Positively Yours by Amanda Hearty

he was out with his friends tonight. She had managed to persuade him to give up smoking, but he still drank at the weekends, despite all the research she had shown him on alcohol and men’s fertility. She just wanted them both to be in the best health they could; it would make trying for ababy easier. But since she was due her period, she guessed one more night of alcohol wasn’t going to hurt their baby-making potential. Erin was tired, she always was when she was about to get her period. There was a time when she would take a pregnancy test the second she thought they might have conceived, but last month John had put his foot down about that.
    â€˜I can’t wake up again to find you crying in the bathroom. No more early pre-test test kits. We have to let nature take its course.’
    â€˜But, John—’ she started to say.
    â€˜No buts. From now on we only do tests if you think you are late. OK?’
    Erin had to fight every urge in her body to agree, but she knew he was right. Over the last few months she had spent a fortune on buying every possible make and brand of pregnancy test. Unfortunately they all said the same thing – not pregnant – but that hadn’t stopped her rushing out to buy more. She knew John was right, she had to try to relax, but he just didn’t understand how much she wanted a little baby, a child.
    She looked around their home. It was an old red-brick four-bedroomed house, with a reasonable-sized garden, and was within walking distance of Blackrock Village. They had stretched themselves to buy the house in the affluent suburb, but it had been worth it. It was in a great location, not only near their friends and family, but near good schools, too. Of course John was just happy he was only minutes from Dun Laoghaire Harbour, and the yacht club. They both knew it was a beautiful home, and Erin had spent a lot of time, energy and money making it perfect. From top designer curtains to Egyptian cotton sheets, they had made sure their home looked immaculate. But as she ran her hand over the large brown leather couch in the living room, she was reminded how they had picked it because leather was the best optionwhen you had kids. She knew John had agreed when getting their garden decked that it was worth paying extra for splinterless decking, as it would make it safer for children in the future. And she had insisted they kept the old bath in the master bathroom, because you needed to bathe children when they were young. But with no children on the horizon she wondered if she’d been too presumptuous. She’d never even considered that children might never live in the house; that there might never be a baby to bathe, or a toddler to crawl around on the decking. Erin shuddered at the thought. That future was unbearable. She finished her tea, locked up the house and headed into work.
    Later that day, Erin sat in her latest client’s house, opened her large satchel and started pulling out kitchen catalogues to show Ciara Ryan.
    â€˜I know we need to keep an eye on your budget, but you would be surprised how often a bespoke kitchen can cost just the same as a ready-made store-bought one. And at our firm we work with some of the best carpenters in the country. I can even bring you to places I’ve worked on before to show you examples of kitchens in real houses. Seeing a real kitchen being used in a busy house can often help you decide what works or what doesn’t.’
    â€˜That would be great. I love all of your ideas. The whole redesign is starting to fall into place,’ said Ciara.
    Erin smiled. She was always delighted when a new client agreed with her suggestions and was happy with her work. Ciara and Mark owned such a fabulous house that she’d been thrilled to get her hands on it. To them it might only be the redesign of a few rooms, but to Erin it was a large project. Having your own business was tough, you were always worried that work