Chapter Two.
Well, what do you know, the next thing Lilian was pregnant. She tried to hide it as long as possible. When she told Sean of his accomplishment, the next thing she knew, her lover disappeared into the woodwork. When her condition became obvious to her parents, and still no Sean in sight, her father threw a fit. How could he have reared such a fool? They were sitting in the living room, and Tim was beside himself.
“So, when was the last time you heard from lover boy?”
“I haven’t, Dad, but I know he’ll be back,” sobbed Lilian.
“You believe that like you believe in the tooth fairy. You have brought shame on the family.”
Lilian sat and cried. What was even worse was that she worked at the library as a librarian. She could imagine what her fellow workers would think, and even worse, what about the public she handed books to every day. The shame was unbearable.
“We’ll just have to make the best of it,” sighed her mother. The ever-forgiving soul that she was.
“When I was a young lad, if you got a girl pregnant, you married her. That guy is a scoundrel! He’s probably in Dublin doing the same thing to some other hussy. If I ever get my hands on him, I’ll make short work of him,” shouted Tim.
“Timothy, the deed is done. There’s no point in shouting at Lilian now. She needs our help, not your bantering,” admonished Betty.
“Bantering my foot, she’s a bloody fool!” shouted Dad.
At this recrimination, Lilian began to bawl her eyes out. Mother got up from beside dad and walked over, and put her arms around her daughter. There was a knock at the door. Jamie answered, it was Tim’s sister and her three daughters. They walked in and marched over to Lilian.
“Aunt Betty, can we sit beside Lilian?” asked the three nieces.
“Of course,” and went back to sit beside Dad.
“Aunt Mary, Dad is sitting there, brow-beating his daughter for making a mistake,” cried Jamie.
“Shame on you, Timothy. You were something of a lover boy yourself in your younger days.”
“Yeah, but I never got any of them pregnant.”
“That’s what you tell us,” laughed his sister.
With that condemnation, Timothy turned as red as a beetroot. He was ready to clean the floor with all of them. Betty sat beside her husband, quiet as a mouse. She realized the situation was escalating, and wanting no trouble, spoke,
“Would anyone like a cup of tea?”
Everyone shouted they would.
“You girls like to come help me?”
All the young girls disappeared into the kitchen. Mary went over and sat beside Timothy. Maybe she had spoken out of turn. The tea and Betty’s baking were brought in, and everyone settled into enjoying afternoon tea.
Lilian continued her position at the library. Some definitely snubbed her for sure, but her fellow employees were very conciliatory. Especially her supervisor, who was a very religious woman, who went to great lengths to ensure she didn’t over-exert herself. She kept hoping for some communications from her sweetheart, but the letters were conspicuous by their absence.
