Work Text:
Late Winter 1956
Marianne Turner had been dead for a little more than a month and her husband, the district doctor, was struggling. She had been ill for many years and they also had a son, Timothy, who was 8 years old.
That evening it was about 10:30 and Evangelina was updating a record she thought needed some more details when she heard the bell door, she was already in her nighties, ready to sleep. Julienne had left an hour earlier to attend a birth, so it was unlikely that Julienne was back already. It wasn't her sister. At the door, it was a very overwhelmed Patrick Turner with a sleepy Timothy, his 8-year-old son, in his arms.
Outside was rainy and bloody cold, Evangelina wondered why the doctor had bothered to pick up her son and bring him to Nonnatus instead of leaving him sleeping at home.
"Sister, is it a problem if Timothy sleeps here tonight? I was called to an emergency at the docks and I fear it will be a long night, I don't want him to sleep alone…"
"Of course, he can sleep here. We'll take good care of him. I'll take him. Tomorrow morning we'll send him to school."
Timothy was wearing his school uniform over his pyjamas. Evangelina helped Tim out of his uniform and they went towards the sofa. He could have slept in one of the rooms, but the parlour was much warmer.
She noticed that he was outgrowing his pyjama and that his school clothes needed some serious attention too. She wanted to bring up the topic as soon as Sister Bernadette arrived from her retreat.
Evangelina looked at Tim and he was in tears.
"What's wrong, son?" asked Evangelina sitting in the armchair and draping a blanket on her legs.
"I want mum," said Tim starting sobbing.
Evangelina’s heart broke into pieces, poor little boy.
" Come here," said Evangelina, indicating her lap and opening her arms.
Tim rested his head on Evangelina's chest and breathed deeply in the scent of her dressing gown, she kissed his ruffled hair and held him.
“Thank you, Sister Evangelina” said Tim lulled to sleep by the steady beat of her heart and her breathing.
She started humming a hymn and Tim was breathing much more calmly and it matched Evangelina's.
Finally, the young boy was asleep and she tried her best not to wake him up. She saw Trixie who was the first on call and asked her to close the door, so the phone wouldn't disturb the little boy.
Evangelina had never considered herself a maternal person, even if she had delivered babies for more than half her life. But that night she felt something deep in her gut, a sense of protection towards that boy she had seen being born.
Evangelina drifted in and out of sleep, until around 2:30 she woke up to a tired Julienne looking at her.
"What's happened?" whispered Julienne removing her shoes and veil.
"Doctor was called to the docks and didn't want this young man to be home alone," said Evangelina, kissing Tim's head.
"How long have you been like that?" asked Julienne, whispering and wondering how uncomfortable Evangelina must be. The only item trying to make her slightly more comfortable was just a footstool under her feet.
"Since around 11, but he wasn’t settling and he was crying,” said Evangelina looking at the sleeping boy in her lap.
“You’ll have a sore back in a few hours, put him on the sofa and get in bed, I’ll stay with him.”
“No, don’t worry. You’ve been out all night and haven’t had dinner either, go to bed.”
“Let’s make a deal, I’ll sleep on the sofa, so in case Tim wakes up or your back gives out I’ll be here.”
“Deal…” said whispered Evangelina.
Julienne lay down on the sofa it wasn’t comfortable, but she didn’t want to leave Evangelina by herself and besides, it was already 2:30 they were going to be up in less than three hours.
Trixie arrived in the parlour to retrieve a magazine she was reading and smiled deeply at the scene.
Evangelina was fast asleep, snoring softly, Timothy was sleeping against her bosom and he was sleeping soundly too. Julienne was sleeping on the sofa, still half dressed, she had only removed her veil and shoes and her scapular. Trixie put a hot water bottle near Julienne’s feet under the woolly blanket. Evangelina had refused the hot water bottle at first, but then she accepted it and put it between her abdomen and Tim’s so they were both fairly warm.
Trixie had been at Nonnatus for less than a year, but she had started to understand the small community living there. A very strong community, in every sense of the word. They were caring and looking out for each other, always ready to help their fellow people, and they didn’t judge.
“Can you bring me my breviary?” asked Evangelina when Julienne got up to go and said Lauds.
“Of course, do you need anything else?"
“I don’t want to wake him up. I think it’s the first time he has slept soundly since his mother died,” whispered Evangelina looking at Julienne who smiled back and tied her shoes.
“I’ll go and wash my face and then I’ll bring you the breviary. Do you want some tea?” asked Julienne
“Yes, please… and something sweet too.”
Julienne arrived in the kitchen and saw Trixie fast asleep at the table.
“Nurse Franklin, you can go to bed. I’ll wake you up a bit before lunchtime,” said Julienne
“I didn’t want to fall asleep at the table.”
“You are tired, come on, let’s get you in bed…”
“Is Timothy still sleeping?”
“Apparently yes, he needs some sleep, poor baby”
Evangelina had woken up Timothy at 6:30 and gave him breakfast and helped him to get ready for the day.
“Did you sleep well?” asked Evangelina pouring some tea in a cup and giving it to the boy.
“Yes, I slept well… But I fear you didn’t.”
“Don’t worry, I slept very well,” said Evangelina leaving the boy with the other Sisters and going upstairs to get ready for the day and dosing herself on Aspirin because her back was killing and she had a headache.
“You are shattered,” said Julienne from the doorway giving Evangelina a hot compress for her neck.
“I am not.”
“You can lie to an eight-year-old, but not to a forty-eight-year-old sister. Would you like some breakfast or a couple of hours in bed?” asked Julienne giving her another compress to put on the small of her back.
“I am quite peckish, maybe I’ll have breakfast and then I’ll rest when your lot has left for the day. Besides, it isn’t the first night I spend in an armchair,” said Evangelina putting on her slip and her stockings.
Patrick arrived back a little after 8, he just met Timothy in the hallway and greeted him with a kiss on his forehead and a quick hug.
“You need a good cup of tea, something to eat and some sleep” said Julienne looking at the poor doctor.
He looked very tired, pale and a bit unkempt.
They spent a couple of minutes in silence until Patrick said: “I am so sorry for last night, but I didn’t know who I could call. My mother-in-law is still grieving and I didn’t want to bother her. And well, you were the first people I had in mind.”
“It wasn’t a bother…” said Evangelina sipping from her cup and looking at the doctor.
“You know, it’s a real struggle. I can’t keep up with everything. I am not as good as Marianne was in managing things. The house is a mess when the housekeeper is off duty, Tim is too old for a nanny or a babysitter, he has all his after-school activities. But sometimes the flat feels so empty without Marianne. From the flowers on the table to the food. I can’t cook, we live off canned food or fish and chips, I know it’s not ideal, but I still need to figure out a lot of things.”
“What if we ask Mrs B to cook a bit more food so we can share with you?” asked Julienne “Two plates more is straightforward and you can have something a bit nicer than just fish and chips and baked beans.”
Evangelina nodded in approval and she kept looking straight into her cup, as if she was getting the words right before speaking.
“Tim isn’t sleeping if he isn’t held, am I wrong?” asked Evangelina, blurting the question out.
“You are not, I am in touch with a friend at the Children’s Hospital and he told me it’s quite normal after such a loss for a child to need to be held.”
“I noticed that he was crying just at the thought of sleeping alone.”
“I am so sorry, usually I just wait for him to fall asleep. And then he eventually moves to my bed, because he won’t settle. How did he sleep?” asked Patrick, blushing slightly.
“He slept in my lap, from 11 until 6:30.”
“Did you manage to sleep?” asked Patrick feeling very guilty for Sister Evangelina’s back.
“I did. Don’t worry, I slept through the Blitz.”
“You are angels. You’ve helped us so much lately.”
That day Patrick didn’t have surgery, he just had a couple of house calls, but later in the day, when Tim was at music practice.
“Can we get a present for Sister Evangelina and Sister Julienne?” asked Tim while Patrick drove towards their flat.
“What would you like to get them?” asked Patrick.
“Sister Evangelina needs a new nightgown and Sister Julienne may need one too, it’s a nice present and maybe a bar of soap for each of them. The other night I could see Sister Evangelina’s ones is quite old, while the other night Sister Julienne slept in her dress.”
Patrick too had seen that Evangelina’s nightgown was quite old and worn out the previous evening when he dropped Timothy off.
“It’s called habit. And how come Sister Julienne slept on the sofa?”
“I don’t know, when I woke up she was there.”
Patrick thought it was quite odd to get presents to nuns, since they weren’t supposed to have any possessions, in fact, Marianne always gave them towels, underwear or stockings for Christmas.
They went to Violet Gee’s shop and asked for two nightgowns for nuns. Violet smiled because she knew perfectly which kind was used by the nuns.
“So, this one is in Sister Julienne’s size and this other one is in Sister Evangelina’s.”
“Do you also have soaps?” asked Timothy looking around.
“I do, two soaps too?” asked Violet smiling tenderly.
“Yes, please, but different.”
Violet tried her best to make nice gift wrapping for the cheapest nightgowns she had in her shop.
But she was glad that someone was taking care of the Nonnatuns, they had been working around the clock for over 50 years and very often they weren’t thanked enough.
The following Tuesday, Julienne and Evangelina were the last to leave the clinic. They were finishing packing when Timothy arrived in his Cubs uniform. He was a cute young boy with a really kind smile.
“I have a little something for you both… it’s just a little thank you for the other night.”
Evangelina and Julienne smiled tenderly and looked at the young boy who smiled shyly. And they just hugged him.
Julienne and Evangelina arrived home and went straight to Julienne’s office. They opened the gifts and they smiled deeply.
“He saw that your nightgown is past its time…” said Julienne.
“He saw that you slept in your habit…” said Evangelina.