young and naive as she knew she looked.
‘Then you don’t have to...’
‘No, I want to...’ She swallowed pensively. ‘The reason Bea’s father has never met her...is because we haven’t seen each other since I became pregnant.’
‘So he left you when he discovered you were having his baby?’
‘Not exactly. He left long before I knew.’
‘How long before?’ he asked.
‘He left the morning after I became pregnant and he’s married so there’s no point going there.’
‘Married?’
‘He wasn’t at the time...but he married a few weeks later. He was apparently engaged when we met but I had no idea. I discovered later, much later, he was a serial womaniser. He married before I had even known I was pregnant.’
‘But he should have been held accountable. A man can’t just walk away from the responsibility of his own child.’
That was what Juliet’s father had said despite not knowing the identity of the man. No one knew the identity of the father, not even her parents. It was Juliet’s secret. Perth was not a huge city and she did not want her father to confront Bea’s father and tell him what he thought. It would have opened a Pandora’s box and she thought that Bea might be the one to suffer the most.
‘It wasn’t long after the wedding I discovered he and his new bride were expecting triplets.’
‘How did you discover that?’
‘A cruel twist of fate had his wife’s OBGYN reach out to me when a complication arose during the pregnancy. I couldn’t bring myself to consult on the case so I deferred to another neonatal surgeon. How could I operate on the children of a man I despised so completely? If anything had gone wrong I feared that I’d have questioned myself for eternity and far more than anyone else ever would for sure, but it wasn’t worth the risk.’
Charlie sat shaking his head. ‘Still he should provide support for his daughter. It must be hard as a single mother, financially and emotionally.’
Juliet rested back into the generous padding on her high-backed chair. ‘It is but I wouldn’t change a thing. I adore Bea. She’s my world.’
‘She’s adorable...despite her father. That must be because she’s got more of you in her.’
Juliet smiled up at the man who was close to capturing her heart but she wasn’t ready to let him. She still couldn’t risk being hurt again.
‘Thank you.’
‘It’s definitely his loss,’ Charlie began before shifting the direction of the conversation slightly. ‘Will you ever let Bea reach out to him?’
Juliet felt a warm feeling rush over her with his words. She would never have expected Charlie to say something like that. He wasn’t judging her at all. He hadn’t reacted the way she had feared.
‘With three children under his belt and, from the gossip around Perth, more than a few post-honeymoon flings and another one or two since the birth of his children, I don’t want him in her life. He’s a real-estate developer with no conscience and both the means and opportunity to entertain other women and he’s been doing that for a very long time. I will be thinking long and hard about allowing Bea to be the fourth, and unwanted, child of the man who enjoyed a pre-wedding fling with me despite having a fiancée at home waiting for him.’
‘And if she asks about her father growing up?’
Juliet had not decided how she would respond when Bea asked about her daddy. And invariably she would one day.
‘I’m not sure how I’ll handle it. Despite my feelings about the man who fathered Bea, he’s after all half of Bea and I want my daughter to grow up proud of who she is, not doubting herself because of her father’s despicable behaviour. It’s a dilemma I’ll face later. Although I must admit recently I’m beginning to believe it will perhaps be sooner rather than later. Almost all of Bea’s little friends at playgroup have fathers and Bea’s beginning to talk about their daddies. She has a grandpa who had just retired but then... But that’s another story. Anyway, he is more than thrilled to be the male role model but I know it’s not the same as having a daddy.’
Charlie didn’t reply. Bea was a wonderful little girl and didn’t appear to be suffering from paternal neglect so obviously Juliet’s father was a great surrogate. She was a sweetheart and many men would be proud to call her their daughter and watch her grow up under their watchful eye. Be there to unwrap Christmas presents together, buy her first bike and then her first car and of course scrutinise boyfriends who would never be good enough for his daughter.
Suddenly Charlie began to suspect if he wasn’t careful he might just be one of those men. ‘Look at the time—it’s getting on and I have some paperwork to catch up on tonight at home,’ he said abruptly, collected his leather briefcase, said goodnight and left his office.
* * *
Bea was happily playing in her room with cartoons on television and Juliet had just folded the last of the towels from the dryer, all the while thinking about Charlie. She could think of little else as she stacked the towels in the airing cupboard. With the empty basket in her arms, Juliet made her way into the sitting room. She could see the front porch through the lace-covered bay window.
Her jaw dropped and she almost dropped the basket when she saw who was standing on her doorstep.
‘OH, MY GOODNESS, what are you doing here?’ Juliet squealed as she opened the door. She couldn’t have been more surprised...or happier. ‘Quickly come in from the cold!’
‘It was your father’s idea. He thought that we could help with Bea while you concentrate on the quads’ surgery.’ Her mother embraced Juliet, then stepped aside for her husband to do the same.
‘It’s a challenging surgery and we don’t want you worrying about picking up Bea from the crèche,’ her father chipped in as he carried one of the suitcases inside and then hugged his daughter warmly. He turned back for the other one still on the porch, then closed the door on the bitterly cold night air.
‘Or worrying if she gets a sniffle with the sudden change in climate,’ her mother added as she looked around the cosy sitting room of the cottage.
‘Oh, my God, why didn’t you tell me you were coming?’
‘Because you would have said we were fussing—’
‘Which you are...but I’m very glad you like to fuss.’
‘And we missed you both terribly.’
‘It’s been less than a week.’
‘See what an only child has to suffer. Two parents who miss you after less than a week and follow you to the other side of the world,’ her father continued as he placed the second suitcase down. ‘So learn from us and give Bea some brothers or sisters in the future
