Mum Occasionally Brought Home New ‘Partners’

Mother kept bringing home new “husbands”Emily remembered three of them. But none ever stuck around; they left. Mother would weep, hug her, and murmur, *”Dont fret, our ship will come in.”* Then shed vanish to work.

The last one stayed two weeks. But when Mother stopped buying him whisky, he grew sullen, then lefttaking her pearl earrings from the trinket box. She never reported him. Said it was her fault.

Five years of quiet followed. Emily, fifteen now, dared to hope she and Mother might live peacefully at last. Then Mother fell in love. Gushed about how wonderful he was, how he adored her. Emily was gladfinally, happiness!

When Mother first brought Simon home, Emily liked him too. Clean-cut, fortyish. Drank one neat Scotch at dinner. Charmed them with jokes. She went to bed early, leaving them talking in the kitchen. Expected to find him there at dawn. But an hour later, the front door slammed.

Next morning, Mother glowed. Said he worked in city hall, *so* respectable. Theyd marry soon, move to his flat after Emily finished school. Nowhere to rushhis place needed redecorating.

Emily watched Mother grow younger at thirty-six, shedding the weariness of years alone.

***

They wed before term started. Emily studied for GCSEs. Simon offered helppolite, knocking before entering her room. They became friends. Over supper, shed share school worries; hed listen, sharp questions ready.

Mother blossomed. Soon, new earrings gleamed on her lobes, then a gold chain.

A year blurred by. The flat was ready. Simon asked, *”Why not come with us?”* But Emily, freshly graduated, craved independence. Simon waved off money worriesshed attend college locally. Hed get her a proper job afterward.

Before they left, Simon squeezed her shoulder. *”Visit often. Well check on you, too. Ask for anythingwere family now.”*

Their graduation gift was a locket. Emily adored it, preening before mirrors for days.

Mother had hesitated. *”Isnt she too young for this?”*

Simon winked. *”Who else will spoil her?”*

Mother beamed. Shed landed the perfect man.

***

Alone, Emily ached with loneliness. Frequent visits dwindled as she adjusted. Sometimes Mother dropped by with groceries or cash. Sometimes they met by chance, all too busy to linger.

College life thrilled her. Weekend visits brimmed with chatter.

Then, news: Simon had a year-long assignment abroad. Mother would join him. *”Well send money,”* they promised.

At the train station, Mothers eyes welled up. Emily laughed. *”Mum, Im nearly seventeen! Ill be fine.”* Hugs, laughter, then they were gone.

***

They lived far away. Visited briefly at Christmas, showering Emily with gifts she spent all evening unwrapping.

Months later, a call: the assignment stretched to two years. Simon would return briefly to pack, rent out the flat. Mother couldnt joinwork kept her.

Emily came home to rustling in her room.

*”Youre back already?”*

Simon turned, blinking at her. The year had sharpened her curves, rouged her lips. She tossed her bag down. *”Let me change, then Ill cook.”*

In the hallway mirror, he glimpsed her slipping off her blouse. The swell of her breasts. He shook his head*Dont.*

Dinner passed with small talk. She made up the old bedroom for him. Later, shower sounds, footsteps. Simon paced, haunted by that reflection

Emily turned a pageand there he stood in her doorway. Eyes glazed, towel slung low.

*”Did you need something?”*

***

Three days later, he left. Emily exhaled, sealing the memory away. Three months on, he was back. It happened again. Worse.

Shame clung like grime. Thentoo lateshe knew.

*Pregnant.*

Calls to Simon went unanswered. Finally, he rang. *”Miss me that much?”*

*”Im pregnant.”*

*”Christ! How?”*

A promotion hung in the balancethis could land him in prison.

*”Emily, Ill send cash. Deal with it. No one can know.”*

She clutched her head. Scandal. Expulsion. Pointing fingers. If the truth got outher family ruined. Mum would collapse.

A week later, Simon arrived with money and an address. A cottage three hundred miles north. *”Go there. No clinic will touch you without parents. Find some village cronethey know old ways.”*

Terrified, Emily wept. He hugged her. *”This stays secret. For everyones sake.”*

Next day, he vanished. A week later, so did she.

***

The hamlet was skeletal. She found the cottage, key under a rock. Inside, she asked for the *”wise woman.”* A gap-toothed granny jabbed toward the woods.

The crone sneered. *”What brings you, sinner?”*

Tears spilled. The woman softened, handed her water.

*”Please make it go away.”*

*”Say it plain: *Help me murder my child.*”*

Emily fled, the hags cackle chasing her.

What now? Alone in this godforsaken place

***

Andrew returned here after prison. Manslaughterhed killed a man defending a girl in an alley. The dead bullys father crushed him in court.

This village once held his grans cottage. Now, silence and soil. He grew produce, sold it to posh city folk obsessed with *”organic.”* Saved for a proper Land Rover.

Dawn fishing was best. The river bent lazily here, fat trout lingering.

That morning, sunlight gilded the hilltop. Thena silhouette. A girl, arms outstretched, stepping toward the cliffs edge. A bundle in her hands.

Andrew plunged in.

The baby sank like a stone. He dove, grabbed it.

On the cliff, Emily unclenched her fists. *Free.*

Thena wail. *Her* wail.

*God, what have I done?* She shucked her coat, leapt.

Andrew swaddled the newborn in his jacket when the splash came. Emily surfaced, dove, surfacedwild, gasping. Five more minutes, shed drown.

He waited. Wrestled her under. She fought*Wheres my baby?*until a sharp slap stilled her.

Ashore, he staggered under their combined weight. Strapped the infant to his chest with his belt. Prayed Emily wouldnt wake before home.

Grans cottage welcomed them. He tended the baby firstumbilical stump, makeshift bottle from lambs teat. The girl stirred as he dressed her in his jumper.

Emily woke to ammonias sting.

*”Who?”*

*”Andrew.”*

Memory flooded. *”Where is she?”*

He handed the baby over. Emily wept into its head. *”Im sorry, Im sorry”*

***

Days blurred. Andrew bought nappies, formula. Emily healed. One evening, he called in a favoran old drinking buddy, now some council bigwig.

Next morning, officials arrived. The registrar balked at Emilys age.

*”Theres a way,”* the woman said. *”Marry her. Claim the child as yours. Divorce later.”*

Andrew grinned. *”Fancy a wedding, love?”*

Emilys cheeks pinked. *”Were such trouble”*

***

They toasted with wine after the baby fed.

*”Call your mum,”* Andrew urged. *”Tell her youve married. Had a child.”*

*”Mum? Its me.”*

A shriek through the receiver. *”Emily! Where are you?”*

*”Im safe. Married. Youve a granddaughter. Well visit soon.”*

*”Tell me where! Simon and I”*

*”No. Not yet.”*

She hung up, exhaled. Nowto live, until Andrew tired of them.

But he didnt.

***

A year later, they drove to Mums. Emily trembled. Andrew squeezed her knee. Somewhere, theyd stopped pretendinghis bed was theirs now.

Mum stood scanning every car. Their Land Rover meant nothing.

*”Mum?”*

She spun. *”Emily!”*

They clung.

*”Simons devastatedcalled away last-minute. Hed have loved to meet your husband!”*

Emily and Andrew exchanged glances. The unspoken truth could wait. Maybe forever.