Free Baby Blues and Wedding Shoes by Amanda Martin Page A

the scene briefly as she told her mother.
Incredulity that he had instructed her to do what she was told
almost made her laugh. What planet was he on?
    “He told you to do as you were
told?” Maggie’s voice mirrored Helen’s thoughts, somewhere between
fury and disbelief.
    “That’s why I’m calling. I need
somewhere to stay for a while, until I work out what I’m going to
do. I thought I just needed to hole up until Daniel came to his
senses but the more I think about it the more his reaction seemed
more than shock. He was furious, Mum, you should have seen
him.”
    “I’m glad I didn’t,” Maggie
retorted, “I’d have punched him.”
    “Mum!” Helen had never heard
this side of her mother, like a bear fiercely defending her cubs.
Is that what mother’s did? Would she be able to do that?
    I’ve never so much as talked
back to a surly taxi driver, how am I going to find the strength to
fight my child’s battles? How am I going to be able to look after
them and protect them? Oh god.
    “Helen, are you still there?
Are you okay? He didn’t try and hurt you did he? Sorry, here’s me
getting all angry with him and it’s you I should be worried about
darling.”
    “Mum, I’m fine,” Helen
staunched the flow of words her silence had unleashed. “I was
shocked, upset, but I’m clear now. There’s nothing he could say to
excuse his behaviour last night. He more or less accused me of
conceiving this baby with someone else. I mean, who thinks that of
their fiancée as their first thought?”
    “An idiot, dear.” Her mum was
calmer now. “Come home, your room’s always ready you know that;
stay as long as you need to.”
    “I don’t want to impose on you
and Dad; you’ve only just got rid of me and Simon I know. I just
can’t afford to stay in London until I get work. Thank god I kept
the flat.”
    “Will you return to London to
have the baby then?” Her mum sounded unsure, disappointed even.
Helen hadn’t thought it through but of course her mother would
prefer her to be closer to them in Devon. She and Dad visited
London to see her as often as they could but as they got older it
was a long way for them to come.
    “I don’t know yet,” Helen
responded as diplomatically as she could. “I have eight months to
figure that out. For now I need some distance to work out how to
make a living and bring up a baby on my own.”
    “You’ll do great, darling, you
have many options and things are easier for you than in my day.
Disposable nappies, available childcare, you’ll be fine.”
    As she hung up the phone Helen
wondered if her mother’s optimism was well-founded or just empty
words to reassure her. She didn’t feel fine at all.
     
     
     

Chapter
Seven
     
    A shiver ran down his spine. It
was approaching thirty outside but the ancient building was imbued
with the ice of ages. Marcio’s vacant stare took in the details of
the building around him. He’d spent so many hours in the place but
yet had never really seen it before. The ornate stonework, the
cavernous space, the permanent chill that permeated it, as if you
needed to be shivering to truly appreciate the wonder of the
Lord.
    And I thought Mia was crazy
putting me in this monkey suit in the middle of summer. Marcio
ran a finger round his collar, trying to avoid all the clichés of
comparing it to a tightening noose. Much had been written about the
role of the groom, although not by him. His literature tended
towards the fantastic rather than the romantic. Still, he knew the
stock phrases. Standing here, staring out at a tapestry of faces,
people he’d known all his life rendered alien by wedding attire,
Marcio wondered how he would describe this scene. Would he gush
about the groom’s anticipation at the first glimpse of his bride?
Would he wax lyrical about the flowers, the music, the abundance of
details Mia had obviously spent hours organising?
    Maybe I would describe the
physical sensations of standing here in the spotlight,