Page 27 of This is Where I Leave You

Four hours later, they were sat on a plane for home, George staring into space as she rubbed her slightly rounded belly.

All she could murmur was, “He would have missed our appointment. Not very professional.”

Magda nodded. She had raced into the offices to fetch help, and as the security guard was tending to George, she had left a note for the delightful Ben informing him of their intentions that day. She made a mental note to learn to write swear words in English, as she felt sure he would not get the full tone of her letter. She could only hope he knew some Hungarian. She wanted him to feel George’s pain, and her wrath. Stupid pig headed men, never knew what they had. She had come here to follow a man, a promise of a new life. Well she had a new life, and she was proud of that, but she was a fighter without a baby in tow. Magda decided there and then that she would help George in any way she could, starting with taking a night course in childcare, so that she could look after the baby the best she could and make the little one so happy and content that it would never feel the loss of losing a parent before their own birth. Magda surmised that Cady was in the same boat, the babies would be close in age, so they would all grow up together, women and babies.

***

Cady frowned as she saw her empty mobile screen. No messages from Magda or George, and that could only mean bad news, since it was D-Day for Ben. She shifted her weight in the uncomfortable plastic chair she was sat in. She didn’t see the point of a scan this late on, she was due any day and the baby was fine kicking away, as much as it could in the confines of her now cramped womb. The doctor was an old friend of Dick’s, and the anxious grandparents had insisted on the extra check ups, and paying the bill themselves. Cady had gone along with it for a quiet life, the baby was as precious to them as it was her, after all and their concern was a stark contrast from her own upbringing. She was glad that the baby would have them in its life. She was adamant on one thing though, the sex of the baby would be a surprise, and Priscilla had reluctantly agreed, muttering to herself about Tiffany rattles and matching ribbons.

It was a warm day for September, and even the air conditioning in the private clinic felt like something blowing pathetically from the other side of the room. She shuffled her sandaled feet on the floor and checking no-one was looking, adjusted her huge kidney warming pants under her yellow sun dress. She had felt so great that morning, not too tired or bulky, but when she looked in the mirror, all she saw was a huge overweight canary with cankles. Still, she had no-one to dress up for, and when the baby came, she would be lucky to brush her hair, let alone put some slap on. Technically of course, she reminded herself, she still had a boyfriend of sorts, but tonight that would all change. She just hoped that Marcus would be okay with her decision. The last thing she wanted was to hurt him.

Looking around the pristine empty waiting room for the fiftieth time, she spied a neat stack of high end magazines, and she was just starting to manoeuvre herself from the chair when the door to the doctor’s office opened. Out came Angela from the office, immaculate as always in a beautiful flowing kaftan and skyscraper heels. Cady double blinked as Angela turned to her side, still engrossed with the doctor. She was pregnant! Quite heavily so too, she couldn’t quite believe it! She was still processing the event when Marcus strode out of the doctor’s office behind her, stopping right in front of Cady. His face turned drip white, and his mouth opened and closed like a fish gasping for air. Cady was frozen in place, arms lifting her half off the chair, and she started to wobble. Marcus was at her side in an instant, lowering her back onto the chair. Cady ignored the sticking of her thighs to the hard plastic as she looked dumbfounded into Marcus’s eyes. He just stared back, a look of guilt and sorrow plastered across his face from his contorted mouth to his crinkled eyes.

Angela turned from the doctor now, a smug look on her face.

“Oh hello Cady, darling, oh wow, are you still pregnant? You look positively fed up! Marcus darling, be a dear and bring the car around please, I am ever so tired this morning.”

Cady couldn’t compute what she was seeing. Her cheeks flushed red and she felt the prick of hot tears in her eyes, threatening to give her away. She had decided that she and Marcus weren’t right, sure, but that was a moot point now, and Cady was yet again the unwilling other woman. She wrapped her arms around her bump protectively and smiled weakly at Angela.

Marcus found his voice and flashing a dirty look at Angela, which she smirked at, he turned back to Cady, kneeling at her feet.

“Cady, It was a one off, the night of the funeral. I’m sorry, I was so-”

“Darling, NOW please, we do have a lot to do this weekend if we are going to finish the nursery, Daddy.” Angela tapped her heel sharply, giggling nervously at the doctor.

Her barb hit Cady like a hail of gunfire. She flinched and shaking her head, looked down at her feet. She wanted to curl up and cry. Marcus started towards the door reluctantly, turning to her on his way out saying, “Angela, you really are a bitch sometimes.” Cady could feel the waves of anger emanating from him.

Angela’s tinkling laughter rang out in the high ceilinged room. The doctor, looking a little dumbfounded at this display, drew a scan photo from his file.

“So, you are right on schedule for your 39 week caesarean, so I shall see you in October.” Angela grabbed at the scan picture and thrust it into her bag, cutting the doctor off before he could finish.

Cady’s head snapped up. October? Richard wasn’t even dead when she conceived! What? Cady felt sick as realisation set in, and one look at Angela’s guilty face confirmed what she suspected. Angela was the woman that Richard was leaving her for, and that was Richard’s baby. Poor Marcus, she thought as she leant forward and vomited all over Angela’s pristine heels. Two for two, she thought numbly as she heard Angela shriek. The doctor sighed and called for the nurse.

Watching from above, Gerty shook her head and looked at Richard, who was sat on the floor, head in hands.

“Not to kick a fellow soul when he’s down, but did you never hear of contraception? That’s two babies, two baby mamas, no daddy? That’s not a nice legacy to leave behind, child.”

Richard nodded. “I know that, Gerty! I never knew when I was alive though did I! Angela is trying to palm my child off on my best friend, who really wants my wife! It’s like a sitcom, I couldn’t make it up if I tried! What can I do though?”

Gerty nodded back to the scene before them. “Concentrate on those two, the family that could be. The other child will be fine, honey. Angela will look after it, I’m sure.”

Richard looked back at the hospital to see Luke pull up outside. He was just about to go through the doors when he spied Marcus waiting outside. Shaking his head, Luke turned and rode away again on his bike.

“He thinks they are together, you need to sort that out, and free that man from his prison.”

Richard nodded. “Cady will sort this out, if any one can, she can. I just have to show her the way. Can you help me?

Gerty furtively looked around the expansive white room. She sat next to Richard and bent close to his ear.

“We can, but it will be hard, it will take a lot out of you, and you will need to harness your anger into what you need. You ready?”

Richard had never felt so ready in his afterlife. “I am ready, I need to right my wrongs.”

CHAPTER 24

Georgina unpacked the last of the Parisian baby shopping in the now completed nursery. She knew she had worried Magda, but she felt so hurt that she couldn’t trust herself to talk to anyone about it without bursting into tears. She felt the rejection on a whole new level, her parents leaving for the States was a walk in the park compared to the punch she had felt in her heart seeing Ben and that woman in France. He looked so shocked and terrified at her presence, it had brought her to the realisation that he was embarrassed, ashamed of her even. He had not just rejected her, but their child too, and the thought of relating that tale to her child one day was heartbreaking. She shuddered to even think about it; she knew exactly how her child would feel, because she had gone through it herself. She didn’t like to think what was worse, having the parents in your life then abandoning you, or knowing that they never wanted you at all. Looking around the room at all the beautiful things, she felt a fluttering in her tummy. Only a slight fluttering, and it could well have been the huge fruit salad she had devoured earlier, but she felt sure it was the baby, giving her a sign. A thank you, recognition that her mother had tried and that they would be okay. George rubbed her bump and shouted to Magda, “Hey Mags, you fancy a movie tonight?”

They would be just fine, stuff Ben. Independence all the way from now on. At least the baby would be a fluent speaker of Hungarian cuss words, not many parents could say that about their child.

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