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Nico had a lot of stress at work, Aurora thought, and he would never have carried on like that. She had never hidden her smile or her sass from him.
Call Nico, her mind said.
But then she caught sight of her reflection, her ripe body and troubled eyes, and she knew she did not want to land on him like this.
Not like this.
But soon the tornado had left again, and with the husband away on business the last few days of her pregnancy were among the nicest she had known.
She went to church with Louanna and the children, to watch the nativity play that Nadia was in, and it brought tears to Aurora’s eyes. Louanna took the kindest care of her, and Aurora felt so spoiled when she woke to breakfast in bed one morning.
But the storm clouds were gathering again, for tomorrow Louanna’s husband would be home.
That night Louanna made the supper. The children were sweet, and seemed to understand that Aurora was tired, and asked over and over again about her baby.
‘I hope it’s a girl,’ Nadia said as Aurora lay on the sofa, scrolling through baby names on Louanna’s laptop.
‘I hope it’s a boy,’ said Antonio.
‘What do you want, Aurora?’ Louanna asked.
‘I want this baby out of me,’ she admitted. ‘I’ll take what comes, but I am ready for my baby to be born.’
‘Have you chosen a name yet?’
‘No,’ Aurora admitted. ‘I still have no clue. Maybe Nico…’ She wasn’t going to call her baby that, but it was such a relief to say his name out loud. ‘Nicole, if it’s a girl, but I love the name Nico.’
Nico.
Nico.
Nico.
She would say it at the end of every breath if she could.
Oh, when would these feelings end? she asked of herself, and foolishly looked him up on the computer.
Nico’s world had clearly carried on very nicely without her. The woman with him just last month was blonde and pretty and petite. Then there was a beautiful redhead, who seemed to be getting him through the Christmas festivities.
Nico.
Louanna put the children to bed, and when she came down she gave Aurora a gentle talking-to.
‘Do you know who the father is?’
She had asked before and Aurora had been evasive.
‘Yes.’ She was too tired to lie, but she would not name him. ‘And I believe he would support me and would insist that we marry.’ She looked over to Louanna. ‘But I would rather be alone than live in an unhappy marriage.’
Louanna started to cry.
They spoke for a long while, and then Aurora headed down to her little summerhouse.
Deep in the night she lay restless and unable to sleep. She tossed and turned, and then got up and paced when it dawned on her that the ache in her back was not perhaps just from being heavily pregnant.
Aurora headed into the main house and made a drink. She looked out at the cold, pink morning sky and admitted to herself the very real reason she had not contacted Nico.
He might marry her, but he would never love her.
