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Great Writing - Home > Extended > Three accounts of events - part 8
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Extended Work
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| Three accounts of events - part 8 | |
| By teddy | ||||||||||||||
| 11 February 2007 | ||||||||||||||
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This part hasn't been planned and is more of a draft at this stage. I decided to write it after taking in account Nina's advice of making Paul confess his feelings to someone...would love to know what you think abut it. Paul A week after Adi left the hospital, Paul decided it was time for little Vicky to meet her grandparents. Few days after he got permission from Adi and a list full of instructions of how to deal with unforeseen trip circumstances like wet nappies and sudden snivels, he and Vicky were comfortably seated in his big Jag on their way to his parents’ estate in Ashfridge. It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon with slacken flickers of sunshine abundantly spattering the windows of the car, which was obediently following the road markings to Kent. In her baby seat in the back of the car, Vicky was peacefully sleeping with her head sloped to one side, all to Paul’s relief. She was just getting used to him and it was not that long ago when she generously decided to stop all that nose twisting and brows puckering when he was picking her up. When the car finally slid along the narrow country lane guarded on both sides by mature oak trees, and the faded contours of the Old Oak Three mansion started to hazily shape up ahead, a well-known snugly feeling took over him: he was home. The car stopped in front of the automatically locked iron gates. Paul pressed the buzzer and waited for them to swing open. Once past them, the car pulled in front of the house, making the pebbles squashed underneath its wheels screech harshly. Paul got out of the car just as Sylvia was emerging through the opening front door. ‘Hello Sylvia, how are you?’ Paul smiled at the middle age woman, who was rushing towards him wiping her hands of the apron covering her front. ‘Paul, it’s so nice to see you. I’m very well, thank you. Do you need a hand with anything?’ ‘Errrmm…yes please,’ Paul said as he opened the back door, ready to fetch Vicky from her baby seat. He gently picked her up, but the sudden shift in her comfortable until then position and the outside crispy air made her open her eyes. Paul watched the frowning ready-to-cry face with worry. ‘Oh no, please Vicky, don’t,’ he mumbled. Vicky grudgingly eyed him for a moment, then changed her mind and copiously yawned a ‘I can’t be bothered to put a fuss with you right now, I’m just too tired for that’. She rested her head on his shoulder and plunged her thumb into her mouth. Paul sighed relieved and decided it was for the best to ignore one of the main items on Adi’s list. ‘If she starts sucking her thumb, please try to stop her.’ He turned to Sylvia, who was oddly staring at them. ‘Sylvia, this is my daughter Vicky,’ he said amused by the dumb look on her face. ‘Oh my God,’ she cupped her face into her hands in bemusement, ’but I …your parents have never said…’ ‘They couldn’t, Sylvia, they don’t know themselves yet.’ ‘The dining table is set for four people, they know you’re not coming alone, but I don’t think they’re expecting someone quite so small,’ she said, coming close to them. ‘Hello Vicky, I’m very pleased to meet you,’ she smiled at the little girl. Vicky glanced at her indifferently and carried on with the thumb-sucking business. ’Could you get her things from the back of the car?’ Paul handed his car keys over to Sylvia. ‘Sure,’ she said. With Vicky in his arms, Paul walked inside the house, heading for the living room from where he could hear voices coming through the ajar door. For quite some time he had tried to find the best possible way to divulge to his parents that they were the proud grandparents not of a brand new baby, but an eleven months old one. He thought inappropriate to break the news over the phone and also, when Adi was still in hospital, he really hoped he could bring them both along with him to Kent. When he realised that one of them wasn’t ready to make the trip yet, he decided the granddaughter issue must no longer be delayed. He rang his parents few days ago and announced them he was coming home that weekend. And that he was bringing someone with him. ‘Oh Paul, it was just about time. I was worried that we might die before seeing you settled down,’ his mum sighed at the other end of the phone. He couldn’t help but smiling. And there he was, in front of the living room door, ready to present Vicky to her grandparents. He was nervous. What would they say? How would they react? Well, there was only one way to find out. ‘Hello mum. Hello dad,’ he said as he stepped inside the room. Two pairs of eyes gazed at him and at the little girl bent in his arms, then at each other, then back at him. ‘Mum, dad, this is your granddaughter Vicky,’ he made the introductions before the confused eyes’ owners had a chance to say anything. ‘Vicky, this is your granddad, David,’ he bent his neck so he could see Vicky’s face before pointing at his dad, ‘and that is your grandma Lorraine,’ he moved his finger towards his mum. ‘Oh my God,’ his mum covered her mouth with her hand. His dad was just staring at them speechless. ‘But Paul,’ Lorraine was the first to speak, ‘how …I can’t understand.’ ‘I know this must be a shock for you, just as it was for me when I found out, but I’ll explain,’ Paul said, moving towards them. As if she knew they were talking about her, Vicky took her thumb out of her mouth and raised her head. Her eyes started examining the two new faces, which were curiously staring at her. Then suddenly she twisted around and, ignoring the woman, demandingly stretched her arms towards the man. ‘Go on dad, she wants you,’ Paul smiled. David had no other choice than to take her. ‘Hello little girl,’ he weakly said; it had been a very long time since he had last hold a baby in his arms and he wasn’t sure if he knew how to do that anymore. He looked at Paul, who was encouragingly smiling at them. Then his eyes lowered on Vicky’s face. ‘She’s got yours and Paul’s eyes, Lorraine,’ he glanced at his wife. ‘Just look at her,’ he turned to his right to allow Lorraine to assess his claim. ‘She’s so beautiful, Paul,’ Lorraine exclaimed, her eyes becoming suddenly wet. ‘Can I hold her?’ she eagerly pleaded. ‘Of course,’ Paul said contentedly. So fascinated his parents were with their granddaughter, they’d forgotten for a moment the weirdness of the situation. But Vicky had another idea: when Lorraine tried to fetch her, she turned around and tightly clung her arms around David’s neck, refusing to submit to her grandma’s request. ‘Just give her a bit of time, mum,’ Paul said, ‘to get used to you.’ ‘But she doesn’t know him either,’ Lorraine enviously pointed at her husband who was smirking at them, proudly holding his trophy. ‘And look at them.’ ‘Oh well, you know dad,’ Paul laughed, ‘he’s been always a charmer.’ ‘So Paul,’ his mum, once rejected, remembered about his promised explanation, ‘how did this happen? Why haven’t you told us until now? Let’s sit down and talk,’ she suggested. ‘Well, ok,’ Paul started, ‘I know this will sound quite odd. Two years ago Vicky’s mum and I had a relationship, but we split up before either of us knew Adi was pregnant. Unfortunately our departure wasn’t a friendly one and when she found out she was carrying my baby, Adi felt reluctant to tell me about it. It was all my fault, I behaved inexcusably and I scared her off. She actually tried to find me once, but I wasn’t available at the time, so she gave up. Until nearly two months ago when she decided she could no longer keep Vicky away from me. She was on her way to come and see me, on the train that crashed into Liverpool Street station last month. She suffered severe injuries and got rushed to the hospital.’ Paul’s voice weakened at that point; remembering the dreadful events was still quite painful. His parents looked at him alarmed. ‘No, she’s fine now, she made a full recovery, she was released from the hospital last week actually.’ Paul reassured them. ‘Anyway, Ge….I mean Adi’s current partner contacted me and told me about the accident and obviously about Vicky. I didn’t tell you straight away because it didn’t feel right while Adi’s condition was still critical. I wanted to discuss things with her first. I hope you’d understand.’ Paul finished, preparing himself to answer the awkward questions he was expecting to be raised. But, to his relief, they didn’t come. He had been always very closed to his mum and she had always trusted his judgement. As for his dad, he was too preoccupied with Vicky’s fondness of him. Paul wondered if he actually heard any of the words he had just said. He was sitting in the armchair holding Vicky on his lap. They were going through a photo album. ‘This is your dad when he graduated the architectural school. And these are your aunt Margaret, uncle Antony and your second cousins Phil and Jackie on a trip to Italy,’ he was explaining as Vicky was excitedly pointing at the pictures, gibbering words known only to her and, by the look of it, to her granddad. ‘Lorraine,’ David turned to his wife, ‘we need to transform one of the bedrooms into a nursery. I’ll call the builders in on Monday.’ ‘Paul,’ he then said, ‘I’m going to show Vicky the house if that’s ok.’ ‘Sure, dad,’ Paul smiled amused. ‘So tell me Paul,’ his mum asked when they were left on their own, ‘Vicky’s mum, who is she? Judging by her name, she is foreign.’ ‘She is,’ Paul confirmed. ‘And she doesn’t come from the background I know you would like her to. Her parents are working class and they’re definitely not wealthy. But she is …she’s just perfect, mum, caring, intelligent, beautiful; if you knew her, you wouldn’t be disappointed.’ ‘You must’ve loved very much, Paul. Is she the girl you were seeing when you stopped spending your weekends with us? I guessed back then that something was going on,’ Lorraine carried on. ‘She is indeed.’ Paul smiled. ‘You still love her, don’t you?’ ‘Yes, I do,’ Paul confessed. ‘She’s the only woman I’ve ever been in love with, mum.’ ‘Does she know that?’ ‘She does.’ ‘And? How does she feel about it?’ ‘I know she loves me too. But she’s just too loyal to the man she is with now,’ Paul bitterly said. ‘The partner you’ve mentioned? What has he got to say about all this?’ ‘It’s George, mum.’ ‘Pardon? Your friend, George Hamilton?’ his mum stared at him in disbelief. ‘Oh God, that would explain why…’ ‘It’s not what you think. They got together long after Adi and I split up, months after Vicky was born. Oh mum,’ Paul leaned forward and buried his head into her arms, ‘all this is tearing me apart,’ he suddenly burst out. ‘Every time I go to visit Vicky and see them together, I feel like someone’s sticking knives in my heart. I know it’s not fair, George has done nothing wrong, he’s actually looked after Adi and Vicky, but I can’t stop feeling he’s depriving me of things I ought to have. I hate him, mum, I really do. I can't help it.’ ‘Paul,’ his mum tenderly stroked his hair, ‘I’m so sorry, I wish you told me before. I can’t stand the thought of you going through all these on your own. But please, don’t give up hope. If she loves you as she says, she would see sense in the end. And she would come back to you.’ Paul and Vicky left the Old Oak Tree estate later that night, not before promising they would come and visit again very soon. On the way back to London, Vicky was happily dreaming in her baby seat about her brand new quite entertaining grandpa while a full of new hopes Paul was driving the car along the quiet roads.
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