There is a mum and there is a girl, and that girl turns out to be my friends daughter Emma.
A short break on the CostadelSol ends with Emma discovering shes expecting, and a few months later she gives birth. A little darkhaired girl with bright black eyes, Katie, arrives.
Emma goes to work, Katie stays at home with the baby, but in the evenings Emma slips out to unwind from the daily grind. Sometimes she brings someone home. The grandmother knows, but she never interferes with Emmas choices.
When Katie turns five, Emma declares that she is moving in with a new partner. The boy doesnt yet know about the child. Emma asks the grandmother to look after Katie.
The grandmother has to quit her job and live on a modest state pension. Emma sends a little money now and then.
Katie misses her mum terribly. She watches the street through the kitchen window and flinches at every sound from the hallway.
Emmas visits become rarer, and she tops up the grandmothers bank card each month.
One evening, however, Emma decides to see her daughter. She buys a few presents and a bag of sweets, and she arrives just after Katie has finished her bath, still in her pyjamas, watching Goodnight, Sweetheart.
Hearing Emmas voice, Katie leaps from the sofa, rushes to her, and wraps her tiny arms around Emmas neck. Mum, Ive missed you so much! I love you, she cries.
Katie, love, take a breath, Emma says, I love you too.
Katie clings tighter, and Emma can barely loosen the little hands. Then Katie snatches at Emmas legs.
Are you staying? Wont you leave me again? Are we together forever? she asks.
Hold on a bit longer, love, Ill be back for you soon. I have to go now, Emma replies.
I sit at the kitchen table, tears streaming down my face. Emma rummages through the medicine cabinet for a packet of ibuprofen.
Emma says goodbye, shuts the door with a soft thump. Katie sits on the floor, knees pulled up, staring at a point on the wall. She doesnt cry, she just watches.
Mum doesnt love me, shes gone. I dont have a dad. Everyone else does, but I dont.
My dear, says the grandmother, lifting Katie gently from the floor, Im here for you.
Katie leans into her, rests her head on the grandmothers shoulder.
Grandma, will you tell me the story of the little rooster and the clever fox?
Of course, love. Ill tuck you in and tell it right away.
I wave to Emma as I head out, and she meets my gaze with a silent nod.
May God give the grandmother enough strength to raise this child, and perhaps Emma will change her mind. Life throws all sorts of curveballs.
I remember a similar tale from the old days, when a woman left a man without telling him about their baby. A year later, a medical emergency revealed the truth. The man, feeling betrayed, walked out, saying a mother like that was useless to his future children.
I still try to believe that better days are ahead.
