Never mind, Simon! Dont brood! At least you welcomed the New Year in splendour!
Heres the familiar town. Simon stepped down from the platform, crossed the station forecourt and headed for the bus shelter. He hadnt told his wife hed be coming today.
His mood was sour, because a prickly argument with his wife, Eleanor, still lingered. She would nag, complain, call him a selfish, indifferent man.
Why indifferent? He had tried to wish her a happy New Year, but she had cut off her phone. He felt slighted.
For three days he kept calling, but the line rang forever. Finally he gave up, feeling hurt himself.
And, to make matters worse, she hadnt even managed to send greetings to his parents or his sister, let alone to him. He was ready to burst through the front door and declare it all.
It wasnt only her to blame; there were faults on her side too, so she should answer as well. As they say, the best defence is a good offence.
Simon rallied his spirits and entered his flats entrance with a fightinglike swagger.
The flat greeted him with silence.
Hey! Whos alive in here? Ellie, Im home! he shouted, but no one answered.
He peeked into the kitchen Eleanor was absent then into one room empty, then another the same. Yet his eyes snagged on odd changes: the baby cot by the wall was gone, the chest that had held a changing table and the pram his parents had given Ellie vanished.
Simon rushed to the wardrobe; the half that usually held Eleanors clothes stood bare.
Has she lost her mind? Abandoned me? he thought.
He dialled his motherinlaw, but there was no answer. He tried Eleanors friend, Catherine, and met silence again. At last he got through to Michael, Catherines husband.
Mike, hi! Could you put Catherine through? I cant get a line to her, Simon begged.
Catherines out with the kid in the village we were celebrating New Year there. The signals spotty, Michael replied.
I arrived yesterday because I have a shift today. Theyre still on holiday, Michael added. Why do you need Catherine?
I thought she might know where my Ellie is. I came from my parents place, but shes not at home. Everything we bought for the child is missing too, Simon explained.
Sounds like your wife was about to become a mother. You went off on your holidays and left her alone? Michael asked, bewildered.
She didnt want to go. They set a deadline for her the tenth or eleventh of January. She could have made it, Simon replied.
Congratulations, youre a puppet, you bloke, chuckled a friend on the phone.
What? Simon was baffled.
Because youre probably a bachelor now. Fool! Call the hospital shell be there, Michael suggested.
Ten days earlier.
I dont get it, Simon, his mother said over the phone. Why must you stay home on a holiday? Ellie wont travel, you go alone. Her due date is in two weeks, youll be back in time.
And almost the whole family will be together: Aunt Vera and Uncle Sergey will arrive, Natasha with Victor, Olga with Paul, plus my dad and Vicky with Graham.
Vicky booked us rooms in a countryside hotel deep in the woods for four nights, from the thirtieth to the second.
The thirtieth there will be a banquet in the restaurant with hired entertainers. I paid for you; youll reimburse later. Youll stay with us until Christmas, then leave on the eighth. Youll make it before Ellies due date.
Ellie refused to go.
Simon, I could be snatched any day. Imagine the scene: everyones merry and I suddenly go into labour. And that hotel outside town will an ambulance get me there in time?
No, Im not going anywhere.
Right, mother says women now count a sick spell as an adventure, and a babys arrival as a feat. She brought the three of us into the world, barely rested on maternity leave, and still managed everything.
Simon knew Ellie had a point, but he pictured a dull NewYears Eve at home: just the two of them at a modest table, Ellie already saying she didnt want to cook anything special. A melancholy settled over him.
Meanwhile the rest of the clan would be singing, dancing, and reveling in the restaurant. In the end, he set off alone.
The country hotel was indeed lively. Around half past midnight, when the New Year had already struck, Simon slipped out of the banquet hall into the lobby to call his wife, but she didnt answer.
Well, thats that. Hes sulking, but shes at fault herself. She could be here now, having fun with everyone, Simon mused.
The next day his mother aired her grievance about the daughterinlaw:
Ellie didnt even call, didnt wish us happy holidays with my husband. Shes offended! Youve let your wife go loose, son.
She doesnt understand what a real family is. Were all here, and shes alone. Let her sit and think.
Ellie, on that New Years night, thought of no one but Simon, certainly not her inlaws or their sprawling family.
When her parents learned their daughter was spending the holidays alone, they invited her over. They werent planning a grand feast.
Ellies brother lived in the capital, working a roundtheclock shift, so his parents intended to ring in the New Year just the two of them.
On the thirtyfirst at nine oclock, Ellie and her mother set the table, and in that instant Ellie went into labour.
An ambulance was called. Her mother drove her to the hospital, her father followed in his car.
Ellie ended the year in a hospital ward, her parents waiting down in the reception. She became a mother to a little boy
Simon, recalling his friends advice, dialled the hospital.
Is that the discharge office? She left yesterday, a clerk told him.
How could she be discharged? Is there already a baby? Simon protested.
Yes. Born on the first of January, half past midnight.
Who collected her from the ward? Simon asked.
A gentleman; we dont record that in the register, the clerk replied.
Simon realised only her parents could have taken her, so they must now be holding both mother and child. He bought a bouquet of roses and set off.
He rang again. The door opened to his fatherinlaw.
Yes?
Good afternoon, Im here for Eleanor.
Why? the elder asked.
Im her husband, actually, Simon answered.
Ellie, the father called out loudly. Theres a man at the door saying hes your husband. Want to talk to him?
No, let him go, Ellies voice floated from inside the flat.
Her father shrugged.
She doesnt want to. Goodbye, young man! and slammed the door.
Simon lingered for a moment, then dialed once more.
This time his motherinlaw answered a tall, sturdy, boomingvoiced woman who made Simon a little uneasy.
You dont understand? she asked.
Let me in, please. I have rights
Before he could finish, she snatched the roses from his hands and whacked him a few times with the stems.
What rights? An attorney will explain soon! And dont call again; my grandchild is asleep, she snapped, tossing the wilted bouquet at his feet and shutting the door.
Simon trudged home, rubbing his face repeatedly; the roses were beautiful but now pricked like thorns.
Back at his flat, he first called his mother.
Can you imagine? They wouldnt even let me into the flat or see my son.
Dont worry, Simon. Ellie will come back, baby in arms, wherever she ends up. Dont call her or send money.
Let her parents feed her if theyre that clever. In a week or two shell return home herself. Now go to bed; youve got work tomorrow.
He did as told: ate storebought dumplings for dinner and fell asleep.
He slept soundly, unaware that this would be his last night in that flat.
The following morning, when he returned from work, all his belongingspacked in boxes and black bagssat on the stairwell. He rang again. The door opened to his motherinlaw, who owned the twobedroom flat where he and Ellie lived.
Well, soninlaw, you remember the address of your student hall, or need a reminder? Gather your stuff. Anything left here will be cleared out by the cleaner tomorrow!
Simon had no choice but to move to a student hall.
The court had split them up. Tired of dorm life, Simon wanted to rent a flat, but when his paycheck arrived, deductions for child support and an extra £5000 for his exwife left him with barely enough for rent.
Be more frugal! You still need to save for your own place, Michael advised. Dont be sad, Simon! At least you rang in the New Year in style!
Ellie spent three years living with her parents, who helped raise little Sam while renting out her old flat. When she finally got a job, she and Sam moved back into her own place. After a renovation, nothing there reminded anyone of Simon or his family.
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