Chapter Text
“And you’re absolutely sure?” Shelagh asked, sounding anxious. Julienne could hear her fidgeting on the other side of the phone and was unable to suppress a smile.
“I can assure you that it would be our pleasure,” Julienne replied, the news already filling her with joy.
Shelagh let out a small sound of relief. “Thank you, Sister. Patrick and I are ever so grateful, I really don’t know what we would do without you. We’ll drop him off after we leave the girls with Mrs Becker.”
A few hours later, the doorbell rang at Nonnatus. Julienne opened the door to find Doctor Turner, Shelagh and Teddy on the other side. She smiled and gestured for them to enter.
“Thank you once again,” Shelagh said as she put Teddy down on the floor in the parlour. “We’re so sorry for the short notice.”
“You could hardly have expected that Mrs Parker would break her leg, “Julienne said, frowning. “I just hope she’s getting all the help she needs?”
“Timothy is staying with her just as originally planned. Obviously we couldn’t expect her to take care of Teddy. And Mrs Becker is happy to look after the girls, but she can’t handle all three.” Shelagh sighed. “I know we’ve been planning for this conference for months, but just now I’m wondering if this is a sign that we shouldn't go…”
“Not at all,” Julienne said. “We have everything we need here and are more than happy to look after him until you get back,” she added with a smile.
Patrick appeared around the corner, looking at his watch. “I put his bag upstairs. A few sets of clothes, nappies, you know the drill. And Bunny of course,” he added with a grin, before his expression grew more serious. “Nurse Crane said you put the cot in your room, Sister?”
Julienne nodded. “I do the least amount of clinical work, so should anyone be woken in the night I’d rather it be me.”
Patrick and Shelagh exchanged a quick look. “Well, he’s been rather good at sleeping through the night lately, so hopefully you can all get a full night’s sleep,” Patrick said before looking at his watch again. “Now I think we better head to the station if we don’t want to miss our train. Shelagh?”
Shelagh nodded in agreement. She picked Teddy up, kissing the top of his head and giving him a big hug. “Bye-bye Teddy. Be nice for Sister Julienne.”
Teddy was not pleased at being picked up, wriggling to get free. When Julienne stepped closer he turned in her direction, arms outstretched towards her. “Juju!” he said excitedly and everyone laughed.
“He misses us already,” Patrick remarked sarcastically as Teddy settled into Julienne’s arms. He rolled his eyes, but failed to suppress a smile. “Shelagh?”
“With all the change of plans he hasn’t had his afternoon nap yet, so he might be a little fussy,” Shelagh warned. “But if you get him down quickly, it hopefully shouldn’t affect his sleep tonight.”
“I’m sure we will manage just fine, won’t we?” Julienne said. She looked down at Teddy with a big smile. She followed Patrick and Shelagh to the front door where she and Teddy waved them goodbye. As the car disappeared through the tunnel she closed the door and turned her attention to the young boy in her arms, who just let out a big yawn. “I think it’s time for a nap, don’t you?”
Julienne brought Teddy upstairs with the intention of getting him settled in his cot. She was secretly glad that they didn’t run into anyone on the stairwell or in the corridor, as the added excitement risked delaying Teddy’s already late nap even further. And she figured there would be plenty of time for the others to coo over him later in the day.
She got him changed with no fuss, and when she put him down into the cot he didn’t protest. When she placed his beloved stuffed toy bunny next to Teddy, he immediately pulled it towards him in a big bear hug. She drew the curtains and it wasn’t long until he drifted off to sleep.
Julienne quietly stepped out of the room, leaving the door slightly open behind her. She listened for a moment to ensure he was still asleep, then headed downstairs in order to resume her work.
However, she barely had a chance to sit down behind her desk before she heard commotion upstairs. A loud shriek, followed by a crash, and then a brief pause before the unmistakable sounds of a crying baby.
Julienne leapt up from her seat and hurried out into the corridor where she saw Phyllis coming out of the clinical room, who had clearly also heard the racket. Julienne continued up, taking the stairs two steps at a time, heart pounding.
When she reached the landing, she took in the scene in front of her. Sister Monica Joan was on her hands and knees on the floor. The rug underneath her was bunched up where she’d clearly got her foot caught and stumbled. The vase which previously stood on the sideboard was now shattered on the floor, with water and flowers and shards of porcelain scattered everywhere.
She hurried to her Sister’s side, crouching beside her. As she got closer, it became apparent that Monica Joan was trying to collect the pieces of the broken vase with trembling hands. Tears were running down her cheeks.
“Are you hurt?” Julienne asked, putting a hand on her arm to stop her from reaching for another shard.
She shook her head forcefully, but the tears kept coming. Teddy was shrieking from Julienne’s room.
“In my carelessness, I have upset both myself and the child,” Monica Joan said between shaky breaths.
Julienne rubbed her back gently. “You both had a fright, but all shall be well. Now, let’s get you sitting up so we can make sure you haven’t hurt yourself.”
She reached for the shards in Monica Joan’s hand, and when she removed them it revealed a cut on her palm. Blood was seeping out, but it didn’t look deep.
Teddy was still shrieking loudly, only stopping to draw breath or for the occasional cough.
Phyllis came up behind Julienne, and together they got Monica Joan up off the floor and seated on a chair. “I can take it from here. You see to young Master Turner,” Phyllis said, nodding to the bedroom.
Julienne agreed and, after one final look at Monica Joan, headed for her bedroom.
She entered and quickly made her way to the cot, picking up the screaming child. “Shhh,” she soothed, rubbing his back and gently bouncing him up and down. “It’s ok. It’s ok. Shhh.”
She paced back and forth, quietly soothing him until his crying faded first into the occasional sob, and then finally altogether.
“I’m sorry you got such a fright,” Julienne said quietly, wiping the last tears from his cheeks.
There were sounds of footsteps and clinking porcelain from out in the corridor. Julienne carefully pushed the door open with her foot to find Phyllis operating a broom and dustpan.
“Is there anything I can do?” Julienne asked.
Phyllis shook her head. “Just keep Master Turner off the floor. We don’t want any more injuries.”
“How’s Sister Monica Joan?”
“A little shaken and bruised. Besides her hand, she hit her knee when she landed, but thankfully no broken bones and there seem to be no mobility issues. If I’m honest, I think her pride took the biggest blow.”
Julienne nodded. “Perhaps I should speak with her. Is she in her room?”
One conversation and a few minutes of holding Teddy later, Sister Monica Joan’s spirits were noticeably lifted. Relieved, Julienne left her to her own devices and brought Teddy downstairs. The young boy showed no signs of wanting to sleep, so she figured they would aim for an early night instead.
She went by the kitchen and peeled and sliced a pear for Teddy to snack on, which he gladly did. Once he had finished she brought him into her office and put him in the playpen she had prepared earlier.
Teddy entertained himself for a while and Julienne was able to get some work done. However, it didn’t take long before he got bored and craved attention. She attempted to sit him on her lap for a bit while she worked, but he was much too interested in the pen and paper to make it at all convenient. So in the end she gave up on work for the time being and decided to let him dictate playtime for a while.
Soon enough, the nurses started dropping in one by one from their afternoon rounds. They were all delighted by their surprise guest and quickly took him off Julienne’s hands, taking turns entertaining him in the parlour. This allowed Julienne to turn her attention back to her paperwork. The happy voices, sounds of play and shrieks of laughter from down the hall filled her heart with joy.
Some time later, there was a knock at the door, and Trixie announced that dinner was served. She put down her pen and went to the dining room, spotting Lucille on the floor of the parlour playing with Teddy.
Sister Frances came down the corridor with a high chair. “Where shall I put this?” she asked, looking over to Julienne.
Teddy’s gaze lifted to find the source of the voice and in the process he spotted Julienne. He exclaimed a loud “Juju!” and took a few unsteady steps towards her before lowering himself to all fours and crawling at full speed, much to the amusement of everyone who saw.
“I think you better put it here,” Hilda said with a grin, indicating a spot next to Julienne’s chair.
Julienne bent down to pick Teddy up. As she did, he gave a few little dry coughs.
They settled around the table, and Teddy stayed remarkably quiet as grace was said.
He was given his own bowl of mashed potatoes and boiled carrots and a small spoon to practise his coordination. As most of it ended up on the side of the plate, or his bib, or the floor, or anywhere that wasn’t his mouth, Julienne soon had to step in and help out.
Between feeding Teddy spoonfuls and cleaning up the mess he made, Julienne didn’t get much of a chance to eat herself. Once Teddy refused to eat any more he stuck his arms out towards Julienne. She had just picked up her fork, but put it down again and turned to pick him up.
“No, let me, I’m finished already,” Hilda said. She wiped her mouth and hands with a napkin and put it to the side, then stood and went to pick up Teddy. “We need to let Sister Julienne finish her dinner, don’t we?” She picked him up and sat him on her lap. He seemed content enough with this arrangement, especially once Sister Monica Joan started reciprocating the funny faces he was making at her, allowing Julienne to focus on her own meal.
As she ate, Teddy coughed again. First once, and then he had a little coughing fit.
“He was coughing a little when we played with him before,” Lucille remarked with a frown.
“Poor pet,” Hilda said, rubbing his back. “Let’s hope he’s not coming down with something.”
But after dinner, it became apparent that this was in fact the case. He started coughing more frequently, and it was accompanied by a mild runny nose. He also became increasingly fussy.
“I think it’s bath time and then straight to bed with you, mister,” Trixie said when he had screamed and thrown a toy at her in a fit of rage.
“Come here, little one,” Julienne said, picking him up from the floor in the parlour where he had been playing. “It’s time for bed.”
He calmed down a little during his bath, and seemed quite content to be swaddled in a big towel afterwards. Once sufficiently dried, he didn’t mind being dressed in his pyjamas either.
Julienne sat him on her lap in the armchair in her room and started reading him a bedtime story. He listened with great interest, and the only interruptions were his occasional coughs.
Eventually, he was yawning and seemed on the verge of falling asleep sitting up. Julienne carefully picked him up and walked over to the cot. But as soon as she put him down, his face crumpled and he started crying.
And once the floodgates had opened, there seemed to be no going back. She tried soothing him, distracting him with Bunny, offering a dummy, but nothing calmed him down. As time went by he only became more and more upset.
“Oh, little one,” Julienne said quietly when his crying was once again interrupted with more coughs. She reached down and picked him up, rubbing his back through his coughing and crying. “You’re not feeling too good, are you?” she said sympathetically.
She slowly walked back and forth, gently bouncing him and stroking his back. But he showed no signs of calming down. She was thankful the coughs were dry and that his chest sounded clear, but he was still clearly uncomfortable.
She wasn’t sure how long it had been going on when there was a knock at the door.
“Enter.”
The door opened a little and Phyllis looked inside. “Just wanted to check if any assistance is required?”
Julienne shook her head. “Thank you, but we’ll manage.” She looked down at the sobbing bundle in her arms. “I think he’s overtired. And not feeling his best on top of it, it’s all just a little much.”
Phyllis nodded. “Poor lad. Well, I’m heading to bed, and I think the girls are too, shortly. You know where to find us should you need anything.”
Julienne gave a smile, appreciating the gesture. “Thank you. But I’m sure it won’t be necessary. Sleep well, Nurse Crane.”
Over the next hour Julienne switched between sitting in her armchair and walking back and forth with the crying child. Occasionally he would calm down a little, but never more than that, his breath still hitching. She made a few attempts at settling him back in his cot, but it always ended with more tears.
Eventually she decided to go downstairs, to avoid risking keeping the others up. She grabbed a baby blanket and took the opportunity to slip out and downstairs during one of his calmer periods.
She was heading down the corridor towards the parlour when Sister Hilda stuck her head out of the phone room. “Poor lamb,” she said, looking down at the weeping boy in Julienne’s arms. “Is there anything I can do?”
Julienne shook her head. “I just didn’t want to wake the others.”
“I could take him,” Hilda suggested. “I’m up anyway,” she added, nodding towards the on-call board. “No use in both of us being up unless absolutely necessary.”
“It’s alright,” Julienne said, but did see an opportunity to use the facilities and rest her arms for a bit. “But if you could hold him for a moment while I…” she said, throwing a glance towards the bathroom door.
“Oh. Of course!” Hilda said. She reached out to pick Teddy up, who immediately started protesting and crying harder. “Shh,” Hilda soothed. “It’s alright Teddy, it’s only me, remember?”
Teddy only cried harder and harder, wriggling in Hilda’s arms. Julienne reached to take him back, but Hilda nodded towards the bathroom. “Go, we’ll be fine.”
Julienne hurried as much as she could, but the screaming only grew louder, much more than it had so far. In the mere minute she was away, Teddy had grown completely inconsolable.
“Mmmamaaa! M-m-mmh-aaa-mmmh-aaaa!” he cried between sobs at the top of his lungs. Julienne entered back into the corridor just in time to see the small boy’s chest heave as he gagged, then retched, bringing up the contents of his stomach on the shoulder and front of Hilda’s habit.
There was a moment of silence before he started shrieking again, even louder than before. Hilda looked a bit alarmed at this sudden development and tried to manoeuvre him to rest against her other, sick-free shoulder.
Julienne walked up beside them and when Teddy saw her, he reached out for her. He was bright red, tears and snot running down his face. She took him in her arms and held him close.
”My dear Teddy,” she said softly. She picked a handkerchief from her pocket and carefully wiped his face. Her heart ached for him and she wished there was something more she could do to make him more comfortable. “I’m so sorry you’re feeling awful.”
The crying decreased in intensity when he was back with Julienne, and soon enough the sobbing subsided into the occasional hitching and stuttering breath.
“He seems quite warm. Do you think he’s running a temperature?” Hilda asked.
“Difficult to know for sure when he’s this worked up,” Julienne said, gently pressing the back of her fingers to his forehead and then his cheek. “But quite possibly.”
Hilda looked down at her soiled habit. “I better go and get changed.” She disappeared upstairs, and Julienne slowly walked up and down the corridor with Teddy weeping quietly against her shoulder.
“It seems that no one but ‘Juju’ will do for the time being,” Hilda said when she returned in a fresh habit. “But if there’s anything I can do, just shout.”
Julienne instinctively shook her head to decline the offer. But as she suppressed a yawn she felt the weight of Teddy as he relaxed in her arms, and before she could stop herself she heard herself say, “Actually, I wouldn’t mind a cup of tea?”
Hilda smiled. “That I can manage. I’ll put the kettle on.”