James, Im pregnant! Emma shouted from the doorway, leaving her husband no room for doubt. He froze, glanced sideways, and sighed: Well if thats how it turned out then he pressed a quick kiss to her cheek, as if trying to outrun his own feelings.
Emma had first fallen for Mark while she was still a university student. He worked in the firm where she was doing her placement. Young, handsome, already deputy department manager he seemed to belong to another realm. A modest girl from a small town had never imagined he would even notice her. Yet on the last day of her placement, he walked over, handed her a box of chocolates and invited her to meet that evening. Thus their story began.
On their first date he confessed hed grown up without parents. His mother remarried and left, leaving him in his grandmothers care. Emma never mentioned that her own parents had never taken an interest in her. Her whole childhood was cold, indifferent, devoid of any warmth. Both knew what loneliness meant, and perhaps that is why they clung to each other so quickly.
A month later Emma moved into Marks rented flat. Soon after came the wedding. Plain, modest, but hopeful. They dreamed of a future, of a house of their own, of a calm life. The only point of tension was children. Emma had long wanted a baby, while Mark kept delaying: Were fine as two, why rush?
When the test showed two lines, Emma could not summon the courage to speak. She feared judgment, reproach. At last she gathered herself.
Well be parents, youre happy? she asked.
I thought that would be later he replied, his disappointment plain.
He skipped the first ultrasound, waiting in the car. Emma returned with tears and joy shining in her eyes twins. Two tiny hearts beating inside her.
Twins?! Mark went pale. That wasnt part of the plan. We should abort!
What are you saying?! I saw our children I cant Emma sobbed.
She hoped he might come to terms, that he would understand. But each day he drifted further away. He began to criticise her, saying she had put on weight, that she had lost her shape. She tried to ignore it. After the babies were born, things only worsened.
Poppy and Ella the twin girls became the centre of her world. And Mark would come home late, keep his distance, refuse to help. Emma endured it all for the children, for love, for family.
When the girls reached one and a half years, she mentioned returning to work. Mark sat opposite her, eyes fixed on the floor:
Youll see Ive found someone else. Im leaving. I wont abandon the children, but I want to live with her.
Emma went numb.
You swore youd never be like your parents! she choked out through tears.
He left. At first he still turned up, then vanished for good. Emma was left alone. No money, no support. Return to the countryside? There were no jobs there. Stay here? Work existed, but nowhere to live.
Her boss stepped in arranged a spot in a university hall. A tiny room, a bit of refurbishment, two children she managed somehow. One afternoon, as she tried to push the stroller out for a walk, a voice called:
May I help, madam? Im John, I live next door.
He helped without asking questions. Later he offered to lend a hand with the repairs. He began picking the twins up from nursery. At first Emma recoiled fear held her back yet each day John became part of their lives.
He was ordinary, reliable. He too had known betrayal his wife had left him for a friend when she learned they could not have children. And now there were two little ones he loved with all his heart.
When he proposed to Emma, she initially refused.
I have children. Youll find a single woman.
I want to be with you. The kids are not an obstacle; theyre as my own.
They married. A week later, Mark resurfaced.
Emma, Im sorry. I understand everything now. Lets start anew
Too late. Im married. My children now have a real father.
From the corner stepped John.
Meet him, my husband.
Mark turned, waved a hand, and walked away forever.
A year passed. Emma and John bought their own flat. Where Mark was now, she never knew and she didnt want to. Happiness, she realised, wasnt the one who promised it, but the one who stayed.
