A Home in the Sun by Sue Moorcroft

Author:Sue Moorcroft [Moorcroft, Sue]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2021-06-21T17:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

‘Can we stay?’ Kieran asked. He had a new eyebrow ring, silver with a red bead. It jarred with his otherwise clean-cut looks.

Kieran and Bethan were sitting together like a pair of cuddly toys on Judith’s sofa, their hands clasped tightly and their eyes shadowed. Molly had ostentatiously taken herself off to her room, although slowly, perhaps hoping for an invitation to remain and be part of whatever was making Kieran and Beth so solemn.

Now Judith knew an urge to ask if she could leave, too. ‘Stay here?’ she repeated. That would fill every bedroom in her house, further compromising the peace to mourn that she craved. She’d have to ask Molly to move from the spare double room to the box room. She’d be able to hear Kieran and Bethan through the wall. Giggling, and no doubt making the unmistakable sounds of sex. Embarrassing her while probably quite unembarrassed themselves.

There would be a morning and evening queue for the bathroom.

The television on non-stop. Music at headache volume.

She was too fragile for this. But with an effort, for Kieran, she managed a smile and to make her voice gentle. ‘Why would you want to move in with me?’

Bethan gazed down at her trainers, oversized things that had once been white. ‘I’m not getting on with my parents.’

‘Is there a reason for that?’ Judith switched her gaze from Kieran to Bethan and back, trying to read in their expressions what they seemed reluctant to put into words.

The two turned to gaze at each other. Kieran whispered to Bethan, ‘Be best to explain.’ He slid an arm around her narrow back.

Bethan’s eyes filled with tears but she nodded. Her voice squeaked. ‘Tell her, then.’

The caramel flecks in Kieran’s eyes were very bright as he turned back to Judith. ‘We’re going to have a baby.’

Oh.

Frozen, Judith stared at him, taking in his boyishly rumpled curls that made him look younger than his twenty-two years. She had to force herself to remain calm. No good would come of yelling, ‘Oh you stupid, stupid little buggers!’ however much it was her first instinct. It was far too late to ask them if they’d been careless or just unlucky. It was pointless to preach that unplanned pregnancies were life changing and that young people would be better off enjoying their youth while they found their feet in the world. It might even be optimistic to expect their relationship to last, but they didn’t need to hear it.

Her lips felt stiff. ‘So you told Bethan’s parents, and they were furious?’

Two slowly shaken heads.

Understanding dawned. ‘You haven’t told them? You’ve just assumed that they’ll be furious?’ So they’d come to her.

Two nodded heads.

‘You don’t know what they’re like,’ Kieran added, earnestly. ‘They’re awful. They’ll murder Bethan when they find out.’

‘She’s going to tell them!’ squealed Bethan, bouncing to her feet like a frightened rabbit. ‘We can’t stay here, Kieran – I can’t bear it if she goes and tells them! They’ll go mad.’

Kieran jumped up too, expressive eyes wide and uncertain, his complexion very white against the bright red bead on his eyebrow ring.

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