A Mother's Duty (53 page)
Authors: June Francis
‘Depends which way you look at it,’ he said, leading her into the dining room and over to the drawer which baby Katherine still occupied.
Teddy’s eyes went from his mother to John’s and he said in faint voice, ‘Not yours, is it?’
Kitty laughed and picked up the baby. ‘I suppose she is in a way. At least she is for now.’
Jeannie lowered her head to take a closer look. ‘She reminds me of our Jack.’
‘She’s Celia’s but we don’t want that talked about,’ said John, glancing at his wife. ‘To all accounts and purposes she is ours.’
Teddy murmured, ‘She does look a bit like our Ben. Although all babies look the same to me.’
‘I hope you won’t say that about your own,’ said Jeannie, giving him a mischievous look.
‘When?’ cried Kitty, thinking suddenly it was all too much. She would be a grandmother twice!
‘Christmas.’
There were more congratulations and John got down the last of the whiskey and they all had a tot. Then Teddy said, ‘Let’s have a tour of the damage then?’
Kitty said she would do them something to eat and the two men went off but Jeannie stayed behind. The two women looked at each other and smiled. ‘So how did he find you?’ asked Kitty, making a guess at the reason why Jeannie had stayed behind.
‘It was like something out of a film,’ said her daughter-in-law softly, toying with the wedding ring on her finger. ‘I’d just come out of the market and he was there. I could hardly believe it. I’d been on nights and thought that perhaps tiredness was making me see things. I really believed I’d got him out of my heart but when I saw him I knew it just wasn’t true.’
‘It was that easy?’ said Kitty incredulously.
‘Not easy,’ responded Jeannie, remembering how she had struggled with so many different emotions in those first moments. Maybe if she had been in bed catching up on some shut-eye and he had come enquiring after her she might have refused to see him but there had been no time for such things and he had sounded so very, very desperate and still in love with her. She smiled at the memory. That first kiss had sealed everything. Whatever had gone before, one thing was for sure the magic was still there for them. ‘We talked and got things sorted out. I’m sorry you couldn’t be at the wedding but we were frightened of something going wrong again. We both felt awful and then the news filtered through to Teddy that Liverpool had copped it badly. He managed to wangle some leave and so here we are.’ Her eyes glistened. ‘The poor Arcadia! What are you going to do?’
Kitty smiled and squeezed her hand. ‘We’ll work something out. Now you go and join your father and Teddy just in case they’ve fallen out already.’
Jeannie left and Kitty did get as far as putting some liver and sausage in onion gravy in the oven before picking up the baby and going outside. There was probably a long road ahead before the war would be over but for now her boys were safe and she was content with that.
What was a building and not being at a wedding?
she thought as she looked up at the damaged Arcadia. People being together and content were what mattered.
Ben came whistling up the Mount and stopped next to her. ‘Whose is the car?’
She told him about Teddy and Jeannie, and how Mick was alive. He hugged her and rushed inside. John passed him on the way out and said to Kitty, ‘What are you doing out here?’
She smiled. ‘Savouring the moment.’
‘You’re happy.’ He returned her smile and kissed her.
‘Aren’t you? Our children are safe
and
they’re happy.’
He nodded and looked up at the Arcadia. ‘What about this place, though? All your dreams were once wrapped up in it.’
‘Some still are,’ she said, and glanced down at the baby.
He shook his head at her. ‘Celia’ll want her back one day.’
‘Maybe. But in the meantime,’ her arms tightened about Katherine, ‘she’s mine.’
He was silent, hugging her to him and she knew that whatever went wrong between them at times, they would always love each other. ‘I’ve got a yen to go travelling. You and me, Ben and the baby. It’s time you saw some other place besides Liverpool.’
She looked up at him. ‘Scotland?’
‘It’s long overdue.’
‘OK.’ Perhaps it would be good to get away. ‘I’ll pack tomorrow. Now let’s feed those children of ours.’
She handed the baby to him and they went indoors.
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Version 1.0
Epub ISBN 9781473501331
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First published as
Kitty and Her Boys
in 1996 by Judy Piatkus (Publishers) Ltd
This edition published in 2015 by Ebury Press, an imprint of Ebury Publishing A Random House Group Company
Copyright © 1996 June Francis
June Francis has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this Work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
This novel is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental
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