Sophie Kinsella - Shopaholic and Baby

The fifth book in the Shopaholic series

For Oscar

KENNETH PRENDERGAST

Prendergast de Witt Connell Financial Advisers

Forward House 394 High Holborn

London WC1V 7EX

Mrs R Brandon 37 Maida Vale Mansions Maida Vale

London NW6 0YF

30 July 2003

Dear Mrs. Brandon,

It was a great pleasure to meet you and Luke the other day, and I look forward to taking on the role as your family financial adviser.

I am in the process of setting up banking arrangements and a trust fund for your unborn child. In due course we can discuss what investments you and your husband might make in the babys name.

I look forward to getting to know you better over the coming months; please do not hesitate to contact me on any matter, no matter how small.

Yours sincerely,

Kenneth Prendergast

Family Investment Specialist

KENNETH PRENDERGAST

Prendergast de Witt Connell Financial Advisers

Forward House 394 High Holborn

London WC1V 7EX

Mrs R Brandon 37 Maida Vale Mansions Maida Vale

London NW6 0YF

1 August 2003

Dear Mrs. Brandon,

Thank you for your letter. In answer to your question, yes, there will be an overdraft facility on the babys bank account although, naturally, I would not expect it to be used!

Yours sincerely,

Kenneth Prendergast

Family Investment Specialist

KENNETH PRENDERGAST

Prendergast de Witt Connell Financial Advisers

Forward House 394 High Holborn

London WC1V 7EX

Mrs R Brandon 37 Maida Vale Mansions Maida Vale

London NW6 0YF

7 August 2003

Dear Mrs. Brandon,

Thank you for your letter. I was intrigued to hear about the psychic message you recently received from your unborn child. However, Im afraid it is impossible to access the overdraft facility at this stage. Even if, as you say, the baby wishes it.

Yours sincerely,

Kenneth Prendergast

Family Investment Specialist

OK. DONT PANIC. Everythings going to be fine. Of course it is.

Of course it is.

If you could lift up your top, Mrs. Brandon? The sonographer has a pleasant, professional air as she looks down at me. I need to apply some jelly to your abdomen before we start the scan.

Absolutely! I say without moving a muscle. The thing is, Im just a teeny bitnervous.

Im lying on a bed at the Chelsea and Westminster hospital, tense with anticipation. Any minute now, Luke and I will see our baby on the screen for the first time since it was just a teeny blob. I still cant quite believe it. In fact, I still havent quite got over the fact that Im pregnant. In nineteen weeks time I, Becky Brandon, ne Bloomwoodam going to be a mother. A mother!

Lukes my husband, by the way. Weve been married for just over a year and this is a one hundred percent genuine honeymoon baby! We traveled loads on our honeymoon, but Ive pretty much worked out that we conceived it when we were staying in this gorgeous resort in Sri Lanka, called Unawatuna, all orchids and bamboo trees and beautiful views.

Unawatuna Brandon.

Miss Unawatuna Orchid Bamboo-tree Brandon.

Hmm. Im not sure what Mum would say.

My wife had a slight accident in the early stages of pregnancy, Luke explains from his seat beside the bed. So shes a little anxious.

He squeezes my hand supportively, and I squeeze back. In my pregnancy book, Nine Months of Your Life, it says you should include your partner in all aspects of your pregnancy, otherwise he can feel hurt and alienated. So Im including Luke as much as I possibly can. Like, last night I included him in watching my new DVD, Toned Arms in Pregnancy. He suddenly remembered in the middle that he had to make a business call, and missed quite a lot but the point is, he doesnt feel shut out.

You had an accident? The sonographer pauses in her tapping at the computer.

I fell off this mountain when I was looking for my long-lost sister in a storm, I explain. I didnt know I was pregnant at the time. And I think maybe I bashed the baby.

I see. The sonographer looks at me kindly. She has graying brown hair tied back in a knot, with a pencil stuck into it. Well, babies are resilient little things. Lets just have a look, shall we?

Here it is. The moment Ive been obsessing over for weeks. Gingerly I lift up my top and look down at my swelling stomach.

If you could just push all your necklaces aside? she adds. Thats quite a collection you have there!

Theyre special pendants. I loop them together with a jangle. This one is an Aztec maternity symbol, and this is a gestation crystaland this is a chiming ball to soothe the babyand this is a birthing stone.

A birthing stone?

You press it on a special spot on your palm, and it takes away the pain of labor, I explain. Its been used since ancient Maori times.

Mm-hmm. The sonographer raises an eyebrow and squeezes some transparent gloop on my stomach. Frowning slightly, she applies the ultrasound probe thing to my skin, and instantly a fuzzy black-and-white image appears on the screen.

I cant breathe.

Thats our baby. Inside me. I dart a look at Luke, and hes gazing at the screen, transfixed.

There are the four chambers of the heart. The sonographer is moving the probe around. Now were looking at the shoulders. She points to the screen and I squint obediently, even though, to be honest, I cant see any shoulders, only blurry curves.

Theres an armone hand Her voice trails off and she frowns.

Theres silence in the little room. I feel a sudden grip of fear. Thats why shes frowning. The babys only got one hand. I knew it.

A wave of overpowering love and protectiveness rises up inside me. Tears are welling in my eyes. I dont care if our babys only got one hand. Ill love it just as much. Ill love it more. Luke and I will take it anywhere in the world for the best treatment, and well fund research, and if anyone even dares give my baby a look

And the other hand The sonographers voice interrupts my thoughts.

Other hand? I look up, choked. Its got two hands?

Wellyes. The sonographer seems taken aback at my reaction. Look, you can see them here. She points at the image, and to my amazement I can just about make out the little bony fingers. Ten of them.

Im sorry, I gulp, wiping my eyes with a tissue she hands me. Its just such a relief.

Everything seems absolutely fine as far as I can tell, she says reassuringly. And dont worry, its normal to be emotional in pregnancy. All those hormones swilling about.

Honestly. People keep talking about hormones. Like Luke last night, when I cried over that TV ad with the puppy. Im not hormonal, Im perfectly normal. It was just a very sad ad.

Here you go. The sonographer taps at her keyboard again. A row of black-and-white scan pictures curls out of the printer, which she hands to me. I peer at the first one and you can see the distinct outline of a head. Its got a little nose and a mouth and everything.

So. Ive done all the checks. She swivels round on her chair. All I need to know now is whether you want to know the gender of the baby.

No, thank you, Luke answers with a smile. Weve talked it through at great length, havent we, Becky? And we both feel it would spoil the magic to find out.

Very well. The sonographer smiles back. If thats what youve decided, I wont say anything.

She wont say anything? That means shes already seen what the sex is. She could just tell us right now!

We hadnt actually decided, had we? I say. Not for definite.

Wellyes, we had, Becky. Luke seems taken aback. Dont you remember, we talked about it for a whole evening and agreed we wanted it to be a surprise.