Chapter Text
Today is Judith’s twentieth birthday and Len has promised to spoil her. He’s taken the day off and so far he’s supplied breakfast in bed which at nearly eight months pregnant had been more than welcome, and then he’s apparently arranged a mystery tour.
She is having a bubble bath first. Mother had passed it over as a little present to open on the day. She will get her proper present on Sunday when they go round for dinner with her and Pops.
She wonders what they’d be up to if she wasn’t expecting, probably the same but maybe with drinking and dancing later. She doesn’t mind though. Her little passenger stretches and it makes the water ripple and she laughs.
Len just happens to be passing on the landing and hears her giggle.
“You alright, love? What’s tickled you?”
“Your son or daughter just moved is all. Is there anything I need to wear?”
“The red two piece your Mother made would be nice.”
“Oh the velvet trouser suit with a blue and white border that matches the a-line top? I like that one, and I’ll still be able to wear it once the baby is born. Mother's clever that way, she does wonderful things with elastic. Anyway… Does that mean we’re going somewhere fancy?”
“You’ll have to wait and see, Jude. Don’t be too long, you’ll turn into a prune and we’ll be late.”
“Alright. I’ll hurry.”
Soon Judith is ready and is just tying up her hair, when Len comes in.
“You look lovely, darling.”
“Do I? I’m ginormous.”
“Not to go long now, but not today, Jude. I can only afford one birthday girl at a time. Here is your first mystery tour clue.”
Len hands her a buff coloured envelope where he was written No. 1 in his sensible handwriting. Inside is a little typed note.
“Did you use my typewriter?”
“When you were shopping with your mum the other day.”
I rhyme with cakes and sell them too. At 1pm a table for two.
“Oooooh, is it Blakes? Are we going for tea? I have been craving one of their raspberry slices all week.”
“Well done, Mrs Hooper. Come on, we’ll be a little early so I thought we could take a slow stroll around the park if you’re up to it. It’s mild out today.”
“That sounds lovely. Autumn walks are so beautiful. I’m being spoiled.”
The walk through the park is delightful, the leaves are all yellow to red and some have already fallen to the floor but as it’s been dry they’re crispy rather than mushy.
When the young couple get to Blake’s Tea Room there is a raspberry slice for Judith, as well as a pot of tea, a coffee for Leonard and dinky little sandwiches.
When they are finished Len goes into his messenger bag and pulls out another buff envelope, this one containing two twenty pound notes and a ten, together with the message.
Fifty whole pounds and you’ll say oh gosh, let’s go next door to…
“Argos?! Oh Len. You knew I’d had my eye on that cot from there. Oh thank you!”
After the shopping trip and Len grappling the package of the cot into the boot he hands her one last envelope.
The note this time says:
For art, statues and history you really want to see ‘em, come on Jude, let’s go to the…
“Museum. That’s a terrible rhyme though, Len.”
“Sorry, lovely. You know it’s one of our favourite places. Always has been. Was our first date after all.”
“It wasn’t a date, Leonard. We were eight years old…”
It had been the first time Judith had really met Len. He’d just moved from Wales with his family and it has been the Spring term, a very exciting trip to SouthKensington to visit the V&A. They had been paired up as walking partners. Judith had thought it was going to be terribly boring looking around, but Leonard seemed to know a lot about history and art for an eight year old. Judith found out later that his mother was an artist, and his father a lecturer at the Brunel university.
“Well, this is a date, I know we’ll only have a few hours, but this will be sort of a highlights tour. Your favourite bits. We’ll take the baby when she’s old enough, too. Our special thing.”
“You keep saying it’s a girl, and I keep telling you we don’t know, it doesn’t work like this. You’re a scientist for goodness sake!”
“Well, I’m sure it’s a girl. C’mon let’s go find those William Morris designs you’re obsessed with. Maybe next birthday I’ll let you buy some wallpaper…”