"Our deepest desires are never simple." "But the peace we find when they are met eclipses everything." "Rhythm restored, a familiar face returned, the fresh new ticking of a clock once stopped." "When wishes are granted, joy comes gently." "And when it is not, we hang suspended, waiting for release in the space between the heartbeats." "If you've been following the instructions on the pamphlet" "I had specially Roneoed for you before I left for South Africa, you shouldn't have any trouble at all with these new exercises." "Good evening, Barbara!" "Better late than never." "Retained placenta in Lisbon Buildings." "In which case you're excused." "And we're going to step to the side, swinging our heads down to the floor." "Roses?" "I'm sorry they're pink." " They didn't have any red ones." " I prefer pink anyway." "How are the children?" "They're looking after each other." "We're all looking after each other, really." "It's you I worry about." "I know." "Is everything... as it was?" "There's been no further bleeding." "I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen, but visiting hour is finishing early tonight." " We've got ten minutes to go!" " Then you can go and catch an early bus, or drop into the Flag and Whistle and have half a beer." "I've a new patient to see to, and all my ladies need settling in for the night." "That's us told, then." "Will you come back tomorrow?" "I'd sleep in the corridor if they'd let me." "The reason this exercise is called The Flamingo is because whilst one leg bears the entire weight of the body, the other is fully extended behind." "It's not because we're all turning pink, then?" "As you swing each leg behind you, fling the arms open like wings, pushing forwards with the bust!" "Oh, gosh!" "You might do better leaning on this chair." "Barbara, would you come to the front and demonstrate to the rest of the class whilst I check everybody's balance?" "I'd like the whole class to look at Barbara's lovely supple back and confident bust projection!" "This is at least partly because Barbara has come to the class wearing suitable undergarments, namely a soft, elasticated brassiere and sensible briefs." "Anything more substantial than a lightweight panty corselet is going to seriously affect your ability to carry out these moves." "Is that why you're out of breath, then?" "No, it is not!" "I really don't like putting you to trouble, Sister." "I'm a nurse myself, and I know this isn't your job." "If you're a nurse, you know not to argue with your superiors." "And if you choose not to use a bed pan, you can't choose who wheels you to the lavatory." "I don't choose not to." "I just find it almost impossible..." "No upsetting yourself." "Upsetting yourself is the worst thing you can do." "So I forbid it." "Fiery Jack!" "Active ingredient: capsicum pepper." "My mother swore by it for her fibrositis." "I haven't got fibrositis, Phyllis!" "I'm just unfit!" "And the rest of the class were just as bad." "I don't think one of them had even looked at the exercises" " in that pamphlet, never mind done any!" " Did you?" "I was very busy in South Africa." "Did you get any exercise on board ship?" "I played giant chess." "Almost every afternoon." "And I won a twist competition with the Chief Engineer." "Well, that should've firmed your upper arms and trimmed your flanks." "S'not a laughing matter, Barbara!" "I've let myself down and my class." "And I'm going to put it right." "See that Mrs Turner has all she needs, then I must talk to you about the sluice room." "Yes, Sister Douglas." "She's very kind." "If you keep on the right side of her." "Nurse?" "I'm really sorry, but I need the toilet and I'm too scared to move in case the bleeding starts again." "Don't worry." "I'll fetch you a bedpan." "It's my third time in here." "First time I managed to hang on for as long as six months." "I'm only five months." "But I'm hanging on, too." "Ow!" "Ooh!" "♪ You are so fantastico" "♪ I'm a lucky so and so... ♪" "Why don't you join me?" "My wake-up routine can be your wind-down before bed." "Trixie, I've been jumping through hoops all night for Sister Douglas." "I don't need any more exercise, thank you." "Nurse Crane." "Early bird catches the worm." "Or, at least, it gets all the worms lined up and identifies which is likely to cause the most trouble." "Drawing up this roster is like trying to plait soot." "In which case, you'll be delighted to hear that we've received permission and funds to engage a new midwife." " We're going to advertise in the Midwives Chronicle." " Oh!" " Morning, Marnie!" " Oh, I was just going out." "Oh, do have mercy on a poor, shattered midwife." "I really don't want to have to bike all the way back with a delivery pack perched on my handlebars." "Mandy, go back in." "Do make sure you have enough shillings put by for the gas and electricity meter." "A candlelit birth sounds romantic, but I've attended several and they can be quite trying." "Is the lavatory at the end of the corridor?" "You probably smelled it on your way in." "I-I beg your pardon, Nurse, but I really need to go now or I'm going to be late." " I'm sorry, I didn't realise you had an appointment." " Well, I have!" "I'm due in court." "I bought stuff on HP before me husband left." "And once I realised he was never coming home, I ran up loans." "I'm going before the magistrates cos I defaulted on the payments." " There are people you could've asked for help." " Well, I didn't, did I?" "Let me help you to get the children as far as the bus stop." "It's the least I can do after I've made you late." "I'm sorry, I-I shouldn't've snapped, Nurse." "Well, I shouldn't've been such a bossy boots." "I've been away for months, and I was probably enjoying myself a little bit too much." "My kids always have hankies on 'em." "One of the things my gran was strict about." "I've got out of the habit of it myself." "I never seem to have time for all the little things that make you look respectable." "You look perfectly respectable to me." "Good morning, Mrs Turner." "I'm just going to ease you over into this chair so that we can tidy up, ready for Mr Kenley's rounds." "All right?" "Oh." "No." "No..." "It's all right." "Come and sit down." "Come and sit down." "I know Marnie Wallace is a churchgoer and I thought you'd want to be told that she might need some pastoral care." "Thank you." "I'm aware she's on her own, of course, and I saw her on Sunday, but she never mentioned anything about a court case." "It's the shame, probably." "The more ashamed people are, the less inclined they are to ask for help." "Yes." "And the more they need it." "I'll call and see her." "Patient is an elderly primigravida, aged 36, almost five months gestation." "Admitted after a moderate bleed, further bleeding earlier today, now ceased." "Patient was successfully treated for pulmonary tuberculosis using triple protocol some four years ago." "Why might that mean that conception was... unexpected?" "Damage to the pelvic organs, perhaps?" "Possibly leading to problems in carrying a pregnancy to term?" "I was diagnosed with scar tissue in the ovaries and fallopian tubes." "But once I actually managed to conceive, there was no reason to anticipate further problems." " You seem to be very well informed, Mrs...?" " Turner." " Ah." "I'm a midwife by profession, and I know there are always new developments in obstetrics." "If we could try to find out why this is happening..." "Pregnancies click, or they don't." "Let's just watch and wait, shall we?" "Kiddies need somewhere to play, and now they've demolished the reservoir there's proper grass there and a little hut where they sell ice creams." "I remember Tom saying something about it." "Isn't there going to be a grand opening?" "Well, an opening." "The Mayor's on his holidays, so I wouldn't call it grand." "Violet's borrowed a maypole to do something with the Brownies, but the Cubs, they've gone to hell in a handcart since Nurse Mount went off." "I could give a presentation with my Keep Fit Ladies." "It would give us all such an incentive, and we'd draw quite a crowd with our leotards." "Leotards?" "In a public park?" "Oh, Trixie, what would Sister Julienne say?" "If you aren't going to take keep fit seriously, Barbara, then you might as well give it up and run the Cubs in your spare time." "I don't have any spare time." "Why don't you take 'em on, Nurse Crane?" "Because I find small boys exasperating." "And violent." "That's why a good Akela's so essential -- to stop them turning into exasperating and violent men." "And how's that going to be accomplished?" "By waving a magic wand?" "Ah!" "They sell whistles down the hardware shop." "I just..." "I can't make ends meet, on just National Assistance." "And now the courts are saying I have to pay back my debts in instalments." "Would it help if I went through your bank account with you?" "I haven't got a bank account." "My husband wouldn't give me permission." "Hello, Marnie, sweetheart." "Hello, Dot." " You her vicar?" " Curate, yes." "I'm her cousin." "She asked me to be godmother to this little love, but I declined." "Don't believe in God, or in the devil." "Come here!" "Got pink icing all over your face." "Looks like lipstick put on wrong." "Hankie." "Never go without one." "Our grandma would be proud." "There, that's better, isn't it?" "Anyway, it's really Master Kevin I've come to see today." "Cos he's the birthday boy!" "Shall I unwrap it?" " It's a cap gun." " Dot!" "I'm not celebrating Kevin's birthday today." "I can't afford to buy him anything, and he's too little to know any better!" " Is it that bad?" " Yes, it is." "Begging your pardon, Reverend, but Marnie knows me and my Eugene would bend over backwards to help." "Dot!" "I don't want the kind of help you and Eugene are offering, do you hear me?" "I don't want it." "But you need it, Marnie." "You need all the help you can get." "Go!" "Just go, Dot." "Get out of my flat, and just leave us all alone." "As it happens, internal examination has given me confidence in a diagnosis of incompetent cervix." "What does that mean?" "It means there's a reason why you keep losing all these babies." "The neck of the womb lacks the muscularity it needs to hold everything in place." "Nurse, are you able to recall the name for the treatment for this?" "Cervical cerclage, sir?" "Often referred to as a Shirodkar Suture." "It's a stitch put into the cervix following threatened spontaneous abortion, usually removed in the 36th week to allow for natural labour and delivery." ""Though she be but little, she is fierce!"" "Could you do that for me?" "I'm prepared to give it my consideration." "I think this one will suffice." "I should like the Scouting Association discount, please." "Trixie chose the magazines." "Nurse Crane sent barley sugars." "I..." "I just spoke to the Sister." "She told me you had a setback." "It wasn't a very heavy loss." "Enough to suggest the baby may no longer be alive but not enough to know for certain." "Do you want to know for certain?" "If I did... we may have to stop hoping." "And we were without hope of any kind for years." "We were happy enough before and we will be happy again, whatever happens." " We will, won't we?" " Yes." "Good news, Marnie!" "I've persuaded the council nursery to find afternoon places for Kevin and Mandy for the next six weeks." "That came this morning." "From the landlord." "The rent man's been knocking on the door for weeks, and I just haven't answered." ""Notice To Quit"?" "I didn't read on after that." "I didn't dare." "How long have I got?" "Two weeks." "I thought Tatler was supposed to be a gossip mag." "It's not gossip if you've never heard of any of the people." "Mind you, you can't fault the soft furnishings in it, there's some magnificent pelmets." "Any time you fancy swapping pelmets for "20 Exciting Things To Do With Liver" you're more than welcome." "Every time those doors swing open, I look to see if it's that specialist, coming to tell me he'll do that operation." "Still, at least there's no chance of us missing these babies moving, when we're lying here, nailed to the bed." "I haven't felt mine move at all yet." "I wouldn't expect to -- it's too soon." "It's too soon to hear a heartbeat either," " even if there's one there to be heard." " Just you wait." "If they let you listen through the stethoscope, it sounds like a horse coming in over the finish line in a 3:15." "It must be a magical thing when it's your own baby." "What does it feel like when it starts to move?" "It's not like kicking." "Well, maybe it feels like kicking later on, but I wouldn't know." "You know what it does feel like, at six months, where I am now?" "Like a goldfish." "Yeah, like a little goldfish, nudging the side of his bowl with his little fins." ""I'm in here, Mum!"" "You'll be feeling it yourself soon." "I know you will." "And yours will have its boots on, kicking up a storm." "Excuse me, lovely." "Hello, Marnie." "This is a surprise." "I'm sorry." "I shouldn't have shouted." "You don't mind us coming here, do ya?" "It's just that I remembered it was early closing at the beauty parlour." "Ring the bell." "Go on." "There's a choice of two tunes, just flick a little switch." "Dot..." "I've come to talk to you about your offer." "I wish Eugene was here." "He's at his salon, seeing a supplier." "Sugar?" "One and a bit." " It's lumps." "You have to have one or two." " Dot." "Does Eugene know?" "About your offer?" "Yes." "He never wanted to adopt... when we realised I was barren." "He said he wanted his own flesh and blood or nothing." "And I put it to him... that your little one was the next best thing." "He knows I asked you." "And he knows you said no." "Well, as I said," "I'm saying yes now." "You can take it -- as soon as it's born." "We'll give it everything, Marnie." " It'll be the child we never had." " It'll be the child you do have, Dot." "It'll be yours." "The Midwives Chronicle's arrived, Sister." "The advertisement's in." "It feels rather exciting, really." "As though we've launched our little ship on a new adventure." "I can't shake off the feeling that this new person -- whoever she may be -- is really a replacement for Sister Mary Cynthia." "Who could fill her shoes?" "She is a very particular and gentle spirit, and I suspect I miss her at least as much as you do." "Then why aren't we trying to find her?" "Well, cos she isn't lost." "She was very unwell when she was returned to the Mother House, and since you reported that she was not there, Mother Jesu Emmanuel informed me that she has been sent to a place of greater safety." "Sister Mary Cynthia is a person, not a parcel." "She shouldn't be "returned" or "sent" anywhere." "She should be acting of her own free will." "She was in no fit state to do so." "If you had seen her, you would believe me when I say that." "I don't disbelieve you." "I just need to know she's all right." "Until Sister Mary Cynthia is well enough to choose to make contact with us herself, we must treat her with the respect we would show to anyone else who isn't well." "Especially if the illness is a mental one." "Mrs Wallace?" "I've sorted everything out." "I'd be pleased... if you weren't crying as you said that." "What you playing at, Fred Buckle?" "I thought of the perfect way to get everybody down the new playground, on the day of the opening." ""Spectacular Chariot Race" ""From Market Cross to Reservoir Rec." ""Prams, carts, wheelbarrows." ""No conveyance too humble or too grand!"" "Is that what all this is, then?" "Yeah, well... it's to give people ideas." "Look!" "Look." ""Bigger than Ben Hur!"" "I'd better start stocking Roman helmets, then." "I've never come across a case quite like it." "Mrs Wallace has made up her mind, and seems to believe that God approves of her actions." "If I may venture an observation, when people seek the approval of the Almighty, it is generally because they fear they will not get it." "Sister, you know as well as I do that many poor women have given children they cannot feed to relatives better placed to do so." "And we have never condemned them." "It happens with slightly older children." "But I can't remember it ever happening with such a new-born." "Nurse Franklin, we look after mothers giving new-borns" " up for adoption every week." " And not many of them would if society gave them much choice in the matter." "I've mopped up more tears and dried up more milk supplies than you can shake a stick at." "Adoption is always a very delicate and complicated issue." "I was adopted myself, when I was two months old." "Well, I'm sure that will make you much more sensitive" " to Mrs Wallace's situation." " I hope so." "I don't know what happened when I was born." "But my adoptive parents were wonderful, and I've never doubted that my mother did her best for me." "And we'll do our best for this poor mother." "Every care taken and no questions asked." "I know that landlord." "He terrorised me and Dot when we were first married." "Gives me quite a thrill, writing him a cheque with my gold-nibbed fountain pen." "You remind me of that nursery rhyme," ""The king was in his counting house."" "I shall have to brush up on my nursery rhymes." "It'll be all hands on deck in a minute." "I called in at the furniture shop, they're delivering a nice roll of lino and a brand-new mattress as we speak." "The van's pulling up already." "I don't need a new mattress, Dot." "Marnie, the one you've got sags in the middle like Old Nick's hammock!" "I still wish you were coming to have the baby at our house." "But this is your home." "And whatever you want, you can have." "You can even have a say in naming it." "No." "It'll be your baby." "I like Andrew for a boy." "Same as Prince Andrew." "And something ending in A for a girl." "I think it's starting." "I was sick with Kevin and with Mandy." "Do you want me to ring Nonnatus House?" "And skip, skip, step to the side, skip, skip, step to the side." "And if you bump into somebody, just keep going." "Pack, alert!" "I thought you were coming earlier, Nurse Crane." "We were delayed." "I thought it best to spend some time revising basic commands and responses." "I had an aunt with half a dozen Sheltie pups, she took a similar tack with them." "Well, you've still to convince me that mixing the sexes up around the maypole will work." "Pack, at ease." "I've just found a blackcurrant jelly and a tin of evap on the step." "Another kindly patient must've put them there after Mrs Penny left." "She says there's a hotpot in the oven, and she's coming back later, for Angela's bedtime." " No prizes for guessing what's for pudding!" " Dad." "You don't have to pretend to be jolly all the time." "You don't have to pretend that nothing's happening." "With your next pain, I want you to push with all your strength." "Really show me what you can do." "No noise, Marnie." "Save your energy for that push." "Help!" "Help!" "It's like it doesn't want to be born, Nurse." "All right, sweetie." "We're going to get you some help." "Dot, could you telephone Poplar 491, and say Doctor Turner and another midwife are needed at this address for an assisted delivery?" " Will you be all right on your own?" " Absolutely we will." "Dad, I know it makes sense to shield Angela but it doesn't make sense to shield me." "I'm sorry, Tim." "But we're just marking time and waiting." "For all we know, there might not be anything to shield you from." "Have you done your homework?" "I do it every night when you're at the hospital." "Maybe when I'm 18 we can go to the pub and have" " a proper conversation." " Go to the pub?" "That's where men go to talk, isn't it?" "I've only got three more years to wait." "Hello, Turner." "Sister Winifred." "I see." "Yes, of course, I'll be there straight away." "Thank you." "Goodbye." "I have to go out to a case, son." "I'm sorry." "How are we getting along?" "Baby seems to be in a good anterior position, but Mrs Wallace has been in the second stage for a couple of hours without progress." " She's very tired." " I'll examine her." "But let's prepare for forceps." "Good evening, Master Turner." "What are you doing here?" "I think a policeman would describe me as loitering with intent." "Mum won't have any visitors if I don't go in" " but no-one under 16 is allowed." " Well, no-one's been asked to show their birth certificate while I've been here." "Now, once we're all set, I'll need you to push with each contraction." "I'm tired of pushing." "But the difference now, Marnie, is that you'll be pushing, and Doctor will be pulling." "You'll have your baby in your arms before you know it." "You can push with the next one, Marnie." "Save your strength." "First blade." "And the second." "Contraction." "Deep breath and push!" "Push, Marnie, push!" " Come on!" "Come on, girl." " You can do it!" " And again." " You're doing so, so well, Marnie." " Head's on the way!" " Nearly there!" "Push now!" " Keep it coming, Marnie!" "Keep it coming!" " Good girl!" "That's it!" "That's it!" "That's it!" "Well done." "Well done, Marnie." "It's a boy." "Did you hear that?" "Thank you." "Thank you." "He's a man, he doesn't find it easy to talk about his feelings." "But he's also a doctor." "You'd think he'd find it easier to talk about this than most men." "Timothy, does it not occur to you that that's why he can't discuss things?" "He knows what could happen." "And so do I." "He's going to look like a prize fighter by tomorrow." "I predict at least one black eye and very possibly two." "I'm sorry, soldier." "Time for a little someone's wash and brush up!" "Let's introduce him to his mother first." "Give him to Dot." "Give him to her." "Oh, look at you." "Look at you, looking at me, as if to say," ""How did I get here?"" "It's been ever such a long, long journey." "But you're here now." "Sshhh." "What's happening?" "I'm putting this Nil-By-Mouth sign over your bed, Mrs Venables, because in the morning you're going to be having an operation." "Are they going to put that stitch in?" "Mr Kenley has decided you're a prime candidate for cervical cerclage." "Nurse Busby will pop by in a few minutes to help you to prepare." "Hello, son." "Mrs Penny's gone." "She told me where you were headed." "Thank you." "I thought you might be angry." "Some rules are worth breaking." "Others, you are going to have to stick to for a while." "Like not going to the pub." " Beer?" " To be precise, two bottles of Pale Ale and a packet of pork scratchings." "Are you going to stay with them tonight?" "Absolutely." "Marnie's had quite a rough time, and baby might be grisly because of his sore head." "I have to go home and tell my husband." "We'll come back to get the baby in the morning, in the car." "We can bring his carrycot." "All his lovely new clothes." "We'll be a family from the off, then." "Poor sweet." "Are you sure you don't want to see baby?" "Sister Winifred's about to give him a bottle, but I could bring him in here just so you could have a peep." "I want him christened." "As soon as possible." "Baby's not in any danger, Marnie." "He's just a little bruised." "You'd feel reassured if you just took a look at him." "You could give him his bottle yourself, if you'd like to?" "I just want him christened." "First thing in the morning." "Dad, that was miles off bull's-eye." "Dad, thanks -- for this." "Tim... whatever happens with this baby, family life won't change." "But I'll change." "You've been changing for 15 years." "And I love you just the same." "Nurse!" "Nurse!" "Something's happening!" "Stay where you are, Mrs Venables!" "No!" "No!" "I'm supposed to be having my operation this morning!" " Is something wrong?" " I think she's in labour." "Not again, not again." "Make it stop!" "Make it stop!" "Make it stop!" "Please!" "In the name of God... the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit." " Amen." " Amen." "Marnie, I'm going to say the godparent's responses." "But it is usual for the mother to hold her baby until that point." "There you go." "Sh..." "Please don't think I don't love him, Mr Hereward." "I've never doubted that for a single moment." "You only have to be brave a little bit longer." "It'll be over very quickly." "I don't want it to be over!" " Lean into me, Gloria." "Do as Sister says." " I don't want to push!" " Good girl." " No..." "Name this child." "Andrew...?" "Andrew Thomas." "After the reverend." "Andrew Thomas," "I baptise thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." "Amen." "Amen." "Good girl." "Soon this will all be over." "And there'll be no more pain." " Is it alive?" " No." "No, dear." "I'm sorry." "You see to this, Nurse." "Mrs Venables and I can manage on our own now." "Noooo!" "I'll pop to the kitchen and prepare a bottle for Master Andrew." "Unless you want to try feeding him yourself?" "I don't want him messed about." "Of course." "Morning." "Is something wrong?" "No." "Marnie just wanted the baby to be baptised." "I don't believe in any of that." "That's why I did it." "He's called Andrew Thomas." "You can take him now." "What will happen to my baby?" "Don't you worry about that now." "You leave that to us -- that's what we're here for." " No, I wanted to see it!" " I know." "But it wouldn't be wise." "You can cry if you want to." "There will be better days than this." "If these are the best interview candidates the Midwives Chronicle can deliver to our door, I have to say I fear for our profession." "Is there anyone on the list you feel we really shouldn't see?" "Mantlewood, Geoffrey Arnold rather leaps off the page." "Yes." "He would appear to be a man." "But he's highly qualified as a district nurse." "Sister Julienne, more than half of our work is midwifery." "A field in which men are not currently permitted to train or qualify." "I would also like to draw your attention to Gretchen Elise Fruman, who appears to spring from somewhere called Vermillion, South Dakota." "I thought an American would be a breath of fresh air." "So no Americans." "And no men." "All the bottles and powdered milk are packed and in the car." "So, looks like we're ready for the off." "Come on, then, little lad." "Your carriage awaits." "Wait." "He can't go without an 'ankle." "Give it to him." "Take this from your mother, Andrew." "And may God's love go with you always." "Did I do the right thing, Mr Hereward?" "Tell me honestly, did I do the right thing?" "I'm not even going to answer that question, Marnie." "Because you did the only thing you could." "Thank you for being so kind to me." "It must've been quite hard." "It wasn't hard at all." "Have you been in this situation before?" "I've been in this situation once." "Is there anything else I can do for you before I go?" "I want to get rid of the pram." "Kevin's not a baby any more." "I was only pushing him round in it to keep it warm for... .. the next one." "Now I need someone to take it away." "Tom?" "How did it go?" "He's gone." "Tom... this isn't your story." "You've always said you couldn't've had a happier childhood, or a better life." "That was before I witnessed a woman giving up her child." "Before I was in the room watching her crying." "What about her story?" "I'm sorry." "There are no photographs of me as a child." "I didn't think I minded." "But now I've seen one." "And I do." "If Dr Turner was a Girl Guide, he'd get his Needlework Badge for those stitches." "But you really are going to have to stay in bed or you might tear again." "We could transfer you to the maternity home or hospital, you could have a proper rest, away from your children." "Why would I want to be away from my children?" " Can they come in now?" " Of course." " ♪ I love you so" " I love you so" "♪ But you used to play around" "♪ I'll let her know" "♪ If you're king of town" "♪ The nights when we're apart" "♪ You were in your heart" "♪ Please let it be me" "♪ Please let it be me" " ♪ One night" " One night" " ♪ One night you're mine" " One night you're mine" " ♪ And you say you're true" " When you say you're true" "♪ And then" "♪ Then I find" " ♪ You're with someone new" " Someone new" "♪ Whose heart will you break?" "♪ Whose love" "♪ Will you take?" "♪ Please let it be me" "♪ Please let it be me... ♪" "I thought I'd escort that last one to the door." "I'm quite sure she realised that she'd been unsuccessful." "She was trilling like Tweetie Pie all the way to the bottom of the stairs." "Today's layer cake assumes the form of coffee and walnut sponge." "Since the maker's hand moved freely with the flavourings," "I consumed my portion earlier, lest it render me wakeful tonight." "Thank you, Sister." "Do pour us all a cup of tea." "Nurse Crane, most of our new recruits" " are like fish out of water to begin with." " Yes." "And whole weeks get wasted while they flap around gasping for air." "We need someone who can roll their sleeves up, and not collapse when they see an East End privy." "None would disagree who have toiled in these environs." "The trouble is nursing treats young working class girls the way the world treats women." "They're all over them when there's a war on." "Afterwards, nobody wants to know." "Thank you." "Shelagh?" "Shelagh?" "You must've seen babies that lived as long as mine did." "Yes." "Do they have fingers and toes?" "Yes, they do." "I feel stupid asking but when I ask the nurses, it's like it wouldn't do me any good to know." "And it does do me good." "I'm glad." "They say my milk will come in tomorrow." "Then they'll have to dry it up using Epsom salts." "That is what's usually advised." "You'd think your body would know better than to make milk for a baby who could never live, wouldn't you?" "Yes." "Hello, Mr Spenlow." "Have you been to see Marnie?" "Not yet." "Dot's been having thoughts." "About the way ahead, and how we ought to proceed." "Can I come in?" "What do they mean, "a private adoption"?" "It's when a baby is handed directly by the mother to the adoptive parents, rather than going through a charity or an agency." "But that's what we're already doing, isn't it?" "A formal private adoption would involve paperwork." "And it would be legally binding." "Does that mean I couldn't change my mind?" "I'm afraid it does, Marnie." "Is this what is known as a "lady's glass"?" "Yes, it is." "It practically had cobwebs on." "I did dust it." "You strike me as a young woman of very high standards." "That's what the Army does for you." "And nursing." "Being an Army Nurse makes you twice as particular." "Miss Dyer, why did you resign from military service?" "It was all so... efficient, in a way that wasn't always good." "Plenty of curing." "Not quite so much caring." "I thought I'd be bored by now." "But it's as if going away made me look at Poplar through fresh eyes." "Even on the day of that explosion, I didn't want to be anywhere else." "It was the way people pulled together." "It was the way you cared that caught my eye." "And why I thought you might be interested in my offer." "Miss Dyer, all you have to do is write and apply formally." "I appreciate I've rather put you on the spot." "By all means take some time to think about it." "Oh, I don't need any time to think about it, Sister." "I'll be applying today." "Marnie." "You shouldn't be out of doors." "I wanted one bit of paperwork that I could call my own." "So I went down to the Town Hall and I registered the baby." "And when I signed it..." "I knew I wanted him." "I'm so sorry, Gloria." "I've got this idea in my head that next year, or the year after, it'll be a lovely sunny day, and I'll be down Chrisp Street Market, pushing a pram." "And somewhere near the flower stall, I'll look up and I'll see you... pushing a pram." "And we'll smile, and we'll pass the time of day." "That would be lovely, wouldn't it?" "I knew." "I knew as soon as I heard that tune on the ruddy doorbell." "You always had a way of pressing doorbells really hard when we was kids, playing Ring The Bell And Run Away." "Except you're not going to run away this time, are ya?" "Marnie knows what she wants, Dot." "Oh, well!" "We'll have to hand him straight over then, won't we?" "Marnie is Andrew's mother, Dot." "But what's she got to give him?" "And please don't say love." "I'm so full of love for him, it's..." "it's spilling out of me like water." "And it's spilling out of me like milk." "Somebody take him!" "Thank you for looking after him." "Oh, he'll need his hankie." "You keep it, Dot." "I'm sorry." "We're going to listen for baby's heartbeat today, Mrs Turner." "Now?" "I wanted a particular doctor... and he has a very busy schedule." "Shelagh." "Afternoon, Mr Spenlow." "Reverend." "Has this been made redundant?" "Well, we bought all this stuff for the little fella." "And we want him to have it." "Some of this is my fault." "I said I wouldn't adopt from an orphanage." "Didn't want a stranger's child." "You live and learn, don't you?" "Mr Spenlow, I can introduce you to someone from an adoption agency." "When the time is right." "Well, when Dot's stopped crying." " One for you." " Thanks, Danny." "Drinks on the house if I've won the pools!" "During the summer of 1962 there was joy in the sunlit streets around Nonnatus House." "The opening of the recreation ground restored something to the soul of the district." "People were given a place to gather, room to play, a space to share." "Sometimes the heart desires such very simple things." "The heart holds within it all that is most precious, all that we must protect." "Ready... steady..." "But it is also braver and bolder, more resilient than we realise." "If we wound it, it will heal." "And if it breaks, it learns to beat again." "One of the great doctors of the Roman Empire once described the heart as "a source and hearthstone of the inborn heat" ""by which we are all governed. "It is," he wrote," ""Made of hard flesh not easily injured." ""In vigour, tension, general strength and resistance to injury," ""the fibres of this organ far surpass all others," ""for no other instrument performs such continuous," ""hard work as the heart."" "Nurse Dyer." "Welcome to Nonnatus House." "Why have you brought him here?" "He's simple." "He needs proper care." "Together we're going to save the borough's teeth." "I must get back to Sister Winifred." "She'll be thinking Nurse Franklin's run me out of town." "We must instruct our troops!" "An innocent is in danger!"