After the tenth knock, when no one answered the door, Nancy concluded that the house was empty. She looked around and decided to approach the neighbours. She started at the house next door and rang the bell.
The door opened with a creak and Nancy’s eyes widened when Amanda stepped out from behind it.
‘You?’ – Nancy asked.
‘How…how…how did you find me?’ – Amanda stammered.
‘I was trying to find…my husband…’ – Nancy fell silent. ‘His other woman. I wanted to give her back her baby.’
A strange sadness flashed across Amanda’s face. ‘The woman who lived next door…died a few days ago. She had a heart attack when she found out about your accident. Emma is no longer alive.’
‘Wait…did you say Emma?’ – Nancy asked, shocked.
‘Yes,’ Amanda nodded. ‘Did you know her?’
‘Her last name was Warren?’
When Amanda nodded, Nancy lowered her head in embarrassment. ‘May…may I come in?’ – She asked. ‘There’s something I want to tell you about. I feel like I need to talk.’
Amanda opened the door wider, and Nancy entered. They settled into the living room. ‘Emma was a classmate of mine,’ Nancy began to reminisce about the past. ‘She was my friend. But I hurt her, and… Patrick…’
20 years ago…
Nancy and Patrick were standing in the corridor of the school. She was standing next to her locker when Patrick walked up to her.
‘Hi Nancy,’ he said quietly and she looked up at him.
‘I…I have something to tell you,’ Patrick added worriedly.
‘Yeah?’ – she smiled.
‘I…I’m in love with someone else, Nancy,’ he admitted. ‘I know you’ve been very kind and all, but I’m sorry.’
Nancy was stunned. ‘Tell me it’s a joke, Patrick,’ she shouted. ‘You can’t be serious!’
But Patrick was serious. He was madly in love with Emma, and Emma loved him too.
Nancy was so saddened that she came home in tears.
‘Honey, what’s wrong?’ – her mother knew right away that something had happened at school.
Nancy sobbed and told her how Patrick had broken up with her.
‘I want to break them up!’ – she screamed. ‘I won’t let them be together!’
‘Nancy, you can’t create your own happiness by destroying someone else’s,’ her mother advised. ‘Revenge is not an option. Forget him.’
But Nancy was filled with a desire for revenge.
Over the next few days, Nancy tried everything to keep Patrick and Emma apart – she started silly rumours, arranged random meetings where she showed off her newfound confidence, and even went so far as to send anonymous notes to try to arouse jealousy.
Nothing was helping, however. Emma seemed happy, completely absorbed in her world with Patrick, while Nancy remained aloof, her plans crumbling in vain.
But Nancy wasn’t the type to give up. One night she had a great idea to sow discord between Emma and Patrick.
‘Hi Nancy, how are you?’ – Nancy walked over to Patrick and the door was opened by his mum.
‘I’m fine, Mrs White. Is Patrick home?’
‘Yes, dear. I’ll get him right away.’
Patrick was stunned to see her on the doorstep. ‘Nancy? What’s wrong?’
‘I know this will come as a shock to you, Patrick, but…I…I’m…I’m pregnant!’ – she announced.
Patrick was dumbfounded and horrified. ‘What…but…are you sure?’
When she nodded, Patrick invited her into the house. She told him that she hadn’t told her parents yet because she was afraid. Nancy said her father would definitely object and force her to have an abortion. So she begged Patrick not to tell anyone about it and noticed how easily he succumbed to her lies.
Patrick was a responsible man. Nancy knew that. He took her hands in his and said: ‘I am the baby’s father, and I will take responsibility for our baby. And yes, don’t worry, this will stay between us.’
Present tense…
‘I used him. I lied to him. I wasn’t pregnant,’ Nancy told Amandra. ‘I was hurt and I couldn’t accept that I had lost him to Emma. So I told him a lie that changed everything. He was ready to drop everything, leave Emma and become…a father.’
‘Lies ruin everything, dear,’ Amanda shook her head. ‘And then what? He never found out the truth?’
‘He didn’t find out,’ Nancy admitted. ‘I kept playing the part, the morning sickness, the whole story. But after a couple of months, I…couldn’t go on. So I told him that the test was wrong, and that the doctor was wrong. And by then Emma had…left. She was broken and left town with her parents. Patrick and I stayed together. He never tried to get back to her again, never looked for her. We just got on with our lives. Or pretended to…’ – Nancy added, looking at the sleeping baby in her arms. She knew now that Patrick had gone back to Emma.
‘And I think it’s time to make up for what I couldn’t then,’ Nancy said and stood up.
She was about to leave Amanda’s house with the baby when the older woman stopped her.
‘What are you going to do with the baby?’ – Amanda asked.
Nancy turned and smiled at Amanda. ‘I’m going to raise her as my baby. Maybe that will help me get forgiveness from Patrick and Emma.’
Nancy kept her word. She raised little Katherine with love. When Katherine turned sixteen, Nancy told her her whole story. She expected Katherine to hate her. And she was prepared for that.
But Katherine smiled and said: ‘Nothing changes the way I feel about you, Mum. You raised me. You’ve been there for every bruise, every fever, every heartbreak. You’re my mum in every meaningful way.’
Nancy cried silently and hugged her daughter. Catherine’s words not only eased her heart, but made her believe that Emma and Patrick had forgiven her.