A Difficult Choice
Walking through the park, Lily stepped onto the bridge and suddenly paused, leaning slightly over the railing to peer down. The river below was cold and dark, perhaps not even deep, but if she were to fall She shuddered at the thought and hurried on.
She had just returned from her friend Sophies house, where shed spent the night after fleeing home during a terrible row. Sophies mum, Sarah, was wonderfully kind and welcomed her warmly.
“Come in, love, Sophies in her room,” she said, not asking why Lily had arrived in such a state. She could tell something was wrong. She fed the girls dinner, made tea with biscuits, and sent them off to bed. The next day was a weekend, but Lily decided to go homeshe didnt want to overstay her welcome.
“Thank you, Aunt Sarah. Id better gomy parents must be worried,” she said before leaving.
Crossing the bridge, Lily noticed a small churchstrange, shed never paid attention to it before. Shed walked this way countless times, chatting with Sophie. Yet something compelled her to step inside.
A service was underway, the congregation small. She moved forward, glancing aroundthis was her first time in a church. A large painting caught her eye: a young woman cradling an infant with gentle tenderness. Lily couldnt look away. After a while, an elderly woman in a headscarf whispered beside her,
“Dont you dare second-guess yourself, love. Have that baby. Everything will be all right.”
Lily startled. “How did you know?” she whispered back.
“Ah, sweetheart, Ive lived long enough to read a face,” the woman smiled kindly. “Trust me. You wont be the first or the last. No woman ever regrets keeping her child. Ive seen plenty like you in here. Have that baby, and dont listen to anyone else.”
The vicar continued his prayers; the old woman crossed herself. Lily lingered a moment longer before stepping back out into the daylight, heading home with resolve.
“Whatever happens, happens,” she told herself. The old woman was right.
The day before, after classes, she and Sophie had sat on a park bench, dreading going home.
“So, what are you going to do, Lily? Keep the baby? Have you told Ethan?” Sophie fired off questions. “What about your parents?”
“Sophie, slow down! Let me think,” Lily sighed. Her mind was a fog. She was only in her second year at university, and now this. How would she tell her parentsespecially her mum? Margaret was harsh and unpredictable. Shed never approve.
“Mumll kill me,” Lily muttered. “Ethan said he doesnt want the baby, that hes not ready to be a father. Told me not to call him again. I never thought hed betray me like thisweve been together since school.”
Sophie cursed Ethan under her breath, furious at his cowardice.
“And Aunt Margaret will shout and scold, obviously,” Sophie said, less confidently, remembering her friends stern mother. “But what do *you* want?”
“What choice do I have?” Lily wiped a tear. “Second year, Ethans gone, Mum will never support this. Its out of my hands.”
“Right, lets go home. Ill tell my parents tonight.”
That evening, chaos erupted. Margarets voice rang through the house.
“How could you? Second year at uniwheres your head? Didnt you think to be careful? Therell be no babyI wont have it! You need your degree! I wont let you ruin your life!”
“Margaret, have you lost your mind?” her father, John, cut in sharply. “What kind of mother pushes her own daughter toward that?”
“John, stay out of this!” she snapped. “She needs to study, not wash nappiesespecially since Ethans vanished! Wholl want her with a baby and no degree? Shes going to the clinicnow!”
“And what about us?” John countered. “Lilys our daughterwell help raise our grandchild. Honestly, Margaret, you shock me.”
“Oh, of course, *you* wont be the one up all night with a crying babyyouve got your precious job! I work too, you know. And at forty, Im not ready to be a granny, drowning in nappies again!” she shrieked.
Lily sat frozen, then slipped out unnoticed while her parents raged. She went to Sophies, knowing Aunt Sarah would take her in.
When she returned home the next day, the house was silent. Her dad scrolled through his phone; her mum clattered pans in the kitchen.
“Oh, youre back,” Margaret said coldly.
“Lily, love, glad youre home,” John said warmly. “You were at Sophies, I expect?”
“Yes, Dad.”
She stood in the middle of the room, speaking firmly so her mum would hear.
“Im keeping the baby. Thats my final decision.” Her voice was so steady even Margaret fell silent.
Time passed, tensions easing. One afternoon, as Lily and Sophie sat in the park, Ethans mother, Helen, approached. Lily tensed, though Helen had always been kind.
“Girls, helloLily, may I talk with you?”
“Of course,” Lily said quietly as Sophie excused herself.
Helen sat beside her. “I know youre pregnantSophie called me. She did the right thing. Lily, please keep the baby. Ill help youfinancially, emotionallywhatever you need.”
Lily gaped. This was the last thing shed expected.
“Why?”
Helen sighed. “My eldest daughter cant have children. And Ethan well, hes still a boy himself. I dont know if Ill ever see grandchildren from him. This baby is hismy grandchild. I want to be part of their life.”
Her sincerity was unmistakable.
Tommy was born at the start of Lilys third yeara chubby, rosy-cheeked joy. Grandad John adored him, and Helen visited often, babysitting whenever she could.
The only shadow was Margaret. Weeks before the birth, she packed her bags.
“Stay here with your nappies and sleepless nights. Im leaving. I refuse to be a grandmother.”
She moved in with a colleaguea man shed been seeing secretly for years. John was devastated, having been a loyal husband.
Lily didnt take a gap year. Between her dad and Helen, she managed her studies and motherhood, graduating on time. By Tommys first birthday, things were easier.
“Ethans been drafted,” Helen mentioned once. “Maybe the army will knock some sense into him.”
Later, she added, “Hes staying on as a career soldier. Perhaps hes finally growing up.”
Years passed. Tommy thrived. Margaret never called, never asked about them.
One evening, Lily told her dad, “Im seeing Oliverwe work together. Hes lovely.”
“Bring him round, then,” John said.
Olivertall, handsome, thirtyshook Johns hand warmly when they met. The two men hit it off instantly, discovering shared interests and even the same alma mater.
“Lily, I like him,” John said later. “Good manserious, smart, and Tommy adores him.”
Soon, Tommy had a wonderful stepfather, and John, a son-in-law he cherished. Helen was happy for Lily too, though she worried shed see less of Tommy. She neednt havenothing changed.
One day, walking in the park with Oliver and Tommy, her hand resting on her swelling belly, Lily smiled.
“That old woman in the church was right. No woman ever regrets keeping her child.”
She was happy. So was Oliveradoring his wife and eagerly awaiting their daughter.
