Yorkshire, UK
"Well?" Said Robbie looking at his wife as she handed the letter back to him.
She shrugged, "We always knew this could happen, so we have to deal with it the same way we always do: We try to be honest and protect our boy. It's time he heard the whole story anyway." Robbie and Sarah sighed, almost in unison, as they thought about the conversation they were going to have to have with Simon when he got home from college.
Robbie is in his mid forties, a tall well made Yorkshire farmer; intelligent, thoughtful and quietly spoken. His hair is receding at the front, but the sprinkling of grey makes him look distinguished, at least Sarah thinks so. But then she's biased; she adores him. Sarah is his wife, a local girl, a couple of months older who manages the farm accounts and the holiday cottages in the surplus farm buildings. Also brought up on a farm, she is the opposite of the archetypal plump farmer's wife: Sarah is about 5'8" and slightly built but toned from hard work. They both lead very busy lives that keep them fit but also often tired, but never too tired to properly show their love for each other.
Simon is their son, sort of; but more of that later. He's from the same mould as his father, with the same strong back and calloused hands from helping on the farm since he was old enough to lift hay bales. Simon is 18 and studying for the exams that will decide which university he can apply to in the following September. He wants to study engineering and, with his parents help, is trying to work out how to prioritise the universities that offer the courses he wants. Some have excellent results academically, some seem to be held in high regard by employers and some seem to be okay and are in cities where accommodation costs are more affordable. He doesn't want to be a burden on his parents and he doesn't want to be burdened with massive debts; that's the kind of man he is.
Robbie and Sarah finished their breakfast and went about the tasks that keep the farm in business. About four thirty that afternoon Simon arrived home from college. "Hi mum!" He called as he threw his bag into the corner and made his way to the fridge.
"I'm in the office, dear," his mother called back. "Do you have plans tonight?"
"No, everyone seems to be busy revising, so there's not much going on."
"Oh, good," his mother thought wearily. "No excuse not to sit down and have that chat."
After their evening meal was finished, the table tidied and the pots put away, Robbie called his son into the family room. "What's up?" He asked, looking concerned, "has something happened?"
"Don't look so worried son," his dad replied. "But we've just received a letter this morning that brought up some issues from our past, and we need to talk about what this could mean to you."
His mother spoke up, "You know that I had trouble conceiving, don't you?" Simon nodded, wondering where this was going. "Well what we told you about having a surrogate mother was true, but not the whole truth." His mother sighed. "The fact is, after we had been married a couple of years, I thought I was pregnant. When I went to the doctor to be sure, the tests were inconclusive so he referred me to a specialist. I never told anyone as I didn't want to raise false hopes. It was just as well. I wasn't pregnant, and..." She paused and began to sob, "...and, I never would be."
She looked at her husband and her son and continued softly, "After I got the news I was in such a mess; I wasn't thinking straight and I did something really stupid because I loved your dad so much. When I realised that I couldn't give your father children..." She paused and struggled to continue. She held her hand up as Robbie made as if to continue for her. "No dear, this is my story to tell." She took a deep breath and turned back to Simon. "I knew how much your dad wanted a family so I manufactured an argument. I accused him of cheating on me and drove him away in the hope that he'd find someone that could give him children. Even though he tried to reach out to me, over and over again, I rejected him every time."
Simon looked at his father who was sitting quietly, staring into space, reliving a deeply hurtful time in his life. Sarah continued, "A few months later I heard he was seeing someone, and I tried to convince myself that I was happy for him and my plan was working."
At this point Robbie took over. "Your grandad was still running the farm at that point in time, so I just took off. I had a friend working for an engineering company in Newcastle and he offered me somewhere to stay and set me up for an interview for a job at his place, fixing agricultural machinery. I'd being doing that since I could hold a spanner and passed the interview, so I started my new life up there.
"I met this young woman. Well, perhaps girl would be more accurate, Fiona; your mother; she was only nineteen to my twenty four. She was gorgeous, wild and exciting and I got her pregnant."
"No!" Simon and his father both flinched at Sarah's angry outburst. "You will not cheapen my son's conception by making it sound tawdry and sordid. Tell him how you met her and how she got pregnant. Robbie, tell him the story as you told it to me."