Page 140 - The Letter By Ann Newhouse

working so hard every night after his shifts at the bar and it was really beginning to show.
It had been a while since I had been over to see Penny, so I decided one evening to drop in for a chat. Rex was working the late shift, so I could drive him home rather than him having to cycle as usual.
‘Oh, Amber it’s so good to see you, come’, she motioned me into the back room, ‘Seki and I were about to have our hot chocolate’, although looking more tired than usual she was cheerful. Sitting down at the old familiar kitchen table we left the two men to manage the bar.
‘How are you keeping Seki’? I asked trying to get comfortable on the hard-wooden chairs. She was only a month behind me but had a fair size bump.
‘They told me I have had a lot of fluid and my ankles are swollen all the time’, she cried picking up a cushion and placing it under her bum.
‘I’m sorry that must be very sore’, I sympathized, ‘have you heard from your family since you let them know about the baby’?
‘Yes’, she didn’t look very happy about it, ‘they sent me a letter through the solicitor, they aren’t pleased and told me to let them know when the baby was here’, she hung her head, I could see tears forming as she continued, ‘they don’t want a granddaughter only a grandson’.
‘No surely not’, I couldn’t hide my shock, ‘how could they be that cruel’?
‘I know’, she looked back up at me, ‘it’s hard to believe that your own mother could be that callous’, she began to gently rub her bump and after a moment or two said, ‘I will never be like that, we will be better parents’.
As she handed us our hot chocolates Penny changed the subject asking if we had decided on any baby names.