J & P Book 5 - Never Let Me Go

Chapter Two

Grace May Williams lay asleep, curled up underneath a mesh blanket in her cot, which she had recently moved into having outgrown her Moses basket. Her mother Jenny sat on the floor by the side of the cot, gazing at her through the bars, the little five month old miracle that she and her husband Paul had created. Their much longed-for second child, after a miscarriage almost two years ago, had marked the start of a new life for the two of them and their nine year old son Andrew. Grace's arrival had ended an extended period of upheaval.

Grace's appearance was totally different to that of her brother Andrew as a baby. For two babies with the same two biological parents, Andrew and Grace demonstrated the mysteries of genetics beautifully. Andrew had been a little model of his father from day one, his eyes blue and his skin much paler than that of his mother. His dark hair was the only giveaway of his mother's ethnic origin. But Grace really was Jenny's mini-me, with the beginnings of afro hair, and a skin tone, although not quite as dark as Jenny's, that was much darker than that of her father and brother. Jenny was, however, optimistic that Grace's blue eyes were here to stay.

Grace was not a good sleeper. She was a colicky baby, and much harder to care for than her brother had been, nine years previously. Luckily, these days Jenny's support network was pretty good. Her mother May was retired now, and always happy to dote on her little granddaughter whenever required. Andrew was an ongoing source of entertainment for Grace, he was completely besotted with his little sister.

And of course, Grace was the apple of her daddy's eye. Paul adored her, and whenever he wasn't at work he was there for them both, doing whatever he could, dealing with the nappies and the bottles and taking her for walks to give Jenny a break. He hadn't been around when Andrew was small, and Jenny knew he was constantly trying to make up for that, even though Jenny continually assured him he was doing more than enough.

Last week had been Jenny and Paul's first wedding anniversary, and also Valentine's Day. Getting married on Valentine's Day had seemed amazingly romantic at the time, but this year Jenny had twigged that she was missing out – the two occasions would be forever combined now, with only one gift required. When she'd mentioned this to Paul, he'd had no sympathy. He had a Christmas Day birthday, so dual-purpose presents were nothing new for him. Jenny sometimes wondered whether he'd deliberately engineered a Valentines wedding for that very reason. Deep down, he had a cruel sense of humour, and she loved him for it. Amongst other things.

On the surface, Paul was the typical GP – a gentle, mild-mannered and introverted man. Jenny had already known him from their schooldays before she'd befriended him properly, twelve years ago. Back then he'd been even quieter, constantly unhappy, and completely lacking in self-confidence. She still blamed his mother for that; the woman who had treated him like a child and bullied him into staying at home with her when he should have been flying free into the big wide world, alongside his peers.

He'd had few friends when Jenny had first got to know him; he was seen as a bit of a social outcast, he'd been bullied at school and life after school hadn't treated him much better. When he'd first approached Jenny, she'd been initially hesitant to socialise with him; but after giving him a chance, she'd quickly found herself drawn to him. As their friendship had developed, a friendship which took less than a week to progress into a relationship, his confidence had grown, and Jenny had noticed a subtle change in him. To most people, he was still shy, serious and reserved, but he came across as much more self-assured, much happier. Which, of course, he was.

Jenny knew she saw a side to Paul that no-one else could see. Some were able to have occasional glimpses of it; their best friends, Lucia and Robbie, knew him almost as well as she did, and thought the world of him. Certainly both of his ex-girlfriends had fallen for him in very different ways. But Jenny was the lucky one, the one who he loved above all other – and the feeling was very much mutual. Jenny would do anything for Paul; life had tried its hardest to keep them apart in the past, but she loved him so much, she'd not let the little details get in the way – little details such as her family and friends all hating him, then the fact that he'd betrayed her trust; eventually her marriage to Patrick, and now the fact that he had a crazy ex-girlfriend who wanted to kill him. All just tiny details. She'd never been able to stay away.