Chapter 36
‘Nicholas, you’re scaring us. Please tell us whatever’s on your mind,’ said his mother.
‘Is it to do with money?’ asked his father. ‘Have you got yourself into some sort of bother and need bailing out again?’
‘No,’ said Nick. ‘Actually… I’ve got a job.’ He could start with the good news. See if it helped.
‘A job?’ His mother raised her delicate eyebrows. ‘Where are you working?’
‘I’m working for Luke.’ It came out more defensive than Nick intended.
‘Labouring?’ His dad huffed. ‘You’re worth a lot more than that.’
‘At least he has a job, David.’
‘I had hoped for higher aspirations by this age.’
‘Leave the boy alone.’
Despite her earlier anger, Nick’s mother sprang to his defence. She always did, Nick realised. For once, he took no comfort in having her to hide behind.
‘He’s only twenty-seven,’ his mother protested. ‘He’s got plenty of time to work out his path through life. You should never have cut off his allowance, David. The poor boy—’
‘You’re always making excuses for him, Elaine. For once—’
‘Mum, Dad.’ Nick raised a hand. ‘I don’t want to talk to you about money. My news isn’t about a job. It’s… she… it’s complicated.’
‘It always is with you,’ said his father.
Nick sipped his beer, head whirling. He should go for the brutal approach, like ripping off a plaster. Hit them with the shock. There was no gentle way to break the news that they had a grandchild they never knew existed.
‘The thing is…’
‘Nick!’
Three heads turned toward the small voice. Emily stood in the corridor, her thumb in her mouth, teddy in her arms.
‘Nick, I had a bad dream.’
‘Oh no.’ Nick rushed to the little girl and knelt in front of her. ‘It’s OK,’ he said.
‘I’m scared,’ Emily sobbed.
‘Come on.’ Nick scooped her up in his arms. ‘I’ll take you to bed and stay with you until you’re asleep,’ he said, carrying her along the corridor. As he walked, he imagined the confusion on his parents’ faces. Too bad. Emily was his priority.
It only took five minutes to settle her, and soon she was returned to dreamless sleep. Nick found his parents sitting on the sofa, their heads huddled close, speaking in low voices.
‘Who is that child?’ asked Nick’s mother. ‘And precisely what is she doing in our house?’
Nick stayed standing. At least he had the advantage of height, which stopped him from feeling like a small boy about to be told off. ‘That little girl is Emily. She’s my daughter.’ His heart hammered, whether with nerves or pride, he wasn’t sure. Probably both.
Nick’s father broke into a guffaw, slapping his hand against his thigh, mouth hanging open as he roared. His mother was white as a sheet, frozen in place, staring at Nick with cold eyes.
‘I very much hope that is a joke, Nicholas,’ she said tightly, ‘although not a very funny one.’
‘It’s not a joke.’ Nick stood his ground. ‘Emily is my daughter.’ My daughter. He liked saying it again. ‘I only learned of her existence a week ago, but I have no doubt she’s mine.’
‘You didn’t know?’ His father stopped laughing, stood up to match Nick in height, and stepped forward. ‘You didn’t know you had a child? How is that possible?’
His mother scoffed. ‘It wouldn’t surprise me, David, if you had a few children dotted around the country after all those “conferences” you used to disappear off to.’
‘That was business, Elaine,’ said his father.
‘This isn’t about us,’ said his mother, even though she was the one who’d brought it up. She turned her attention to Nick. ‘It sounds to me, Nicholas, as if you are being scammed.’
‘Scammed? What are you talking about, Mum?’
‘Somebody’s turned up here claiming you’ve fathered a small child. Is the supposed mother here too? Has she been leeching off you financially?’
‘Emily’s mother is not here,’ said Nick, voice tight. ‘And no one has been leeching off me. Carla’s dad is dying. She had to go to be with him and had no one else to leave Emily with.’
‘A likely story,’ said David. ‘You ring up this Carla and tell her to pick up that child and take her home. I’m not having some bastard in my house. And you’ve got no money of your own, so it’ll be me who has to pay for this. That’s not going to happen.’
‘No,’ said Nick, ‘what’s not going to happen is that I’m going to call Carla.’ Nick’s voice was firm, and with a shock he realised he was standing up to his father. For the first time in his life.
‘Wait a moment, young man—’
Nick carried on despite his father’s remonstrations.
‘I made Carla a promise,’ he said. ‘I’m waiting for the results of a DNA test, but there’s no doubt in my mind.
Emily is my child. She’s your grandchild, and you’ll have to get used to it, because we’ve nowhere else to go. You’re stuck with us. Both of us.’
His parents started talking over each other, their voices growing louder and more panicked by the second.
Nick couldn’t bear to speak to them any longer.
He turned on his heel and strode to his bedroom.
He paused at the door, torn. Then he ducked into the room, grabbed a pillow and duvet, and carried them to the spare bedroom, making a nest on the floor beside Emily.
If she woke again in the night, he didn’t want her bumping into his parents.
He’d be there for her. And he was determined to stay there for her, whether they liked it or not.