The moisture climbed slowly along the test stick. Every second felt like a year, but she knew the results would be known within the minute. One line meant that she wasn’t pregnant. Two lines meant she was in big trouble.
The first line appeared and started to darken. The moisture kept climbing, and there it was. A second undeniable line appeared next to the first – initially faint, but gradually darkening. There was a new type of hormone in her body. She was pregnant.
Ellen’s mind instantly started to imagine how she was going to tell Tom. The whole truth would need to come out now. Her night with Kane was a horrible mistake which might ruin their lives as a result. How would he react? It was impossible to know. There was every chance that the wedding would be cancelled, but if so, it was his right to do so. Ellen would accept Tom’s decision regardless of what he chose to do. The worst part of this situation was not her own lost future, but the hurt that Tom would feel. His pain was now guaranteed, and Ellen herself was responsible. How would she look him in the eye and explain her betrayal?
The rest of the day passed slowly as Ellen stayed at home in her apartment and prepared her apology to Tom. No matter how many times she said the words out loud, they never sounded real. How could this have happened? Everything in their life had been going so well after the craziness of the previous year.
She repeated the pregnancy test after lunch but got the same result.
When Tom sent a text message saying that he was finished for the day and to come over for dinner, Ellen knew the inevitable could be delayed no longer.
She drove slowly to his house and parked near the garage. Tom’s butler, Robert, was working on something in the garage, and he waved. She waved back, ashamed to think how differently he would view her after this day.
Tom’s car was already there, and she knew he would be waiting for her inside. Ellen used her key to enter but left it on the sideboard near the front door. It was easier this way than being asked for its return down the track.
“Good evening, Ellen.”
Ellen jumped in surprise.
Tom’s housekeeper, Estella, was passing the front entrance on her way to the kitchen.
“Hi, Estella,” she said, trying to act normal.
“Will you be staying for dinner?”
Ellen shook her head, fighting back a vision of Tom throwing her out onto the street. “No. Please don’t prepare anything for me.”
“Let me know if you change your mind. Tom is in his office.”
“Thank you, Estella. Thank you for everything.” Ellen knew that might be the last time she would ever see Tom’s housekeeper again.
She took a deep breath, and resolved to tell Tom everything as quickly as possible. He was seated at his desk with his reading glasses on when she knocked.
His eyes lit up with an unexpected level of excitement. “Ellen, I’m glad you’re here. Perfect timing.” He ran towards her and kissed her on the lips. He was acting like a schoolboy.
Ellen knew she would never see that kind of happiness from him again. She reached for one of his hands, and squeezed it tight. “Tom. We need to talk. I need to tell you something important.”
Chapter 11
Ellen realised that Tom was flapping a piece of paper in his hand. The excitement in his face was clearly not only because of her arrival. Something else was going on.
“Elle, wait. Let me show you something first.”
Ellen hardened her resolve. She should not get distracted. “Tom, I really need to tell you something first.”
“Please, Elle. You’re not going to believe this. I don’t know what to make of it.”
Maybe telling him in this moment was not such a good idea. It would ruin the excitement of whatever else was happening. A few more minutes shouldn’t matter. “Okay, Tom. You go first. What’s in your letter?”
“It’s from the Blood Bank.”
“You got a letter from the Blood Bank... Why would they...?”
“I’m registered on their bone marrow donor list.”
“Are you?” Ellen was surprised to hear that.
“Yes.”
“Huh.” She wondered why.
“One of Mum’s sisters needed a transplant years ago, and Dad and I were tested. Anyway, that’s not the point.”
“Sorry. Go on.”
“Apparently, I’m a suitable match for someone living in New South Wales.”
“Someone who is ill, you mean?”
“Yes.”
“And they want you to donate bone marrow to a stranger? That is something for you to think about, I guess.” Ellen wondered how much pain and effort was required to donate bone marrow, as she really knew nothing about it.
“Wait, there’s more,” said Tom excitedly. “They have indicated that both my brother and I are suitable donors. It says they have written to my brother also, and they want to encourage one of us to donate.”
“But you don’t have a brother.”
“Exactly.”
“What? I don’t understand.” Ellen was thoughtful. “Obviously this is a mistake.”
“I suppose so.” Tom seemed disappointed to say so.
“What do you mean – you suppose so? Of course it must be an error.”
“Maybe my dad had an affair?”
“You think Jack had an affair which produced a son?”
“It’s possible.”
“Margaret would have told you.” Ellen couldn’t imagine Margaret keeping a secret like that.
“Maybe Mum doesn’t know about either the affair or the child.”
Tom had obviously already put a lot of thought into this idea. “That’s a lot of maybes, Tom.”
“I’m going to show the letter to my parents.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“You know I’ve wanted a brother. If there’s any chance that this is true, I need to know.”
Ellen could imagine the conversation between Tom and his parents. It reminded her of the time when she confronted her own parents about her adoption. It wouldn’t be easy for any of them.
“Elle, I know this is a lot to ask. But I really want to investigate this matter now. It can’t wait. The wedding will still be my number one priority, but this matter will be a close second. Is that okay with you? I wanted to check with you before I do anything.”
Ellen was surprised and shocked by the turn of events but managed to mumble, “Of course.”
“I will really need your support to follow this through. I won’t be able to do it without you.”
Ellen thought through what she had come here to tell him. This wasn’t the right time, but she couldn’t put it off forever. “I love you, Tom. You know that.”
“I love you too. Does that mean you’ll support me?”
“Yes, I’ll support you through this.” How could she do anything else? This was the man she loved.
“That means everything to me. Now, sorry – what did you want to talk about?”
Ellen hesitated. She tried to think of something else to say, but nothing came to hand. “Oh, it doesn’t matter now.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, it was just a wedding thing. I might talk to our planner tomorrow first, before I raise it with you.”
“Well, just so you know - whatever you want is fine with me. Just tell the planner and she will make it happen.”
Ellen smiled even though there was worry in her heart. “Thanks, Tom.”
Chapter 12
“Let’s go, Marg,” Jack called impatiently. “We’re going to be late if you don’t hurry up.” There was no response from his wife, although he wasn’t expecting one. She did not like to be told what to do.
Jack had been in the hallway for ten minutes waiting for Margaret to be ready. Goodness knows how long she had been in there getting ready. He hadn’t seen her for hours. The annoying thing was that Jack had informed her quite clearly that afternoon what time they needed to leave, and she was just being unreasonable
by taking this long.
Jack checked his watch again in frustration. He hated to be late. It was entirely probable that Margaret was doing this on purpose, just to rattle him. Perhaps the best thing to do would be to go and sit in the car. If he was out of sight, she might be more likely to emerge and declare her readiness to leave. If the truth were known, he would have liked to drive off without her, and spend time with Tom and Ellen alone. If he did drive off, it would be interesting to see if Margaret made it there without him. She wasn’t a confident driver, and relied on him for transport.
It wasn’t as if his sixty-five-year old wife was a beauty queen or something. She wasn’t preparing for a pageant, as far as he knew. In fact, time had not been kind to Margaret. Her angular features had somehow become more pronounced by the deep wrinkles which covered her body. Margaret had loved the sun as a young woman, and was paying a heavy price for that exposure now. Her hair was completely grey, and although she coloured it regularly, he often noticed grey along her roots.
In any case, Margaret’s looks were not her least attractive quality. Her personality easily won that competition. A kind word hadn’t passed her lips in years. She was completely preoccupied with Tom’s personal life and had little interest in anything else, apart from the ladies’ social events at the golf club. They were the main interests in her life, which was quite dull as far as Jack was concerned. Margaret was far from a satisfying life companion, as there was certainly no time for his interests in their combined schedule.
He would have happily divorced her years ago if she had asked him to. Some days he even prayed that she would demand their separation. But for reasons he didn’t understand, Jack just couldn’t bring himself to instigate a divorce. As the years passed, he ceased dreaming about such proceedings, and just accepted that his life would never change. He developed a separate life from his wife, and occupied a different end of the house. The only time they came together now was for social occasions involving Tom. Being married to Margaret must be some sort of punishment for a crime committed in a previous life. It was his cross to bear.
“What’s the hurry?” Margaret snapped, emerging from her room at long last.
Jack shook his head. Did he really need to explain the etiquette of arriving on time? “Tom and Ellen will be waiting for us. It’s an eight o’clock booking.”
“Tom is not going to order food until his mother arrives.”
That was of course true, but there was no need to test their son this way.
Margaret was wearing her favourite red dress and matching shoes. It was not overly becoming on her, but Jack bit his tongue as usual.
“Remind me what the occasion is,” demanded Margaret, while following her husband to the garage where their expensive new black Lexus was parked.
Jack had received the phone call from Tom only this morning asking the two of them to dinner. “He said he had something important to discuss.” Tom hadn’t wanted to say exactly what the matter concerned while on the phone, and Jack was certainly curious.
Margaret was thoughtful. “Now you just said that Tom and Ellen will be waiting for us...”
“Yes.”
“Why are you assuming that he is bringing her? Did he say he was?”
Tom hadn’t actually mentioned that Ellen would be at dinner, but her inclusion seemed obvious. The two of them would be married in five short weeks, so of course Ellen would be there. The two of them were inseparable as far as Jack could tell. The bitterness in Margaret was working its way to the surface. It was obvious what she was thinking. “Tom is not meeting us to tell us that his wedding is off.”
Margaret smirked. “You never know. We both know they aren’t suited to each other. The girl has no life experience.”
“I don’t know that,” insisted Jack, while hoping that his attitude would rub off on Margaret. “Tom says he loves her and that’s good enough for me.” The disdain shown by Margaret was clearly obvious to everyone, and Jack wondered why his wife would risk upsetting Tom in such a way.
“He’s a smart boy. He’ll come to his senses in time.”
Her attitude was infuriating if he thought about it too long. “I want you to show Ellen your friendly side tonight, dear. If you can find your friendly side, that is.”
“Don’t talk to me like that. A mother can tell what is good for her son, and this young thing is not suitable wife material at all.”
The rest of the car trip was mercifully silent for Jack, as Margaret didn’t say a word more. His wife liked to have the last word which suited him fine. During previous dinners, he was almost embarrassed to sit at the same table with her in Ellen’s presence. Such a sweet young woman did not deserve the passive aggression that his wife liked to serve – particularly when Tom was out of earshot. To Ellen’s credit, she usually just smiled, or pretended not to understand the not-so-subtle personal criticisms levelled at her. But the girl was smart – whenever Jack conversed with Ellen, he was impressed by her knowledge of the company. Tom was obviously keeping her well informed. Perhaps she would even have a more substantial role at Satinol after completing her commerce degree.
To Jack’s relief, Margaret’s mood changed for the better when they arrived at the restaurant and Tom was in sight. He was clearly Margaret’s greatest joy in life, and it was nice to see how proud she was of him. Jack felt the same pride too of course, and realised it was now the only feeling they shared.
Tom and Ellen stood up and moved around the table to greet them. Of course Ellen was there – Jack was not surprised to see her. He smiled, knowing how bitterly disappointed Margaret must be.
“Tom, hello,” Margaret said, kissing him on the cheek. “Ellen, hello too,” Margaret said, with less enthusiasm.
“Hello, Margaret,” Ellen said. “You look lovely tonight. Thank you for coming at such short notice.”
“Of course. You know I love to spend time with my son.”
Jack noted that Tom and Ellen’s drinks were already depleted. It looked as if they had been waiting here a while. He checked his watch – it was quarter to nine. “Sorry, we’re late, son.”
Tom chuckled. He knew his mother well. “Don’t worry about it.” The two of them shook hands.
“I see you’re wearing yellow tonight, dear,” Margaret said to Ellen.
“Yes,” Ellen replied looking down at her dress.
“That’s an interesting colour choice for your skin tone, dear.”
Ellen’s face looked surprised, but she only smiled in reply.
Margaret looked towards Tom. “You know I’ve always had an eye for colour.”
“Yes, Mother, I do.” Tom knew his mother better than anyone else, but maintained a patience that Jack couldn’t muster any longer.
Jack smirked. It was one of Margaret’s most ridiculous claims, which he had heard many times. It was obvious that Margaret had not found her friendly side, as Jack had requested.
Tom shook his head and grabbed Ellen’s hand to reassure her. It was a quiet, loving gesture which indicated to Jack that everything was well in his son’s relationship. By their body language, Margaret’s antics were obviously a source of amusement for the couple, and Jack was relieved to see that.
Jack kissed Ellen on the cheek. “Sorry, Ellen,” he whispered into her ear, so that only she would hear. He thought she looked lovely as always.
“Don’t worry about it,” she whispered back with real warmth, kissing him on the cheek. “It’s good to see you, Jack.”
Margaret didn’t notice. “I was saying to Diane from the club just the other day how the young girls today like to experiment with colour. I prefer the classics myself.”
Jack had no idea what she was talking about. If yellow wasn’t a classic colour then what was? In any case, he was bored with her dull conversation already. “What can I get everyone to drink?” he asked, standing up.
“Dad, the waiter will take our order. You don’t need to go to the bar.”
“I’m happy to go. I think I
need a whiskey in any case.”
Tom only smiled with a shared understanding of Jack’s pain.
“A glass of sherry,” Margaret ordered, as if she was speaking to the waiter. “But only the good stuff, Jack.”
“Can you choose a nice pinot noir from the wine list, Dad?” requested Tom. “Actually, Elle - if we order a bottle, will you have a glass or two?”
Ellen hesitated, as if she wasn’t expecting that question. “I can feel a headache coming,” she said, touching her temple. “I might just have a lemon, lime and bitters please, Jack.”
“Just a glass for me then, Dad,” Tom said. He kissed Ellen’s cheek softly, and whispered something into her ear which made her smile. His care for her was blindingly obvious.
“Would you like a hand to carry the drinks back, Jack?” asked Ellen when Tom leaned away again.
“No, I’ll manage.” She was such a thoughtful young woman. “Back soon.”
It only took a few minutes before Jack returned with a tray of drinks and reluctantly took his place next to Margaret again.
“So,” said Margaret, noticing when Tom put his arm around Ellen’s shoulders. “Jack said you have something important to tell us.”
“Let’s order some dinner first, Mother,” Tom suggested, looking through the menu.
Margaret wasn’t to be put off so easily. Her nose scrunched up – it did that when she was unhappy about something. “Is Ellen pregnant? Is that the news?” she demanded.
Tom put his drink down. “Why on earth would you say that?”
Jack knew by his son’s expression that Margaret’s guess was wrong, but strangely, Ellen’s face lost some of its normal colour.
“She’s not drinking I see,” Margaret continued, staring at the girl.
“Elle just said she has a headache coming on.”
Jack knew that Margaret would be horrified to learn Ellen was pregnant. The car trip home would be unbearable. If there was one thing that Margaret detested, it was young people jumping into bed together before they were married. A week wouldn’t pass in their house without Margaret finding at least one occasion to mention her dislike of such behaviour.
A Family Affair - First Born Page 5