Page 134 of Don't Believe A Word

Prank. Oh please God let it be that.

As Aiden slouched off to his room, already texting someone,Cristy took her glass to the sofa and slumped down wearily. She could hardly believe that this, and the farewell to Janina, were happening in the same day, but they were and as disorientating as it felt maybe it was also grounding in its way. She’d become far too caught up in Sadie’s story, was perhaps too focused on David as well, when what she ought to have been doing was putting a lot more effort into making sure her son didn’t go off the rails. He had so much potential for it that the only surprise was that something like this, or worse, hadn’t happened before.

Could it actually get any worse?

Knowing it could, she took a gulp of her wine.

‘Do you think he is the father?’ she asked, as Matthew came to sit with her.

‘If there really is a child, then apparently it’s possible,’ he replied, watching her move along the sofa to put more space between them. He moved too, closing the gap, and tapped his glass to hers. ‘Grandparents,’ he smiled, looking exactly like his son and sounding just as absurd. ‘Never imagined that this soon.’

Going to sit on the other sofa, she said, ‘Why am I the only one who’s upset about this? I’d have thought you, of all people, would realize what a disaster it’s going to be if he really is the father.’

‘You mean because I’ve recently had a baby I didn’t plan for?’ he countered. ‘A bit different in my case, but yeah, I guess you’re right, it will be disastrous and expensive and consuming … It’ll be a lot of things we can’t even foresee right now, but at least he’s not talking about getting married.’

Was he for real? Had heactuallyjust said that?She eyed him carefully, and finally, as the penny slowly dropped, she realized why he wasn’t anywhere near as worked up over this as she was and she almost wanted to weep.

‘You’re seeing this as a way of keeping us together, aren’t you?’ she challenged. ‘You think, if there is a baby we’ll both be responsible for it, because Aiden isn’t capable, and we’ll share custody visits and baby bathtime and nappy changes and he can meet Bear, his uncle who’s practically the same age as him …’

‘It might be a girl,’ Matthew put in quickly. ‘And I’m not sure Bear will be the uncle, will he?’

‘I don’t know, and I don’t care. I just want this to stop, now, and you to accept that there is no going back for us.’

Looking crestfallen, he sipped his drink and turned to stare out at the garden.

She watched him, wondering what he was really thinking and trying not to care about how lost he suddenly seemed. In the end she broke the silence, just as he knew she would.

‘What’s happening with Marley?’ she asked, hoping a slight change of subject might help calm things down a little. ‘You mentioned at some point that you had plans to go over there.’

He nodded. ‘I also invited you and David to come with me,’ he reminded her. ‘Generous of me, don’t you think?’

Incredulous, she said, ‘Why would you even want that?’

He shrugged. ‘I guess being with you, even if he’s there, is better than being without you.’

Not wanting even to try processing that, she closed her eyes and forced all the strange images it conjured out of her mind.

‘She’s going to Santa Fe,’ he said after a while. ‘Apparently she’s been cast in a movie that’s shooting there and she wants me to have Bear while she’s away.’

Cristy’s eyes narrowed as she saw where this might be going. ‘How long’s she planning to be gone?’ she asked cautiously.

‘A few months, I think.’

‘So she wants you to bring him here?’

‘I guess so. We haven’t discussed it yet, but it can’t happen any other way.’

Sounding snappier than she’d intended, she said, ‘I thought she had a fantastic nanny.’

‘She does, but it’s not the same as a parent, she says, and she thinks it’ll be a great opportunity for some bonding between Papa Bear and Boo Boo.’

Cristy stared at him, caught now on the names, and aware she shouldn’t laugh, but it was already happening.Papa and Boo Boo? Really?

‘It’s OK, go right ahead,’ he told her. ‘We have to try to see the funny side of all this or we might just go mad.’

Knowing she would – go mad – if there was a chance of two babies to contend with in the not too distant future, a grandsonand whatever Bear was to her … Actually he was nothing, no relation at all, so why was she even considering it? Probably because, knowing Matthew as she did, once the child was here at his home in England, he’d find a way to trap her into parenting with him whether she wanted to or not.

God spare me,she thought, taking another gulp of wine, but she was too tired now to argue any further, and was actually missing David too much to want to speak to anyone else. If only Matthew would go home and take Aiden with him.

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