Chapter 10
Mary
Dumfries
late March, 1912

"What did you just say?"

Mary sat on the edge of the bed, staring up wide-eyed at the doctor in front of her. She was clutching the purse in her lap so tightly that her knuckles were turning white.

"Congratulations," he said, his mustache turning upwards as he gave a bright smile. "I'd say you're two to three months along at this stage."

She brought a hand to her stomach, which was still flat. This explained the queasiness and exhaustion she had been experiencing over the last few weeks, and it wasn't truly a surprise with Jock having lived with her family for almost a year. They weren't ignorant about how Mary could become pregnant, but they hadn't been careful during Jock's leaves. With Jock being away at sea so long, with the few fleeting days he was home between voyages, they were inseparable, unable to keep their hands off one another. There was no shame in handfasting, but there was already disappointment from the elders in the way that Mary and Jock conducted themselves in public when he was home. What would happen when she could no longer hide that she was expecting?

Mary shook these thoughts from her head. These were silly plagues of the mind. Jock and she were to get married as soon as he returned from Titanic's maiden voyage. Even if their wedding date and the baby's arrival didn't align, what could the neighbors possibly say? It's not like the child would be born out of wedlock.

She thanked the doctor, feeling more like she was floating rather than walking as she made her way home. Her mother was in the sitting room when she returned, lounging on one of the many couches they had crammed inside to accommodate all of Mary's brothers and sisters.

"How are you feeling, my dear?" her mother asked as Mary took off her hat and sat on a couch opposite. Hearing the confirmation from the doctor that she was pregnant did nothing to ease Mary's endless tiredness these days.

"Jock and I are going to have a baby."

Her mother immediately sat up, clasping her hands together with eyes sparkling. "Are you really?"

"That's what the doctor said," Mary replied with a little too much exasperation. She took out the pins that had been holding her hair up, scratching her scalp and letting out a sigh. "I suppose the baby will be born in October."

"Oh, my darling!" Her mother flew into Mary's arms, sitting in her lap like she was a small child. "Children are such a blessing! And you and Jock of all people deserve this happiness!"

"I hope Jock's happy about it," Mary said weakly. "We're still so young, he's so adventurous, and he had wanted us to wait a few years after we got married to start a family."

"Well, he'll have to get over that," her mother said matter-of-factly. "He's going to be a father now. He has the baby as well as you to take care of when he returns home."

How funny your whole life can change in a single moment, Mary thought, bringing a hand to her stomach once more. She was only twenty, but now had to step into womanhood that she knew she was to be a mother.

"What will people say?" Mary said. Of everyone she knew, her mother was the only person she could confide in when Jock wasn't here. "We're not married. What if people find out before we're married?"

"How could people find out unless you tell them?" her mother said, patting her arm. "You're not showing and won't be for a while. Besides, the wedding is only a month away."

Mary nodded, glad to hear her mother reassured exactly what she had been thinking earlier.

"Let's make this our secret until Jock comes home," her mother continued. "I wouldn't even mention this to your brothers and sisters yet."

Mary suddenly felt her blood run cold. "Jock's father and stepmother!" she moaned. "They already hate me! Imagine how they'll feel after learning about this!"

"Don't worry about that," her mother replied, standing up and stretching. "They'll have to accept what they can't change. Besides, nothing softens the hearts of bitter men like grandchildren."

Mary smiled as she watched her mother go to the kitchen to prepare supper. Perhaps she was right. Mary got along with all of Jock's siblings, but it was his father that was the obstacle in their relationship. Jock said he moved into the Costin's home as soon as he could because he could never forgive his father for the way he had treated his mother and Nellie before her death, only to remarry faster than anyone would've thought possible. But Nellie knew deep down that it wasn't his father's remarriage that was the root of dislike between father and son; it was Andrew Hume himself. He was an extremely difficult man to get along with, always pretending he was above families like the Costins and licking the boots of those he deemed to have a higher social standing.

Mary would admit that Jock's father was a fine violinist and pianist and was respected within not only Dumfries, but all of Scotland. But only those close to Andrew Hume knew he was a notorious liar, which was the only reason he had gained so much fame as a musician. When Mary had first met Jock and realized he was Andrew's son, she was initially impressed for him to come from such a fine family. Jock was apparently the great-grandson of Scottish composer, Alexander Hume. But Jock and Nellie had quickly revealed that this wasn't true, merely another lie their father had fabricated for a quick claim to fame.

The idea that Andrew's beloved son, the only one in the family he deemed to have a successful future as a musician, could marry a girl from a lower class family disgusted him. Mary had not once been invited into the Hume household, even before she had met Jock and was solely friends with Nellie. On the rare occasion Nellie would pass Andrew in the street, he would act as if he didn't even see her when their paths almost crossed.

Mary laughed to herself, rubbing her hand up and down her belly.

Andrew Hume would certainly have to pay attention to her now.


Sorry for such a long break between uploads! I haven't forgotten or give up on this story, but a few reviews would certainly help motivate me to upload more consistently!