“I shant mince words. Im your husbands mistress! All these years, weve been meeting. Yes! Dont widen your eyes or faint
Emily was preparing supper; her husband, William, was due home in an hour. Their ten-year-old daughter, Margaret, was at her dance class. Shed return in half an hour, toss her bag aside, and sit at the table, eager for dinner. As usual, shed chatter about her friends, her progress, her teacher Emily smiled. Margarets stories were always a joy to hear.
A knock came at the door. Too early for Williamhe had his own keys. Margaret must have forgotten hers again. Emily opened the door, but instead of her daughter, a young woman stood there.
“I shant mince words. Im your husbands mistress. All these years, weve been meeting. Yes! Dont widen your eyes or faint.”
“All these yearshow long?”
“Three years. It suited me perfectly. Far easier to live alone and have a man who comes and goes.”
“No expenses, financial or domestic. No washing, no cooking, no cleaning up after him. And Ive no intention of changing that now.”
“I wouldnt have come at all, but Im with child. An accident, but its too late to do anything about it.”
Emily remembered how long it had taken her to conceive. Shed been fine, but William had struggled. Theyd turned to artificial insemination.
The first attempt failed, but the second brought luck. Emily had even hoped for twinscommon enough with such methods. Margaret was born. And now, this news.
“You mean to say youll change nothing? Youll have a husband who visits and now a father who visits?”
“No, not quite. Ill have a husband and a child who visit.”
“Fascinating. How do you imagine that? The father raises the child, then drops by so it can see its mother?”
“Exactly. I never wanted childrenthis was an accident.”
“And William told me he couldnt father any.”
“Clearly, he can! I need to see the conditions my child will grow up in. Its only fair.”
“Your daughterthough William isnt her fatherhes raised her. Now his own child will be born, and the burden will fall on you.”
“Miss, I shant even invite you in. I dont know your name, but your man no longer lives here. Fetch his things whenever you like. The rest doesnt concern me.”
Emily moved to shut the door but saw Margaret returning from her class.
“Mum, what was that about? What child? And why isnt Dad my father?”
“You heard everything? Then its time you knew the truth.”
“Mum, Im not a childIm nearly eleven. Ill understand.”
Emily told her everything.
“Youre my daughter, but Dad loves you. Hes your legal father, and we waited for you together.”
“And now hes expecting another child, but you wont be its mother. I wont be its sister. Right?”
“Well yes. Youre right. And one more thing youre grown now. I dont want to live with Dad anymore.”
“Ill help you, Mum. Dont worry. Im old enoughlet him go. I love you, but that woman let him go to her.”
William arrived right on schedule.
“Whats happened here? No welcome, no embrace?”
Usually, Margaret would greet him with a hug, but now there was silence. She stayed in her room.
“Emily, wheres our daughter? Late at dance, or ill?”
“Your mistress came. Shes expecting your child. Care to explain why she was here?”
“Emily, you must understandits my child. I cant abandon it.”
“And do you know what shes proposing?”
“I do. She never wanted it, but we have Margaret. Now therell be another. Itll be my child! Itll live with me.”
“Are you certain its yours? Remember your diagnosis?”
“There are exceptions!”
“Marvellous. Off you go to the mother of your exception. Leave nowfetch your things later.”
“No, Emily! You cant do this! They dont want me there. Im not needed not in the way I should be.”
“Youre not needed here either. Go!”
“What about Margaret? I may not be her father, but Ive raised her. Whats wrong with my own child living with us? My real child. Its only fair.”
“Your mistress already lectured me on fairness. First, prove its yours. Then well talk. Goodbye.”
Emily divorced William. He had to leavethe flat belonged to her parents. Theyd built a house but never transferred the flat to her name. Not that it would have mattered in the divorce.
Now William had nowhere to live. The man who “sometimes visited” was preferable to his mistress, who refused to change her ways. Nor did she intend to care for the child.
A mother-to-be, yet she had no interest in raising the baby. Shed play with it, amuse herself, but nothing more. Sleepless nights, nappies, illnessesshe hadnt signed up for that.
After the birth, she sued for child support but lost. No one knows how the careless mother raises the child now. Williams diagnosis hadnt changedpaternity was never proven.
On paper, he has one daughter, but she wont speak to him. He pays maintenance, begs for reconciliation, but Emily wants nothing to do with him.
So it goes. Not so easy, it seems, to perch on two stools at once
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