A month. So you’ll be well and truly sick of me by the time I leave,’ Lizzie teased.
May pushed the doors wide open, sunshine greeting them as they stepped out. Once she’d wished for Lizzie to go home and never come back, but that seemed like a lifetime ago. Now, she’d relish every moment with her until the very last second.
‘You look good with her,’ Lizzie told Ruby. ‘It’s the best thing, having a little one. Who would imagine me, all clucky over a child?’
May laughed. ‘Not me, that’s for sure.’
‘I, we ...’ Ruby stuttered, kissing Polly’s little hand. ‘I’ve lost two, pregnancies I mean. We’re trying.’
Lizzie embraced her, so much softer than she’d once been, so much more open and understanding. May stood for a moment, not able to take her eyes off her friends as they sat on her lawn under the shade of the oak tree. Suddenly everything in the world felt right. They were a country at peace after six years of devastation; they were safe, they weren’t going to lose any more soldiers or pilots or civilians. And now the two women who meant the most to her in the world were sitting in her garden.
