"'When a child is born, the world is altered in a instant." "'A new voice is heard." "New love comes into being." "'Years later we pause and say," "' "Yes, that's when it all began." "On that day, in that room." "' "When I saw that face." '" "' Birth is the smallest of magnificent things." "'And the greatest of little ones." "For the midwives of Nonnatus House, 'each one was as ordinary and magical as the sunrise - 'as familiar and different as a breaking day.'" "Phone's ringing!" "She's in Beauregarde Street!" "Do you want a lift?" "Very well." "If it's going to be quicker." "~ Oh, Lord!" "~ She's in the back!" "We're on our way to the hospital!" "~ What name is it?" "~ We thought Nicholas, if it's a boy." "I meant your wife." "Oh, it's you, Sarah!" "I told you at clinic you wouldn't be waiting long." "How did you get here?" "Magic Carpet Midwifery Services at your disposal!" "Mind out." "I've been sick on the seat." "Nothing a bit of Flash won't cure." "Now, let's see what baby's getting up to, shall we?" "Bottoms up, sweetie." "That's superb, Sarah!" "Keep it coming!" "Baby's well on his way!" "Police, love." "Can we do anything for you?" "Yes!" "You can give us some privacy!" "And turn that radio down!" "We don't want to be reminded of this every time you hear Elvis Presley." "Little pushes now, Sarah... and one last push, Sarah." "Just little, little pushes now, Sarah, just little ones." "That's it, that's it!" "There's a girl!" "There's a girl, there's a girl!" "There we are!" "There we are!" "Nicholas for a boy, was it?" "I think Nicola might be closer to the mark!" "It's a girl?" "I had a girl?" "You certainly did!" "I reckon she's going to be a blondie." "Like you." "And blondes have more fun!" "They do." "Ain't that right, nurse?" "Absolutely." "What in the name of goodness are you playing at?" "All we can hear out there is you crashing and banging." "It's like Tin Pan Alley!" "We anticipate a newcomer." "And there is neither cake nor sweetmeats with which to welcome her!" "Well, that may very well be for a reason." "We've all seen how you stuff the raw recruits with cake." "They're hard to come by." "We don't want you scaring 'em off!" "I should think that fibrous pottage you call All Bran would repel them more." "If Nurse Gilbert wants my All Bran when she arrives, she is more than welcome to it." "It's like trying to digest a coconut mat." "~ No cake!" "~ Well done, Trixie!" "~ Bravo, old thing!" "We saved you some streaky bacon." "Oh, marvellous!" "Born in a car!" "I really do believe that was a first for Nonnatus House." "And very possibly a first for Poplar!" "I think we were called to one born on a bus once." "And one on a platform down the Underground." "It's all down to mismanagement, poor advice, and hospital deliveries!" "We'll see more and more of this, unless we can persuade women they're better off at home." "Streaky bacon?" "Er, no." "Whilst I'm officially acting Matron at the Mother and Baby Home," "I'd like to arrange some domiciliary deliveries for the girls." "~ It would be so much easier for them." "~ Nurse Noakes, you'll never find me condemning any girl who's started her life on the wrong foot." "But are you sure you're doing the right thing, giving over months of your life to them?" "There's a flat comes with the job, and it means Freddie can live in the country for a while." "He really has turned into quite the Mr Chesty over the winter." "It's not for ever!" "Just until the council find a permanent Matron." "I think you're being compassionate, sensible, and bold in equal measures." "There can be no better way to start any enterprise." "And it will be nice having Sergeant Noakes to stay with us when he does his weeks of night shift." "I'm looking forward to it." "Camilla." "What are you trying to do with the clutch?" "I'm trying to get the biting point!" "But it's bally elusive when one's reversing out." "~ Do you need me to drive you there?" "~ No, I don't!" "Your shift starts in half an hour." "I'm not needed at Astor Lodge until lunch time." "Well, just turn the key in the ignition and say to yourself, "Mirror, signal, manoeuvre"." "The more you repeat it, the more you do it, the calmer you will be." "Mirror." "Signal." "Manoeuvre." "Hop over." "I'll get you to the far side of the Commercial Road." "A bientot!" "Goodbye." "~ God bless you." "~ Bye, Chummy!" "Sister Monica Joan, whatever are you doing?" "You say that in a tone of such surprise." "As though you are not accustomed to seeing me gainfully occupied." "But you don't need to carry out menial tasks." "There are others that will do that." "You've earned your rest." "I did not rest when I was young and I was ridden all the stronger by it." "The young will not be tempered as we were." "They have an electric carpet sweeper in the Mother House." "I fear what we will find in the girl who comes to join us." "Sister," "I think perhaps you are confusing the new midwife with Nurse Miller." "She has gone to Chichester as a postulant." "But you said she would come back." "And she will." "Before I took the veil, my mama and I would on occasion take tea at an hotel in London." "The name escapes me now but perhaps that does not matter." "It had a door... that revolved." "And it seemed to me the whole world passed through it, no face the same, always spinning." "Like figurines in a music box." "The visages became quite blurred." "It can be unsettling, to see friends replaced by strangers." "But everyone is welcome here, and all must be cherished." "Remember what St Benedict said?" "Do you think I have room enough in my head for every utterance of his?" "No." "But I don't doubt you know his teachings in your heart." "I say!" "I'm awfully sorry." "Where have you come from, then, Princess?" "Buckingham Palace?" "No." "Liverpool." "I was looking for somewhere called Nonnatus House." "You visiting the sisters?" "Here you are." "Give them these from me." "Er, top of this street, turn left, then left again." "You're to be commended for the way you've filed everything alphabetically, but we have some post-natal mothers who require a double appointment - one for themselves and one for, er, baby's vaccinations." "A single list isn't enough." "I think we're being invaded, Mrs Turner." "~ Gangway!" "~ Just pop over and see if Nurse Mount needs any help with the developmental records." "I'm sorry, dear, but we don't allow prams in the hall." "We've had too many coming in with dog dirt on their wheels." "Well, whose is that pram over there?" "Mine." "And its wheels are clean." "So's these!" "Anyway, I've got firewood on the bottom." "Somebody might nick it." "Well, just this once." "Where's your mother?" "Working." "I've come to get the milk tokens and the orange juice for me baby sister." "Aren't you lucky, having such a kind big brother?" "What name, please?" "Gary Teeman." "I meant your baby sister." "Coral." "C-O-R-A-L." "Like what you get in the sea." "That's pretty!" "Me other sisters are called Marcy and Jacquetta." "Our mum says a pretty name costs nothing." "Your mum's quite right." "~ Oh, Sorry!" "~ Careful, ladies!" "Oh!" "Oh, goodness." "Hello." "I'm Barbara Gilbert." "~ There is no-one here to entertain you." "They are all abroad." "~ Abroad?" "They are like Ariel himself - they divide and burn in many places." "I was told to ask for Sister Julienne." "She is in attendance at the clinic, for our tasks are too many and our pairs of hands too few." "Do you suppose I'm expected there?" "I'm the new midwife." "You will not find cake there, if that is what you seek." "I venture to suggest that you return at nightfall." "I am not trusted to entertain strangers." "I trust you." "I'm new." "I spent all day on a train sitting in the guard's van with my bike." "And I arrived at Euston late, and then I got lost." "And now everything I own in the world is lying on the pavement." "I need your help." "And some dogs are coming." "Put down the bananas." "They are superfluous to the situation." "No!" "Stop it!" "Come back here." "No, bad dog!" "Very bad dog!" "Very bad dog." "Excuse me, excuse me." "Excuse me." "Bring it back." "Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no!" "Thank you." "I found the paperwork for baby Coral, though there's none for the other children." "Her mother hasn't brought her to clinic for months " "I checked the records." "I also think Coral might have a touch of impetigo, but it's time for me to give my talk on feeding baby." "You pop off." "Leave these two to me." "Right then, young man." "Courtesy of the National Health, one week's worth of milk tokens, and a lovely bottle of rosehip syrup." "Haven't you got any orange juice?" "Rosehip syrup's lovely." "There are just as many vitamins in this as there are in the orange juice." "~ They put them all in in the factory." "~ Fair enough." "If I put these outside for the milkman, would he just leave milk?" "That's the drill." "We haven't got one of those baskets." "The metal ones they put the milk in." "If you put the tokens on the step," "I'm sure the milkman will get the message." "Is all this free?" "Yes." "Do take something home for your mother, if you'd like." "Thanks very much." "Gary, would you mind waiting here a little bit longer?" "I'd like doctor to have a look at Coral." "Is she sick?" "No." "She's just got a little rash next to her nose, which might be caused by germs getting into the skin." "You wait here until the doctor calls your name." "Okey dokey." "Oh, here." "Can you manage?" "Let me help you." "Nurse Gilbert?" "Welcome." "I'm Sister Julienne." "And obviously you've met Sister Monica Joan." "You will take tea before you start your tasks?" "I should like to say," ""Please, assert your preference." "Indian or China?"" "But there is only Typhoo." "Should I have come in uniform?" "I would have changed, but there was a bit of trouble with my luggage." "There's nothing left for you to do today." "Everything's in hand." "As many of you may be aware, some months ago" "Dr Turner and I adopted a baby girl." "I was a midwife before I married and I'm here to share some of my own experience with regard to mixing formula and sterilising bottles and so forth." "We would always encourage you to breast feed," "~ but in some cases it simply isn't possible." "~ Excuse me." "I've been reading a book that says breast milk should be a baby's only form of nourishment." "Really?" "Who wrote that?" "An American called Dr Spock." "Americans are foreign." "They do it all different!" "You probably can't even get Carnation evaporated milk over there." "I was reared on the stuff." "My baby's getting the same." "I was actually going to talk about Carnation." "It makes a splendid topping for dessert but these scientifically developed formulas are much more suitable." "But Dr Spock says it isn't just about the milk." "It... the act of feeding is just as important." "He says putting the baby to the breast helps the mother to bond with it." "~ Bond?" "~ Well..." "love, I suppose." "I'm sure nobody here feels they'll love their baby any less just because it's fed by bottle." "I'm just saying what he says." "And what Sister Evangelina says." "She always says "Breast is best"." "She said it when I was pregnant with my first and my second and my third." "You're obviously very experienced, Mrs..." "Wimbish." "And I'm not." "I..." "I lost all three." "This one..." "This one's my big chance." "And it might be my only chance." "And that's why I want to get it right." "Where've you been?" "Doing this and that." "You look nice!" "I have to dress smart for work." "You fancy fishcakes when I come home?" "Coral don't like fishcakes." "Well, she'll be asleep, won't she?" "You've earned a fishcake if you want it, my little soldier." "Our key's on the string." "Just reach in through the flap." "I did take Mrs Wimbish to one side after the class but she was still very anxious, even after we'd had a chat." "Timothy, I wish you'd use the waste-paper basket." "We don't want pencil shavings in our rissoles." "Fretting about feeding is as much an outlet for her other worries as a genuine concern." "Did she really lose three babies?" "Yes, all before six months." "I'm letting her have weekly check-ups in the hope it'll put her mind at rest." "I'm not sure it isn't causing more anxiety." "She's fretting about everything." "Even feeding - and all that Dr Spock talk upset some other mothers." "Breast-feeding isn't always easy." "I've seen women in such pain with mastitis, or struggling to keep up a routine when they have other little ones." "What about the risk of infection?" "That's why I was giving the class." "Feeding a baby from an improperly sterilised bottle is very risky." "No, I meant what about the antibodies that mothers pass on in their milk?" "Breast-fed babies have been found to have significantly fewer bacterial colonisations of the alimentary tract." "How do you know that?" "I read it in The Lancet." "Your room has been aired but it was unoccupied for a while so it might smell a little damp." "It smells just like home to me." "We've got wet rot and dry rot in our vicarage." "Oh, of course." "Your father is a... a clergyman, isn't he?" "We might occasionally have a male police sergeant lodging with us." "So you might want to make sure that you wear your dressing gown when you go to the bathroom, which is just along there." "Are you sure this is allowed?" "Well, I'm allowing it." "I am Acting Sister every Tuesday." "Besides, we can't possibly leave you on your own on your first night." "Gosh, Cinzano Bianco!" "We're branching out." "And it won't be Bianco for very long because I'm putting some rosehip syrup in it." "Are you sure?" "Oh, Patsy!" "We can't give it away at the clinic." "You'd think people were paying, they're so picky!" "Is it alcoholic?" "Bianco?" "Not really." "It's more like a sort of fortified wine." "Oh." "That'll be all right." "I've had Sanatogen tonic wine quite a few times." "And this is just as good for you." "It's absolutely full of vitamins." "Chin chin!" "Coming." "I won't be a minute." "Now then." "I think we need some more music." "This one, Barbara, is especially for you." "This is Billy Fury and he's from Liverpool." "My boyfriend can't stand him." "You got a boyfriend, Trixie?" "Yes, but he's a curate." "Forever being distracted by parishioners and good works." "It's an occupational hazard." "I'm sorry, Trixie, but I'm with Tom on the topic of Billy Fury." "He sounds as though he's singing at the bottom of a well." "How on earth is one supposed to dance to it?" "Well, you do a sort of slow foxtrot." "Like this." "Do you know, I haven't seen Tom for five days?" "Strictly entre-nous, if he doesn't start putting a bit more effort into this romance, it's all just going to fizzle out." "And I'll be left on the shelf." "No!" "No, that won't happen." "You're too nice." "Just you wait and see." "Meanwhile, poor Patsy hasn't got a chap at all." "We'll be able to start the Ornament Society For Girls On The Shelf, and be the president and founder members." "Fetch the wastepaper basket!" "No, don't!" "It's made of wicker." "Oh, my good giddy aunt!" "Bathroom's just there." "Oh, dear." "Oh." "Oh, goodness." "There's only one way this is going to end." "I'd get a bit of shut-eye, if I were you." "I'll man the decks." "And the mop." "Nurse Franklin?" "What are you up to?" "I'm looking for a milk crate." "I could've sworn I'd seen one in here." "Come here." "You'll get everything in a right two and eight." "And there's rats in here." "You don't want them nibbling at your nylons." "Here." "There you go." "It's got a little dial on it and everything." "What do you mean, she ate one of those green crisps?" "She had some potato crisps with her sandwich on the train yesterday and said some of them were quite discoloured." "I've a good mind to write to the manufacturer." "The poor girl was sick as a pup till 3.00am." "I know!" "I heard." "It would put you off crisps for life." "Let her rest for the morning." "And give her some milk of magnesia." "That one's empty." "So it is." "Oh!" "~ Morning, darling." "~ Good morning." "We meet again!" "Of course." "How could I forget?" "Any special deliveries today?" "I do deliveries most days." "And they're always special." "Do you know anything about the family who live here?" "That flat's been empty about three months, I reckon." "Looks like an eviction, the way it's boarded up." "But they never ordered milk in any case." "Trixie!" "Tom!" "I don't want to make you late but can I ask you something?" "♪ They tried to tell us we're too young" "♪ Too young to really be in love" "♪ They say that love's a word" "♪ A word we've only heard" "♪ But can't begin to know" "♪ The meaning of" "♪ This love will last" "♪ Though years may go" "♪ And then some day they may recall" "♪ We were not too young at all. ♪" "Lovely to see you." "Bye." "Afternoon." "My mum sent me for the milk tokens." "The name's Teeman." "Oh, yes." "You're down for two pints a day." "Tell your mother to be sure to put them out each morning." "Thanks, Nurse." "He leaves a bit of an aroma in his wake, poor little tyke." "Lucky that will soon be a thing of the past, with the new housing and indoor bathrooms." "I didn't notice." "I think the only indoor bathroom in my father's parish was ours." "Oh, well done." "You managed to get rid of quite a lot of rosehip syrup." "I told them all I drink it myself and really like it." "When did Gary Teeman come in?" "A minute or two ago." "I put a note on the list, Barbara!" "You were supposed to send for me if he appeared." "Oh..." "Trixie!" "Afternoon, Reverend!" "Afternoon." "Please be advised I had every intention of kissing you when we first met." "And I had every intention of letting you." "Scotch egg?" "You're like a sort of angel sometimes." "I've looked all over Poplar for your little pram-pushing friend." "Gary?" "There are no Teemans on the Cradle Roll, and none at the school." "~ It's as though they've vanished." "~ And we can't let them." "He was putting on such a brave face, Tom." "I know what that looks like." "And I know what it feels like." "I know, because I did it when I was a child myself." "Besides, the baby had impetigo." "I'm sure of it." "Marcy, don't worry." "I'm just getting the key." "Don't worry." "I'm not going anywhere." "Don't worry." "I'll think of something." "Sit down, Sister." "I've decided that erm," "Nurse Gilbert will benefit from a few days at the Maternity Home." "The routine will remind her of hospital, on a more intimate scale." "They're meant to be trained when they come here." "She is trained, and qualified." "She just..." "lacks experience." "Well, the Maternity Home can have her with my compliments, keep her for as long as they like." "And I've changed the roster so that you can go there too, keep an eye on her." "As long as our patients don't suffer, I won't argue." "It... it's not really the patients' suffering that concerns me at the moment, Sister." "It's yours." "I'm not suffering." "Whatever gave you that impression?" "You push your food away from you at mealtimes." "You've been dosing yourself with Milk of Magnesia." "And today you put your hand to your back in chapel when we stood to pray." "It's a touch of lumbago." "Not getting any younger, no more than you are." "There's age and there's illness, Sister." "I would like you to make an appointment with Doctor." "To set all our minds at rest." "Have I ever failed to fulfil my duties?" "Have I ever failed a mother in delivery, or my Sisters in Christ?" "~ No, never." "~ In which case" "I suggest you find something else to tie yourself in knots about!" "Like the state of this building." "It's Nonnatus House that's got dry rot, not me." "Am I supposed to teach you to use hand signals as well?" "Sorry, Sister." "I wasn't best pleased with the way your gabardine was flapping." "You are a midwife not a can-can dancer." "Morning, buddy." "You're up with the lark." "~ What's a lark?" "~ It's a type of bird." "Do you get 'em in London?" "Well, maybe in parks." "Larks in the parks, eh?" "Jacquetta!" "Jacquetta!" "Fetch a cup." "Fetch a cup and bring it to the door." "Hold it up, Jackie." "Hold it right up." "Hold it up, Jackie." "Hold it up, Jackie." "Mrs Wimbish?" "There's something wrong." "There's definitely something wrong." "~ She's been awake since four o'clock this morning." "We think she's having contractions." "~ Sit down." "~ I'm only seven months!" "I can't have it now!" "~ I'll fetch Doctor." "This is how the others started, George." "It's how they ended, too." "They came too soon." "Your contractions weren't regular and they seem to have petered out." "I think we should pop you into bed here, keep you under observation, and then transfer you to the London if things start moving." "Will they start moving?" "Can't you do anything to stop it?" "The most important thing for you both is rest." "~ And er..." "~ Anything else?" "~ A box of the Dairy." "~ Dairy box?" "~ Yep." "~ Is that it?" "~ That's it, thank you." "Lovely, thanks very much." "Thank you." "Thank you." "Oi!" "Oi!" "Come here!" "Come here, you!" "Oi!" "Come here, you thieving....!" "Come here!" "Come here!" "Come here, you." "~ Come here!" "Come here!" "~ Get off me!" "Yes, so you can come back tomorrow and rob me blind again, eh?" "Luncheon is served!" "Did you make that?" "No." "But I'm supervising the orderly." "She's new." "Aren't you lucky?" "~ I daren't tell you what I do for a living." "~ Oh?" "I'm a Domestic Science teacher." "Stay calm, Colette." "Stay calm." "Have you been practising your breathing exercises?" "Sister Evangelina!" "Get in there, you." "Got one here, Sergeant - wants teaching a lesson." "And if you don't, I will!" "~ What's he done?" "~ Robbed me shop." "Rich Tea?" "You must have been starving." "Fully dilated." "I called the Flying Squad." "I told them a premature baby at 33 weeks is expected and they're on their way." "She might deliver before they get here." "And tell me where the extra heaters are." "Cupboard off the landing, on the left." "Quickly." "It's all right, Colette." "Baby's coming very fast, which is never a picnic." "But on your next contraction, you're probably going to feel the need to push." "~ No, no, no, I try to want to keep him where it's safe." "~ That's it." "Watch where you're walking, Nurse!" "That's it, Colette!" "Yes, come on!" "Ah, that's the girl, that's the girl!" "How much longer?" "Well, the next contraction, if you can keep this up." "Come on, now, come on, now." "Ah, this is it!" "Yes, yes - come on!" "Yes!" "You have a daughter." "Mucus extractor." "Is everything all right?" "~ Come on, young lady." "~ What's wrong?" "Wakey-wakey!" "Rise and shine." "Can I see her?" "Just here." "Oh, my love." "We couldn't wait a moment longer, could we?" "Spontaneous vaginal delivery, 33 weeks gestation." "Airways cleared and breathing without help." "Where are they taking her?" "You leave them to their job, and we'll get on with ours." "Nurse." "Nurse, you're not here to assist them, you're here to assist me!" "Come here, stand here." "Here!" "Stand there!" "Give the mother some privacy!" "I thought you might fancy a cuppa." "Seeing as how you brought some biscuits with you." "They weren't for me." "Not even one of them?" "I don't get hungry." "But my baby sisters, they cry." "They can't wait like I can wait." "Wait for what, Gary?" "Mum." "She'll bring us chips and stuff, when she comes back." "Back from where?" "She goes out." "That's no good, is it?" "When she goes out, how long is she gone for?" "Only a night." "Or two sometimes." "It's like she says, everybody has to have something that makes them happy." "~ Come here." "~ Don't come near me!" "Don't you bloody come near!" "~ Why not, son?" "~ Because I know how bad I smell." "And I'm ashamed." "It's all right, son." "It's all right." "It isn't." "And you wouldn't say that, if you knew." "Knew what, Gary?" "Why can't I go with her?" "Baby's going to need to be very carefully nursed and kept warm in an incubator, on the premature baby ward." "I keep hearing that little cry." "Keeps replaying in my head, like the chorus of a song." "Well, that's something, isn't it?" "It's all I've got." "Get it open." "What a stink." "Let's get some light in here." "It's all right, everything's fine." "It's OK." "Shh, shh." "~ What do we do, Sarge?" "~ Get the WPC." "And bring their brother in." "Bring the boy." "I'm hungry." "I'm sorry." "I'm hungry, Gary." "Are you cold?" "Here." "It'll all be all right now." "Hello, Coral." "Take Gary back to the car." "Come with me, luvvie." "Take our baby sister." "Sh, sh, sh, sh, sh." "It's OK." "Sh." "When the woman who did this to her children crawls back here, you're to arrest her for neglect." "Let's get her downstairs." "Come on." "This way." "Would you let me see what it is, Jacquetta?" "I won't take it from you." "She's severely dehydrated and running a fever." "There are bruises on Jacquetta's shoulder." "I think somebody has shaken her." "They both have fleas." "And there's a cigarette burn on Marcy's foot." "~ Oh, Jesus." "~ Do you need a clean nappy?" "No." "We need an ambulance." "She'll need intravenous antibiotics and possibly skin grafts." "Nonnatus House." "Midwife speaking?" "'Nurse Franklin?" "'" "The doctor asks if you can send two nurses on the district roster over to the surgery." "We've had a neglect and cruelty case brought in." "'We're having to get the cleansing station opened.'" "The cleansing station?" "Is it really that bad?" "I shall accompany you." "It's not necessary." "Once the cleansing stations never closed." "We were there so often, ridding the most wretched of whatever filth encrusted them." "It was never pleasant work, but that it was necessary was not in doubt." "It will not shock me." "And it is work that I can do." "This young fellow needs to be kissed and held also." "But I do not think you can help him, unless you give me that package you're taking such good care of." "I've spoken to Social Services." "They said there are no emergency foster parents who can take all three tonight." "I have retrieved the item she has cherished." "~ It appears to be some species of condiment." "~ Bisto." "Sweetie." "Have you been eating the stuff in that packet?" "I was hungry." "Well!" "It's not quite Vidal Sassoon, but I'm sure we can make the best of it." "What's Vidal Sassoon?" "It's an absolutely splendid salon, all the way up west!" "There are mirrors from floor to ceiling and golden chandeliers, and the minute you walk in, all you can smell is shampoo and red roses." "However, we're also rather famous for our shampoo and sets at Maison Trixie." "We run quite a good service for young men too." "~ Hello, Gary!" "~ Is the water nice?" "We've got rid of the fleas, but the nits are tenacious." "Their scalps are best shaved." "~ I am preparing the razor." "~ No!" "No!" "~ But if it's for the best..." "~ People will think we're poor!" "~ People will feel sorry for us!" "~ Gary's quite right." "There's nothing the matter with these children's heads that a bit of time and attention to detail can't cure." "We have plenty of the former... .. and the latter costs nothing." "~ Don't turn the light off." "~ Don't worry." "No-one needs to sleep in the dark here." "Sweet dreams, sweeties." "~ There's no need for that." "~ You do it for me every time I get called out at night." "~ There's so much love in this house, isn't there?" "~ So much." "And sometimes so little in the world outside." "Can I tell you something, Patrick?" "You can tell me anything, and I hope you always will." "I miss nursing and I miss midwifery." "I think nursing and midwifery miss you, too." "Don't think I'm saying I want to go back to work." "I can't sign up for shifts," "I can't go out in the middle of the night to deliver babies." "But I do yearn for... .. that sense of making things better..." ".. of putting things to rights." "So do I." "You do a hard job, Patrick." "A lonely one too." "But it doesn't have to be." "What are you doing now?" "There are rules about you and the gas." "You think me likely to cause a conflagration?" "Yes." "Or blow us all sky-high!" "You are in pain again." "And water will not cure it, be it cold or hot or sealed within a rubber bottle." "Soon you will be disqualified from work, just as I am by the fractures of my mind." "You seem sharp enough tonight, dishing out advice and toasting your own crumpets." "See?" "You are more necessary than you might imagine." "If you do not consult a doctor, who is to say where it will end?" "Blood pressure and a check of your stitches, Colette." "If I can give another good report to Sister Evangelina, you might be allowed to sit in a chair for a bit this afternoon." "My milk's come in!" "If it's not my waters breaking, I'm crying." "If I'm not crying, I'm leaking milk!" "If I lose any more liquid this bed will start floating." "We can give you Epsom salts to stop you lactating." "I don't want to dry it up, this is my baby's milk." "I don't even know what they're feeding her on." "Please let me try it, Sister." "Colette can express her milk manually every three hours and we can take it to the hospital to be kept in the refrigerator and given to her baby." "And how much time is that going to take out of everybody's day?" "My day!" "I can get there and back, by bike, in not more than half an hour." "And I can take the milk in batches, morning and evening." "~ You always say breast milk is best." "~ Where do you get your energy from?" "Oh, what sad faces." "I don't like to see sad faces." "Oh, look!" "What's this?" "Shall I press it?" "That's better, isn't it?" "You have a go, that's it." "Well done!" "That's a good noise!" "Oh!" "And you!" "Oh, I like that..." "We've found them an excellent short-term foster home." "The children will be kept together, can even share a bedroom." "I managed to find quite a few spare pairs of knickers for Marcy." "You'll have to tell whoever's looking after her that she's not entirely reliable on the toilet training front." "Please come and say goodbye to them." "No." "I'd rather not." "Trixie." "We all meet with cases that touch us more than others..." "Gary and his sisters aren't a case, Tom!" "They're children!" "And Gary was playing the cheeky chappy, just like I used to play little Shirley Temple when I was a child and my father had his breakdowns." "You don't forget what it's like to be putting on a show... .. wishing all the time that somebody, anybody who can help, will say," ""Is something the matter?"" "And hoping all the time that nobody does, because you have so much to hide." "If I could rub all that out for you, I would." "If I could take every scrap of unhappiness you've ever had away, I would." "And you can't." "But just standing here, with you, hearing you say that, reminds me that I've survived it." "And that others might not if we don't help." "Now." "Don't forget to tell the foster mother about the knickers." "Good night." "Good night." "You can tell me where my kids are any time you like." "I think you'll find your kids are no concern of yours any more." "I'll have you know I was out working to support them." "Family allowance doesn't go nowhere when a father legs it." "Where exactly do you work, Mrs Teeman?" "In a licensed establishment." "It's in Notting Hill so I have to commute." "The hours are good if you've got children." "When I'm at home, I'm at home all day." "I'll take a statement from you at the station." "I shall be stating that my water was cut off, which is why this place stinks the way it does." "I'm on a list to be rehoused but the council have done nothing." "Just like the doctor did nothing when I went to him" "~ and asked to have my tubes tied." "~ You're under arrest, Mrs Teeman." "You'll be allowed to speak to a solicitor in due course." "~ I didn't ask for any of this." "~ And neither did your children." "We did our best." "We all did our best." "Is the baby all right?" "Take her to the car." "~ What's this?" "~ Open it." "A meringue?" "With a cherry on, and some angelica, because I know those are your favourite." "~ Do you want me to eat it now?" "~ Not just yet." "Because what I really want to give you is this." "~ It was my grandmother's." "~ What a... surprise." "Don't say that, Trixie, because if it really is, it probably means you don't want to be my wife quite as much as I want to be your husband." "Oh, Tom..." "Every day I talk about love - the love of God, love divine, love thy neighbour... .. all love's excelling..." ".. but I don't think I ever really knew what it meant... .. until I realised how much you meant." "And mean." "Say yes." "Please say yes." "Yes." "You're looking very spruce, Mrs Turner." "I'm officially taking on the role of medical secretary." "Dr Turner is busier than ever and the practice needs proper management." "Seems like a reasonable arrangement." "There's certainly work to do." "I want you to make an appointment with a doctor." "But I don't mean Doctor Turner, I need to see a female one." "Do you have... women's problems, Sister?" "Yes." "Very much so." "'It sometimes happens that new beginnings 'come not at once, but at last." "'The wait is rewarded and the fresh start can commence." "'But we can never know how the story will conclude, 'and perhaps that's for the better." "'Baby Coral was adopted 'and her three elder siblings were sent to Australia 'under the child migrant programme." "'They were promised a life of sunshine, blue skies, 'and endless opportunity." "'The truth was otherwise." "'And the only consolation is that hope made them happy, 'for a while.'" "'Joy is not felt less exquisitely because the moment flies." "'And if we can taste it, we know that we are blessed." "Phyllis Crane, SRN SCM." "I am expected." "If Nurse Crane doesn't approve of the way we run this ship, we will end up sinking!" "~ How many years has it been?" "~ Not quite 30." "Still the pale, sweet girl with the wave in her fringe." "You came to a decision, Louise." "I need to see a doctor!" "Please don't cry." "You are perturbed." "You strive to hide it, but you do not succeed."