Still the One

Chapter 21 - The Graduate

"I feel like a dairy cow hooked up to those suction cups in the milking shed," I moaned to Wanda as we bathed the twins and discussed expressing. "Honestly, between the two-hourly feeds and expressing, I feel as though I am defined at the moment by a pair of boobs. And not in a fun, sexy way either – oh God, s-sorry." Remembering I was talking to Ben's mother, I stammered and blushed, but she just laughed it off.

"I remember those days – I didn't even feel like a woman, or think that Tim found me desirable any more."

"Exactly!" It was a little weird to be talking about this with my mother-in-law, but she was so down to earth and such an empathetic listener that I felt I could probably say anything and she would just accept it. Ben was very like her in that regard.

"Is Ben still helping you now he's back at work?" she asked as we dried and powdered. I loved the smell of baby powder, especially on my two adorable little bundles, and bent down to blow a raspberry on Lizzie's tummy as she squirmed and wriggled in front of me, my heart lifting when she gave me a gummy smile. Looking to Wanda, I hesitated a little before answering, wary of what I should or shouldn't say and not wanting to be disloyal.

"He can't do as much, obviously, being gone long hours."

She stopped, one hand holding Alex at the ankles as she lifted him to place a nappy. Her eyes seemed even bluer than they had the day we first met as they bore into me, a small frown gathering on her face. "It sounds like you're hedging."

"He tries, he really does," I said. It was true, he did; if he came home in time he would happily bath and change them and spend some time with them, and he had taken to giving them their last feed of the day before putting them to bed so I could get some sleep before being woken at midnight, two and four. "We don't get to see much of each other these days." Between me being up through the night to feed while he slept, then him leaving early in the morning and arriving home in time to let me retire early, we had become like ships passing in the night.

Wanda didn't say anything, but her mouth settled into a straight line I recognised from her son as a sign of displeasure, and I hoped I hadn't said anything that would come back to bite me in the arse.

---

"That's me done for the day, Cara. I'll see you on Thursday."

"Thank you so much, Sarah. Enjoy your day at Wimbledon tomorrow."

"I will, thanks. Bye."

Sarah was a Godsend.

When she first started she had whirled through the house like a force of nature, achieving more in three days than I had in three weeks or more. Highly recommended by an agency that guaranteed complete privacy and discretion, she did the job so thoroughly the house practically sparkled afterwards. I had immediately rung the agency praising her skills and arranged for her to come twice a week for the foreseeable future, then breathed a huge sigh of relief. In her mid- to late-forties, she had called me Mrs Cumberbatch to begin with, but I was uncomfortable with that and insisted we be on a first name basis.

I had just put both babies into their bouncinettes when the front door opened and Ben came in, followed by Wanda and Tim.

"Hello darling." He smiled and gave me a kiss before I greeted my in-laws.

Tim gravitated straight over to where Alex and Lizzie lay, cooing and talking nonsense to them, while Wanda astounded me by saying, "We've come to look after the little ones so you two can get out of the house together somewhere."

"Oh!" I blinked, stunned – and even more so when Ben's arms wrapped around me.

"I haven't had the chance to take my gorgeous wife out for dinner in months," he said, "so unless you have other plans for this evening, my love...?"