Chris, Im pregnant! Emma blurted the moment she walked in, not giving him a second to guess. He froze, glanced away and let out a sigh. Well if thats how it is and he planted a quick kiss on her cheek, as if trying to dodge his own feelings.
Emma first fell for Chris back when she was still at university. He was doing a placement at the firm where she was interning young, goodlooking, already deputy head of his department seemed like hed stepped out of a different world. A modest girl from a small town, shed never imagined anyone would notice her. Yet on the very last day of her placement he walked up to her, handed her a box of chocolates and asked her out for an evening drink. And thats how it all began.
On their first date he confessed hed grown up without his parents. His mother remarried and moved away, leaving him in his grandmothers care. Emma didnt mention that her own folks had never really been there for her either a childhood of cold indifference and no warmth at all. Both knew what loneliness felt like, and maybe thats why they clicked so fast.
A month later Emma moved into Chriss rented flat. Soon after they had a modest wedding nothing flashy, just hopeful. They dreamed of a future, their own house, a quiet life. The only thing that pulled them apart was the question of kids. Emma had wanted a child for ages, while Chris kept putting it off: Were fine as two, why rush?
When the test came back with two lines, Emma hesitated to tell him. She feared judgment, the blame. Eventually she gathered the courage.
Were going to be parents, you happy? she asked.
I thought thatd be later he replied, disappointment clear.
Chris didnt even go to the first scan; he waited in the car. Emma came back with tears and a huge grin twins. Two little heartbeats inside her.
Twins?! Chris went pale. That wasnt the plan. We need to think about an abortion!
What are you saying?! I saw our babies I cant Emma sobbed.
She hoped hed come around, that hed understand. But every day he drifted further away. He started nitpicking, saying shed put on weight, that shed lost her shape. She tried to ignore it. After the babies were born things only got worse.
Lucy and Megan the twins became the centre of her world. Chris would come home late, keep his distance, refuse 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. Chris sat opposite her, eyes on the floor.
Youll see Ive found someone else. Im leaving. I wont abandon the kids, but I want a life with her.
Emma was stunned.
You swore youd never end up like your parents! she choked out through tears.
He walked out. At first hed still turn up now and then, then he vanished for good. Emma was left on her own no money, no support. Return to the countryside? No jobs there. Stay here? Work was there, but no place to live.
Her boss stepped in and arranged a spot in a university hall. A tiny room, a bit of refurb, two kids she made it work. One afternoon, while she was trying to push the stroller out for a walk, a voice called:
Need a hand? Im Tom, I live next door.
He helped without asking any questions, later offered to lend a hand with the repairs and started picking the twins up from nursery. At first Emma kept her distance scared but day by day Tom became part of their lives.
He was plainspoken and solid. Hed been betrayed too his wife had left him for a friend when she found out they couldnt have kids. And now there were two little ones he loved with his whole heart.
When he proposed to Emma, she first said no.
Ive got kids. Youll find someone without that baggage.
I want to be with you. The kids arent a problem; theyre like my own.
They married. A week later Chris turned up.
Emma, Im sorry. I get it now. Lets start over
Too late. Im married. My kids now have a real dad.
Tom stepped out from the hallway.
Meet him, thats my husband.
Chris turned, gave a halfwave and walked away for good.
A year passed. Emma and Tom bought their own flat. Where Chris is now? She doesnt know, and she doesnt want to. Because happiness isnt the promise that slipped away, its the one that stayed.
