BREAKING POINT

“I’m certain he smiled this morning” Penny said eagerly. “Really, Joey, don’t laugh, he did. His little face wrinkled up and I thought for a moment he was going to cry, but he smiled instead”

“Wind” remarked Joey caustic ally, and Penny joined in the general laughter.

Audrey took another parcel from the tree and handed it to Penny. Opening it, she found a thin, gold bracelet on the inside of which Joey had had inscribed :

‘For Penny, with love’

“Oh Joey” she whispered. “It’s beautiful”

‘But I can’t accept it’ she thought. ‘It must have been very expensive. I shouldn’t take it’

“Please, Penny, put it on” Joey said quietly as if he had understood her thoughts. “It would give me so much pleasure”

Obediently, Penny slipped the bracelet over her hand. The gold links felt cold against the warmth of her flesh. Slowly it took her own temperature until it became part of herself and she had to feel for it to reassure herself that it was still there. The gesture became unconscious and many times during the day Joey saw her slip it from wrist to elbow. A curious, whimsical smile lit up his eyes.

Penny had bought him a tie he loved so much, and Audrey a scarf. For doctor James there was a lighter with which he seemed greatly satisfied.

In the middle of the unwrapping of these parcels, there was a knock on the door. Audrey ran to open it.

“It’s a package” she cried. “Happy Christmas to you”

“Happy Christmas to you, madam” he said, handing her a bundle of letters and a large  box.

“For you, Penny” Audrey said, reading the note. “From Jeremy”

Penny took it, her face glowing. She tore at the string and stood by impatiently. Inside the box were a make up kit, a bottle of Chanel perfume, two pairs of shoes and a beautiful bag.

“Well,” exclaimed Audrey, “Jeremy did a thing”

Penny sat with Jeremy’s gifts around her, her face flushed with happiness. She was reading a note that had lain inside.

‘Next Christmas, we will be together, honey’ the note said. ‘Thank heaven. I think I will be done with all this on January 12th so I will be able to meet you at the flat on the 15th. I want us to have a quiet dinner alone like old times. I’m a bit sick of these endless parties and I need a little bit of home life…. And you… ”

‘Oh Jeremy, Jeremy’ Penny thought. ‘That is what I want too… Home life and you. January 15th. Only there more weeks. I can’t believe it. Three weeks. Twenty One days and I shall see you again.’

“Well?” prompted Audrey. “What’s the news? What does the note say?”

“Jeremy will be done by the 12th” Penny cried. “I will be seeing him on the 15th. Oh Audrey, isn’t this marvelous? I can hardly believe it. What a wonderful Christmas present. I would rather have that piece of news than all the things he has sent”

Joey turned away and stared out of the window into the bare garden. How naked the trees looked, shorn of their leaves, how barren the earth. It was hard to believe that with the spring, green shoots would push their way through the hard soil and that there would be any color or warmth again. He remembered the summer that was past now and a feeling of hopeless despair took hold of him. Those wonderful days in the hot sunshine with Penny sitting on the wooden garden seat, the soft hum of the bees buzzing among the roses, the shrill chatter of the birds, above all, the wonderful moments of companionship with the girl at his side… Would they ever be recaptured? Would they ever happen again? He learnt for the first time in these silent minutes how much he had grown to depend on Penny’s company, how bare and barren his life would be without her. He could see the same result in his heart as he could see now, staring at the garden. When Penny left, everything would be cold and bare and sunless, and there might never come a new spring, another summer for him.

“Joey?”

He turned to her quickly, forcing a light note to his voice.

“Yes, Penny” he replied.

“How long will it take to put Howard on a bottle? I’m not going to take him with me when I go to home this time so I will have to stop feeding him myself. It won’t put him back, will it?”

“I don’t think so, Penny. If we find the right food it won’t make any difference. Besides, he will have to be weaned sonner or later. He won’t be such a tie on you once he is on a bottle.

“I don’t mind the tie… At least, not for the moment” Penny remarked more to herself than to Joey.

But she was also thinking, I can’t have the baby in the flat when Jeremy comes, and he would hate me to be tired night and morning. I want everything to seen just as when he left. I want him to ask me to marry him before he even hears about Howard. Then I shall know he really wants it… That if he marries me it won’t just be because of the baby. Audrey will look after Howard. He’s so healthy… I’m sure he won’t mind a bottle.

“We will start tomorrow” Joey broke in on her thoughts. “Give him his first bottle for his four o’clock feed and see how he takes to it. He’s such a good tempered infact, I dare say he won’t be affected at all by the change”Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

Howard actually lost a little weight at first, but by the beginning of the new year he had picked up again and grew heavier and chubbier than ever. There was no doubt now that he noticed things around him, and with every day that passed, Penny loved him a little more. She started to do some sketches of him which were delightful.

“Why don’t you try to sell some of them?” Audrey suggested. “You are very talented Penny, and these are perfectly sweet. I would like one myself”

“You have whichever ones you want” Penny said generously. “but I’m afraid there are not good enough to sell”