Read Online The Wedding Invite (Lakeview) (Lakeview Contemporary Romance Book 6) by Melissa Hill - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Melissa Hill
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she thought grimacing. Her daughter’s arrival had put paid to that, as she’d done to most things.
When was the last time she had taken a holiday? Not since Kerry was born, that was for sure. She and Jamie used to take at least two trips abroad a year – winter in the Canaries, and then two weeks somewhere further afield – the Caribbean, the Red Sea and one wonderful time in the Maldives. And of course soccer weekends in England. She and Jamie’s shared passion for football meant that they went to a game at least three times a year.
But one fateful morning had changed all that; the morning that Helen discovered the blue line on her pregnancy test.
Throughout their six-year relationship, she and Jamie had never spoken seriously about children. At their age, there was no need. They were too busy spending their healthy salaries on impulsive weekends away, romantic meals and nights out in the pub with other equally childless couples. Nobody in their circle of friends had even discussed children. Why would they? There was too much fun to be had; they were all in their mid-twenties and enjoying life to the full. Who in their right mind would trade in all that they had for a life of dirty nappies, sleepless nights and shapeless clothes?
Not Helen, that was for sure. She had never been particularly maternal, unlike Laura and Nicola, who could stand cooing over a newborn baby for hours on end.
It wasn’t that she didn’t like children; it was just that to her they represented an entirely different way of life, one that Helen wasn’t partial to. Yes, babies were cute and cuddly and all the rest of it, but they were also loud, demanding and had a tendency to – without warning – project vomit three feet across a room. She and Jamie could start thinking about that kind of thing after they were married, long after. Luckily Jamie felt the same way.
Yet, a few months after she and Jamie bought the apartment together (and had spent one glorious week christening every piece of furniture, never mind every room ), Helen began feeling different. She felt faint, light-headed and weak and even worse, Jamie pointed out that she had put on weight. At work, she was disinterested, listless and couldn’t make a sale to save her life. Helen then confessed to Laura that at the age of twenty-five, she worried she was heading for burn-out.
“Maybe you’re pregnant,” Laura had offered artlessly and Helen nearly had a stroke there and then.
As did Jamie, when Helen did a positive home-pregnancy test and soon after a doctor cheerfully informed him that his girlfriend was indeed pregnant.
“What the hell happened?” he accused her as they left the surgery.
And that was the beginning of the end.
Helen briefly considered termination, but knew that she would never be able to go through with that. Anyway she told herself, in time maybe they might get used to the idea. Maybe it might be the best thing that ever happened to them. They might even end up getting married as a result. So Helen resolved to get on with it and hope for the best.
Jamie however, had other ideas. There was no question of him getting used to the idea. Throughout her pregnancy he couldn’t even look at Helen, let alone get close to her.
She had had a difficult pregnancy, which to her felt more like a terminal illness than a so-called ‘blessing’. The last few months were spent in bed able to do little else but watch Jamie become more and more resentful towards her, and what she had become.
He began to go out in the evenings, leaving her alone in the apartment, and on the evening Helen rang him in the middle of a poker game with the lads to announce that her waters had broken, she knew by his face when he came home that he had begun to hate her.
It wasn’t any better after Kerry was born. The baby had some sort of problem which meant that she couldn’t keep any milk down, and spent most of the day – and night – screaming. For the first four months of
When was the last time she had taken a holiday? Not since Kerry was born, that was for sure. She and Jamie used to take at least two trips abroad a year – winter in the Canaries, and then two weeks somewhere further afield – the Caribbean, the Red Sea and one wonderful time in the Maldives. And of course soccer weekends in England. She and Jamie’s shared passion for football meant that they went to a game at least three times a year.
But one fateful morning had changed all that; the morning that Helen discovered the blue line on her pregnancy test.
Throughout their six-year relationship, she and Jamie had never spoken seriously about children. At their age, there was no need. They were too busy spending their healthy salaries on impulsive weekends away, romantic meals and nights out in the pub with other equally childless couples. Nobody in their circle of friends had even discussed children. Why would they? There was too much fun to be had; they were all in their mid-twenties and enjoying life to the full. Who in their right mind would trade in all that they had for a life of dirty nappies, sleepless nights and shapeless clothes?
Not Helen, that was for sure. She had never been particularly maternal, unlike Laura and Nicola, who could stand cooing over a newborn baby for hours on end.
It wasn’t that she didn’t like children; it was just that to her they represented an entirely different way of life, one that Helen wasn’t partial to. Yes, babies were cute and cuddly and all the rest of it, but they were also loud, demanding and had a tendency to – without warning – project vomit three feet across a room. She and Jamie could start thinking about that kind of thing after they were married, long after. Luckily Jamie felt the same way.
Yet, a few months after she and Jamie bought the apartment together (and had spent one glorious week christening every piece of furniture, never mind every room ), Helen began feeling different. She felt faint, light-headed and weak and even worse, Jamie pointed out that she had put on weight. At work, she was disinterested, listless and couldn’t make a sale to save her life. Helen then confessed to Laura that at the age of twenty-five, she worried she was heading for burn-out.
“Maybe you’re pregnant,” Laura had offered artlessly and Helen nearly had a stroke there and then.
As did Jamie, when Helen did a positive home-pregnancy test and soon after a doctor cheerfully informed him that his girlfriend was indeed pregnant.
“What the hell happened?” he accused her as they left the surgery.
And that was the beginning of the end.
Helen briefly considered termination, but knew that she would never be able to go through with that. Anyway she told herself, in time maybe they might get used to the idea. Maybe it might be the best thing that ever happened to them. They might even end up getting married as a result. So Helen resolved to get on with it and hope for the best.
Jamie however, had other ideas. There was no question of him getting used to the idea. Throughout her pregnancy he couldn’t even look at Helen, let alone get close to her.
She had had a difficult pregnancy, which to her felt more like a terminal illness than a so-called ‘blessing’. The last few months were spent in bed able to do little else but watch Jamie become more and more resentful towards her, and what she had become.
He began to go out in the evenings, leaving her alone in the apartment, and on the evening Helen rang him in the middle of a poker game with the lads to announce that her waters had broken, she knew by his face when he came home that he had begun to hate her.
It wasn’t any better after Kerry was born. The baby had some sort of problem which meant that she couldn’t keep any milk down, and spent most of the day – and night – screaming. For the first four months of
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