Alice: “I’m pregnant. I’m going to have a baby… …your baby.”

The corners of Donovan’s mouth twitched, then the excitement started to shine through his eyes. He smiled proudly and thought to himself that this wasn’t the way he’d wanted to start a family, but… he was going to be a dad!
Alice was releaved that he wasn’t angry, but saying the words aloud brought tears to her eyes as she remembered the pain of what her actions had cost her. Misunderstanding her grief, Donovan responded with the words he thought she wanted to hear.

Donovan: “It’s ok Alice. I love you. We can make this right. I can book the wedding ceremony this very afternoon and we can be married by…”

Alice took a step back in shock and surprise. Cutting Donovan off mid-sentence she explained he had the wrong idea.

Alice: “I am really sorry Donovan, but I love Jeb. I made a mistake the other evening and shouldn’t have let what happened happen. Now I may have lost Jeb forever… but I can’t marry you.”

Donovan was very disappointed, to say the least, but more unusally for him he was somewhat angry. He didn’t want his child to be born to unwed parents! It just wasn’t right and it wasn’t fair. Seeing that Alice would not change her mind, he left hurt and irate about the situation.
Alice heaved a heavy sigh. Her mind a boggled mess of confusing thoughts and emotions.
If she had been more aware of her surroundings, Alice may have heard the quiet creak from a floorboard as her cousin shifted her position on the first floor landing.

Alice hadn’t told anyone except Jeb and Donovan about her pregnancy directly. She was worried what people would think of her and even more concerned about what her parents would say when they found out. No one in the family had ever had a baby before getting married. And Alice certainly did not like the idea of being the first.
But now Imogen knew what her cousin had got herself into and she was very upset about it. In fact, she was angry. From her perspective all she could see Alice had achieved was to hurt two decent, kind-hearted guys, as well as the rest of the family when they found out.
Coincidently, Imogen was the next person Alice had planned on confiding in because they were so close (they had come to be as close as sisters). She asked Imogen to accompany her to the grocery store that very afternoon, thinking that she could break the news on the way there.
However since Imogen already knew, she was still upset with her cousin and was therefore suspiciously quiet during most of the journey until Alice stopped to ask her what was wrong. At which point Imogen quickly worked herself up into an over-emotional state…

Imogen: “I can’t believe you can do this to Jeb. He’s a good guy and you’ve probably broken his heart! And Donovan, who was obviously infatuated by you, has lost his only chance of having a proper family. What you’ve done is horrible and mean… just like my father!”

The last four words of Imogen’s rant had an extra sting to them, which made Alice’s eyes well-up with tears. But she forgave her cousin for what she said though, as she knew Imogen didn’t mean to hurt her, she was just (understandably) disappointed.

Another member of Alice’s family who was disappointed by her actions was her dad. Her mum took the news ok enough, simply saying she was sorry her daughter had to become a mother at such a young age. But John made his disapproval clear, by giving Alice the silent treatment for a while.

She received negative responses from almost everyone when she told them her situation. She even lost her job at the hospital as they needed someone who could be on call 24/7.
With that, Alice spent most of the days of her pregnancy confind to her bedroom. Being there gave her an opportunity to start learning to play her guitar. It was one of the few things which could take her mind off of her problems and help sooth her worries, briefly.

The thought at the forefront of Alice’s mind everyday of course was Jeb. She knew he had to be suffering because of what she’d done. Even though he’d broken up with her, she was still in love with him.
Her love for Jeb and not her baby’s father, Alice believed, was why she had such a difficult pregancy. After days of morning sickness, followed days of dizzy spells. Once or twice she even fell over, hitting the ground hard as she got bigger day by day.

To make matters worse, Uncle Lucas took pleasure in tormenting Alice about her unfavourable situation. He would remind her she would soon be an unwed mother and imply that no man would ever take on the responsibility of someone else’s child.


Alice could only hang her head in shame when he spoke to her so, because the way she felt with her huge waist continuously expanding, there was no way she could believe in happy endings. She was too tired and miserable to stand up to her uncle.

After a very long wait the moment finally arrived and Alice went into labour. Unluckily for her she was home alone that evening and had never felt such excruciating pain in her whole life.

Struggling to move or even breath properly, somehow Alice made it to the phone, called a taxi and very slowly went to the front of the house to wait for her ride to the hospital.

Nemm: “This little innocent baby may not have been planned. And maybe it’s mother is unsure right now of her readiness to be a mother, but never-the-less this bundle should definately be welcomed properly. So I’d like to introduce the newest member of the Newbrook family… this is Alice’s daughter, Ellena.”

The good news of Alice giving birth to a healthy baby girl, sadly was followed immediately by a tragic event. Less than an hour after Alice arrived home from the hospital and put Ellena down in her crib (set up bedside Alice’s bed), the phone rang. Answering it, Alice heard her father’s voice… two minutes later she wished he was still not talking to her, so he could not of said what he’d just told her.
There had been a accident at the stadium and Yana had been involved. Her high level of fitness combined with the fact that she was in better shape than anyone else in the entire household should have meant she’d live to a very old age… but unfortunately her clumsy nature had finally taken it’s toll, when Yana fatally slipped over in the showers at work!
The dark figure of the Grim Reaper hovered outside the stadium, waiting to take her to where Yana’s parents had gone years ago.

Nemm: “No, no! This cannot be happening yet!! Yana has been so athletic all her life. She’s in top condition and should easily have become a Superstar Athlete during her lifetime – achieving her lifetime goal… <sob, sob, sniff>”

And so Alice’s first night as a mother was not as she had imagined it would be. She wept over Ellena’s crib as she starting moaning the death of her own mother. Alice was consumed by grief and worries as she thought about the future. She felt so alone that night. Her mum had been a staple support for every difficult ordeal Alice had ever had. She had been such a brave person and that fearlessness had always made Alice feel somehow stronger… but now that strength was gone and Newbrook family would never be the same.

 

Next: Little, Big