chapter 1 - book in progress

The lace ruffles white dress was her most precious treasure.
The day finally arrived.
She came out of the limousine, adjusted her veil with the help of her sisters, and embraced her dad.
Mary-Ann was so nervous she could feel her legs trembling. The happiest day if her life.
“Do you think Jon will like it? Will he find it tacky? Do I have too many ruffles, mum?” the bride asked.
“Darling, you look beautiful. He's very lucky to have you to be his wife”, her mum said as she adjusted her hair. Mary-Ann not only looked beautiful, she transpired happiness.
As she entered the church, by her dad's arm, she focused on Jon. He looked very elegant and handsome. He gave her a reassuring smile. That was all she needed.
Mary-Ann walked confidently down the aisle and when her dad gave her to his husband to be, she could not hold her tears.
“Don't be silly”, Jon whispered. “It's just a wedding!”. She giggled, only him could make her giggle and cry at the same time.
The ceremony went well and soon they were together, on their way to the banquet. Mary-Ann was quite conscious about the after-church. Her husband was adamant he wanted to pay for all. She knew he could well pay it, with such a nice job in finance, money was not a problem for him. But she feared that he would get annoyed, again, at her family. He used to say they were very loud and inappropriate. She hoped no one would drink too much and make a scene. Although that was so proper of a happy wedding and her family really knew how to celebrate. Mary-Ann decided not to worry more about it, after all she was now Mrs Grant and that was what she wanted for a long time now.
That night they would not sleep together. Jon almost refused to go to home. He was very drank and very upset about her family. She cried and felt slightly sad that her cousins were so loud and her sisters kept asking for a speech and her parents so proud, always around her. She could not really see what exactly upset Jon so much for him not wanting to sleep with her, but believed he must have had his reasons. Jon was always right.
The couple overcome that initial incident and soon Mary-Ann was pregnant and overjoyed. Jon was not so pleased. “How can you have let this happen Mary-Ann? You know a child was not on my plans!”. “Jon, I'm sorry, it happened. I don't know...” “You don't know? Mary-Ann?” “Jon, I'll look after him, don't worry. You won't have to worry about anything...” “Just don't forget that I won't be doing any nappy change, or playing on the floor with lego, or sing those ridiculous lullaby songs”, job said.
Her eyes were filled with water and she could not speak for a while. But she smiled and nodded.
As the months went by, Mary-Ann was getting bigger and more tired. Jon could not stand the vision of her and moved to the guest room, with the excuse that his wife would be more comfortable by herself.
She felt lonely in that room by herself and sometimes would have her younger sister, Olivia, over to keep her company.
“So this is about you being more comfortable, eh?”. “Yes, sure”, Mary-Ann replied, not being sure at all. She wished her pregnancy would go faster, so she could have her normal life back with Jon.
Her baby boy was born in a hot June afternoon. He was a chubby baby, with red cheeks and white blond hair. “Jon, we have a beautiful baby boy! He's so cute, so adorable! When do you think, you can come around and see him?” “I'm very busy now, have meetings all afternoon. Maybe later...”
Mary-Ann pretended not to see his complete lack of interest and carried on “I would like to call him Ashley, after my grandfather. Would you mind Jon?” “Not at all. You can call it Laraly, for what I care. Have to go now.” and he hung up on her.
That day Mary-Ann knew that she lost Jon and he would not come back. The day Jon asked her to leave with her baby was still very harsh. He came home earlier one morning, Mary-Ann was playing with baby Ashley on the interactive mat. He was only 3 months old but was very curious a very smiley baby. Mary-Ann heard the door closing. She looked to the living room door and saw him coming in. Jon was not smiling, his eyes was of a stranger.
“Mary-Ann...”
She felt a cold go down her spine, picked up baby Ashley and cuddle him against her.
“Mary-Ann, I'm sorry, I have tried, but I can't do this...”
She felt numb. “Jon?”
“This ends here. I need you to leave the house. Today. Take your things. His things. I'll get delivered anything you can't take today. I understand, it won't be easy to take all, having the baby.”
“Jon?” She could not say much more. She could not form the words and say them. There were so many and would not come out. “Where do I go? This is also my house!”
“Mary-Ann, I'm being quite reasonable here, I'm not getting upset, just letting you know of the decision I made. This is my house, has always been my house, not yours. You came to live with me, after we got married.”
“Jon?...Is there someone else? Did I do something wrong? My family? Can we talk about this?”
Jon looked down and didn't say a word.
“Jon? Please! Is there another woman?”
Jon looked Mary-Ann in the eyes, a cold look and said “There's not another woman. It's not that.”.
“It must be something. You can't just do this. Kick me out of the house, of your life with our son!”.
Jon took a step closer and said “it's another man.”.