Chapter fifty eight. Yummy mummies.

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I looked through our walk in closet, one side held my clothes and the other Joon-Jae's. My things barely filled a few drawers and several hangers but his side was fully stocked. When I went to get dressed for my first day outside since having little gummy, I noticed a note on the dressing table, Joon-Jae had left me a surprise.

Some unopened packages filled what I thought was an empty wardrobe, these were new outfits picked out by Joon-Jae. I smiled, he was still looking out for me, even though he was on the other side of the world. There were loose tops and skirts and dresses with hidden openings, so I could feed our baby while wrapped in fashion.

I loved every single item of clothing and hung them up, to pick todays combination. A few minutes later, I was dressed in a loose dress which was comfortable and lovely, it even had velcro breast pad inserts to stop leakage. I didn't even know such clothes existed a week ago, but now I was the rich wife of a superstar.

Even our little one had new clothes, in fact he had more packages than me. Joon-Jae had been on a shopping spree and often ordered things online, they would arrive out of the blue like magic. I wasn't jealous, the little guy was fun to dress up, although I had to admit that girls had more colourful outfits.

In the end, I matched my dress to gummy's little onesie, in teal style. But he messed it up before we even left the house, it was my fault, I wasn't used to the washable velcro nappies. I had loads of changes for him but we were ten minutes late when we finally arrived.

The group was filled with mums and some dads too, it made me a bit jealous. I couldn't even brag about my husband as he was still under a strict no public relationship contract. This group was different from the volunteer NHS groups I had been to before, a lot of mums were accompanied by nannies, who often cared for the babies while the actual mothers socialised.

At first I confused the groups but I soon recognised them after looking at their body language and clothing. The mothers watched the nannies and pretended not to care about their children but if the baby cried or the nanny made a mistake, they were quick to snatch the child back. The mums were also more likely to wear branded items and made a point of showing them off.

Although I was in the rich wife group, I didn't really fit in, the ranking just went over my head. The brands were a new language to me and I couldn't really understand how much they cost, I was used to primarny and knock offs rather than the real deal. Instead, I didn't try to make friends, I just got little Gummy weighed and checked and sat in one of the comfy feeding chairs with him.

My helper chatted with me as I fed gummy and I watched the other mums interact and boast about who had the best most limited edition items. I sighed, trying to find anyone who was even slightly on my level and noticed a few others like me who ignored the chatting fashionisters. Another mum sat next to me and introduced herself.

She explained that the chatting group were trophy wives and mistresses, their existence was all about money. She pointed out the group with husbands, they were the ones born into money, they  lived off their parents, some were just lucky that their partners had paternity leave. My group was the rich wives, with absent busy partners, most had a helper. A few staff members patrolled the groups offering advice and private consultation.

I got the feeling that all the mums were struggling in different ways, with my habit of sitting back and observing, I started to figure them out. Not all of the bragging ones were trophy wives, some really cared for their children and needed to socialise. Many were like me, alone at home, with no friends and little contact with the outside world. I decided to befriend all of the groups and break the weird cliques that had developed.

There was nothing like having a purpose to relieve my boredem and I really needed to chat with someone. The mum that approached me seemed very condescending towards the other groups, I didn’t know her well enough to make assumptions but she seemed to be testing the waters. I turned towards her and smiled, deciding to make no enemies.

"Thanks for the info but this isn't school, I'm sure it's not that simple. I'm Jenny, this little guy hasn't got a name yet, he's getting registered tomorrow so I have to pick one soon," I said to start the conversation.

"Oh, of course. My name is Laura and this is Tilly, she's sleeping right now," She answered,  gesturing to her baby inside a rocking car seat at her feet.

"Aww, she's lovely. Her bow is so cute!" I added, admiring her little girl.

"Oh she's a terror at night, she sleeps so much in the day, " Laura said.

"Tell me about it, I don't know what I'd do without Marcia over here, she's been amazing! " I said gesturing to my helper, who gave a little wave and passed me a terry cloth.

"You are so lucky, mine is on leave this week and it's been so hard! " She said loudly, it was obviously a lie, she probably didn't have anyone.

"Yes, it's really hard without support. I don't know how I managed to bring up my first two on my own, I just took things a day at a time," I said, to save her some face.

"Didn't you have any help?" Laura asked more quietly.

"Nope, my first marriage was a disaster, my husband was pretty immature. Luckily my second husband is the best, although he's away for work at the moment," I added.

"So, um, did your children come with you. Your new husband accepted them then, are they at school?" She whispered as if this was a taboo subject.

"They are mostly grown up, my eldest might come with me next time, she got some time off work. My husband is lovely, if they want to stay with me, they can. There's a pretty big gap between my girls and my son," I said, in a friendly tone.

It probably wasn't a good idea to share any more information but it always helped to be open when making new friends. I wasn't usually very good at this but I had a shelf filled with self help books that told me what to do.

"Actually, I'm going through a divorce at the moment, my husband cheated on me not long after I got pregnant. I didn't want to say anything here because everyone seems so well off. I'm sorry if I sounded like a snob just now," Laura said.

Those books actually worked! Poor Laura, she was going through all that with a baby and it seemed, with no support. All I could do was pat her hand and be nice, offering her my number in case she wanted to chat. Was it that easy to make a friend? I had to restrain myself from inviting her over, it was too soon and Joon-Jae's photo was hanging in the living room.

"Thanks, I thought that everyone was a bit too perfect in this group but I suppose they have different stories just like me." Laura added.

I got up and put Gummy in his buggy, he was fast asleep and content. Turning to Laura, I grinned and helped her up, these chairs were amazing but difficult to get out of. The group was over now and most of the mums were already gone so I gave her a quick hug.

"Divorce is hard but worth it if the other person doesn't appreciate what they have, you'll find someone better," I said to comfort her.

I waved at her as we left and walked back to the house with Marcia, this group was only twenty minutes distance on foot. By the time we got back I was exhausted but happy that I was doing so well, away from Joon-Jae.

The next day, Lily came with me to register Gummy. He was now called Min-ho but I couldn't help calling him Gummy, I had to practice to stop myself. The new name was also very cute, it reminded me of those tiny fish so gradually his nickname changed to minnow and I bought him some fish plushies.

The weeks turned into months and there was still no sign of Joon-Jae, had his enthusiasm been a lie? We talked and video called almost every day but when would he come back to England or maybe I should go to him, it could be faster. His excuse was his new agency, it needed setting up and the new employees had to settle in. My decision was instant, it was time to sort out Mi-ho's passport!

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A little snapshot into Jenny's life, see you in the next chapter. Don't forget to vote and comment.

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