Im not letting any traitors back through the door.
Wheres Tom? I cant see Tom anywhere! Where has he vanished? a bewildered whisper slips through the crowd of relatives jammed on the landing of St. Marys Hospital.
If Tom had been George, the newborns father, the bewildered murmurs would have been far fewer. Here Tom is a nickname for the mother, Lucy, which makes the whole thing even more baffling.
The fact that Lucywho should have been cradling her infant daughterhad simply disappeared was a shock to everyone.
Run away! You little devil! shrieked Lucys mother as she handed her soninlaw, Ian, the paperwork and the final letter from the fleeing wife.
The letter read like a template pulled from a legal form: Im not ready for this, dont look for me, I wont abandon my child, Ill send child support, thats all. No return address, no explanation why a respectable woman who, only six months ago, dreamed of motherhood, would abandon everything in a heartbeat.
Ian tried to stay calm. Dont worry, Lucy will come to her senses, realise what shes lost, and return, Lucys mother soothed, trying to steady her soninlaw.
Sarah, Lucys older daughter, said nothing. Her gut told her Lucy would not come back. If Lucy chose to do something, she did it with intention; she never abandoned halfheartedly. When Lucy left, she meant to stay gone.
Fine, shut your mouth, Sarah, snapped Lucys mother as Sarah hinted that Lucy might never return. Shell be back. A month or two, and a mothers heart will pull her back.
Three months later the divorce papers arrived. Lucy never showed up for the hearings, refused custody, and little Emily stayed with her father. Sarah began visiting Ians house more often, helping with the child and keeping Ian company. She needed a reason to be thereher own life had collapsed a year after her sons birth when her fiancé, Max, walked out.
They had planned to marry when their son turned three and Sarah finished maternity leave. Max fled, leaving her drowning in debt, yet the court eventually recognised Sarah as his sons father and ordered some child support. She feared that the same fate would befall her sister, that Ian might finally desert Lucy and leave Emily alone. She kept watching Ian for any warning signs, though she never dared mention them to anyone.
She soon realized shed been looking at the wrong man. Lucy wasnt the villain; the real troublemaker was someone else entirely.
Ian had proposed waiting five years, saving enough to turn his cramped twobed flat into a threebed house, but Lucy kept pushing, urging him to act now. The result? She abandoned Emily, a tiny, defenseless child, in a moment of cold fury.
Perhaps it was because Sarah herself had become a mother, or because Emily was her blood, that she began to see the little girl as her own. Ian, on a few occasions, handed Emily to Sarah, saying, Take her to mum for a cuddle.
He even suggested Sarah move in with him and the kids, claiming there was room for everyone, and that she could rent out spare rooms to pay the mortgage instead of begging her own mother for money.
When Lucy found out Sarah had moved in with Ian, her mother launched a tirade. Having a sisters husband in the picture is scandalous, she declared, only to be brushed aside by Ian, who slammed the door on his motherinlaw and said it didnt concern him.
Later, halfdrunk, Ian confessed hed be willing to marry Sarah and even adopt her son as his own.
Everything will be fair, Sarah. Ill raise your daughter as mine, treat your son as my own. I wont force you into anything, but well be better off together. I can earn a decent wage, but Im clueless about nappies, colic, or soupmaking. You handle the kids like a pro, even if you wont earn much at work.
It was trueSarah had been a nursery assistant before maternity, modestly paid despite the private setting. Ians offer was pragmatic, almost mercenary. After a moments thought, Sarah realised the romantic fairytale love shed chased had brought no real happiness, except for her beloved son.
Perhaps it was time to be practical. Ian was reliable, didnt drink, didnt smoke, and always helped financially. Emily had grown attached to Sarah over two years, calling her Mum. Maybe, she thought, everything that happens for a reason.
Her mother never attended the weddingno one expected her there. After the ceremony, they toasted with friends, took the wellwishes, and returned to Ians flat, where four of them lived under one roof. Life changed little, save for the children now sharing a bedroom while the adults slept in the other.
Eventually, Lucys sudden reappearance thundered like a storm on a clear day. Ian opened the door, expecting a delivery. Instead, his former wife lunged at him, hair wild.
Darling, Im back! she shouted. Ian brushed her away harshly, stepping back, then fluttered his lashes and, as if nothing had happened, asked, Arent you happy to see me?
You think I should be? Ian replied coldly.
Hed rehearsed his response for weeks, but when the moment arrived, all he could ask was why Lucy had returned at all.
I just want to see my daughter. I thought maybe we could sort things out, she pleaded. I know it wasnt right, but can we try to be a family again?
No, Ian said, eyes hard. Ive built a new life. I wont let traitors back in.
Is this about Sarah? Lucy snapped. You never really loved her. How could you swap me for her?
Sarah, fresh from a shower, froze at the cracked nursery door. The children peered from the hallway, like tiny witnesses to a siege.
Lucy, spotting the kids, rushed past Ian, grabbing Emily.
Emily, youve grown so much! she cooed, cradling her. In a flash, a scream ripped through the air as young Andy, nine, lunged, claws out, trying to yank Lucys hair.
Let go of my sister, you witch! he shouted, teeth sinking into her leg. Lucy, dressed only in stockings and a short skirt, yelped in pain, clutching the wound as she tried to set Emily down on the floor.
Emily scrambled to Andys side, pulling the two children behind Sarahs legs for cover. Lucy glared at them, her eyes cold and predatory.
You serpent, she hissed. You turned my own child against me. I wont let this go.
The courtroomlike drama ended with Ian and Sarah cutting all ties with Lucys mother, who had tried to manipulate Ian into a reverse maneuver. They eventually moved to another city, never leaving an address, and now raise three children together. Only their dearest friends hear Emily whisper that shes the daughter of a real witch, while her mother Sarah is a goodhearted fairy who rescued her. Andy swears his father is a dark sorcerer who abandoned a kind fairy and fled.
In the end, a caring dad found them, and they live happily ever aftermom, dad, a little sister, and a brotherbecause every good story needs a bright ending.
