Will you take that suitcase of yours away now? Eleanor asked, her voice flat as a winter morning.
Take it! I replied, bewildered, ready for a longterm retreat. What do you mean? I asked, my stomach tightening at the suddenness.
Just that, Eleanor said, urging me with a smile that didnt quite reach her eyes. Do you need help with the luggage?
I thought, What suitcase? Carry your own! I shuffled on the doormat in the hallway and stepped out, feeling that, though the scene had passed without a crash, a bitter aftertaste lingered.
That evening the house was filled with a sudden, sharp soundlike a scanner beeping.
Youll have a child! Well have a child! Molly declared, her voice firm as she turned to Leonard, hoping for the promised effect. Arent you happy, love?
Molly Steadman had arrived at the polytechnic in her third year, alongside Victor Redford, both having transferred from another town. Victors father, a serving soldier, had been posted elsewhere, and the family moved. The girl who had been Victors sweetheart followed him on his trail, becoming a steadfast companion in the chaos.
Victor, however, vanished after the move. When Molly discovered she was pregnant, her boyfriend disappeared as if swallowed by the night, leaving no trace, no phone call, and no word of where hed gone. He even collected his final medicalcollege paperwork and slipped away.
In his place, a charming anatomy lecturer, Leonard, began to show Molly the smallest attentions. She was sharpwitted; her curly hair seemed to think for her. Returning home with a child in her womb was not an easy road; it promised little comfort. The baby represented the only hope for both families, and any failure might bring harsh rebukes from the older generation.
Back in a cramped, multichild household, a new mouth would have been an unwelcome addition. It seemed a tidy solution would be to find a respectable thirtyyearold gentlemanafter all, the Len family had no children of their own.
Thus Molly entered a liaison with the married Leonard. She soon realised he paid little heed to contraception, a clear sign he desired fatherhood. Well, LenI’ll make your dream come true. Youll be a happy father, she thought, setting her plans in motion.
After a month and a half, she could finally share joyful news with Leonard, though shed later claim the child was born seven months early, an excuse to conceal the truth. The affair was arranged with the utmost care: a modest dinner in a dignified setting, a room rented from an elderly widow for a token sum.
The widow, Mrs. Whitfield, was surprisingly liberal about intimacy and never objected to Mollys meetings, content only that she received a small contribution toward her household bills and an occasional treat. Life for a pensioner was hardly easy; she still needed medicine and food, the prices in modern pharmacies were steep.
When Leonard sipped a glass of wine and Molly took a modest sip, she presented him with a positive pregnancy test, like a scene from a television drama, and announced, Youll have a child! Well have a child! Arent you delighted?
Leonards reaction was not what she expected. He did not sweep her into a dance, lift her in his arms, or propose marriage. After a brief silence he said, Im not ready.
What arent you ready for? Molly asked, confusedshed always thought him as eager as a scout.
For a child, he replied.
So you were ready for children, but now youre backing out? she asked, a nervous smile tugging at her lips. Leonard simply walked away, and Molly muttered, Useless teacher!the harsh language of her household showing no restraint.
It would be wrong to brand Leonard a heartless rogue; he was merely infertile. The child could not be his. He also remembered well that Molly had once been involved with the vanished Victor Redford; the puzzle fell into place.
Leonards infertility traced back to a childhood bout with mumps, the disease that left him with a low sperm count. After three years of marriage his wifes attempts at conception had failed even on the most auspicious days. Tests showed not only a paucity of sperm but also their feeble motility.
Only Leonard and Molly knew this secret, keeping it tightly locked away while pretending to work earnestly on the problemit was easier that way. They contemplated adopting from a childrens home, but for now they lived for themselves, which was not a bad arrangement.
Leonards own father, who had long suffered from cancer, hoped for a grandchild, and the family tried not to add to his sorrow. When his health declined, Leonard and Eleanor decided to let him go peacefully, believing that extra knowledge would only deepen the grief.
Leonard loved Eleanor truly, and she trusted him completely. Their minor infidelity, if any, only seemed to reinforce their bondan odd belief, perhaps. After Molly announced her pregnancy, Leonards affection waned, and he began to ignore her.
Molly, determined, decided to confront him at his home, even though he was absent, to lay bare the truth of their love. Eleanor, ever balanced, responded to Mollys passionate pleas with a simple, emotionless Take it.
Take what? Molly asked, startled by the abruptness.
Just that suitcase of yours, darling, Eleanor replied.
Which suitcase? Molly thought, feeling the sting of being dismissed. She trudged across the hallway rug and left, the encounter ending without further drama.
Later that night Leonard shouted, Who do you think you are, Eleanor? Im a decent family man! He proclaimed himself a model husband, though his actions suggested otherwise. Yet Eleanor, trusting him fully, accepted his explanation.
Molly, not one to sit idle, turned to another path, recalling the words of the great leader who once said, We shall take a different road. She set her sights on George Whitfield, Leonards fatherinlaw, whose address she found online.
George, weakened by medication, welcomed the pregnant young woman with a hopeful smilehis longawaited grandchild was finally on the way. He promptly offered Molly a monthly stipend of thirty hundred pounds, reasoning that the son was still undecided, and that he, as a grandfather, would not abandon her.
He also cherished his daughterinlaw, Eleanor, and wished no trouble for her, keeping the matter secret for as long as possible.
Empowered, Molly embraced her new life. She could have continued her studies until the birth, but a steady income seemed more sensible. For someone from a modest background, thirty hundred pounds a month was a substantial sum, enough to build a comfortable existence.
Her pregnancy proceeded smoothly, with barely any nausea. She bought pink trinkets for the baby, and an ultrasound confirmed she was expecting a girl. Occasionally she visited George, who delighted in feeding her exotic fruits she could not otherwise afford.
When the time came, George arrived at the hospital, though his frailty required a carer to accompany him. He promised never to leave her, even after his own passing.
Of course he wont abandon us, Molly thought, chewing on a cherry, and that miserable Len will weep his eyes out!
George passed away when the baby was six months old; illness claimed him as it often does. Molly attended the funeral, leaving her infant under the watch of an elderly neighbour, promising not to disturb the childs cradle.
Why did she go? Perhaps she hoped the will would name the child as Georges heir, as he had promised. Yet no such document ever appearedGeorges promises remained unkept.
Mollys relatives were surprised by her presence at the funeral, but she was not invited, as was often the case at such gatherings. The attending carer revealed the hidden truth about the childs parentage, a secret kept at Georges request.
When Molly tried to board the bus to the postfuneral meal, the driver, at the couples behest, shut the doors in her face. The bus pulled away, gaining speed as Molly chased and pounded on the doors.
She had managed to set aside a modest portion of the stipend, supplemented by a maternity grant and singleparent benefits, enough to sustain her. She later secured a job at a medical call centre, where her nursing background proved useful.
Her sevenmonthold daughter was placed in a nursery. A year after Georges death, Eleanor herself fell pregnant, her husbands fertility finally returning.
Thus, the sun shone on a new chapter: people went mad with desire, sparking life wherever they could. The couple welcomed a healthy boy, their joy boundless.
Life settled into its familiar rhythm, though Eleanor occasionally recalled Mollys sudden arrival, as if the girl had claimed her husbands child. She tried to silence those thoughts, saying, Lord, what does it matter now?
Leonard proved to be an extraordinary fathercaring, loving, and tender, just as his wife had always known. The rest of the tale needed no further commentary.
