I was taken aback. I’d made a girl pregnant and it wasn’t my wife. I was filled with an immediate sense of dread and the horrible thought of having to admit the fact to my wife. It wasn’t a good move. My reaction did not endear itself to Rhonda and was something I regretted immediately. The ultimate cause of the way I acted was the shame of what I had done, not shame borne of my own conscience, but that created by social consideration – what would people think of me? For the first time in my marriage I also considered, really considered, life beyond Christine.
It would take a few days to find my voice on Rhondas pregnancy, to become comfortable with it enough to say as much to her. It still wasn’t, looking back, a complete realisation that a life had been created and a baby would be the result. Perhaps I didn’t really believe it would happen or maybe even felt the foreshadow of what was to come. Continue reading
