Short Stories by Hope/Family

Jack hadn't wanted to get married and definitely had no wish to become a father. After a moderately successful three years at uni, he had moved from job to job without any great ambition beyond the need for sufficient funds for his rather hedonistic lifestyle. He was twenty-eight years old when it all changed.

The first event was his Grandmother's death and he was now the 'owner' of a big country house. Not really the owner though, as it was part of a trust set up by his Great Grandfather. The second event was Emily. She was crew on the yacht owned by a friend of a friend and overcome by the sunshine and champagne, he had proposed. She was three months pregnant when they married and moved into The Elms. The house was big and it was fortunate that there was sufficient money in the trust to pay most of the costs associated with a building whose foundations were probably medieval but had been much altered and extended.

By the time Amy was born, they had almost settled into country life. Jack used his degree in chemistry to get a job advising farmers about agrochemicals and Emily designed websites in an attic studio. Jack was determined to be a modern man and did his share of nappy changing, bathing and feeding. It was while changing her, that he first became aware of his interest