Kit looked up at her uncomprehendingly. ‘Well … that’s okay, isn’t it?’
‘No, it’s not! You can’t be here!’
‘What?’ He laughed in surprise. ‘Oh, are you afraid she’ll think we shacked up last night? Just tell her I slept on the sofa. It has the advantage of being true.’ He shrugged unconcernedly and went back to his cake.
‘No!’ Romy whisked the plate away, leaving his fork hovering in midair. ‘It’s not that. ‘You just … you seriously can’t be here when she comes.’
‘Why not?’ He frowned.
‘She – she doesn’t like you.’
‘Oh, come on,’ he said, reaching to take the plate from her hand. Romy moved it farther away, extending her arm fully to hold it out of his reach. ‘That was ages ago. Let me stay and meet her and she’ll see how well I turned out.’
‘No, you have to go!’ Romy said urgently.
‘But that’s ridiculous. I’m sure you’re overreacting. I mean, it’s not as if I’m trying to defile her only daughter anymore, is it?’
‘Well … about that …’ Romy chewed her thumb, breathing shallowly.
‘What?’
‘Look, I’ll explain later,’ she said, tugging at his arm to pull him out of the chair. Fortunately, he helped her by standing up. She grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair, stuffed it into his hand and started guiding him towards the door. But it was too late. She heard a key in the door and her mother’s light step in the hallway.
‘Shit! You’ll have to hide.’ She turned Kit around and started shoving him towards her bedroom. It was like trying to push a tractor.
‘Romy?’ She spun around to see her mother standing in the doorway, carrying a sleeping Luke in his car seat. Damn!
She sighed, her arms going limp, releasing Kit. ‘Hi, Mum,’ she said defeatedly.
Her mother’s eyes were popping out of her head as she took in Kit and the breakfast things on the table. ‘Well, well, well – Kit Masterson!’
‘Hello, Mrs Fitzgerald.’ He smiled, giving her a little wave.
She stood there, looking between Romy and Kit with a look of wonderment until her attention was drawn by Luke gurgling and stirring in his seat.
‘Well, I’m very glad to see you, Kit,’ she said, placing the car seat on the floor and bending to unstrap Luke and lift him out. ‘Better late than never, right?’ She smiled down at the wriggling baby in her arms and then walked straight up to Kit. ‘Why don’t you sit down and I’ll give him to you to hold?’
‘Oh, no, that’s not – I mean I’m not very—’
‘Go on, he won’t bite. You’ll be fine. It’s about time you two got acquainted.’ She continued to advance towards Kit, nudging him towards the chair until he had no choice but to flop down into it.
‘Oh well, all right then. Just for a minute …’ Kit looked so terrified as her mother carefully handed Luke to him that Romy was almost tempted to giggle – except this situation wasn’t funny.
‘There!’ Her mother straightened, smiling down warmly at Kit and Luke. ‘You’re a natural,’ she said encouragingly, despite the fact that Kit was holding Luke like he was a ticking bomb about to go off any second. ‘You know, he’s the spit of you,’ she continued, looking down at Kit, who thankfully had his head bent.
‘Yes, I know!’ Romy said brightly. ‘He’s the image of me.’ Kit shot her a quizzical look – probably wondering why she was behaving like a nutcase.
‘I didn’t mean—’
‘I know what you meant, Mum. But look at the time! Thanks for minding Luke, but you don’t have to hang around here with us. Aren’t you meant to be meeting Maeve for coffee?’
‘Oh, I’ve plenty of time,’ she said, waving away Romy’s protests. ‘She’s always late anyway. So, are you home for a holiday?’ she asked Kit.
‘No, I’ve moved back – for the moment anyway.’
‘Oh, that’s great! I’m really glad to hear it.’
Romy was aware of Kit looking nervously down at Luke as if waiting for instructions about what he should do next. ‘Here, let me take him,’ she said, bending towards him, but her mother held her back.
‘Romy, you have to give Kit and Luke a chance to bond. You’ve had him to yourself for three months. Kit’s only seeing him for the first time today. You just have to give them time.’ She folded her arms, looking down fondly at Kit and Luke. ‘He’s great, isn’t he?’ she said to Kit.
‘Brilliant!’ Kit, feeling the weight of Mrs Fitzgerald’s gaze and clearly feeling something was expected of him, pulled Luke up towards his face. ‘Um … say Mama,’ he quavered uncertainly to Luke, who rolled his head around a little and gurgled, his tongue rolling out of his mouth.
‘Ma-ma,’ Kit tried again, enunciating each syllable clearly.
‘He’s only three months old, Kit,’ Romy’s mother said.
‘He’s not talking yet,’ Romy clarified.
‘Oh, is that … I mean is he … okay?’
‘Yes, it’s perfectly normal,’ Romy told him, bending and scooping Luke out of his arms, to his obvious relief.
‘I’m sorry, I don’t know much about babies,’ Kit addressed Romy’s mother.
‘Ah well, you’ve plenty of time to learn,’ she said. ‘You’ve just got some time to make up with him.’
‘But I wasn’t—’
Mrs Fitzgerald put up a hand to silence him. ‘Don’t worry, Kit, there’ll be no recriminations from me. I know there was a pair of you in it. I’m just glad you’re here now. I’d never say anything, but I always hoped …’ she trailed off, smiling at Romy. ‘I think it’ll be the best thing for Luke, having you here.’
‘Mrs Fitzgerald, I—’
‘Call me Marian. We’re going to be seeing a lot of each other from now on, aren’t we? Okay,’ she said with a sigh, glancing at her watch, ‘I really should get going. Sorry I can’t stay longer, but I’m sure we’ll see each other again soon.’ She bent and gave a startled Kit a kiss on the forehead, kissed her daughter and grandson goodbye with a quick ‘talk later’ to Romy and strode out.
The stunned silence that followed was broken only by Luke’s intermittent gurgles.
‘What the hell was that all about?’ Kit said finally. ‘I thought you said she didn’t like me! She kissed me!’
‘I know. That was a bit weird.’
‘And why did she want me to hold … Whatsisface?’ he asked, waving towards Luke. ‘Why would she want me to bond with your baby?’
So many questions, and only one answer. There was nothing else for it – she was just going to have to tell him the truth.
‘Yeah, sorry about that,’ she said, holding Luke in one arm while she pulled out a chair with the other and sat down opposite Kit. ‘I have to tell you something … and you’re going to go apeshit, which is perfectly understandable.’
Kit looked freaked out. ‘Oh Christ, you’re not dying and leaving the baby to me, are you?’
‘What?’ Romy spluttered with laughter. ‘No! God … of course not, you dope.’
‘Good. Phew! That’s a relief.’
‘That I’m not dying or that you’re not getting the baby in my will?’
‘Both,’ he grinned.
‘Not that you wouldn’t be the obvious choice, of course. If I was dying and looking to leave Luke with someone, the first person who’d spring to mind would be that bloke I went out with in school who I haven’t seen in yonks.’
‘Okay, okay. I just panicked. So …?’ He looked at her expectantly.
She took a deep breath. ‘The thing is … it’s just – Mum thinks … shethinksyou’reLuke’sfather.’ She thought if she said it really fast it might go better, like ripping off leg wax.
‘She … what? Why on earth would she think that?’
‘Um, because … I kind of told her you were.’ She winced,
waiting for him to go ballistic on her. ‘But before you say anything,’ she rushed on when he remained silent, ‘don’t worry. I’m goin
g to straighten her out.’
‘But – but –’ Kit stammered, struggling to find words. ‘Why would you tell her that?’
‘Because … I didn’t want to tell her the truth – which is that I don’t know who Luke’s father is.’
‘You don’t?’
She shook her head. ‘No. No idea.’ She watched his face, trying to read his expression. ‘Are you shocked?’
‘Well,’ he frowned, ‘not shocked exactly, but … yeah, actually, I am kind of shocked. It just doesn’t seem like … you.’
‘It’s not like me. Honest!’ She smiled. ‘I haven’t turned into some heinous über-slut since you left. It was just this one time. I was all over the place—’
‘Hang on. If it was just one time, then how come you don’t know who it was?’
‘Oh, it was at this party where everyone was wearing masks – and then later I was blindfolded—’ she trailed off, blushing.
‘Long story,’ she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. ‘Anyway, it happened and I got pregnant, and I just couldn’t face telling Mum that I hadn’t a clue who the father was. I couldn’t bear to disappoint her like that.’
Her mother had characteristically respected Romy’s wishes and not asked any questions – until one day she had broken down and admitted that Romy’s silence on the subject had led her to imagine the worst. She didn’t want a name or details, she just wanted to know that Romy hadn’t been raped. So, horrified that she had been unknowingly causing her mother such anxiety, Romy had told her a lie to reassure her. She told her Luke’s father was someone she had known for a long time, someone she had loved, who now lived abroad …
‘I didn’t exactly tell her it was you, but I led her in that direction and let her come to that conclusion.’
‘But why did you pick me?’
‘Because you were safely out of the way – or so I thought,’ she added, flashing him an accusing look. ‘You weren’t supposed to come back here – ever.’
‘Tell me about it,’ Kit said glumly. ‘But how could she have believed that? I mean we haven’t seen each other in years. I live in New York; you live in Dublin. She does know how babies are made?’
Romy sighed. ‘She knew you were home last Hallowe’en for your dad’s sixtieth. She heard it on some ladies-who-lunch grapevine or whatever. Anyway, she was on my case to look you up – kept telling me how well you’d done for yourself, what a catch you’d be,’ she smiled at him teasingly. ‘So I pretended I had – looked you up. Well, not exactly looked you up – I wouldn’t want to look desperate, after all. But I pretended I bumped into you, and coupled with the other things I’d said about Luke’s father … well, she kind of put two and two together. And I let her.’
‘So does everyone think I’m his father?’
‘No, I only told my mother – and I swore her to secrecy.’
‘And you trust her?’
‘Yes, absolutely. She’s very honourable like that. As far as she’s concerned, it’s my secret to tell.’
‘So why didn’t you – look me up?’ Kit asked.
Romy shrugged. ‘I figured if you wanted to see me you knew where I was. You could have called.’
‘Right back at you,’ he said, cocking an eyebrow challengingly.
‘But you were the one coming and going. I was here all the time.’ She tried not to show that she had been hurt that he had never bothered to contact her when he had been home. It would have been nice to see him now and then. ‘How was I to know when you were home?’
‘I don’t know – through your mother’s ladies-who-lunch grapevine?’
She laughed, relaxing. ‘Touché.’
‘I wish I had kept in touch. I did think about calling you sometimes, when I was home. But I guess I was afraid.’
‘Of?’
He shrugged. ‘That it wouldn’t be the same.’
‘Afraid you wouldn’t like me anymore?’
He smiled, shaking his head. ‘Maybe afraid you wouldn’t like me.’
They were interrupted by Luke, who started to cry, his small whimpers building up to a deafening crescendo as he squirmed in Romy’s arms.
‘I think he’s hungry,’ Romy said.
‘Oh!’ Kit’s eyes darted around in panic. ‘You’re not going to—’
‘What?’
‘You know – feed him?’
‘Of course I’m going to feed him.’ She got up and went to the fridge, taking out a bottle she had made up that morning.
‘Oh, right,’ Kit sighed in relief as she put the bottle in the microwave. ‘For a minute there, I thought you were going to whip out your tit.’
‘And how do you think my mother fed him last night? Actually, don’t tell me – I don’t want to know. Or did you just think I’d let him starve for the night so I could have a party?’
‘I didn’t think. I mean, jeez, I don’t know how babies work.’
‘Well, maybe you’d better find out in case someone decides
to leave you one in their will.’
‘Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. Anyway, you could have used one of those milking machines.’
Romy rolled her eyes. ‘Cows have milking machines. Human beings have breast pumps.’
‘Potato, pot-ah-to.’
Luke was sucking contentedly on the bottle, and Romy sat down again. ‘Anyway,’ she said, ‘I’m sorry I pretended you were the father.’
‘So I’m a shit who abandoned you when you were pregnant! No wonder your mother doesn’t like me.’
‘No, not at all. You didn’t know. I never told you about Luke.’
‘God, that’s a bit cold, isn’t it?’
‘No, it’s just … sensible. It made sense. There wasn’t really anything between us, and I didn’t want to trap you. I didn’t want you to be with us just because of a split condom. You had a life abroad and I was happy to raise Luke on my own.’
‘Weren’t you ever going to tell me?’
‘No,’ she admitted. ‘Mum thought I should, but …’ She shrugged. ‘I decided it was for the best if you didn’t know.
‘Huh!’ Kit appeared well and truly flabbergasted. ‘You should write movies or something. You’ve really thought of everything.’
‘Mmm. Except you moving home.’ She smiled wryly at him, chewing her lip. ‘But, like I said, don’t worry about it. I’ll come clean.’ Luke had guzzled the whole bottle, and his eyes were drooping as she pulled it from his mouth and wiped his face with his bib. ‘I’ll tell Mum everything the next time I see her.’
‘But won’t she think you’re a heinous über-slut?’
‘That’s my problem,’ she said, trying to sound tougher than she felt. ‘Besides, I don’t have to tell her the whole truth. I can just tell her she got the wrong end of the stick about you. I only ever hinted that it was you anyway.’ She got up and laid Luke gently in his Moses basket.
‘You know, maybe you don’t have to tell her anything.’
She spun around. ‘But I can’t let her go on thinking you’re Luke’s father.’
‘I don’t mind.’
‘You don’t?’ She looked at him in amazement as she sat down opposite him again. He really did seem remarkably calm. She had expected her revelation to unleash a shit-storm; instead, Kit looked perfectly relaxed, leaning back in his chair, smiling at her, his hands crossed behind his head.
‘It’s the least I can do,’ he said, smiling. ‘I mean, I landed you in it by coming home.’
‘Don’t be silly. You have a perfect right to move home. You weren’t to know I was making up slanderous stories about you. No,’ she said firmly, ‘I got myself into this mess and I’ll
get myself – and you – out of it.’
‘Well, it’s up to you. But if you want to let your mother go on thinking I’m the father, that’s fine by me.’
‘But it’s not just my mum. Now that you’re home, it would seem weird if your family didn’t know, and if you weren’t involved with Luke.’
‘So we
could tell my family,’ he said calmly. ‘And I could be involved.’
‘We couldn’t lie to your parents like that – let them think Luke is their grandchild when he’s not.’
‘Would it really be so bad? It’d make them really happy, and they’d love … Whatsisface.’
‘Still, it’s not right.’
‘Honestly, Mom would be delighted. She’s always on at me
to find a nice girl and settle down, start a family. And it’d take
the heat off me if she thought I already had.’
‘It’s a bit drastic, isn’t it? Pretending you have a baby just because your mother’s on your case a bit about settling down.
Besides, what if I find Luke’s real father?’
‘Is that likely?’
She knew it wasn’t at all likely, and she had, just last night, resolved to give up on the idea for good.
‘I could do the dad part for real,’ Kit said earnestly.
‘You really think you could do that?’
‘Yeah, sure. It’d be fun.’
‘You’d have to stop calling him “Whatsisface” for a start.’
‘Well, of course, I’d learn his name – it is a boy, right?’
‘Yes. Luke. The name’s a bit of a giveaway.’
‘Sorry. I’m not very good with names. Better with faces. Although not with babies because they all look the same, don’t they?’
‘No.’
‘Well, anyway, I could buy him presents and take him to his football matches or whatever, and go to his school concerts …’
‘Yeah, well, that’s all down the road a bit,’ Romy said, smiling. ‘But what about when you move back to New York?’
‘Then we could go back to your story that we’re not
into each other and don’t want to stay together for the sake of wh – um …’
‘Luke.’
‘Right. And I could be a long-distance dad. It happens.’
That was true. Plenty of children grew up rarely seeing their fathers. And she could tell Luke the truth when he was older and explain that Kit was a sort of step-dad.
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