Page 82 of Perfect Wives
He leaned closer, lowering his voice. ‘Free and available. We can try as many times as you need, and it will cost you nothing.’
‘Why would you do that?’ I asked, taking another long gulp of my drink. I told myself I would never do that. Not with Jonny. Not to Alistair. A sperm donor was one thing, but an affair was a whole other kind of betrayal.
‘Because you’re beautiful,’ he said. ‘Why wouldn’t I want to sleep with you?’
I said no at first. I wouldn’t do that to Alistair. But then I went home, empty and broken, and I started to see that Jonny’s proposal was the only way Alistair and I would ever get the perfect family we deserved. And even though I could barely look at myself in the mirror, I told myself I was doing it because I loved my husband and would do anything to give him the second child he wanted as much as I did.
And so for three days every month, when I was ovulating, Jonny and I slept together. It wasn’t unpleasant. Jonny was passionate and exploring, different from Alistair’s slow tenderness. But I refused to enjoy it. I told myself it was a means to an end. And when that second pink line appeared on the pregnancy test three months later, I ended the affair.
I got what I wanted.
But Jonny wanted more.
A noise outside pulls me back. I glance out the window and see a removal van pulling into number twelve. A new family, finally filling the last empty house on Magnolia Close.
Tasha, Marc and the girls left first. Going before their house had even sold. Georgie and Nate went next. Nate moved to a high-rise apartment in London, and Georgie and Oscar to a little house near Dove Street.
We still see each other at school pick-ups. Georgie tried to stay in contact after she moved out of Magnolia Close. I gave her excuse after excuse, and eventually, she got the message. I let the friendship slip away. It was better that way. But she seems happy. She finally got her wish to go viral and become the influencer she dreamed of being. Not as someone who has it all but through posts about the stark honesty of life as a single mum on a budget. Relatable and passionate. A different version of the Georgie I knew, but then she never really knew me either.
Jonny’s house sold next. A nice family moved in next door – a couple who run a florist. Their children are older – a boy anda girl around ten and twelve. They always say hi to Henry and throw his football back for him when it goes over the fence.
Dan and Ryan sold next. It’s sad they couldn’t heal the rift. And even though Marc and Tasha were the first to leave Magnolia Close, their sale has only just gone through. The final new family are joining our community. At last, it feels like a fresh start for all of us.
Downstairs, the front door bangs open. I hear Henry and Alistair calling up, followed by Alanna’s hungry wail.
‘Mummy! Quick! Alanna needs your milk!’ Henry shouts.
‘Coming!’ I call back, already smiling.
I head downstairs. Henry stands proudly by the sofa, taller now, his neat red hair and freckles glowing in the sunlight. He sets a glass of water on the coffee table like Alistair has told him to do any time I’m breastfeeding, before he kneels beside his train set.
Alistair lifts Alanna from her pushchair and hands her to me. She nuzzles into my chest, latching on with a small tug. I breathe in the sweet, milky scent of her, feeling a contentment I always believed I would find.
Alistair drops a kiss on my head. ‘I said hello to the new family at number twelve,’ he says. ‘They’ve got a baby too.’
‘Oh really?’ I glance towards the window, feeling hopeful.
He smiles. ‘I invited them for coffee tomorrow morning.’
‘Perfect,’ I reply. And it is. I can already tell we’ll be good friends.
Magnolia Close isn’t just a street. It’s a community. We look out for each other. We stick together.
I can’t see number twelve too well from here – not like Georgie’s old view of the entire close – but that’s fine. A few more months, a little more healing and I’ll set up a new camera. Discreetly of course. Somewhere hidden.
It isn’t about spying. It’s about caring. Protecting what we have.
The first camera wasn’t about prying either. It was about Jonny. I needed to make sure no one was around to see me slipping between our houses, letting myself into his house with our key those times I was sleeping with him.
Everything would’ve worked out if Jonny hadn’t changed his mind about our plan.
‘You know,’ he said, a few weeks after I ended our affair, ‘I think I’ve changed my mind. When else am I going to get a chance to be a dad? Alistair is a sap. He’ll forgive you. You can still have your happy family, Beth, but I want to be part of this baby’s life.’
I knew he didn’t really mean it. It was just another game to him. He didn’t care about being a father. All he cared about was being in our lives forever. I suspected it was always his plan. This way he could constantly mess with us. Lord my betrayal over Alistair.
‘Either you tell Alistair or I will,’ he said the day I met Georgie and Tasha in the pub for the PTA meeting. The day I realised I would need a new plan to protect my perfect family.
Maybe Jonny was right about Alistair forgiving me. But it would’ve destroyed the sweet, honest trust we share. It would’ve hurt my husband and my family too deeply. And I didn’t do all this for anything less than perfect.
