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    Theodora's Baby
    Theodora's Baby
    Theodora's Baby
    Ebook469 pages4 hours

    Theodora's Baby

    By Penny Culliford

    ()

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    About this ebook

    “I’m not sure I’m cut out for parenthood. It’s not in my plan. All right, I haven’t actually got a plan, but if I had one, this wouldn’t be in it. I don’t even like
    babies—nasty, small, noisy, smelly things that take over your life. But this is a different baby. This is not just a baby; this is our baby …”

    Newlywed Theodora discovers a slight oversight she and Kevin made on their honeymoon. Now she’s gained an important new subject for her famous diary—but at such a cost!

    “Tom opened the oven door and got out the most enormous chocolate pudding and placed it on the table in front of me. ‘Especially for you, dear sister,’ said
    Ariadne. I swallowed hard a few times then took off for the bathroom. Ariadne looked at Tom and said, ‘I told you so.’”

    What? Theodora sick (literally) of chocolate? How will she survive without her favorite food group? Answer: with typical irrepressible humour that finds much to laugh at about marital bliss, faith, friendships, and the foibles of pregnancy. But will she be reunited with her lost love? Never fear—Theodora and chocolate can’t be separated forever.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherZondervan
    Release dateAug 30, 2009
    ISBN9780310864318
    Theodora's Baby
    Author

    Penny Culliford

    Penny Culliford attends her local Anglican church, which bears no resemblance to Saint Norbert's. The author of Theodora's Wedding and Theodora's Diary, she likes chocolate, TV sitcoms, and unexpected acts of kindness. She dislikes celery, stick insects, and people who take themselves too seriously. She lives in Kent, England, with her husband and children.

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      Book preview

      Theodora's Baby - Penny Culliford

      s2

      Also by Penny Culliford

      Theodora’s Diary

      Theodora’s Wedding

      0310265584_content_0003_001

      ZONDERVAN

      THEODORA’S BABY

      Copyright © 2006 by Penny Culliford

      All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of Zondervan.

      ePub Edition June 2009 ISBN: 0-310-86431-3

      Requests for information should be addressed to:

      Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Culliford, Penny.

            Theodora’s baby : faith, joy and chocolate / Penny Culliford.

                p. cm.

            ISBN-13: 978-0-310-26558-0

            1. Pregnant women — Fiction. 2. Married women — Fiction.

         3. Motherhood — Fiction. 4. England — Fiction. I. Title.

         PR6103.U46T467   2005

         823'.92 — dc22

      2005020439

      Penny Culliford asserts the moral right to be considered the author of this work.

      All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible: New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

      The website addresses recommended throughout this book are offered as a resource to you. These websites are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement on the part of Zondervan, nor do we vouch for their content for the life of this book.

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means — electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other — except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

      05 06 07 08 09 10 11 • 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

      Contents

      Cover page

      Title Page

      Copyright

      July

      August

      September

      October

      November

      December

      January

      February

      March

      April

      May

      June

      About the Publisher

      Share Your Thoughts

      July

      Sunday 2 July

      11:45 p.m.

      Shhh! I’m writing this really quietly by torchlight so that Kevin doesn’t know I’m doing it. It feels a bit dishonest, but after two years of jotting down my thoughts in a diary, I feel as if I can’t think properly without it. He’s not at all happy about me keeping the diary. I’m not actually banned from writing in it; he just makes little whimpering noises and looks pathetic when he sees me scribbling away. He even tore out the pages describing our Greek honeymoon on the grounds that if Diana’s grandma found them, she’d have a heart attack. I tried to explain that (a) Yaya doesn’t read English and (b) if she could read it, it would probably brighten her day considerably. Kevin would have none of it, though.

      ‘I just don’t like it. It’s like you’re keeping things from me, Theo,’ he whined.

      ‘They’re nothing, just thoughts.’

      ‘If they’re just thoughts, why don’t they stay in your head? Mine do.’

      ‘I don’t know. It’s as if I can sort things out better if I see them written on the page.’

      ‘You could talk to me.’ He pouted. I couldn’t deny it, he had a point. And I did talk to him; of course I did.

      ‘It’s just that . . .’ I hesitated, trying to think of a reason. ‘Most of it’s boring stuff like . . . what colour nail polish should I wear today, or do I need to order an extra pint of milk? What was the name of the guy with the spiky hair in the Bay City Rollers? Stuff like that.’

      ‘Then why don’t you like me reading it?’

      ‘Because you laugh at me.’ Now it was my turn to pout. He went to the table and picked up the diary. He held it closed as if the pages were fastened with an invisible padlock.

      ‘Sometimes it’s like you’re . . . shutting me out. Theo, please don’t write in the diary any more.’

      I took the diary from him and put it in a drawer.

      ‘I’ll think about it.’

      He looked at me for a long time as if he was weighing me up. I thought he was going to say something else, but he didn’t.

      I love him, and I don’t want to keep things from him; on the other hand, he doesn’t have a right to know all my thoughts, everything that is going on in my head. Does he?

      Monday 3 July

      Didn’t sleep well last night. Dreamed that God was reading my diary. God didn’t say anything, but I watched his expression, which passed from puzzled, to amused, to irritated, to completely perplexed. If I asked Charity Hubble about my dream, she’d pray for my deliverance; if I told my sister, Ariadne, she’d blame it on the blue-cheese dressing I had on my salad last night. The irony is, if I wasn’t so worried about whether to keep a diary or not, I wouldn’t have to keep a diary! What is a girl to do?

      One thing this girl must do is to go job-hunting. Despite Kevin’s pseudo-chivalrous offer to be the sole provider, I’ll go mad with boredom and drive Kevin mad, moaning about it. The job as church secretary occupies less than one day a week, and the only intellectual challenge is how to change the photocopier’s toner cartridge without looking as if I’d just swept a chimney. I can’t deny it’s kind of Chrissie to keep the job for me, but I prefer her being my friend and my vicar to being my boss. I’ve never met anyone so disorganized. I discovered that she’d mixed up the burials register with the register of marriages. Poor Darren Clooney nearly got booked in for a full service at the local crematorium, and goodness knows what would have happened if his fiancé, Janice, had turned up at the church and found the mortal remains of ninety-seven-year-old Mr Gainsborough waiting for her in his wooden box.

      11:30 a.m.

      Just flicked through the small ads in the local paper. Unless I have a burning ambition to be a barmaid or an office cleaner, options are limited. I have no burning ambition to be either.

      I got rather distracted by the ‘pets for sale’ and was very tempted to ‘provide a loving home’ for a pair of unwanted ginger kittens. I decided against it on the grounds that I preferred Kevin the budgie without a feline overcoat.

      Needless to say, the budgie’s name was my mother’s choice. She cared for ‘Kevin’ while we were on honeymoon.

      ‘But, Mum,’ I protested, ‘you can’t call it Kevin. Half the time I won’t know if I’m talking to my husband or the budgie.’

      ‘If he turns out anything like your father, you’ll get more sense out of the bird.’

      Tuesday 4 July

      Woke up early, made Kevin a cup of tea and brought him breakfast in bed. As we snuggled up, a picture of contentment, Kevin asked me if I was happy.

      ‘Of course,’ I replied.

      ‘You’re not worried about anything?’

      ‘No.’

      ‘Are you sure?’

      ‘Positive. Now would you mind telling me what this is all about?’

      He opened my underwear drawer.

      I was starting to get worried.

      ‘If everything in your life is so hunky-dory, then why are you still writing in that blasted diary?’

      He rummaged through the bras and pants and pulled out my diary.

      Discovered. What could I do now? I looked away and pretended to brush some toast crumbs onto the floor.

      I’d managed to keep away from the diary for nearly a fortnight after we got back from honeymoon, but I’m like an addict. I just can’t stop. The compulsion is even worse than the worst kind of chocolate craving – and I should know. The only solution would be to agree to let him read it. I was just about to make my magnanimous offer when I discovered a large blob of marmalade in my hair. By the time I’d scraped it off, the moment had passed. He gave me a peck on the cheek and a hug.

      ‘You smell of oranges. Do you know what you remind me of?’

      I shook my head, expecting him to say, ‘An orange grove in springtime,’ or something equally romantic.

      He grinned and gave me another squeeze. ‘You’re just like a big cuddly Paddington Bear.’

      8 p.m., the toilet

      Have taken to hiding in here to write my diary. Kevin looks even grumpier this evening. What was intended to be rice pudding turned out more like rubber.

      ‘Theo, for goodness’ sake!’ He tapped it with his spoon. ‘Rice pudding is not supposed to bounce!’

      He didn’t even cheer up when I nipped out and returned with a large packet of indigestion tablets and a copy of Goal magazine.

      Wednesday 5 July

      The Situations Vacant section of this morning’s paper contained one ad for a security guard, several for shelf-stackers at the local supermarket and one for a cook at the Red Lion. I quite fancied working in the oak-beamed coaching inn.

      ‘Great!’ muttered Kevin. ‘Then you could poison the whole village rather than just making me suffer.’

      ‘Funny, you never complained about my cooking before we were married.’

      ‘That was when it wasn’t my only source of nourishment. Once or twice a week I could cope, but every day . . .’ He groaned, picked up his toolbox, pecked me on the cheek and went out of the door. I must do something about this culinary crisis. I wonder if Ariadne’s at home. My sister is always good for a bite of something that doesn’t result in terminal dyspepsia.

      4:30 p.m.

      Ariadne, of course, was at work, but Tom invited me to call in for a coffee before he took Phoebe to Little Luminaries, a group ‘to nurture cosmic promise for the generation of the future’.

      ‘What is it, a playgroup?’ I inquired.

      Tom looked horrified. ‘It’s an interactive theatrical, musical and gestalt experience designed to enhance creativity, boost confidence and ameliorate the influence of our indolent culture.’

      ‘Oh,’ I said. ‘So what’s the difference between that and a playgroup?’

      ‘About seventy quid a week,’ replied Tom.

      ‘Ariadne’s idea,’ we said in unison.

      We sipped our coffee in companionable silence while I stuffed away as many of Tom’s chocolate brownies as I could without appearing uncouth.

      ‘Is this just a social visit, or is there anything I can help you with?’ asked Tom as he removed the brownie plate from my reach.

      ‘Well . . . you know I’ve never been what you’d call the world’s greatest cook . . .’

      ‘You can say that again,’ Tom said with a little too much enthusiasm.

      ‘Well, it’s all getting on top of Kevin. He’s moaning about having indigestion all the time. Mealtimes in our house are just . . . horrible, and I don’t only mean the food. What can I do, Tom?’

      ‘You survived for over thirty years before you married. What did you do then?’

      ‘Ate out a lot, relied on relatives . . . and had frozen dinners.’

      ‘Couldn’t you do the same now?’

      ‘It’s just that now I’m married I sort of feel, well, obliged. It’s conventional.’

      ‘Who makes the rules, Theodora? Look at Ariadne and me.

      We’re not conventional.’

      You can say that again, I thought.

      ‘She does the nine to five, and I get to spend time with the most gorgeous little lady in the whole universe.’ He swept up Phoebe, who had been playing on the floor with some stack-and-sort rainforest creatures, and blew a raspberry on her tummy. ‘There’s no commandment that says, Thou shalt provide a hot three-course meal every evening or thou shalt be struck down by a lightning bolt from on high! ’

      We both laughed. Phoebe joined in.

      ‘You’re making it too difficult for yourself.’ Tom peered at me over his glasses. ‘Why don’t you find something you can cook and learn to do it well? We’d be delighted to have you both round occasionally. So would your parents, and I heard that mother-in-law of yours does fried chicken and rice and peas to die for . . . and what about Kevin? He has a reputation, you know.’

      ‘He does?’

      ‘Kevin cooks a wicked Prawn Vindaloo. I should know. You must get him to make it sometime. Just ensure there’s a big jug of water available.’

      Kevin accuses me of keeping secrets. I didn’t know he could cook.

      ‘Tell you what,’ said Tom, glancing at his watch, ‘I’ll lend you a recipe book – it’s here somewhere.’ He rifled through a bookcase in the hall, returned with a ragged, stained thing and handed it to me.

      ‘Cookery for Complete Morons. Thanks!’

      ‘No, it just goes through the basics. You can’t go wrong. It was the first cookery book I ever owned, and you wouldn’t say that I cook like a moron now.’

      I shook my head.

      ‘The best thing,’ he continued, ‘is that I seem to have spilled some on the pages, so you not only have the ingredients and method; you have a sort of scratch-and-sniff sample as well.’

      9:30 p.m.

      Chickened out (literally) on the cooking tonight, bought frozen chicken kievs and oven chips.

      Kevin is becoming suspicious about the amount of time I am spending in the toilet. I shall have to find another secret hideout to write my diary, either that or develop some fictitious bowel disease.

      Thursday 6 July

      Sits Vac – crossing-patrol person or slaughterman in an abattoir. No thanks!

      Decided it was time that I got round to writing the thank-you letters for our wedding presents. Toyed with the idea of using the church photocopier to duplicate ‘Thank you very much for the beautiful bread-maker you gave us as a wedding gift; it will be so useful’ for the eight bread-making machines we received. I think bread-makers are the new toasters. In view of the fact that I had a flatful of kitchen equipment and soft furnishings and Kevin, in spite of living with his mother, owned enough clutter to supply a small market-stall, it would have been far more useful if each wedding guest had taken something away.

      I flicked through the wedding album. Was it really only three weeks ago? It feels like a lifetime. My memories of the wedding day happen in snatches, like snapshots in my mind.

      Flash! Walking out of my parents’ front door, arm in arm with my father. I’m not sure who was steadying who.

      Flash! Seeing the ivory Bentley, driven by Vague Dave who was dressed in a navy blue chauffeur’s uniform. Arriving at St Norbert’s overwhelmed by the flowers, the smiling faces of my friends and relatives.

      Flash! Kevin, grinning nervously from the front pew, looking so gorgeous and handsome that I kept looking round for the beautiful girl who must be there to marry him instead of me.

      Flash! Chrissie in her robes with her white stole and bright scarlet lipstick, inviting us to make our promises.

      Flash! The thundering organ fanfare, showers of confetti and barrage of good wishes as we left the gloom of St Norbert’s and stepped into the dazzling sunshine.

      Flash! The whole village had turned out to wish us well as we crossed the road to the village green for photographs.

      Flash! The reception in the lounge bar of the Rose and Crown, with Mum’s wonderful spread of Greek delicacies.

      Couples dancing – Ag and Cordelia, Ariadne and Tom, Auntie Mildred and Gregory Pasternak! Vague Dave changed out of his chauffeur’s uniform into a suit so white that it made it look as if John Travolta’s mum hadn’t used new white-brite Bizz. Me holding Kevin close as we smooched to ‘Three Times a Lady’.

      Flash! Cuddled up to Kevin in bed in our cottage. We had waited so long for this moment. Not only were we allowed to make love; it was practically obligatory. All I can say about our wedding night is . . .

      Oh blast! Kevin’s knocking on the door. I’ve been discovered.

      Friday 7 July

      That was close! I had to stuff my diary up my jumper and pretend to flush. Kevin looked highly suspicious when I came out, but he didn’t say anything.

      Off to work in the church office. I wonder what treats parish life has in store for me today. Perhaps there’s been a punch-up at the Allotment Society’s Annual General Meeting over the size of Mr Wilberforce’s marrow and allegations that artificial performance enhancers have been employed. Maybe one of the mini-Hubbles has bitten the postman again. I can hardly wait!

      5:30 p.m.

      Well, that’s blown it! I really must try hard to find a new job now. When I got to the office, Chrissie, who was wearing a police uniform, handed me some sermon notes to type. I stood with my mouth open as she put on a slick of her trademark red lipstick, adjusted her police hat and headed for the door.

      ‘Close your mouth; there’s a bus coming.’

      ‘Why on earth are you dressed like that?’ I blurted.

      ‘I’m on duty. Special Constable. I’ll pop back in before you go. Oh, and if the bishop rings, chat him up. I need a favour.’

      And she was gone.

      I glanced at the sermon notes: shepherds, angels, magi.

      Had Chrissie completely lost the plot? What was the favour she wanted to ask the bishop? Did she intend to ask his permission to completely reorganize the Church’s calendar?

      The title of the sermon was ‘Not Just for Christmas’, and this Sunday she proposed to preach on the birth of Christ. I shook my head and began to type. My mind wandered to all those things I could – no, should – be doing with my spare time.

      I could live the life of luxury for a while, spend my days at the gym, getting perfectly toned; I could wile away hours with a beauty therapist, getting my nails painted or my eyelashes tinted. Ah, bliss! One thing was certain; I had no regrets about resigning from my job. When we returned from our honeymoon, there was a letter from my boss, Myrna, asking if I’d reconsider my resignation. My colleague Covenant Blake, a kind of blend of Billy Graham, Bill Gates and David Beck-ham, had suddenly felt a calling to Outer Mongolia (seriously) and was threatening to leave her in the lurch. I’d written back politely, declining her offer, saying that I wouldn’t be requiring the job as I now had a life instead.

      I tucked Chrissie’s notes back into her folder and turned on the tape machine, ready to type her letters. The first letter was one of condolence to a woman who had just lost her nine-year-old son in a road accident. Her husband had died the year before, and she was obviously demolished by grief.

      ‘. . . words cannot begin to express the sorrow your news brings to myself and St Norbert’s congregation. I will not attempt to offer platitudes, just to say that I, and anyone on the pastoral team, will be available at any time. Are you still happy for me to visit on Sunday afternoon . . .’

      The next letter was addressed to a parish in Uganda where Chrissie had spent six months helping to construct a new church building and community centre.

      ‘. . . delighted that you are now able to host a community clinic and that Wemusa and Samuel were able to get the old Land Rover fixed to pick people up from the villages. I hope Joseph will soon recover, and our prayers are for Kissa and her son in prison. Was a lawyer found? Send our greetings to . . .’

      Suddenly the world felt so big and I felt so small. Here I was, healthy, affluent, moderately talented and wondering how to fill my time. If I hadn’t just managed to stop the ancient office chair from tilting precariously to the left, I would have got down on my knees. I thought of all the need in the world and of how small my problems were in comparison. I prayed for the people in Chrissie’s letters. Then I prayed that God would show me how I could become less self-centred and obsessed with my own little universe. My mind flicked back to last Sunday’s reading from Matthew 25, ‘Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

      I had never fed the hungry or given water to the thirsty. I had never invited a stranger in. Taking last year’s sale ‘bargains’ to the Oxfam shop felt a poor substitute for clothing the naked, and I rarely set foot inside a hospital and never a prison. Standing before my maker and telling him that I’d bought a copy of the Big Issue once hardly put me in the same league as Mother Teresa. I prayed that God would show me a way that I could do more for others. I was about to do that praying thing where you totally give God control of every part of your life and he sends you off to convert the entire population of some remote tribe on a Pacific island that only eat fish in spite of the fact that you are allergic to fish and come out in heat rash if the temperature goes above fifteen degrees. Everyone knows that’s the way God works, isn’t it?

      At that moment Mr Wilberforce and his dog, Rex, who was on his way to the vet for his annual de-worming, had come in and interrupted my train of thought.

      Chrissie, still in her police uniform, came back at about half past four and gave a cursory glance at my day’s labours. She swooshed her signature on the letters and cast her eye over the sermon notes, then she pursed her bright red lips and wrinkled her brow.

      ‘Did you notice anything strange about this sermon?’

      I snorted a laugh. ‘Did I? You’re preaching about Christmas halfway through July!’ I cast my eyes towards the ceiling and laughed again. Chrissie wasn’t laughing. She looked distinctly irked.

      ‘The reason I’m preaching about Christ’s birth in July is to try to stop people putting him into little boxes – born at Christmas, died and resurrected at Easter – Holy Spirit – oh yes, tucked neatly into one Sunday at the end of May! Jesus’ birth is relevant all year round. That was what I was driving at. Glad it made such an impression on you.’

      I glanced at the floor. ‘I see your point. Sorry.’

      Now it was Chrissie’s turn to laugh. ‘Theo, are you bored with this job?’

      ‘Well, er . . . of course I’m very grateful that you gave me work when I left the office . . .’

      Chrissie looked as if she was going to burst. ‘What on earth were you thinking about when you typed this?’

      ‘What’s wrong with it?’ My mind flicked back. My thoughts had been fairly innocuous, as I recall – beauty salons and how glad I was to have left the ‘job from hell’. That’s all.

      Chrissie was studying the sermon intently. ‘Firstly, Theo, Herod massacred the innocents; he didn’t mascara them. Secondly, nowhere in the Bible does it say that God sent an angel to give the shepherds a massage. And finally, when there was no room in the inn, the Virgin Mary laid him in a manger: she did not lay into the manager.’

      ‘Oh dear!’

      ‘Oh dear indeed! What’s the matter, Theo?’

      I bit my lip. ‘Well . . .’

      Chrissie tilted her head to one side. ‘I know this job isn’t challenging you. Have you thought about the big picture? Have you asked God about his plans for your life yet?’

      I shook my head, thinking how much I didn’t want to join those Pacific fish-eaters.

      ‘Then do it and do it quickly before you trash any more of my sermons.’

      Saturday 8 July

      Kevin has just discovered me sitting in the garden shed writing this. We had yet another row which played like a looped tape. He feels left out; I need to write down my thoughts; he worries that I’m not talking to him; I worry that he’s worried; the more worried I am, the more I need to write. On top of that, I know Christians aren’t supposed to worry, and that makes me even more worried. I know I love Jesus more than ever. In fact, since I’ve been writing it, I’ve become even more aware of my shortcomings and how I need to rely on God’s grace and mercy every day. My only recourse was to agree to let Kevin read it, with the proviso that he is only allowed to read from now onwards. He agreed reluctantly, then stomped off to mow the lawn. I love being married, and I love Kevin, but I am beginning to miss my own space.

      Sunday 9 July

      Got up, went to church. Had lunch – spag bol. Recipe from Tom’s book. Read the papers after lunch. Did some ironing, went to bed.

      Monday 10 July

      Went shopping, read a book. This evening we watched a film on television, and Kevin put up a shelf – it was just the right height and beautifully straight!

      Tuesday 11 July

      Put things on Kevin’s wonderful shelf, did some washing. Had tea with Mum and Dad – moussaka again! What would be really nice now is if Kevin would put together that self-assembly wardrobe for the spare room. That would be lovely.

      Kevin is beginning to need a haircut. Should I book an appointment, or will he?

      Wednesday 12 July

      I wonder if Kevin will be coming to church with me on Sunday. I do hope so. The problem is that he tends to stay out rather late on a Saturday night. I know a

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