"Good morning Mrs Johnson, my name's Olivia. I believe you're William's Mother!" She pointed out sharply. Mrs Johnson nodded in agreement.
"I am William's girlfriend-- ", she shrugged, "We've been dating for some months". The women's eyes widened in shock, Amelia folded her hands on her chest in response to the words she just heard.
"Surely, you're mistaken, my William has been married to Amelia for almost a year now!" Mrs Johnson corrected and directed Olivia's attention to Amelia.
"I'm aware of that Mrs Johnson. You see, when Will and I met he was still single, he said he was single, that his girlfriend-- Amelia, had broken up with him, she had left him. He was in a pretty bad shape when we met, he got his glow back while we were dating. We were young and crazy and I got pregnant, he knew of it, we went for the test together. We were both terrified and unprepared. So, I left Rye to live with my grandparents on a farm, I stayed there till I had the baby-- our daughter", she held the child closer, giving the listeners a hint that this was the baby she had. "But by the time I came back to Rye, I was told that Will had been married for almost a year now to Amelia" she added.
"Oh! Is that how it went?" Mrs Johnson asked. Olivia nodded, "Will?", she raised one of her brows.
"Yes Mum that's how it went". Will sighed.
"Well alright, what do you want now?" She turned to Olivia.
"I want to be William's wife, it's what I've always wanted", Olivia replied.
"You silly girl!" Mrs Johnson smiled and danced her index finger in front of Olivia's face. "That, is impossible my dear. What you ask of us cannot be granted, William is a husband now, he doesn't need another wife", she paused and moved closer to Olivia, her eyes went down on the sleeping baby. "She's beautiful! What's her name?" The old lady asked breathlessly.
"Audrey, her name's Audrey".
Monica and Viola glided through the floor and stood in front of Olivia at once, all eyes were fixed on the baby.
"Wow!"
"She gorgeous!".
"Audrey, my grandchild!" Mrs Johnson said proudly. They all smiled and seemed to forget the issue on ground, except William who stood by the open door, he hadn't moved an inch since, and of course Amelia too, her face was expressionless, she stood there-- hands folded, motionless and speechless. Anything amongst a thousand other things could've been going through her young heart at that moment.
"Be assured, dear Olivia, that you won't cater for the child alone. What's done is done you can't force things to happen now. If you had stayed then or at least had involved William during the pregnancy, maybe things would've turned out differently. She's my grandchild, I too want to be in her life, undoubtedly!" She paused and stepped back.
"Come William!" William moved to her side. "So this is what the noise was all about, eh?"
"Yes Mum, I'm sorry",
"Don't be sorry to me, be sorry to your wife, how must she feel right now?" She turned in Amelia's direction searching through her face. Amelia only fixed her eyes on the floor, they were full of sadness. William too, dared not look in her way, his eyes remained fixed on the brown baby. The thought of being a father, jumped his heart. Though he was unprepared, he was ready to try.
"Tell her William, tell her you'll take care of her and your daughter", Mrs Johnson spoke out.
William looked up into Olivia's eyes and gestured, "It's a promise Olivia, I'll set up an apartment for both of you, I'll provide, I'll be there to spend time with my daughter, please!" He waited.
"I've always loved you William, I know you'll fulfill your promise, I know you'll be a good Father to her, but that's not the way I want my daughter's life to be, I want her to be complete. She shouldn't have to see her father from afar, she shouldn't have to deal with a divided home, she doesn't deserve that emotional stress. We, did this to her, we, brought her into this mess. I want her to grow in a house where her parents are present, she needs to have a home", she paused and swallowed; searching for the right words to say, her lips shivered.
"I grew up without my dad, though he was around my mum and I were not his main focus or responsibility, he had his other family. I had to share my father with my half siblings and it affected me in many ways. I spent almost all my teenage years away from my Mother, I brought her sadness. I was hurting everyday because my dad wasn't always there especially when I needed him the most. The pain led me into the wrong side of life, and now I'm in thesame situation my Mother was. So William, Mrs Johnson, Amelia", she looked into each one's face accordingly. "When I say I want to be William's wife, I'm not doing it for myself, it's for Audrey! She deserves to be happy, she deserves a home! I don't want her to habour jealousy, anger, pain and longing in her heart just as I had. It's not the best person to be, I promise!".
"Whoa!" Viola exhaled, "This is heavy, what a mess you've got yourself into, brother!" She mockingly said and left the room. Amelia unfolded her hands and breathed out loudly, she walked away slowly without a word.
"Olivia you are right, Audrey deserves a home", Monica added and patted Olivia on her shoulder and exited the room.
"Truth be told, William, she's right, I too want my grandchild to be happy, she's innocent. I'm an old woman obviously. I'm your Mother, but I've never made decisions for you or your siblings, I believe you'll do the right thing son. You, Olivia and Amelia have to come to an agreement on this. Whatever decision the three of you make, I'll stand by it". Mrs Johnson clapped her palms once-- silently. She kissed the baby on her head and followed the others out of the room. Silence grew between the two people in the room, different emotions were created in the hall that December morning.
"I don't know what to say right now Olivia, I'm so lost!", William finally said, while his thumb and index finger pinched his temple, his head titled upwards and his eyes closed in between his fingers, the other hand was positioned on his waist.
"I'll leave you and Amelia to talk about it or uh-- to think about it, I don't know, but just make a decision fast, I'll be back and this time, with trouble!" In less than ten seconds, she was out of the room into the melting snow.