getting a wedding organised in a mad hurry, for nothing? I wonder what her mother will make of it, when she hears. She had to make all those dresses in record time, three full sized and two flower girls, not to mention the veil. It would have been so much easier on all of us if we had had time to plan properly. I could have got a much better outfit.”
“You might not have needed an outfit at all, Mum.” His mother looked at him, her eyebrows questioning. “No,” David continued, “I wouldn’t have got married. I wasn’t thinking of it at all.”
“But you were in love with Kathleen!”
“No. I don’t know. I didn’t get time to think about it. I don’t love her today, that’s for sure. How could I love such a cheat?”
“You are married to her. You will have to learn to love her. You should not have got yourself into a position where you could have got her pregnant. That is bad enough, you can’t be all holy about it now. You did wrong.”
“So did Kathleen. She…” David’s eyes were beginning to prickle at the injustice of it. It was Kathleen who had unzipped his trousers, put her hand…He broke off the train of thought as his balls tingled and the blood that wasn’t already on its way to his cock flooded his face.
“Well, there’s two of you in it so. And a baby coming, who has done no wrong and needs his parents to mind him. So come on, Kathleen is in the car,”
“Mum!”
“and you’re both coming back to Howth with me now for lunch and a good walk.”
David sighed. He knew his mother’s good walks. They would be out for hours and eat like monsters when they got back and everything would seem that bit simpler.
“Is Kay able for it? She might have morning sickness, she’s only five weeks.” He picked up his jacket from the floor and shook it out, before following his mother down to the car.
Chapter 12
It was a sultry afternoon in August and David was walking between his two jobs, trying to enjoy a few minutes of sunshine in the street before plunging into the gloom of the pub for the evening shift. By working every possible shift he could get both in the shop and the pub, he hoped he would be able to continue in College for his final year. The baby was due at the end of January, so there would be two terms to do after it arrived and it might be really tough to concentrate, but David reckoned it was worth it to try. ‘Nothing ventured, nothing gained’ his Dad had said and he would surely get a better job if he had a degree. And I’ll need the money, he thought sadly, for baby stuff, instead of that camping trip the lads are going on. Eejit, Dave, you are one great eejit. Of course, Kathleen’s life was changed too, but she was happy about it, she’d dropped out of her General Studies course without any regrets.
“There’s graffiti over the loo paper in the College ‘Ladies’. It says ‘General Studies degrees, help yourself’,” she had said, “so why bother? What would I do next anyway?”
He stopped on the bridge over the canal and looked down at the murky water, for once reflecting blue sky and one fluffy little cloud. The blue sky is Kath and the murky water is me, he thought sourly. She’s all fluffy clouds and giggles now, now that her tummy is swelling and her baby is on its way. “What I’ve always wanted” she says, “my own baby - imagine!” Her own baby. Not ours. Hers. No interest in her husband since she got the positive test. Twice. Only twice in three months. The lads teasing me all the time about the sex life I’m having and does she have a sister. When I even get to see the lads. Oh, heck, it’s five to. Better get inside. He lifted his face to the sun and walked over to the pub.
David was polishing glasses and hanging them up, when he heard his name called, jauntily, from the door. He looked across and there was Kathleen, her beautiful curtain of hair shining in the sunlight. She let the door close behind her and came over to the
“You might not have needed an outfit at all, Mum.” His mother looked at him, her eyebrows questioning. “No,” David continued, “I wouldn’t have got married. I wasn’t thinking of it at all.”
“But you were in love with Kathleen!”
“No. I don’t know. I didn’t get time to think about it. I don’t love her today, that’s for sure. How could I love such a cheat?”
“You are married to her. You will have to learn to love her. You should not have got yourself into a position where you could have got her pregnant. That is bad enough, you can’t be all holy about it now. You did wrong.”
“So did Kathleen. She…” David’s eyes were beginning to prickle at the injustice of it. It was Kathleen who had unzipped his trousers, put her hand…He broke off the train of thought as his balls tingled and the blood that wasn’t already on its way to his cock flooded his face.
“Well, there’s two of you in it so. And a baby coming, who has done no wrong and needs his parents to mind him. So come on, Kathleen is in the car,”
“Mum!”
“and you’re both coming back to Howth with me now for lunch and a good walk.”
David sighed. He knew his mother’s good walks. They would be out for hours and eat like monsters when they got back and everything would seem that bit simpler.
“Is Kay able for it? She might have morning sickness, she’s only five weeks.” He picked up his jacket from the floor and shook it out, before following his mother down to the car.
Chapter 12
It was a sultry afternoon in August and David was walking between his two jobs, trying to enjoy a few minutes of sunshine in the street before plunging into the gloom of the pub for the evening shift. By working every possible shift he could get both in the shop and the pub, he hoped he would be able to continue in College for his final year. The baby was due at the end of January, so there would be two terms to do after it arrived and it might be really tough to concentrate, but David reckoned it was worth it to try. ‘Nothing ventured, nothing gained’ his Dad had said and he would surely get a better job if he had a degree. And I’ll need the money, he thought sadly, for baby stuff, instead of that camping trip the lads are going on. Eejit, Dave, you are one great eejit. Of course, Kathleen’s life was changed too, but she was happy about it, she’d dropped out of her General Studies course without any regrets.
“There’s graffiti over the loo paper in the College ‘Ladies’. It says ‘General Studies degrees, help yourself’,” she had said, “so why bother? What would I do next anyway?”
He stopped on the bridge over the canal and looked down at the murky water, for once reflecting blue sky and one fluffy little cloud. The blue sky is Kath and the murky water is me, he thought sourly. She’s all fluffy clouds and giggles now, now that her tummy is swelling and her baby is on its way. “What I’ve always wanted” she says, “my own baby - imagine!” Her own baby. Not ours. Hers. No interest in her husband since she got the positive test. Twice. Only twice in three months. The lads teasing me all the time about the sex life I’m having and does she have a sister. When I even get to see the lads. Oh, heck, it’s five to. Better get inside. He lifted his face to the sun and walked over to the pub.
David was polishing glasses and hanging them up, when he heard his name called, jauntily, from the door. He looked across and there was Kathleen, her beautiful curtain of hair shining in the sunlight. She let the door close behind her and came over to the
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