The Road, continued

I took a few steps closer towards my front door and realised that it was the sound of several people talking. I went into the front room, where the curtains were drawn. I parted them in the middle, just enough so that I get a view of the road outside my house.

The old man was still there, but he wasn't alone. About six or seven other people had stopped to look at the cat. I couldn't hear the exact words they were saying, but some of them were raising their voices. The old man kept pointing in the direction of my front door. One of the people - a middle-aged man wearing a dark suit - kept shaking his head, as though he'd been angered by something. At one point, he began walking towards the house, but a woman standing next to him - she was also wearing a suit - grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

They stayed like that for several minutes, talking, gesticulating, nodding, looking at the cat. Then the man in the suit took his mobile phone out of his jacket and made a long call, during which no-one else spoke. They just watched him, sometimes exchanging anxious glances with each other.

At one point during the conversation the man nodded his head several times and began looking intently at my house. I guessed he was trying to find its number. He then finished his call, said a few words to the other people gathered there and began striding right up to my front door.

I immediately let go of the curtains and stood still.

A few moments later, I heard the door bell ring. I crept away from the windows, edged towards the sofa and sat down quietly.

The door bell rang again, and then there were a few moments of silence. Then it rang again and again several times. The man began banging on my front door, loudly. At one point, he shouted out, "Hello." I just sat still, trying to keep my breathing as calm as I could.

Then I heard him walk away from the front door, but his footsteps went around the back of the house. A few seconds later, I heard him banging on the back door. "Is there anybody there?" he yelled.

He didn't hang around the back door very long. I heard his footsteps walk back around the house again, across the drive and back to the pavement. When I heard the voices of the people again, I allowed myself to stand up and walk back towards the curtains. I parted them as I'd done before. The people were giving all their attention to the cat now. Some of the people had knelt down on the pavement. A new person turned up with what looked like a small blanket, which they placed across the animal. I couldn't see if the blanket was covering the cat's whole body.

Their conversation now seemed less angry and more intent. The man in the suit had taken charge, motioning to various people not to get too close to the cat.

After a few more minutes, someone pulled up in a mini-van and emerged holding what looked like a small cage, of the sort I'd seen people transporting pets on ferries and planes. He spoke to the man in the suit and the old man. Again, the group looked in the direction of my house. The man holding the cage made a note of my house number. Then he spoke to the group as a whole, after which they all seemed to huddle around the cat, so that I couldn't make out exactly what was going on, but after a few moments, the man placed the cage very gingerly into the back of the mini-van. He turned to the man in the suit and the old man and spoke to them for a few moments. He gave each of them a card, shook hands with them, got back in the van and drove away.

The other people stayed on the pavement for just a few more minutes, talking to each other, but it wasn't long before the group dispersed and the pavement was left empty.

I let go of the curtains and stood still. And then I found myself touching my tummy. I rubbed it a few times, very slowly, very gently. And I remember that was the moment when I decided I would keep my baby. At the time, I didn't know exactly what had led me to that decision, but there was no doubt in my mind that that is what I was going to do. And then, I remember that I suddenly felt extremely hungry, so I went into the kitchen and made myself one of the largest breakfasts I'd had for a long time.

---

After I'd cleared up the kitchen, after I'd changed my clothes, after I'd taken the dressing gown out of the dishwasher and put it in the drier, I picked up the cordless phone, sat on the settee in the lounge and dialled Martin's mobile number. He picked up straight away.

"Hiya. D'you just get up?"

"Yeah. I've just had breakfast, that's all."

"That was a long sleep! How you feeling?"

"Umm... better... much better." I paused. "Thanks for phoning work. Did they say anything?"

"No, nothing at all. They just thanked me and said to tell you to get better soon." A few moments passed. "D'you want to... to talk... or d'you want to wait til the evening?"

"Umm... well, we can talk when you get home... talk properly, I mean. But... do you... do you want to have a baby, Martin?"

His voice went quiet. "Yeah... yeah, I do."

I'm sure I whispered the next words. "Shall we... shall we have one, then?"

"Yeah... I think we should."

"Yeah... so I do."

A few seconds of silence.

"I'll see you at home, then," I said.

"Yeah... I'll be back early."

And we told each other that we loved each other and that was that. The decision had been made.