The Life Daisy Devlin Designed

CHAPTER 57

As Daisy put down the phone to Kayley, Laura swept into the room.

“You’re back!” Daisy went to hug her, but something stopped her. There was an energy about her she couldn’t quite put her finger on. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m great.” Laura gave her a concerned look. “What about you?”

For a brief moment, Daisy wasn’t sure what she meant. “Oh, the mile-high proposal?” She laughed. “I’m so over it!”

“ Hmm .” Laura turned to Fionn. “How did you get on at Stephanie’s place?”

“Excellent.” He gave a nervous flick of his fringe. “I’ll just, um , let you two catch up, while I ...” He stood, but Laura stopped him.

“I was talking to Stephanie, and I know she told you.”

“What happened?” Daisy glanced from one to the other. “Told him what?”

Laura kept her eyes on Fionn. “Would you have told Daisy?”

“Hello?” Fionn’s eyes widened comically. “I value my life too much!”

There was a moment’s silence, then Laura burst out laughing. “You’re not the worst, Fionn. I’m going to miss you.”

Fionn beamed. “Does this mean I’ve grown on you?”

“Oh, let’s not get carried away!”

Daisy cleared her throat loudly. “Anyone want to tell me what’s going on?”

Laura waved a hand in her direction. “Sit down.”

Daisy glanced at Fionn, who was still smiling widely. She’s known he was hiding something from her! She walked back over and perched on her desk. “I’m sitting. Now, talk.”

“First, I’m sorry about all the bloody drama. I know you were worried when you heard I was in hospital. The thing is, I couldn’t face talking to anyone.” Laura smoothed a hand over her sleeked-back hair. “Not even you, babes.”

But she’d confided in Stephanie. Daisy hated how jealous she’d become.

“Now, don’t scream, but I’m twelve weeks pregnant, and I thought I might be losing the baby. But everything’s fine! They checked me out and it was only a slight bleed, which is okay, apparently, so ...” Laura trailed away, colour rushing to her cheeks.

Daisy stared at her for a long moment. “You’re pregnant?” She clamped her hands to her mouth as a gasp escaped her. “Oh my God ...” she stopped. “Hang on, you’re happy, right?”

“I’m happy.” Laura’s eyes glittered brightly.

Daisy pushed herself off the desk and then she was hugging her and Laura was hugging her back.

“Don’t squash me.” Laura laughed as Daisy pulled quickly away.

“Sorry, sorry.” Daisy took Laura’s hands in hers. “I just wish you’d told me.”

Laura swiped a finger under her eye. “I couldn’t, Daisy. This was our fifth round of IVF, and we wouldn’t have even tried again if I hadn’t met Stephanie. She invited me to her support group, for couples with fertility issues.” She paused. “When we saw Stephanie and Peter finally get there, we decided to give it one final try.” Laura was smiling now. “The doctor says once I don’t overdo things, I should have a healthy pregnancy.”

Daisy squealed and threw her arms around her again.

“Group hug?” Fionn looked hopeful.

Laura glanced over and extended one arm. “Come on, then. But this will not be a regular thing!”

As Fionn wrapped his arms around the two of them, Daisy felt a rush of pure happiness for her friend.

Laura was the first to pull away. “Stephanie didn’t mean to put you in that position, Fionn,” she said. “She thought you knew. And I had no idea Daisy would send you, or I’d have warned Stephanie not to say a word.”

“Hey, don’t even mention it.” Fionn flicked away his fringe.

“I can’t believe I didn’t guess,” Daisy admitted. “I kind of thought you were just putting on a tiny bit of weight, but I figured it was either a side-effect of your new contraception, or that you were bulking up for your training.”

Laura burst out laughing. “You know I’ve no intention of running a marathon, don’t you? Not at the moment, anyway. I just needed an excuse for eating more, and not drinking, without you getting suspicious.”

Daisy remembered something else. “That needle I saw ...”

“I had to self-inject coming up to the procedure.” Laura sighed. “I had that excuse ready in case you ever spotted one of them.”

Daisy caught Fionn’s expression. “Are you feeling okay? You look a bit ...”

“Sorry, I should have just left when you started talking about ...” He swallowed. “I’m a bit squeamish.”

“We won’t talk any more about it, I promise.” Laura winked at Daisy. “Not in front of you!”

Fionn looked relieved as he picked up the box of doughnuts. “So, can I get you a coffee?”

“Not for the moment.” Laura shook her head. “But you can get me a green tea. I’ll have it with my avocado toast.”

“One green tea coming up!” Fionn turned to go.

“Oh, and Fionn?” Laura said.

He turned back.

“Stephanie told me she was really pleased with how things went yesterday. Well done.”

Fionn’s ears turned pink. “Thanks.”

After he left, Daisy looked at Laura for a long moment. “I’m a complete dope for not guessing. You were pregnant at my birthday: that’s why you weren’t drinking.”

“Yeah, I’d just found out.” Laura shrugged slightly. “My periods have always been fairly irregular, which didn’t help when we were doing IVF.”

“You know you could have told me what you were doing, Laura? I’d have understood.”

“Ah babes, I know. But I didn’t want you wondering if I was okay all the time. Not when we work together – it would have been intense!” Laura stretched, and for the first time Daisy could almost make out a tiny rounding under her clothes. “I’ll want to take time off after the baby is born, maybe even a year.”

Daisy glanced towards the door. “I’ll have to get maternity cover for you.”

“ Hmm .” Laura’s eyes twinkled. “Can I suggest someone?”

“Fionn?”

“He’ll have graduated, Daisy. We could give him a trial period? Just don’t throw him in at the deep end.”

“Yeah, I won’t tell him yet. He needs to concentrate on his final project for college.”

Laura sat down. “Good. By the way, don’t you dare tell him I suggested it.”

Daisy grinned. “I won’t say a word.”