"I can't wait to show Daniel off to everyone," Darlene said to John as he drove them to the church for their baby's christening. "And to show everyone we're back on track." She couldn't help feeling smug after her conversation with Dale, glad that things weren't so promising for Rosalind.
John's fingers tightened around the steering wheel. "I thought the point was to welcome Daniel into the kingdom of god or something."
She laughed slightly too long. "It is and it's also a chance to show off our family to all those people who doubted we'd make it."
"Who cares what anyone else thinks?"
"I do," she said pushing her bottom lip out. "And I want Rosalind especially to know it."
"Give it a rest," he said wearily. "Can't we have one day where we don't talk about her."
"That's easy for you to say," she said scowling. "You brought her into our marriage and I've had to suffer the consequences so if I want to talk about her I will."
He remained silent as he pulled into the parking lot, stopping the car near the entrance to the church. "Darlene, I don't want to fight with you today, and not in front of the kids." He glanced at Junior sat in the back seat. "But don't kid yourself that I haven't suffered as well."
She snorted. "How? How have you suffered?"
"I nearly lost you and Junior, and I'd have lost Daniel as well. I lost Ro..." He broke off. "I nearly lost everything."
"You were going to say you lost Ros," she said feeling like she might actually vomit.
"No I wasn't," he said rapidly. "I wasn't thinking, I didn't think we'd be having this conversation today."
"But you are upset about Rosalind," she said forcing herself to speak quietly.
"No, of course not," he whispered back. "I'm sorry we're no longer friends, all of us I mean. That's the only way in which I miss her, miss them, Ros and Dale."
Yeah right, he was never friends with Dale.
"Come on," he said speaking normally again. "We should go inside, everyone will be waiting."
~~~
Darlene looked around the crowded hall, where they were having the reception, trying to pick out Charlotte. They'd barely spoken the past few weeks as she'd been preoccupied planning the christening, or rather the party afterwards, and Charlotte had been moving into her apartment. She'd tried calling but they always seemed to miss each other. As she scanned the room her eyes fell on Louis, sat next to some redhead, possibly a cousin of Johnny's. She grimaced as the redhead suddenly laughed uproariously, throwing her hair over her shoulder. Talk about attention-seeking.
"Who's that woman sat next to Louis?" she asked John, interrupting his conversation with his dad.
"My cousin Jessie." He followed her eyes. "I asked her to keep him company so he wouldn't spend the day moping over Charlotte."
"You are so insensitive," she said holding her head in her hands. "How do you think Lottie's gonna feel watching him spend the afternoon chatting up another woman?"
"Frankly, he looks bored," John said leaning closer to her. "And besides, she dumped him, she can't expect him to wait around forever."
"Yeah, I guess she can't." She stood up, brushing her dress down, pleased to be back into figure-hugging clothes. "I'm going to go and say hello, I'll be back in a minute." Ignoring John's protests she walked over to the table where Louis was sat and stood in front of him.
"Hi," she said loudly to get their attention.
"Hey," Louis said looking up, his face relieved.
"Can I have a word?" she asked giving Jessie the side-eye.
"Yeah, sure," he said, hastily standing up and following her across the room to the drinks table.
She poured herself a drink, ignoring the food that was on offer. "What are you playing at? You're never gonna get Lottie back flirting with some bimbo."
Louis scoffed. "She latched onto me, I've been trying to get rid of her." He looked across the room, his gaze resting on Charlotte. "Look it's over with her, I've tried and tried but I'm getting nowhere."
"So you're just gonna throw in the towel after all these months," she said crossing her arms over her chest. "You know she's had a hell of a lot to deal with. The divorce, that dumbass complaint, finding somewhere to live." She counted them off on her fingers, "Plus just getting her head around everything."
"That's what I was telling myself," he admitted his eyes still on Charlotte. "But she keeps pushing me away, I'm making her unhappy and that's the last thing I want. I'd rather she be happy with someone else than miserable with me."
"And that tells me how much you love her," Darlene said softly. "Don't walk away now." She looked over to where Charlotte had been sitting but she was no longer there. "Look I'm gonna go and find her, why don't you go talk to Johnny and let the praying-mantis latch onto another victim."
Louis laughed, "Okay, see you later."
~~~
Charlotte splashed water on her face in the bathroom, trying to alleviate the low level of nausea she'd felt all day. She patted her skin dry and then applied a coat of lipstick trying to make herself look halfway human.
"Hey, are you okay?" Darlene asked appearing behind her. "I've been looking for you all afternoon."
"I'm fine." She raked a brush through her hair making a mental note to get her roots done. "I've been catching up with Judy and Tom, and you know how she goes on and on."
"Don't I just," Darlene said rolling her eyes. "It's like she's the only person who ever got married." She frowned cocking her head to one side. "You look kinda pale, I hope you're not neglecting yourself now you've moved out of Sam's place."
Charlotte winced at the implied criticism before telling herself not to be so sensitive. "I'm fine, it's just..." She paused, she should keep her mouth shut but she had to tell someone before she went insane. "Can you keep a secret?"
"Of course!"
She took a deep breath. "As crazy as it sounds, I think I might be pregnant."
Darlene squealed. "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god."
"I know," she said flatly not sharing Darlene's excitement. "I don't see how I can be after what the doctor said but I've got all the signs. Tiredness, nausea, mood swings." She shook her head. "I guess it could be stress."
"When did you last have a period?"
"Before I went on vacation with Louis," she said biting her lip.
"That's over gotta be at least three months ago." Darlene reached her hands out. "Can I feel your stomach?"
Charlotte backed up against the sink. "Like you're a doctor?"
"It wasn't that long ago I was three months pregnant, I know what I'm looking for."
She nodded and Darelene gently pressed her hands against her, umming and ahhing like she knew what she was doing.
"So what's your verdict?" she asked impatiently.
"Unless you've eaten a shitload of cupcakes I'd say there's a little bump," Darlene declared triumphantly.
"I know," she admitted running her hands over her loose-fitting dress. "I can't believe I haven't miscarried already." Part of her had spent the past month praying that she would.
"The doctor said you were at risk of early miscarriage," Darlene said slowly, her eyebrows furrowing. "I'd say three months isn't classed as early."
She looked in the mirror despondently. "What am I going to do?"
"You have to tell Louis." Darlene reached out and pulled her into a hug. "Lottie this is wonderful news! The only reason you two aren't together is that you thought you couldn't have any more children."
"That's not the only reason, it's more than that." She disentangled herself from Darlene's arms feeling suffocated. "I can't tell him, it wouldn't be fair. He'll think I trapped him."
"No, he won't, these things happen."
"I told him we didn't need to use contraception." She felt face flush. "What if I said that cos I wanted to see what would happen? What if I was hoping to get pregnant all along?"
Darlene waved her hand dismissively. "Oh, who cares. Go tell him and get back together."
"The last time I looked he seemed otherwise entertained," she said feigning indifference. "I guess he's going for gingers now."
Darlene started laughing. "Ginger crashed and burned, he's yours for the taking."
"I doubt he'd want to get back together after the way I treated him," she admitted remembering how she'd been deliberately cruel and hurtful. "I said some terrible things to him."
"He'll forgive you, I know he will," Darelene insisted. "You can always blame your hormones."
She smiled ruefully. "Even if he does, getting together with someone cos you're pregnant is a recipe for disaster."
Darlene blanched. "Gee, thanks a lot."
"I didn't mean you and John," she said quickly. "I was talking about me and Nick."
"I know." Darlene's voice was subdued, her earlier excitement gone. "But you could be talking about me and Johnny, we've had loads of ups and downs. To be honest, if I hadn't fallen pregnant with Junior, I'm not sure we'd have ever got married. I think he'd have tried to get back with Ros." She sighed, her mouth turning down. "He did try to get Rosalind back."
"Has something happened?" Charlotte asked tentatively.
Darlene shook her head. "We had a silly row on the way here about the affair. He started to say something about how he'd lost Ros, almost like he regretted it or something."
Charlotte gaped at her. "He probably meant he regretted the affair. You were arguing, he probably didn't articulate himself properly."
"I don't know," Darlene said biting her lip. "It's like Rosalind's a scab we can't stop picking."
"I'm sure Ros would love that description of herself," Charlotte spluttered.
"It suits her," Darlene said with a small smile. "But let's forget about her for now. What are you going to do about this baby you're having?"
Charlotte swallowed, her throat constricting. "I have absolutely no idea."
~~~
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