At last ‘A life’
By Julie D Cole
Chapter 35 Truth comes out

As our main course was being served mum said that we should have a talk when we got home and I said OK since such a talk was long overdue. She responded by saying that the tragedy had a big impact on our family life and our father had eventually had to give in and leave home.

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To be honest I don’t think that any of us relaxed enough to enjoy the rest of the meal or the night out together and Sally was very quiet but did keep squeezing my hand. Gary made efforts to joke with us but felt uncomfortable as the only visible male.

So we called the cab early and went home and Gary decided to go home to sleep whilst Sally had an early night to read in bed.

Mum, Julie and I settled into the sofa with a bottle of white wine and mum started to explain.

She told us that Aunt Judith, dad and her were very close and that she’d already told us that dad liked Aunt Judith a lot. She said that they’d all spend the occasional weekend in a cottage in Derbyshire at a cottage owned by Darren Harper and that she could understand why Judith fell in love with him even though he was married. He had a great sense of humor and had developed a close relationship with a group of students that included Aunt Judith.

Mum had kept telling Aunt Judith that she needed to take care but she wouldn’t take any notice and the relationship increased in intensity. Then one Christmas eve Aunt Judith had told mum she was pregnant and that she daren’t tell Gran. But she said that Darren wasn’t the father so she couldn’t expect him to leave his wife for her. He didn’t know that and had told his wife about his affair assuming the baby was his.

Julie said ‘So was Aunt Judith seeing somebody else?’. Mum just said ‘No she said she had no regular boyfriend but she’d been very attracted to someone for a while and she couldn’t say who it was.

‘So who was the father since you said that he took the baby away?’ .
‘Julie she never got the chance to tell Gran and I only the father knew.’
I was sitting quiet and then I just said ‘ Mum was Judith my mother ?’
She threw her arms around me and said ‘Yes dear she was’.

Julie hugged me too.

To be continued………………..