Mum, can you imagine, Dads new wife is illthey say its something serious.
Let me tell you a story from ten years ago. I raised two daughters with my husband, and theyd both gone off to university. I was looking forward to this new chapter, thinking my husband and I would start fresh. But he made a different choicehe had an affair with his secretary.
Im sorry, I never meant to hurt you, he said, but I love her.
That evening, he packed his things and left for a woman half his age. The girls were furious with him and refused to speak to him. It was agonising, especially when the younger one tried to mend things between us. I wish I could forget that year. Time didnt heal the wounds; I just learned to live with it. I threw myself into my hobbygrowing rare plants and selling them. It kept me from sinking into despair.
Eventually, the girls made peace with their father and sometimes told me about his new life. He was happy with that woman, and later, she gave him a son.
Mum, can you imagineshes ill. They say its serious.
Girls, stop talking about them. I dont like it, Id say, because deep down, I still loved my husband. The thought of him with someone else put me in a foul mood. Years had passed, yet I still thought of him as mine.
One Saturday morning, I woke to see a figure looming over me. I thought it was a dreamuntil I heard his shaky voice. Sorry, I know its early. But I I dont know what to do with my son. He looked old now, hair streaked with grey. Behind him stood a little boytheir son.
My wife passed last night, he said. Ive got the funeral to arrange, the girls are workingI cant take him. Hes too young.
The boy was just preschool age. I didnt understand what was happening, but when I looked at him, he piped up:
Are you my auntie?
No, I snapped, ready to shut the conversation down.
Mum said we had no one.
I never knew your mother.
But he was so sweet, and I realised the boy wasnt to blame. So I helped my ex.
Do you like porridge? Come to the kitchenyoull have breakfast, then your dad will fetch you.
I made coffee for myself and porridge for the boy. Watching him, I saw traces of my daughters in his face. We spent the morning watching cartoons and reading my girls old books. He was kind, cleverimpossible not to like.
After that, my husband started bringing his son round often. We became good friends. Since my daughters werent planning children yet, the boy filled a spacelike a grandson.
Two years after her death, my husband asked if we might live together again. Part of me wants that desperatelyI can picture us as a proper family. But the hurt hasnt faded. I dont know if I can trust him.
If we try and fail, itll only hurt the boy. So Im stuck. I love them bothbut the fear of being betrayed again wont leave me.
