Lily, Im pregnant! she blurted the moment she walked through the doorway, leaving me no time to guess what she meant. I froze, glanced away and let out a sigh. Well if thats how it is, I muttered, planting a quick kiss on her cheek as if trying to dodge my own feelings.
Emma Clarke had fallen for David Morgan back when she was still a university student. He was interning at the same firm where she was doing her placement young, goodlooking, already deputy department manager seemed to belong to another world. A modest girl from a small town, she never imagined hed even notice her. Yet on the last day of her placement, David walked over, handed her a box of chocolates and asked her out for an evening drink. Thats how our story began.
On our first date he confessed hed grown up without parents. His mother remarried and moved away, leaving him in his grandmothers care. Emma never mentioned that her own parents had never taken an interest in her either a childhood of cold indifference, not a hint of warmth. Both of us knew what loneliness felt like, and perhaps thats why we bonded so quickly.
A month later Emma moved into the flat David was renting. Eventually we married nothing flashy, just modest, but full of hope. We dreamed of a future, our own house, a quiet life. The only thing that set us apart was the question of children. Emma had wanted a baby for ages, while David kept stalling: Were fine as two, why rush?
When the pregnancy test showed two lines, Emma hesitated to tell me, fearing judgement and guilt. At last she gathered the courage.
Will you be a father? Happy? she asked.
I thought that would be later I replied, unable to hide my disappointment.
He didnt go to the first ultrasound, waiting in the car instead. Emma came back with tears and joy in her eyes twins. Two tiny hearts beating inside her.
Twins?! I paled. That wasnt the plan. Youreyou have to think about an abortion!
What are you saying?! I saw our children I cant Emma sobbed.
I hoped shed come to terms with my suggestion, that shed understand. But each day she drifted further away. I started criticising her weight, saying shed lost her shape. She tried to ignore it, but after the babies were born things only worsened.
Blythe and Gwen the twins became the centre of her world. And I I stayed late at work, kept my distance, refused to help. Emma endured it all for the children, for love, for family.
When the girls turned one and a half, Emma mentioned going back to work. I sat opposite her, eyes fixed on the floor.
Now youll see Ive found someone else. Im leaving. I wont abandon the kids, but I want a life with her.
Emma was speechless.
You said youd never do what your parents did! she choked out through tears.
I walked out. At first I kept showing up, then I vanished for good. Emma was left on her own no money, no support. Return to the countryside? No jobs there. Stay here? Work existed, but there was nowhere to live.
Our boss stepped in, securing a spot for her in a university hall. A tiny room, a bit of renovation, two kids she managed. One afternoon, while trying to push the stroller down the street, a voice called out:
May I give you a hand? Im John, I live next door.
He helped without asking questions, later offering to help with the repairs. He started picking the twins up from nursery. At first Emma kept her distance scared but day by day John became part of their lives.
He was ordinary, reliable. His own marriage had collapsed when his wife left him for a friend after finding out they couldnt have children. And now, with two little ones who loved him wholeheartedly, he found a new purpose.
When he proposed to Emma, she first turned him down.
I have children. Youll find someone without baggage.
I want to be with you. The kids arent a problem, theyre like my own.
We married, and a week later David turned up.
Emma, Im sorry. I get it now. Lets start over
Its too late. Im married. My children now have a real father.
John stepped out from the doorway.
Meet him, thats my husband.
David shrugged, waved and walked away forever.
A year passed. Emma and John bought a proper house. Where David is now, I have no idea, and I dont want to know. Because happiness isnt the one who promised it, but the one who stays.
