Laura Ziepe - The Morning After the Wedding Before

Kim sighed reluctantly. ‘It will end up a late one, Andy. I don’t want to feel rough the next day when we have such young kids. Maybe another time, eh?’

He sighed heavily and nodded, looking disappointed, knowing there was no point in pushing things further. When Kim made her mind up, she rarely changed it.

Kim was keen to change the subject. ‘We’ve been invited to Emma Langford’s wedding in Vegas. Shame it’s so far away or we could have gone, but there’s no way we could ask either of our mums to have the kids for so long, is there? I wouldn’t feel comfortable leaving them either. I know Holly is really eager to go though.’

‘Why don’t you just go, Kim?’ Andy suggested, running his hand through his beard, which needed a trim. ‘Go and have fun with Holly. Just because we have kids doesn’t mean we have to miss out on everything, does it? One of our mums can have the kids for a few days when I’m working and then I’ll take care of them over the weekend. Come on, treat yourself. Once upon a time you would have jumped at the chance of going to Vegas.’

Kim shook her head, not feeling entirely comfortable with the idea. Kim was their mother. As much as Andy was a great father, he didn’t do things like Kim did. He didn’t know that Kim had to pretend to sprinkle sugar on Mylo’s cornflakes to keep him happy in the morning or the way Willow had to be rocked to sleep if she woke up in the night. ‘Yes, but things are different now, aren’t they? I have responsibilities. No, honestly. Thanks Andy, but I don’t think I should be leaving them.’

Andy shrugged with an unreadable expression before sitting at the dinner table and gazing out into the garden. ‘I’m going to mow the lawn after dinner,’ he said.

Half an hour later Kim was watching him roam up and down the lawn with a determined look on his face. Andy saw their garden as a serious business. He was often asking her opinions on the flowerbeds or if she liked the lines he’d made in the grass.

She’d always thought of Andy as her rugged bear: he was tall at six foot two, and being a rugby player, he was solid and brawny, but with kind, gentle features.

Andy’s phone vibrated, which he’d left on the table and Kim picked it up, about to pass it to him before she noticed it was a message from Lily.

Hey hot stuff. What you up to?

Kim swallowed hard as she read the message again, an unsettled feeling washing over her immediately. Hot stuff? What on earth was all that about? It wasn’t exactly the appropriate thing to write to a married man, was it? But perhaps it was just in a friendly way, Kim told herself. Harmless banter between two work colleagues. Kim didn’t want to be suspicious and she knew she should just put the phone down, but her eyes flicked up at Andy who was in a world of his own in the garden, and she clicked on the message so she could see the rest of the thread.

The blood rushed to Kim’s ears and she felt she had something lodged in her throat as she looked through their other messages, which had been going on over the past few weeks.

Lily: Where are you eating lunch today? Want some company?

Andy: Sure! I’ll come find you now.

Lily: Can’t stop thinking about what you said earlier. I keep laughing!

Andy: Yep. Funny as well as good looking. Told you I was perfect!

Lily: Maybe you’re right :)

Lily: Fancy a drink after work Friday night? I want to prove that I can drink you under the table ;)

Andy: Maybe. I’ll see if I can make it.

Lily: Been thinking of you today. Missing me?

Andy: Like a hole in the head!

Lily: Ha. I know that’s a lie. Of course you are 

Andy: Maybe a little bit. Could do with an extra set of hands here. How’s the sickness bug?x

Lily: Getting better, but still a bit fragile so you’ll need to look after me when I’m back. Wait on me hand and foot, that kind of thing ha. Hopefully I’ll be back with you tomorrow xxx

Andy: Fingers crossed! Hope you feel better asap. It’s not the same without you x

Kim felt as though her heart was thumping at a million miles per hour. Was she overreacting to this? Kim couldn’t help but notice that their messages were very flirtatious. Why was Andy entertaining this? She racked her brains looking at the date Lily had texted him about going out on the Friday night. They’d had her parents over that Friday evening she was talking about because it had been the day before Kim’s dad’s birthday. Andy had been home with her. She breathed a sigh of relief. Had he asked what their plans were that week to check if he was free? Kim couldn’t recall it now. She was always bathing the kids when he arrived home or attempting to get Mylo to stop coming downstairs and reading him his fifth bedtime story of the night to make him go to sleep. There were always so many other things to think about that she rarely took much notice of Andy any more. Her hands were trembling as she nibbled the nail of her index finger. The thought of not taking much notice of her husband any more troubled her.

She looked up to see Andy strolling in looking pleased with himself. ‘Grass looks nice, doesn’t it?’ He turned back round to view his masterpiece.

‘Yes, well done,’ Kim said, after waiting a moment to compose herself. She should say something. Kim knew she ought to bring it up, right there and then. She had to tell Andy she wasn’t too happy with these messages and they had to stop. But she hadn’t said a thing. It was as though the words were just stuck in her throat. Andy was right, she had changed. Kim used to be a bit of a wild child, always up for going out and getting into mischief. It was one of the things Andy had always told her he loved about her. As soon as she’d had Mylo, that had all changed. But didn’t that happen to the majority of mothers? Was Andy getting bored of her? Was she pushing him into the arms of Lily, the twenty-eight-year-old, child-free colleague who thought her husband was ‘hot stuff’? Kim took a deep breath. She needed time to process all of this.

‘Andy, I’ve been thinking,’ she managed. ‘Maybe I’ll take you up on that offer to Vegas after all.’

The memories of that evening disappeared as Kim heard Holly’s soft giggle. ‘I wouldn’t have called it a proper kiss,’ she pointed out, ‘more like a little peck. I shouldn’t have even told you. Now come on, shall we get ready and go get some breakfast? I’m starving,’ she said as she jumped out of bed.

‘Are we just going to a pool today? I can’t wait to sunbathe without a single interruption.’ Hopefully it would also give her time to think about her marriage too. She had wanted this time to come away and escape, forgetting about her troubles back home, but Kim couldn’t help but feel she’d only brought them with her. Even last night she’d struggled to get asleep due to the worry, despite being exhausted.

‘Yes. I said we’d meet the others there at oneish. It’s somewhere called Encore; I can’t remember the hotel though,’ she said, before disappearing to have a shower.

After a delicious breakfast of pancakes drenched in maple syrup, the girls were making their way to the swimming pool.

‘We must be the first to arrive,’ Holly noted, looking round for the others. It was a huge place but was fairly quiet so far, with just the odd few sunbathers. Holly imagined it would get busier later on. She glanced at her watch. ‘It’s only twelve though, so I’m sure they’ll be here soon enough.’

‘Is lover boy coming?’ Kim teased.

Holly rolled her eyes. ‘Hey enough of that,’ she laughed. ‘I told you it was only one quick kiss and yes, I think he said he was.’