‘It’ll be okay. Remember, we are here and we will go at your pace.’
Pippa nodded and stood up, making her way over to the woman with the girls following closely behind. The feeling as she approached this woman was nothing like she had ever felt before. She was angry, upset, scared and confused all at the same time and the feeling made her jittery. Her legs felt like jelly as she approached the woman.
She took a deep breath as they reached her and said, ‘Excuse me?’ But she wasn’t prepared for the sight she saw when the woman turned round, because it wasn’t the woman’s face she saw first, but her huge, pregnant belly.
Chapter 34
‘Holy Cow!’ Ellie couldn’t stop herself before the words come out. She quickly looked to Pippa, who was standing open-mouthed, staring at the woman’s stomach.
‘Can I help you ladies?’ The woman asked, seeming disgruntled by the rude reaction she received from the girls as she turned around. ‘Only I am meeting someone.’ She was only a young woman, probably their age if not a little younger. She had beautiful long, red hair, which she wore down and over one shoulder. She was a very pretty lady, which Ellie didn’t want to admit. But even though she thought Pippa was very pretty too, this girl in front of them couldn’t be more opposite to Pippa. She noticed how good her make-up was too – this woman knew what she was doing in that department.
‘Yeah, and don’t we know it!’ Ellie had regained control of her mouth once again and was now seriously pissed off.
‘Excuse me?’ The woman frowned at Ellie, mimicking her tone and putting a protective arm around her belly as she spoke.
‘Okay, let’s not get carried away,’ Zoe spoke up, holding a hand out to try and calm the situation. ‘Pip?’
Pippa couldn’t speak. She just stood frozen to the spot and Ellie felt the overwhelming urge to hug her right now. Poor woman.
‘Okay, here’s the thing.’ Zoe was directing her words to the woman now and Ellie stared at her hard in the face; there was no way she was going to lie to them. ‘We know you are here to meet someone, but that person is us.’ Zoe paused as the woman looked around at each of them.
‘I… I don’t understand.’
‘You’re here to meet Jason?’ Zoe asked and the woman’s reaction changed.
‘Yes, what’s wrong? Is he okay? Has something happened?’ She looked genuinely worried.
‘He’s fine, but unfortunately his wife isn’t.’ Zoe indicated to Pippa and the woman’s gaze followed. First to Pippa and then to Pippa’s baby bump.
‘What? Um… I don’t understand.’
‘This is Jason’s wife.’ Imogen added, making sure it was crystal clear.
‘Wife?’ It came out like a whisper and Ellie, along with the others, clocked on to what was going on.
‘You didn’t know he was married?’ Zoe asked. But she didn’t have to; the woman began to cry.
‘Shit.’ It was the first time Pippa had spoken since they had approached the woman. All the girls looked at her as she walked forward and hugged the woman. Ellie looked over to Zoe and Imogen, who both shrugged. They waited a moment, until Pippa broke the embrace and wiped the woman’s tears. ‘Don’t cry,’ she said, ‘he isn’t worth crying over.’
Amazed by the sheer strength of her friend, Ellie felt emotional too. ‘Maybe we could all go back to the café and talk?’ Zoe asked, receiving nods from everyone in agreement.
‘What café?’ the woman said, through sobs.
‘I own the café on Hamilton Drive. It won’t be busy and you can talk in peace. I’m guessing there’s more to this story than we anticipated.’
A short while later and they were all round a table in the café and Zoe was bringing over tea and biscuits. The girls had shown proof in the form of Jason’s phone and wedding pictures on Facebook to prove they weren’t lying.
‘How long have you been married?’ The woman, who they now knew was called Jenna, asked as she sipped her tea for a much-needed sugar hit.
‘Nearly nine years now.’
Jenna exhaled, ‘Jeez.’
‘You really didn’t know about Pippa?’ Ellie was still suspicious of this woman. Jenna shook her head. ‘Did you not wonder where he went every night?’
‘He told me he worked abroad and stayed with his mates when he came back. Said he was looking for somewhere to rent for when he was working over this way.’
‘Worked abroad? Doing what?’ Ellie glanced at Pippa, aware this conversation must be hard for her to hear, but also aware that she needed to hear it.
‘Something in property. Buying property abroad for people here. He said he was waiting to settle down to find somewhere so he could have a family.’
‘He has a family!’ Pippa shouted, more to herself than directly at anyone. She then apologised.
‘It’s okay; I can see why you would be upset. But I swear I had no idea. I thought he wanted to settle down with me and have a family.’ Sadness filled her eyes again but she held it back.
‘So I take it that’s his?’ Ellie nodded her head towards Jenna’s stomach, asking the question that no one wanted to, though she already knew the answer.
Jenna nodded and welled up. ‘I’m so sorry,’ she said to Pippa, who had tears in her eyes too.
‘I just can’t believe it.’ Pippa hadn’t spoken much throughout the whole time. ‘How could he do this, not just to me, but to both of us?’
Imogen’s phone beeped and she apologised, pulling it out and switching it to silent. She placed it on the table.
‘It’s fine, you can read your message.’ Pippa laughed half-heartedly.
‘No, it’s okay, it’s a voicemail. I’ll check it in a bit. So what’s going to happen now?’
Pippa shrugged and Jenna shook her head. ‘I have no idea. I can’t take it all in. It doesn’t feel real.’
‘Well, you’d better start believing it because this shit is happening and that lowlife needs to be put in his place.’
Jenna looked shocked and Pippa added, ‘You’ll get used to Ellie.’ She then threw a sideways smile at Ellie.
‘Okay, what have I missed?’ Zoe sat back down. ‘I can’t believe there are all these people in here. It’s never normally busy at this time.’
‘It’s fine, you don’t have to sit down.’ Pippa smiled at Zoe, but Ellie could see it was strained. Her features were soft and friendly but behind her eyes she could see the pressure of recent events debilitating her.
‘Oh no, its fine. Sarah is here now, so she can take the reins for a bit.’
Ellie clapped her hands to get the attention back on the matter in hand. ‘So, come on then, what’s the plan of action?’ Silence ensued around the table. ‘Okay, so are we in agreement that Jason needs to be confronted?’
Everyone waited for Pippa and Jenna to answer first. They looked at each other and slowly, together, nodded.
‘Okay, great, so we are on the same page. Next question is,’ Ellie actually felt a bit nervous about asking this as it was such a huge question, ‘Do either of you want to still be with Jason and work things out?’
The atmosphere changed and became very tense. Neither woman answered. They glanced at each other but then both looked into their hands. Finally, Pippa said, ‘I don’t know what I want to do.’
‘Are you serious?’
‘Ellie, this is a huge thing, it’s not simply black and white.’ Zoe was always the mediator in everything. Even when they were growing up she always had a sensible head on her shoulders. Ellie envied her that sometimes. Although sometimes she did think her sister just needed to lighten up.
‘I think we need to tell him,’ Jenna spoke up. All the girls stopped and looked at her. ‘I don’t think anyone can make a decision for the future until we speak to him.’
‘Jenna’s right.’ Now it was everyone’s turn to look at Pippa. ‘We need to tell him.’ She looked at Jenna, ‘but we do it together. So he knows we are on the same side and doesn’t try to spill any more crap to us.’
Jenna nodded. ‘Agreed.’
‘Right, so when?’ Imogen said.
‘No time like the present.’
‘Are you sure, Pip?’ Zoe put her hand on Pippa’s back and once again, Ellie was reminded just how close these two were. They had a beautiful friendship. Pippa was lucky to have that. Ellie had that once, with Chris. She missed it.
‘I’m sure. Let’s just get this over and done with. You okay with that, Jenna?’ She nodded in reply.
‘Okay, well, I’ll make sure Sarah can stay for the afternoon.’
‘You don’t have to.’
‘I want to. You aren’t doing this alone.’
‘Thanks, girls,’ Pippa directed this to all of them.
As they made their way out of the shop, Imogen suddenly stopped them by saying, ‘Oh my God!’
The girls turned to face her, looking over their shoulders mid-stride and Ellie noticed that the colour seemed to have drained from her face. She looked as if she was about to fall over. Ellie ran back to steady her with her arm. ‘Hey, steady. What’s wrong?’
‘It’s Alice, she’s in hospital.’
Chapter 35
Imogen rushed down the winding hospital corridors as fast as was possible with her baby bump in tow. She had called on her way to see what was going on. They couldn’t tell her much but she did know that Alice has been knocked over by a car.
All the corridors looked the same: white and clinical, with a few posters dotted around and random sets of chairs outside numerous doors. She couldn’t focus and more than once stopped, regained her composure and carried on.
She rounded the corner to the ward she had been directed to and came to a reception area. ‘Hello… excuse me?’ She called as the receptionist got up to leave the station.
‘Oh, sorry, I didn’t see you there. How can I help?’ The woman had an enormous smile and it kind of relaxed Imogen a little seeing a friendly face.
‘I’m looking for Alice Armstrong?’ Her voice was shaking as she spoke. The woman looked on the wall and directed Imogen to cubicle 4b. She gave her thanks and set off. It didn’t take her long before she was walking up to the cubicle. As she approached she could see Alice lying in the bed, leg in a cast with an array of cuts and bruises covering her face and arms. She stopped at the end of the bed and let out a small sob as she covered her mouth. Alice opened her eyes instantly and a smile crept across her face.
‘Hey, beautiful,’ she said, holding her arms out for a hug. Imogen let another sob escape as she lunged forward, wrapping her arms around Alice and squeezing her tight. She let the tears fall as she held onto the woman she loved so much. ‘Hey, shh, it’s okay. I’m okay.’
Imogen pulled back and sat on the edge of the bed. ‘What happened?’ she cried.
‘Okay don’t be mad…’ Alice took her hand and rubbed the top with her thumb. ‘I went to see your mum.’ Alice pulled a face in response to Imogen’s shocked expression. ‘I know, I shouldn’t have interfered and I know you didn’t want me to get involved, but I couldn’t just leave it. She had really upset you and it was time she heard a few home truths about our relationship.’
Imogen stayed quiet, stunned by her revelation.
‘I was doing it for you, for us. I just wanted to make things right.’ She paused. ‘Please don’t be mad at me.’
Imogen let the information settle before saying, ‘I’m not mad at you. I’m just, well, I don’t know how I feel.’
‘She’s a lost cause, you know that?’ Alice tried to smile, but Imogen could see the sadness behind her eyes. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘It’s okay. I knew she would never come to terms with us.’
‘I know. But I thought if I could speak to her, you know, show her how much I love her daughter that she would understand. But she just… she doesn’t want to listen to anything.’
‘I know.’ She moved a stray hair away from Alice’s face and brushed her thumb down her face. ‘You look so bruised. What happened?’
‘Well, your mum and I argued and she told me I had stolen her daughter away from her and that she would never forgive me for it.’
‘Oh Alice, I’m so sorry you had to listen to that.’ She hated that her family made the person she loved feel so inadequate and disliked.
‘It’s fine, it will take a lot more than a few harsh words to get to me. You know that.’ She smiled and gave Imogen a wink. A wink that still, to this day, sent tingles down her spine.
‘So, I’m sorry, but I don’t understand how it’s gone from that, to you lying here with, I’m guessing, a broken leg?’
Alice nodded. ‘Well your mum stormed off saying something about talking to you and making you see sense. I saw red and ran after her to have it out with her and I didn’t look before running across the road. And, well, you can figure out the rest. ‘
‘Oh, you idiot!’
‘Thanks, I love you too.’ Alice smiled.
‘Honestly, I can’t believe this has happened. This is crazy. Why can’t she just accept that I am happy and we are about to have the babies and –’ she halted as she saw the figure appear in the doorway to the ward. ‘No way!’
‘What?’ Alice tried to look where Imogen was, but her view was blocked by the curtain.
‘What are you doing here?’ Imogen said, through clenched teeth. Her mum came closer and stopped when she was in full view of both Imogen and Alice.
‘I came to see if Alice was okay.’ She hovered, not coming any closer. She looked pale and defeated, and really ashamed.
‘How dare you? You are not welcome here.’ Imogen felt a hand on her arm and flinched before realising it was Alice.
‘Look, I understand why you might not want me here, but I am trying to do the right thing,’ she begged.
‘The right thing? The right thing would’ve been to support me in my life decisions. The right thing would’ve been to be there for me when I needed you.’ Her voice was getting louder the angrier she got. ‘The right bloody thing would’ve been to get your head out of your arse and see how much I love this woman and realise that it doesn’t matter if she is male, female, black, white or bloody green!. You wouldn’t know the right thing if it slapped you round the face!’
‘Alright, Ims, calm down. This isn’t good for the babies.’ Alice had sat up and was trying desperately to comfort Imogen from her awkward position in the bed.
‘I’m sorry. I didn’t want to upset anyone by coming here. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.’ She directed the comment at Alice and this enraged Imogen further, but she concentrated on taking deep breaths and calming herself for the sake of the babies.
‘And Imogen, you’re right,’ her mum said, with sadness in her eyes. ‘I should’ve been there for you and I should’ve tried to understand. That was wrong of me. And I’m sorry.’
She didn’t know what to say. She was so full of fury that she was struggling to form any words that weren’t shouting or swearing, so she opted to stay silent for the time being.
‘I know you may never want to forgive me – and to be honest, I wouldn’t blame you – but I did need to come and say this to you. It was the least I could do after…’ she indicated Alice and her leg.
Alice didn’t say anything, but instead looked at Imogen. But she didn’t know what to say or do either. This was so completely out of character from her mum and she wasn’t completely convinced it was sincere. It was as if her mum had read her mind because she then added, ‘You don’t believe me?’
‘What do you expect?’ Imogen spat out the words with venom.
‘I am trying to make things right now, Imogen, you have to believe me.’
‘Why? Why do I have to believe you? Why do you deserve another chance? God knows I’ve given you enough in the past.’
‘Yes, that’s true. But I realise now that I was wrong.’
‘Why?’ Imogen threw back at her. ‘What’s changed?’
She was silent for a second, but then simply said, ‘I have.’
&n
bsp; ‘Oh don’t make me laugh,’ Imogen guffawed. ‘You couldn’t change even if you wanted to.’
‘Look, you don’t have to believe me. But I’ve had time to reflect. It’s hard coming to terms with something like that and then I spoke to you and it made me angry. You came at me all guns blazing, shouting about me doing this and me doing that.’
‘I came to tell you how much I love Imogen and you were hell bent on defending your nasty messages.’
‘Yes, I know. I guess we were both in the wrong.’ She turned back to face Imogen. ‘But I mean it. Seeing Alice hurt uncovered a whole world of feelings I didn’t know I had. I felt awful that Alice had hurt herself, but I felt even worse thinking about how upset you were going to be when you found out she was hurt. It made me realise how much you… love her.’ She looked awkward saying those last words. Imogen studied her face and even though she was the same woman, with her stern exterior, she seemed different behind her eyes.
Her mum sighed. ‘Look, all I can say is I’m sorry and I am willing to try and make this work. I can’t promise anything. I’ve spent my whole life feeling a certain way and never did I ever think your sexuality was going to be something I would have to come to terms with. But I do have to. It’s not an easy transition for me, Imogen, and I’m not saying that I am happy about this,’ she gave Alice a sideward glance and looked completely uncomfortable about it. ‘But all I can do is try. It will take time and I’m not even sure I can do it but… well…’ she sighed again, but louder this time. ‘I am willing to try.’ She tried to smile. ‘I’ll leave you two to it; I just wanted to say my piece. I would never have forgiven myself if anything had happened to… you,’ she looked again at Alice from the corner of her eye, ‘So now I know you’re okay, I’ll leave.’
She didn’t wait for a response before walking out of the ward, without so much as a glance back.
Imogen was stunned and after a few minutes, looked at Alice. ‘What the hell just happened?’
Alice looked back at her, equally stunned, and simply said, ‘A miracle.’
The First Time Mums' Club Page 25