She's a Woman

Aftermath: A Bit More of You

"Sweetheart?" said Mum's soft voice from the doorway.

I stayed silent, my head buried under the pillow, and pretended to be asleep.

"Georgia, love, I know you're awake."

I smiled to myself. Mum was no fool and could always tell when I tricking her. Normally I would have just laughed, sat up and invited her into my room. This time, however, I wasn't in the mood at all. I stayed where I was, hunched up in a ball, tears trickling down my face. I didn't want Mum to see her 'good, brave big girl' in such a pathetic state.

I just wanted to be alone with my thoughts.

It was so strange to think how quickly everything was changing. First we moved out of Grandpa's house to a significantly smaller flat halfway across town. Then I was enrolled in a new school where nearly everyone looked down on me. Now I was expected to like this... this... stranger?

"Georgia." Mum was now standing in my room, closing the door behind her. 

I still didn't move from my curled up position on the bed.

"Georgia, please speak to me. I'm worried about you."

"Well, I don't want to speak to you," I mumbled into my pillow.

I heard Mum sigh then the soft weight of her as she sat down on the edge of my bed. I felt her gently rub my back. She always used to do that when I was little. It always calmed me down. It didn't work this time. I was still as confused and miserable as ever.

"I'm sorry about all this, sweetheart," Mum murmured. "I didn't mean for things to go the way they did. I'm just as shocked as you are. I didn't -"

"I know you didn't mean anything, Mum," I interrupted, rolling over to face her. "I know none of this was your doing. Can't we just tell them to... y'know, leave?"

Mum sighed heavily. "I can't do that, and I wouldn't want to anyway. It's just been so long since I last saw him... This is a golden opportunity, Georgia."

"The gold is covered in corrosion," I said bitterly. "Oh, Mum, I don't want him to muscle in on our lives. I don't want anything else to change. Too much has happened already."

"I understand -"

"No, Mum! You don't understand!" I shouted, suddenly furious. "I don't want this new life! I want to go back to our old home and be just us again! I don't want this new flat, a new school, any new siblings, and I certainly don't want HIM around!"

"But Georgie," Mum said, sounding flustered, "he's your -"

"I KNOW who he is, and I don't care!" I yelled. "I don't WANT him!"

Mum was silent for several seconds, then she exhaled loudly and got to her feet. She walked to the door and placed her hand on the doorknob.

"You may not want him, Georgia," she said softly, "but I certainly do. He was the only man I ever truly loved, and I've been given an opportunity to love him again. I'm going to take it. Don't you think I deserve some happiness, dear?"

"Of course, but -"

"No buts," said Mum. "They're staying with us, and that's final."

With that, she opened the door and left my room, gently closing the door behind her. I was left there, alone in the dark, lying on a pile of rumpled bedclothes. I felt tears pricking my eyes but quickly blinked them away. It was pointless to cry over something that was beyond my control. Mum had made her argument quite clear and it was obvious I couldn't do anything about it.

George was staying with us, but there was no way he was ever going to be my dad...

(Read more in the heavily requested sequel to She's a Woman - titled A Bit More of You - that's coming next Wednesday!)