2. Deasil Street, a brand
new little close in the
Appaloosa Plains
neighbourhood. Six
new houses had been
planned to join an old
house to the main
road, and with five
complete, people
were starting to move
in.
3. Warren and
Miranda Bailey
were one of the
first to arrive.
Number 3 was a
dingy little
place, cheaply
decorated, but the
first they could
afford themselves.
And it beat living
with her elderly
parents.
4. Warren was keen to
start a family now they
were settled, and were
hitting it off with the
neighbours as more
moved in.
5. His argument might have been more compelling if their fireplace hadn’t
exploded in front of their dinner guests. Pablo and Jennifer Martinez suggested
the Bailey’s might want to renovate before thinking about kids.
6. Miranda persuaded
Warren to wait.
They had plenty of time
after all, and she
wanted to get their
professional lives sorted
before they committed
to anything else.
Money was tight.
7. Half the reason they’d
even moved to Deasil
Street was the new
opportunities for work in
the up and coming town.
Babies were low on the list
for now.
8. She set up a little office in the
garage to work in, proofreading
political documents for the
expanding local council.
9. She was working extremely
hard, especially given
Warren’s difficulty getting a
job of his own. And it was
starting to take it’s strain.
10. Warren was full of admiration for
his wife’s hard work, well aware
they needed the money. But he
was concerned that she was
getting ache’s and pains from
hunching over a desk for too many
hours a day.
11. He was being as supportive
as he could, it wasn’t easy not
being able to contribute to his
own household.
12. But it wasn’t just a bit of
backache, Miranda was
suffering from crippling
headaches as well. But that
was to be expected. Surely
staring at a computer screen
for so long was going to
strain something.
So annoying, but normal.
Right?
13. When the headaches began to make
her physically sick, she decided not to
tell Warren. It was probably just
migraines. She though she might have
had a great aunt once who had the
same. Nothing to worry about.
15. Across the road at number
six, the feelings about possible
pregnancies were very different.
16. Pablo and Jennifer had been trying
for a baby for quite some time. But
had so far been completely
unsuccessful.
17. They’d tried seeing the
doctor, but he’d told
them to stop worrying
and just have fun. So
they were trying to spice
things up a bit.
18. Jen had given up a
prominent post in the
expanding Appaloosa
political scene, which she
had loved - because all she
had ever wanted was to
have children. Pablo had
explained she couldn’t do
both, so she’d done the
unexpected thing and quit.
19. Sometimes she wondered if it
had been the right decision.
Pablo all but ignored her during
the day as he worked from home.
20. It’s not as if she was old.
They had plenty of time
to have a baby. She just
wished it would be soon.
21. Sometimes, when she wasn’t
being her normal charitable
self… she wondered if Pablo
wanted children as much as
she did. Or even (whisper it)
at all.
22. And when he was alone, Pablo wondered
the same thing.
23. When Pablo started working more at the office, Jen
refused to believe he was avoiding her. They both
wanted children, she was sure of it.
24. Back at the Baileys, Miranda’s
pregnancy was all they could think
about.
25. Warren was excited, but
Miranda had her
reservations. The doctor had
assured her everything was
fine with the baby, but
something didn’t feel right.
26. But as the months passed by, and things didn’t
change, she passed her symptoms off as the
normal consequences of pregnancy.
27. When the normal pains she lived
with in her head shifted to her
abdomen, she figured the baby
was coming at last.
28. Her waters broke, and she was
sure. The baby was definitely on
its way. The wait was over!
30. But the moment he held his
newborn son in his arms, he
knew everything was going to
be fine. James Bailey was
going to have a wonderful life
if he had anything to do with it.
31. But Miranda wasn’t so
sure. Her sons cries
pierced her and were
making her headaches
worse. And she hadn’t
wanted him in the first
place, how could she be a
good mother to him?
32. She put his crib next to her work
desk in an attempt to foster
some maternal feeling through
proximity – but she wasn’t sure
it was working.
33. Jen asked Pablo if he
wanted to go over and visit
the Baileys, meet little
James and get a bit of
advice over coffee.
34. Pablo exploded. Why did
everything have to be
about babies with her?
Why couldn’t they just
invite the Baileys to theirs
without the squalling
mini-me in tow.
35. Jen was astounded at his venom, where had it come
from? It wasn’t as if James Bailey was a
surprise, they’d been enviously watching Miranda
waddle about for months – or at least she had. Was
Pablo changing his minds about kids, or had she just
caught him at a bad moment?
36. Deasil Street
No. 1 No. 3
For Sale For Sale
No. 3 No. 5
Warren and Miranda Bailey For Sale
No. 5 No. 6
Empty Lot Pablo and Jennifer Martinez
No. 7
Harry Vickers and his daughter Ariette
Next
Time… Will Miranda connect with her newborn son?
Will Pablo admit he’s having second
thoughts about being a parent?
Find out next time on Deasil Street!
