Ben, Im pregnant! Emily shouted the moment she stepped over the threshold of Jamess flat, leaving her husband no time to guess what she meant. He froze, glanced to the side and sighed, Well if thats how it turned out, before planting a quick kiss on her cheek, as if trying to outrun his own feelings.
Emily had first fallen for James while she was still a university student. He worked at the firm where she was doing her placementyoung, handsome, already deputy managerseeming to belong to a different world. A modest girl from a Norfolk village never imagined someone like him would notice her. Yet on the last day of her placement, he walked up to her, handed her a box of chocolates and asked if shed like to meet for drinks that evening. That was the beginning of their story.
On their first date he confessed that hed grown up without parents. His mother remarried and left, leaving him in his grandmothers care. Emily didnt mention that her own parents had never shown any interest in her either. A childhood of cold indifference, no warmth at all. Both knew what loneliness felt like, and perhaps thats why they bonded so quickly.
A month later Emily moved into Jamess rented flat in Manchester. Soon after they wedno pomp, just modest hopes. They dreamed of a future together, a house of their own, a calm life. The only point of contention was children. Emily longed for a baby; James kept putting it off, Were fine as two, why rush?
When the pregnancy test showed two lines, Emily hesitated to tell him, fearing judgment and reproach. At last she gathered the courage.
Will we become parents? Happy? she asked.
I thought that would be later he replied, disappointment plain on his face.
He didnt accompany her to the first scan, waiting in the car while Emily returned, eyes brimming with tears and joytwins. Two tiny hearts beating inside her.
Twins?! James paled. That wasnt the plan. You should get an abortion!
What are you saying? I saw our children I cant Emily sobbed.
She hoped he might understand, but each day he drifted farther away, criticizing her weight, saying shed lost her shape. She tried to ignore it, yet after the babies were born, things worsened.
Lucy and Grace the twins became the centre of her world. James stayed later at work, withdrew, refused to help. Emily endured it allfor the children, for love, for family.
When the girls turned one and a half, Emily mentioned returning to work. James sat opposite her, eyes on the floor.
Ive got someone else. Im leaving. I wont abandon the kids, but I want to live with her.
Emily was stunned.
You swore youd never be like your parents! she choked out.
He walked out, first coming by occasionally, then disappearing for good. Emily was left alone, penniless, with no support. Return to the country? No jobs there. Stay in the city? No affordable flat.
Her boss stepped in, arranging a spot in a student hall. A tiny room, some renovation, two infantsshe managed. One afternoon, as she tried to push the stroller up the street, a voice called out.
May I help you? Im Tom. I live next door.
He helped without asking questions, then offered to assist with the renovation and to collect the twins from nursery. At first Emily recoiled, fearful, but day by day Tom became part of their lives.
Tom was ordinary, reliable. He, too, had been betrayedhis wife left him for a friend after discovering they couldnt have children. Yet here were two little ones he loved with all his heart.
When Tom proposed, Emily first refused.
I have kids. Youll find another woman.
I want to be with you. The children arent a problem; theyre as my own.
They married, and a week later James reappeared.
Emily, Im sorry. I understand everything now. Lets start over
Its too late. Im married. My children now have a real father.
From the doorway Tom stepped forward.
Meet my husband.
James turned, waved and walked away never to return.
A year later Emily and Tom bought their own house. Where James was now, she never knewand didnt want to. Because true happiness isnt the promise that never kept its word, but the steady love that shows up day after day. The lesson is clear: loyalty and compassion outweigh fleeting promises, and a life built on genuine care is the one that endures.
