Not Cut Out For Motherhood

The day passed in a haze of mess, tears and tantrums, but Stephanie had to admit — it wasn’t nearly as bad as she had imagined!

- Teresa Ashby

Stephanie looked at the sleeping baby in the pram and thought she’d never seen anything quite so perfect.

Long, sweeping, dark eyelashes curled against smooth, slightly flushed, downy cheeks and most beautiful of all, a tiny hand curled into a fist just below the baby’s chin.

Even the smell, wafting from the pram caused her to catch her breath and close her eyes. It was the scent of a clean baby in clean clothes covered in the softest of blankets.

She’d never been this close to a baby before, but even so, she recognised it for what it was and it touched something deep inside her, something she had thought wasn’t even there.

‘So will that be all right with you, Stephanie?’ Lola asked. ‘It won’t be for very long.’

‘I…’ Stephanie smiled. She didn’t know what to say, but something prompted her to say, ‘Yes, of course it’s all right.’

‘She shouldn’t need feeding or anything, but everything you need is in the bag, including a bottle of milk just in case.’

‘Just in case?’ Stephanie swallowed. ‘You said you wouldn’t be very long?’

‘Half an hour at the most,’ Lola said. ‘Thank you so much for this. Oh, if she wakes up, just push her round the park. That usually works. I know she’ll be fine with you. I’ve seen how good you are with your nieces.’

And then she was gone.

The warm feeling inside had gone with her and now Stephanie felt her insides turn into a cold, hard knot of dread.

What on earth was Lola thinking, leaving a baby with her? There must have been another neighbour, one with more experience.