Without a Little Luck, There Would Be No Happiness: How a Young Woman, Rejected and Alone with Child…

How could you let him take advantage of you, you silly girl! Who do you think is going to want you now, with a child on the way? And how on earth are you going to bring it up? You won’t be getting any handouts from me, just so you know! I raised you, and now you expect me to bear your burden as well? Get out of my house, pack up your things, and I never want to see you again!

Mary listened to her aunts shouting, her eyes cast down. The last sliver of hope that Aunt Edith might let her stay until she found a job slipped away in those angry words.
If only Mum were still alive
Shed never known her father. Her mother had died fifteen years ago, knocked down on a zebra crossing by a drunk driver. The authorities wanted to send her to a care home, but then a distant relationa third cousin of her mothersturned up and took her in. The cousin had a modest salary and the right paperwork for guardianship.

They lived on the edge of a small town in the south of England, where summers baked and winters were soaked with rain. Mary was never hungry, always neatly dressed, and learned the value of hard work earlythere was always something to do in a house with a garden and animals. Maybe she lacked a mothers affection, but who cared?

Shed done well in school and gone on to study at a college of education. The years at university had flown by, and now, with her degree in hand, she was returning to her hometown. But this time, her heart was heavy.

Go now. I dont want to lay eyes on you again!
Aunt Edith, please
I said go!

Mary grabbed her suitcase and stepped out into the heat of the afternoon. How had it come to this? Humiliated, rejected, her pregnancy barely obviousbut shed admitted to it, unable to lie.

She needed to find a place to stay. Head bowed, weighed down by worries, she didnt notice someone speak to her until a firm voice broke through:
Would you like some water, love?

A strong-looking woman of about fifty studied her with a shrewd gaze.
Come in, if youre not looking for trouble.
She handed Mary a glass jug of cool water. Mary sat on a bench and drank eagerly.

Mind if I rest here a moment? Its scorching
Of course, dear. Where are you from? Youve got some bags there.
Ive just finished university. Im looking for a teaching job. But Ive nowhere to stay Do you know anyone whos letting rooms?
The woman, called Rose, sized her up. Clean, but with dark circles under her eyes.

You can lodge here if you like. I wont charge much, but I need the rent on time. If youre happy with that, Ill show you the room.
Pleased to have both company and a bit of extra income in her quiet corner of town, Rose led her to a small bedroom overlooking the apple trees. A bed, an old wardrobe, a tableenough for now.

Over the next days, Mary settled in and soon found some supply work. She became friends with Rose, helping with the chores. Each evening theyd sit under the vines drinking tea, chatting about life.

Her pregnancy progressed well. She told Rose the whole tale: Charlie, the university boyfriend, son of wealthy professors, whod left at the first hint of trouble. Hed left her some moneyshed saved it for what was ahead.

You were right not to get rid of it, Rose grunted. That innocent child will bring you joy one day.

In February, the pains began. Rose took her straight to the hospital. Mary gave birth to a healthy baby boyWilliam. In her ward, she heard of a newborn girl whose mother had run off right after delivery.

Anyone got milk for her? the nurse asked. Shes not eaten, poor thing.
Mary gathered the tiny girl in her arms. Pale and delicate as wild primrose.
Ill call you Daisy, she whispered.

When Captain Thomas Green, the baby girls father, arrived, everything changed. On the day Mary was discharged, a car with blue and pink balloons waited outside. The officer helped her in, handing over two parcels: one blue, one pink.

For months, people in town gossiped about the wedding that followed. The Captain, moved by Marys kindness, had proposed to her. And Mary, with William in her arms and Daisy newly adopted, stepped into an entirely new life.

Who could have imagined that a blazing summers day and a simple jug of water would change all their fortunes? Life really does turn the page in ways youd never expect.