The Double Fate: How Love and Trials Wove Two Lives Together
“Didnt the ultrasound say twins?” grumbled the husband. “Boys, right?”
“Yes, boystheyre perfect!” Tears of joy streamed down the young mothers face as she finally held her babies in her arms.
Pregnancy had been no easy trial for Emily. First, the father of her children, Thomas, had been against their birth from the start. Emily and Thomas worked togethershe as an accountant, he as a driver at a small company. It wasnt as if some grand passion had ignited between them; they were simply young and often in each others company. So, a relationship began. Especially since Thomas had just broken off his engagementhis fiancée, Lydia, had betrayed him with a mutual friend. Thomas had caught her kissing the man in his car, and the wedding was, naturally, called off. Seeking distraction, he found Emilynaïve, twenty years old, fresh out of collegeat the right place and time.
Emily had never been the sort to turn heads among men. Her wild, fiery red hair and freckles made her look like a grown-up Pippi Longstocking, and the weight shed struggled with since school didnt help. Some days, she won the battle; other days, cakes and chocolates did. Thomas was the first man shed ever had a real, lasting relationship with. Naturally, she threw herself into it, head over heels in love.
At first, Thomas tried to keep their relationship quiet. Hed wait for her after work, hidden behind the office, and theyd avoid public placeswalking by the river or sitting in the park gazebo. But in their small village, secrets didnt stay secret for long. One acquaintance after another asked Thomas about his new accountant girlfriend. And, perhaps to spite his ex-fiancée, he boasted to everyone about his great love for Emily. Word got back to her, and she basked in the idea that Thomas was proclaiming their passion to the world. She believed itwishful thinking becoming reality.
Emily came from the next village over. Shed studied at the local college and now worked there, living with her elderly aunta spinster whod grown accustomed to solitude. The two shared a tiny one-bedroom flat. Life was tolerable, though her aunt wasnt thrilled about having a lodger. Still, the fact that Emily brought home groceries and did the cooking softened her grudging hospitality. When her aunt found out about the relationship, she was delightedfinally, a chance to reclaim her flat. Then she discovered the positive pregnancy test and noticed Emilys morning sickness. The girl never spoke of marriage, so her aunt, Martha, decided to investigate Thomass family. She knew his mother, Margaret, from schooltheyd been in parallel classes. Martha paid her a visit at the shop where she worked.
Margaret was stunned. She knew nothing about her sons new sweetheartcertainly not that she was pregnant. The revelation sent her reeling. That conversation with Martha led to a serious talk with Thomas.
“So, son, it seems youve got a fiancée! And here I thought you were still pining over Lydia!” she pressed.
“What fiancée? Yes, Im seeing a girl, but its nothing serious! And Lydias got nothing to do with this!”
“Nothing serious, you say? Then why does the whole village know? And why did her aunt come here talking about marriage?”
“Marriage? Thats strangewe never discussed it,” Thomas muttered, confused.
“You didnt. But Emilys pregnant! Of course shes thinking about it! I think its time you introduced me to your future wife.”
That was how Thomas learned he was going to be a father.
“Emily, why didnt you tell me?” he demanded when they next met.
“I was afraid,” she admitted, avoiding his gaze. “What if you didnt want the baby? What would I have done?”
Now, though, he couldnt “not want” iteveryone knew.
Emily married Thomas. There was no grand weddingjust a registry office and a modest celebration in his parents garden. They moved into his familys two-story home, where there was plenty of space. His older sister, Catherine, who lived in the city, came for the occasion.
“Tom,” she pulled him aside, “I dont understand how you traded Lydia forher.” She glanced at Emily, who, in her cream-coloured dress, looked larger than life. The pregnancy had added weight, her freckles stood out starkly on her pale face, and her grey eyes were nearly transparent in the sunlight.
“What does Lydia have to do with it? She cheated on me!”
“I saw her yesterday at the shops,” Catherine whispered. “She regrets everything. Swears nothing happened with Alex, that she only ever loved you. Have you even spoken to her?”
“Whats there to say? I saw her kissing him in the car! She made a fool of me!”
“And now youre doing it to yourself!” Catherine shot back. She couldnt stand this plain, mousy girl. Lydia had been her friend for years.
Emily, meanwhile, was overjoyed. She was marrying the man she loved. It didnt matter that her sister-in-law glared or that Thomas barely smiled. She was happyshe loved him truly, and she carried his child.
Her mother-in-law, Margaret, was kind enough. She pitied Emily, especially after the ultrasound revealed twins. Gradually, she learned how Thomas and Emily had met and how their relationship had unfolded. It became painfully clear that Thomas had married out of spitehe showed Emily no affection, no interest in her well-being, no excitement about the babies. He worked late more often, especially after Emily went on maternity leave.
Emily seemed oblivious, living in her blissful fantasyuntil one day, at the shops, a striking blonde approached her. She knew this was Lydia, Thomass ex. It flattered her that hed chosen her instead.
“Now I understand Thomas,” Lydia sneered, looking Emily up and down. Emily shrunk under her gaze. She knew how she lookedswollen, shapeless, freckled. Not the picture of beauty.
“What do you mean?”
“Why hes in no rush to come home!” Lydia laughed. “You know who I am?”
“Yes. His ex.”
“Not quite so ‘ex’,” Lydia smirked. “He was rash, marrying you. What do you even have in common?”
“The babies!” Emily exclaimed.
“Ah, yes. The babies. But does he want them? You decided that for him. Pity.”
Emily couldnt listen. Her stomach cramped so badly she barely made it home before the ambulance arrived.
“Thomas, come see us tomorrow!” Emily begged over the phone. “The boys look just like you!”
He mumbled something and hung up. Emily refused to dwell on what had happenedshe had their sons in her arms. He wouldnt abandon them.
She returned home with the twins, named William and Edward after their grandfathers. The boys were restless, never sleeping at the same timewhen William dozed, Edward woke, and vice versa. Exhausted, Emily barely coped. Without Margarets help, shed have collapsed. Margaret took leave to help, then arranged with Emilys mother to take turns minding the babies. Thomas, meanwhile, avoided them, coming home late. Where he spent his time, he never said.
“Son,” Margaret ladled soup into his bowl, “what are you doing?”
“What do you mean?”
“The whole villages talkingyoure back with Lydia! Wasnt her cheating enough? And what about your wife and children? Doesnt that bother you?”
“No, it doesnt,” Thomas met her gaze steadily. “I dont care about them. I dont love Emily. The babieswell, she wanted them, so fine.”
“You dont love her? Then why marry her?”
“It just happened. I was stupid, wanted to hurt Lydia. A mistake, I admit.”
“So what now? She wont changeshell keep dangling after you. And where does that leave Emily and the boys? Theyre your blood!”
“Mum, drop it. I dont know what to do. I made a mess, and now”
Emily, eavesdropping, clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle a cry. Shed heard every word. Shed tried to dismiss Lydias taunts, convinced herself Thomas loved her. But he didnt. Lydia hadnt lied.
“Emily, what are you doing? Where are you going at this hour?” Margaret gasped as Emily shoved clothes into a suitcase, tears streaming.
“Im leaving. Going back to my parents. He doesnt love mehes with her!”
“Emily, your father drinks, your grandmothers bedriddenhow will you manage? Dont be rash!”
“Stay.” Thomass voice cut in. “Im the one who messed up. Ill go.”
“Where?” Emily asked.
“What does it matter? We wont divorce yet. Live hereMum will help. The house is better for the boys. Ill rent
