Only My Fate
«Mum, what are you doing here?» gasped Emily, spotting her mother in the maternity clinic.
«Oh, Emmy, do you have an appointment today too? You didnt mention it yesterday…» murmured Catherine, lowering her eyes.
«Mum, this is for expectant mothers. Why are you here?» Emily ran a hand over her swollen belly.
«Emmy, I meant to tell you…» Catherine hesitated, searching for words. «Well, Im expecting a child too.»
…Catherine had Emily at eighteen. The girls father took no interest, paying only a pittance in child support, and even that only after court orders.
Yet Catherine adored her daughter. She worked two jobs, sewing late into the night for extra money. Friends would shake their heads, saying, «Why work yourself to the bone? Youll waste your youth!» But Catherine paid no heed. All that mattered was her girl wanting for nothingthe finest chocolates, stylish coats, expensive dollswhatever Emily desired. She denied herself everything, but her daughter never felt deprived.
Emily grew accustomed to the best. Money meant littleshe saw, she wanted, she bought. She even went on a class trip to the seaside. When university came, she chose the most prestigious institution, enrolling in the paid programme. Catherine didnt argue.
In her third year, Emily met James. Older, nearly finished with his studies, he struck Catherine as dependablea man with his head on straight. She rejoiced, thinking her daughter would have a steady husband, a rock. Even if Emily had a child, she wouldnt be alone.
And so it happened. Emily fell pregnant. James proposed at once, and they had a lavish weddinghalf the cost covered by his parents, the other half by Catherine, who even gifted them a holiday in Brighton.
«James, lets go for a walk,» suggested Emily.
«Perfect. Lovely weather, and theres a new café nearby. Well stop for a bite,» he smiled, stroking her belly.
They strolled through the park, fed the pigeons, then settled in the café. No sooner had they sat than Emily paled.
«Whats wrong?» James frowned.
«Mum…» she muttered.
Two tables away sat Catherine with a stranger.
«Oh, it is her!» James turned.
Catherine noticed them and offered a sheepish smile.
«Lets say hello. Whos that with her?» James began to rise.
«No. I dont even want to look!» Emily shot up and fled outside.
James settled the bill and caught up. On the pavement, Emily was already confronting her mother:
«Who is that? Have you forgotten youre about to be a grandmother?»
«Emily, youre grown. I raised youhavent I earned a life of my own?»
James tactfully intervened:
«Everything all right, Mrs. Whitmore?»
«Quite all right, James…»
«Lets go!» Emily seized her husbands arm and near ran off.
Emily had always assumed her mother belonged solely to her. The thought of Catherine with a man had never crossed her mind. And truthfully, Catherine hadnt dated all those yearsfearing her daughters reaction.
Until her boss, Edward Hartley, began courting her two years prior. Shed fancied him long before but never acted. When he showed interest, she relented.
They began seeing each other. Edward even asked her to move in. Catherine resisted but eventually agreed. Yet how to tell Emily? She hadnt a clue. And now this wretched encounter…
Then Catherine discovered she was pregnant. At forty-threelate, certainly. But abortion was unthinkable. Edward was overjoyedhed no children, and now a son or daughter was coming.
After the café, Emily stopped answering calls. Catherine relied on James for updates. Then came the clinic run-in, after which Emily cut contact entirelyblocking her number, ignoring messages.
She learned of her granddaughters birth from her son-in-law.
«A girl, 21 inches, 7 pounds!» James announced cheerfully.
«Congratulations! May we visit? Id love to see her,» Catherine whispered, near tears.
«Ill try to persuade Emily…»
But she refused outright. Catherine fretted, though she herself was six months along, and the doctor warned against stress.
Four months later, she had a girl. She wrote to Emily, saying she now had a sister. Silence. Only James sent flowers and called.
Years passed. The girls grew. Emily and James named their daughter Sophie. Catherine and Edward chose Alice, after her grandmother. James occasionally sent photos»First tooth!» or «Shes walking!» Catherine hoped Emily might soften by Sophies first school year. But she held firmthough what grievance remained was unclear.
On Sophies seventh birthday, Catherine called James:
«Bring Sophie to visit. Wed love to see her.»
«Ill try…»
That evening, James relayed the invitation.
«Were not going,» Emily snapped.
«But shes your mother. Alice is your sister,» he reasoned.
«She betrayed me. And I dont care to see that girl.»
So they livedparallel lives. Catherine and Edward in a countryside cottage, Emily and James in the suburbs. Sometimes, through mutual friends, Emily heard of her mother»In hospital,» «Alice has a fever.» Deep down, she longed to visit, to embrace her as before. But jealousy and anger won out.
«James, we still need hair ribbons and spare shoes for Sophie,» Emily said at dinner.
«Plenty of time. Hard to believe seven years have gone…»
«Mum, must I go to French today?» Sophie burst into the kitchen.
«Yes! We moved house just for this school!» Emily said sternly.
Like Catherine before her, she strove to give her child every advantage.
First day of school. James took leave to escort Sophie. The journey was long, but the prestigious bilingual school was worth it.
The bell rang, speeches were made…
«Class 1A!» the teacher announced.
«Thats us!» Emily whispered, guiding Sophie forward.
Then, in the crowd of parents, she saw her mother. For a heartbeat, their eyes met.
Emily crumbled, rushing into Catherines arms as long-pent tears streamed down her cheeks. Catherine held her tight, just as she had in childhood, and in that moment, every grievance melted away as if it had never existed.
