Morning Monty!You´ve got a prescription...Who´s not feeling well? Arthur enquired.
"It´s Dorothy. She has a cold, sneezing and coughing all the time". Monty answered.
"Here you have a cold remedy and a big box of tissues. I hope she gets well soon" Arthur wished.
"I hope so too. She is the joy of the household and when she is ill our home is not the same."
Monty said sadly.
Carol who was entertaining baby Mark sent her best wishes to Dorothy too. "Give my greetings to her and if you need anything just tell us, ok?. Anyway, I´ll bring you some soup for dinner". Carol offered.
Oh, that´s very kind of you!! Monty replied." Dottie is not in the mood to cook and I´m hopeless in the kitchen".
"See you later, then Monty. Bye-bye Mark" Carol waved her hand to baby Mark as they were leaving the store.
.
Soon after Monty left , Nancy, Daisy and Constance entered the shop.
"Morning, girls!!! Nice to see you !! Carol greeted them cheerfuly.
"Morning Carol" The three of them said at the same time.
"If I can be of any help just let me know" Carol said.
The three ladies started having a look at the gifts section.
"What about a basket with some baby clothes and and a few litttle toys?" Daisy suggested.
"And a baby book, too. This one looks very intersting" Nancy added
"Sorry for meddling, ladies but I guess you´re looking for a present for a baby, baby Joey? Am I right? Carol said softly.
"You´re right indeed, Carol" Daisy stated.
May I suggest something? Carol asked.
"Of course you can!!" They replied." Give us some ideas, please"
Then, Carol told them about something Sheila liked from the Toys Catalogue but as it was a bit pricey and had to be ordered she was going to tell her husband about it. She didn´t have the chance to do it since that very same day she had to go to the hospital and baby Joey was born.
"That´s fantastic. This way we can be sure she is going to like it and instead of getting a present each we can buy it together" Nancy commented.
Daisy and Constance agreed with Nancy about ordering the present from the Toys Catalogue and Carol joined them too." Ok, I´ll order it today and as soon it´s delivered we´ll visit The Springers" Carol said.
What about a nice cup of tea girls? Nancy suggested. "Great idea" Daisy replied.
I´m afraid I can´t stay today, I left the triplets with Richard and they must be hungry by now and you don´t know how hard is to handle three hungry babies.Richard gets very stressed out when the triplets start pulling his trousers asking for food." Constance explained.
"See you later Constance" her friends said.
"Enjoy your tea, girls. I´ll join you next time!! Constance said.
...........................................................................................................................................................
When Carol and Arthur closed The Contry Market they went home. Carol cooked dinner for her family and as she promised Monty, she called over to bring them some food and see how Dorothy was feeling.
"Here you have some pumpkin soup and some fish. The fish is ready to go into the oven. Leave it there for twenty minutes and dinner will be ready". Carol told Monty.
"Thank you Carol. We really appreciate your generosity." Monty said with a grateful look.
"You´re welcome Monty, that´s what friends are for. How is Dorothy? Feeling any better? Carol asked.
"She is in bed. Go upstairs, she´ll be delighted to see you. Meanwhile I´ll put the fish in the oven and I´ll heat up the soup"
Monty put the fish in the oven and Clara tried to feed her baby brother . Clara was a very nice girl, always very helpful and kind. She was the apple of her father´s eyes.
Dorothy seemed to be very pleased with Carol´s visit. She was bored of being in bed all day.
"Hi! Dorothy, How do you feel?" Carol asked. "I have a bad cold, sneezing all the time. Achoo!! I´m going to finish a box of tissues in a day". Dorothy said while blowing her nose with a tissue paper.
"I brought you a magazine from the shop. I guess you must be kind of boring so a bit of reading will keep you entertained". Carol said.
"You are such a nice friend!! I won´t kiss you just in case you catch the cold too but you deserve a big hug." Dorothy exclaimed. "You´d do the same for me so no problem at all. I also brought some soup and fish for dinner." Carol added. "Thanks a million, Caro!. I was a bit worried about dinner. I was wondering what the kids were going to eat. Monty and the kitchen don´t get on well, you know?" Dorothy said with a smile.
When Carol went down to the kitchen again Clara offered her a cup of tea. "Thank you Clara" "You´re such a nice girl" Carol complimented on her and she left promising she would come back tomorrow.
Shortly after Carol left, Doctor Murdoch called to visit Dorothy. He was very kind to his patients and after closing the hospital he liked to visit them to see how they were doing. "I leave this tablets just in case she has a temperature later on or feels worse but I think she´ll be much better in a couple of days."He told Monty while handing him the tablets. "Dorothy, you need to rest and drink plenty of fluids, Ok?" he said to Dorothy.
"I will doctor. I will. I´m looking forward to being myself again. Achoo!!! Achoo!!! she said snezzing again.
"I know you will look after her, Monty" Doctor Murdoch said "Of course, I will " Monty replied. There was no doubt about it. Dorothy means the world to Monty.
..................................................................................................................................................................
Three days later after ordering the present for the Springers, a big parcel arrived at The Country Market.
Carol and Arthur removed the original packaging and wrapped it up with wrapping paper.
The following day Carol arranged to meet Constance, Daisy and Nancy to visit The Springers to congratulate them on their new baby.
"It seems theres´s nobody at home" Nancy said after knocking at the door a couple of times.
It was so hard to carry the present all the way from The Country Market that they decided to wait for a while. They were having a lively conversation when sudddenly they heard some steps approaching. Daisy recognized Sheilas´s voice.
Come on , let´s hide around the corner!!!! Daisy whispered. The four friends ran away gigling as if they were playing hide- and- seek.
Shhh! They are coming!!! Daisy said in a whisper. Are you ready, girls? she asked her friends.
Having said that they just appeared from behind the house shouting cheerfuly "SURPRISE!!!!!"
Oh, dear!!! It´s nice to see you!!! Sheila said ." Hello, ladies" Bruce greeted. "I have a baby brother" Joanne said proudly. The four of them congratulated Sheila and Bruce on their new baby and Joanne for becoming a big sister.
"What ´s in this big parcel?" Joanne wanted to know. May I open it? she asked.
Go ahead, Joanne! It´s for your brother Joey. Constance encouraged her.
A playpen!!! Sheila exclaimed. "The one I liked from the Toys Catalogue!!!!" Oh girls, you are wonderful!!!!! Thank you so much!!! I love it!!!! Sheila said showing her gratitude.
Come here girls, let me give you a big hug!!!! The four friends gather around Sheila and they all hugged.
Joanne got into the playpen and started playing a melody on the toy piano." Listen dad ,I know how to play
twinkle, twinkle little star" Joanne said. "It sounds lovely, sweetheart." her dad exclaimed.
After all the displays of affection Sheila invited her friends to come into the house for a cup of tea.
Are you sure Sheila? You must be tired. I still remember when my triplets were born. How many sleepless nights!!!!I was exhausted!! Constance sighed. "I´m fine, I really feel like having my friends around, so please come on in" Sheila said cheerfuly.
Nancy, Daisy and Constance accepted the invitation but Carol had to go back to The Country Market. "Sorry Sheila but Arthur must be missing me already, the store gets busy at this time of the day" Carol explained. "Ok, but please come around any other day and bring Arthur and the kids too. Sheila asked. "That´s for sure" Carol stated.
The two friends kissed goodbye. Just before Carol left Sheila told her " Carol, thank you very much for the present . I know it was your idea." "You´re welcome Sheila.The girls were looking for something special for Joey and I remembered you asking me about the playpen from the catalogue so it was easy to make the right choice" Carol explained.
They were about to start serving the tea and the coffee when there was a knock at the door. When Sheila opened the door Teri Chocolate and Freya were there with a mouthwatering chocolate cake.
"Hi, Sheila. Congratulations!. We just dropped by to bring you a cake. We were looking forward to metting baby Joey. "Look at him!!!! Isn´t he cute, Freya?" Teri said and Freya totally agreed.
"Thank you Teri, that´s very kind of you!! This cake looks delicious!. Why don´t you come in for a cup of tea? Sheila offered. "Nancy, Constance and Daisy are also here and to be honest with you I was missing having something sweet with my coffee so you are just in time!
As usual, Teri´s cake was delicious. The Springers felt very lucky to have so many nice friends around.
They had a good chat and share a few laughs as well. Joanne and Freya had a very good time too playing with their "babies"
All of a sudden there was another knock at the door. "Who could it be now? I´ll go and see". Bruce went to open the door and couldn´t believe his eyes when he saw some of his pupils at the door.
"Congratulations Mr. Springer." all the kids said. "We just called by to give you a present from the whole class. Some couldn´t come but we all bought it with our pocket money" Freddie said while he handed Bruce a gift wrapped parcel. "Thank you very much but you shouldn´t have gone through all the trouble."
The children asked Bruce to open the present but before opening it he called Sheila so they kids could meet Joey. "Congratulations Mrs.Springer" "You have a lovely baby".They all exclaimed.
"What a nice present kids. Very kind of you!! You are great!!!! Sheila and Bruce thanked them.
"Look Joey, that´s for you" his dad told him.
Wait, kids !! I´ll be back in a sec" Bruce told his pupils.
When he was back he was holding two boxes of sweets. "That´s for you . I´m always telling you sweets are not good but this is a special occasion so help yourselves" Bruce handed them the sweets. "Thank you,sir. You´re the best teacher in the world!!!" they exclaimed." Hurray for Mr. Springer!!!" and they all laughed out loud.
" Can I have one, please? Asparagus asked. "Yes, of course. We have to share them and keep some for the ones who coudn´t come" Maria Buckley said.
When the children were gone Sheila told Bruce " You know? Your pupils are right. You are the best, Bruce. Best teacher, best father, best husband!!.."
It seemed he was about to say something but then he just kissed her.
"You are the best indeed!!" she kept saying. They both laughed and kissed again.
"Hem, hem!! Mum!! Dad!!! The coffee is getting cold!! Joanne interrupted her parents´ sweet moment.
"Oh!! There you are. Come here, sweetie!!!"
"Let´s have a family hug!!! We love you Joanne!!! " her parents said while kissing her.
"Ok, Ok. I love you too but I´d love to have a piece of cake so please let´s go inside" Joanne said.
"You are right, Joanne" "I feel like a piece of chocolate cake too" her mother said.
So they got back into the house and kept enjoying the good company of their friends, a cup of cofee (a bit cold though) and a piece of chocolate cake. A nice way to spend the evening!
Besides baby Joey didn´t even cry once!!. What else could they ask
for? Life was going well for The Springers.!!
Hope you like the second part of my story.
See you in my next post and thank you for reading.
