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Great Writing - Home > Extended > Let no man put asunder - chapter 26
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Extended Work
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| Let no man put asunder - chapter 26 | |
| By LynB | ||||||||||||||
| 29 December 2006 | ||||||||||||||
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Chapter 26 “Daddy!” said David, climbing on to the sofa, and planting himself firmly next to Jon. “Daddy! Play cars!” He held out one of the toy cars from the garage his daddy had bought him for Christmas, and looked expectantly at him, his eyes bright with love. “Hm, an Audi TT” said Jon, glancing at the car. “I see my son has excellent taste in cars! Brings back a lot of memories.” “Did you have an Audi TT, daddy?” said Emily, her eyes wide. “I think they’re dead cool!” “Many moons ago” he said, looking very thoughtful. “When I was young, free and single, but when I became a family man, I had to give it up. I needed something a bit bigger, and a little more practical! It was hard parting with it, though!” “Purple” said Donna, sitting down next to him. “Is this a word association game?” he said, his eyes twinkling. “Cheeky sod!” retorted Donna, giving him a playful slap, much to the girls’ amusement. “I meant the TT was purple. We had some good times in that car, didn’t we?” “Yes, we did” he said, glancing wistfully at her. “Some very good times” “Did you have sex in it?” said Emily, looking very concerned, as her daddy’s mouthful of tea went down his throat considerably faster than he had intended it to. “Emily! What kind of a question is that?” he said, when he could finally speak again. “Well, Danny Cartwright in my class told me that he heard his mum and dad talking the other day, and they said he was conceived in the back of a Ford Mondeo, so I was just wondering….” “There are some things that are best kept secret, Emily” said Donna, glancing at Jon, who was, by now, helpless with laughter. She could not remember the last time she had seen him like that. “You did then!” retorted Emily, triumphantly. “How many times?” “That’s enough, Emily” said Jon, trying in vain to keep a straight face. “I didn’t actually keep count” said Donna, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes. “That means it was lots of times!” replied Emily, glancing at Jon. “Honestly, daddy! You randy sod!” “That’ll do now, Emily” said Donna, trying to contain herself. “Well” said Jon, finally pulling himself together. “Changing the subject – I’m going to play cars with my son. Come on, soldier, shall we go and play, and leave these lovely ladies to chat?” Donna sat there watching them, the sight of father and son talking together warming her heart. As she watched, thoughts began to crowd her mind. She thought back to when Jon had first had his breakdown, and how he had virtually given up on life. There was only one thing that had brought joy to his tortured heart, and that was his beloved children – the thought of their spontaneous hugs and smiles, and never ending unconditional love had given him something to hold on to. Just how much he loved them was brought home to her with sickening clarity, when she had tried to stop him from seeing them, and he had tried to kill himself. The thought of never seeing them again was too much for him to bear, and it was obvious to her now that he would rather die than face a world without his children. No matter what had happened between her and Jon, they would never be completely apart, because they had created those children together, and that was a tie that could never be broken. As the day wore on, he secretly thought that he and Donna were getting on better now than they had for a long time. There was a time when he had thought he hated her, but he knew now that they had been through too much together for that – he could never truly hate the mother of his children. Donna had once said that he had a heart as big as all outdoors, but there was no room in it for hate – for now. Eventually, it was time for David and the two younger girls to go to bed. As she was older, Emily always stayed up for another hour – a privilege that made her feel very grown up! She steered her wheelchair over to the sofa, where her parents sat together. “Can I sit with you?” she said, holding out her arms. “Can I sit in the middle?” “Of course you can.” said Jon, lifting her out of her chair, and gently placing her next to Donna. “I can only stay for another hour or so, so I want to make the most of it.” He sat down next to her, resting his head on the back of the sofa and sighing heavily. Emily looked at him, her face a picture of concern. “Are you all right, daddy?” she said, taking his hand in hers. “I’m just a bit tired, Emily” he replied, the tremor in his voice taking him by surprise. “Don’t worry about me, I’m all right.” “Are you sure, love?” said Donna, reaching over, and gently running her hand across his hair. “You look a bit pale.” “I’m fine” he insisted, pushing her hand away. “Like I said, I’m just tired, and I’ve got a headache.” “Are you poorly, daddy?” said Emily, looking up at him. “Do you want to lie down?” “I can’t, Emily. I have to go home, soon” “This is your home, daddy!” she protested, beginning to cry. “You can stay if you want! Tell him he can stay, mummy – please! I don’t want you to go, daddy! I love you! Please, daddy, please…..” “Stop it, Emily!” He put his hand over his face, as scalding tears stung his eyes. He was trying desperately not to break down in front of his little girl, but it was pointless. Despite his protests, he was beginning to feel considerably under the weather, and Donna knew that when he was ill it was never very difficult to break down his defences. He leaned forward, his head in his hands, doubled up by a sudden coughing fit. Donna reached over again, gently rubbing his back, and this time he did not push her hand away. He gradually straightened up, and lay back on the sofa, trying to get his breath back. “You are poorly, aren’t you?” said Emily, reaching up and gently touching his face. “Why don’t you stay here until you’re better? Mummy can look after you.” “I don’t need looking after, Emily” he said, his voice so quiet she could hardly hear him. “I’m sure it’s just a cold. I just need to go home, and go to bed. I’ll probably feel better by the morning. I…..” He broke off, and grabbed a tissue from the box Donna always kept on the table. His breath hitched, and his eyes shut tight, as his whole body was gripped by a series of violent, gut wrenching sneezes. “Bless you, daddy” said Emily, looking up at him. “Dear me, you’ve got a stinker there, haven’t you?” “Looks like it” he said, smiling in spite of himself. “Don’t get too close to me. I don’t want you catching it!” Suddenly, there was a tap on the back door, and just as Donna was wondering who it could possibly be, they heard Steve’s voice. She noticed Jon’s expression change, and he quickly stood up, declaring that he was going to walk home if necessary. “Sit down” said Donna, grabbing his arm. “You’re too ill to walk home. Come on, sit down!” “Oh God, Donna, I feel quite dizzy” he said, doing as she ordered. Before Donna could reply, Steve poked his head around the corner. “Hello, ladies!” he said, smiling. “Oh, hi there, Jon! I thought you’d be gone by now!” “You mean you were hoping” said Jon, glancing at him, the contempt he felt for him only too apparent. “Well, I’ve got news for you, you smug git, this is my home, not yours, and I’ll go when I’m good and ready!” “You tell him, daddy” said Emily, glaring at Steve. “Can you take me up to bed, please? I don’t want to stay here with him!” “Of course I will. Come on, sweetheart – hold on tight!” With that, he lifted her up, and carried her upstairs. After making sure she was safely in bed, he came downstairs. As he entered the living room, he felt an almost uncontrollable urge to wipe the self-satisfied smile from Steve’s face, as he sat there with his arm around Donna, but he was suddenly gripped by another coughing fit. “Jeez, you sound rough, Jon” said Steve, still smiling. “Go screw yourself!” snapped Jon, glaring at him through burning, red rimmed eyes. “Just showing a bit of neighbourly concern!” “Neighbourly concern, my arse!” was the cutting reply. “Well, you can take your neighbourly concern, and shove it up the orifice you spend most of your time talking out of!” “We’ve had a lovely day, haven’t we, Jon?” said Donna, trying to diffuse the situation. “Something wonderful happened! David called you daddy, didn’t he? He recognised you at last!” “I’m pleased for you” said Steve, trying to look sincere. “I didn’t want him to think I was his daddy.” “If you say so, Steve” said Jon, beginning to sound very weary. “Still, that’s one thing you can’t take away from me – you can’t take my children, no matter what you do. You may have taken my wife, but they’ll always be mine. It’s the best feeling in the world, when one of my children looks up at me, and says ‘I love you, daddy’. It’s a feeling you can’t describe, no matter how you try.” “I agree” said Steve, giving Donna a sideways glance. “Fatherhood is a blessing I can only imagine, but not for much longer!” “What do you mean?” said Jon, his voice strained. “What’s going on?” “You mean to say Donna hasn’t told you?” replied Steve, a cruel expression on his face. “I don’t need to take away your children, because I’ll soon have one of my own!” “I’m sorry, Jon” said Donna, her eyes filling with tears. “there never seemed to be a right time to tell you, but I’m pregnant!” “Congratulations” said Jon, staring straight ahead, his voice expressionless. “That’s not all” replied Steve, seemingly deriving pleasure from Jon’s obvious pain. “We wanted to ask you something. I’ve asked this lovely lady here if she’ll marry me, and she said yes!” “I’m sorry” said Donna, her voice shaking. “I’ve been trying to work out the best way to put this, but when it comes down to it, there’s only one way. I have to tell you outright – I want a divorce! I’m so sorry, Jon!” “No problem” he said, hanging on to his self-control with an iron grip. “Just tell me what I need to do, and I’ll do it. I hope you’ll both be very happy.” “Do you mean that?” said Donna, looking up at him. “That’s very generous of you.” “Of course. Why wouldn’t I? I just want to say one thing – you look after her. If you ever hurt her, or let any harm come to her, I’ll have you! I swear to God, I’ll do time for you…” Not wanting to give Steve any more satisfaction, he took a deep breath and regained his self-control, then he turned to Donna. “Be happy, Donna” he said, his voice raw with pain. “just be happy.” With that, he turned and walked out, without looking back. Donna looked at Steve, who then took her in his arms, and kissed her long and tenderly. As they lay there hours later, locked in each other’s arms, Donna could not help thinking how well Jon had taken the news. If she could have seen the lone figure holding on to the bars of the cemetery gates, sobbing, as he looked up at the night sky, pleading with Eileen to help him, she would have realised just how terribly, terribly wrong she was…..
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