The Monroe Legacy - G.1. Chapter 6 - The Past and The Future

With the home situation settled Marlie's life settled into a sort of routine. The consultation with her boss went better than expected, he made it clear that he'd like nothing more than to fire her but that he could be sued for firing a pregnant woman. Instead he put her on the lowest maternity pay he could get past HR and completely ignored her until her maternity leave began.

The months seemed to melt away, Marlie was absolutely huge and spent most of her time avoiding Ben when he deigned to appear at the trailer. Usually he was drunk and gave her a wide berth, passing out on the bathroom floor and once even in the garden. It was worse when he was sober, Ben liked nothing more than to make her uncomfortable, he seemed to relish her dependence on him and would sometimes go so for as to make her cry by yelling, just to make himself feel powerful.

She heard on the grapevine that Lauren had run off with a millionaire timber baron, perhaps this explained Ben's recent behaviour. Marlie guessed that without Lauren's fortune buying the drinks to sweeten the deal Ben's reputation was now seriously affecting his womanising capabilities. Or maybe he really cared about Lauren, perhaps they were two terrible people who belonged together.

The downside to his attitude was that Marlie was completely alone. By day she would wander around the property or watch TV, she avoided the town as it felt like people were whispering about her. She couldn't believe that in less than a year she'd already made an enemy of her boss and that he was spreading lies about her wanton ways around the neighbourhood.

She got so lonely she even tried to befriend the dog again, the puppies were so sweet, but the dog's hackles rose and it snarled threateningly at her. Later that night it chewed a hole in the blankets in the baby's second hand crib.

Ben's court case came up in her seventh month, she dutifully took the stand and truthfully answered that he had put a roof over her head and was supporting her financially. She needed Ben to stay on her side and he said he wouldn't give her the deed for the trailer unless she left out the absence, the deal and the drinking.

Marlie stayed quiet and a week later Ben handed her a ragged piece of paper. The trailer was hers. Relief washed over her as she realised that soon she would be standing on her own again, free from Ben's poisonous presence. She had decided that as soon as the baby came and she was at full strength she would kick him out.

In the last months of her pregnancy Marlie began to enjoy herself. The movements inside her were reassuring, she'd never considered having a baby before but she found that she couldn't wait to meet this little one. Ben seemed to notice her happiness and seemed determined to get in her way. He took to following her around, and stopped driving her to the shops "kindly" insisting she needed rest when really he just didn't like her to have the chance to make friends . Marlie didn't care, she'd  learned to ignore him and took comfort from knowing how cold his lean-to must be in the unseasonably cold weather - she still wouldn't let him sleep in the house!

One morning the mailman delivered another mystery package. Marlie had never figured out who NJ was and hoped that this might explain. She opened the box to reveal a familiar guitar case and tears began to stream down her face.

As she lifted the guitar out she ran her name over the initials carved into the neck, GM for Georgia Monroe. This was her mother's old guitar and she hadn't seen it since she was small. Those days were her happiest memories, before her dad came home from the army when it was just her and her mom.

There was a note tucked under the strings which read

From your mother for your daughter -NJ

Marlie vowed she would find NJ one day to say thank you and find out how they knew her mother. She remembered being told that her gran had given the guitar to her mom and that one day she would pass it to her own daughter. As she gently strummed the familiar instrument she felt connected to her past and certain of her future. 

As Marlie played to her bump every day Ben would try to spoil it for her. Craving her attention, he would bring the dog out of the lean-to where they both slept and make it bark right  by her side.  Even Ben's mean spirited acts couldn't spoil these moments, Marlie knew that her mom was watching over her and her baby.

That night Marlie woke to excruciating pain and a wet bed. She knew that the baby was coming and she'd never felt anything so terrifying, like she was tearing in half and collapsing in on herself all at once. She screamed for Ben and he eventually shuffled in, half drunk and half asleep. After freaking out for a while he soon lost interest and when Marlie begged to go to the hospital he admitted he hadn't organised the insurance he'd promised.

Marlie knew she was in this alone and as the night wore on she tried to remember what all the pregnancy books she'd got from the library had said. Ben even had the gall to call Lauren again and beg for her to take him back, turning his back on Marlie. He wasn't even in the room when the baby came.

The tiny thing was a girl and under all of the gunk Marlie could see she was absolutely beautiful, the  spitting image of her mum. Ben finally reappeared and said that Lauren had sent over her doctor to check them over. He took the baby, barely even looking at it and cleaned it up.

When he returned Marlie was a very funny colour, curled in a ball.

'It hurts so bad' she whispered, clutching her belly.

Ben didn't know what to do, never in his useless life had he had to take care of anyone but himself.

He put the baby in the crib and started to hyperventilate when Lauren's doctor arrived. Doctor Harris rushed to Marlie's aid and peered under the bedding.

'There's another baby' she said calmly, 'and it's breach'. Quickly she set Ben to work, boiling water and sterilising her instruments. An hour later after a terrifying labour, a second girl was delivered and both Marlie and the baby were declared safe.

Ben was completely shaken by the experience, his selfishness had almost cost two lives. As the doctor left, Marlie was sleeping and Ben sat blindly rocking his second little girl, staring at the forcep marks on her tiny face and feeling for the first time what might possibly be love for another being.

In the weeks that followed Marlie recovered slowly and Ben seemed a changed man. She hadn't seen him touch a drink and he would help her up for the night feeds and sing to his girls.

Marlie named them Lola and Belle and they couldn't have been more dissimilar -even though they were twins.

Lola was the eldest, a little cutie with her mums colouring and looks and her dad's eyes. She was born naturally good but she soon began to prefer to spend time alone, cuddling with her bear and playing xylophone.

Belle was her dad's favourite, she had his hair and face and her moms eyes, he often wondered if maybe his failure to provide for her birth had affected her looks as she'd had to be pulled out by force. She was a friendly girl but she seemed to have a tendency to be a little crazy, perhaps her difficult beginning had also left her slightly insane.

As the girls grew quickly into adorable toddlers, Marlie knew that she had to make a choice about Ben. Could she trust that he had changed or should she go with her gut and send him away before he messed them around and the girls got used to him being there. 

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Which of the girls do you think is cuter, Lola,all rosy cheeks and blonde hair or quirky Belle? Let me know in the comments!

Next time in the Monroe Legacy - Find out what becomes of Marlie and Ben's relationship, can she trust him again? Marlie returns to work with the boss from hell and the search for NJ begins.

Click here to read The Monroe Legacy - G. 1. Chapter 7 - True Colours now!

Rose XX