Page 49 of A Merry Little Christmas

‘It’s rare but …’ She cupped a hand over her mouth and whispered behind it, eyeing up Harley and Max nervously, ‘I’ve heard it can make you infertile.’

‘Really?’ Woody leaned in closer. ‘How?’

‘Orchitis. Look it up if you dare.’ She mimed holding a large round object and turned to her son. ‘Come on, darling, let’s get you home.’

‘Aren’t most kids vaccinated against it these days?’ Merry asked.

‘Nell?’ Max gave her a pleading look. ‘I should leave too. I don’t want to catch mumps.’

‘Me neither.’ Harley touched his hand to his face uneasily. ‘I already feel a bit hot.’

‘I think you’ll have been vaccinated against mumps. You too, Harley,’ said Nell, distractedly. ‘But why don’t you call your mum to find out, Max, put your mind at rest.’

‘Are you sure? Because if I get mumps and can’t play football, I won’t be happy,’ Max warned.

‘It is nasty.’ Irena sucked in a breath while shaking her head solemnly. ‘Olek had mumps when he was about your age, Max. He was very poorly.’

‘Olek had mumps?’ Nell exclaimed with such alacrity that Irena flinched. ‘I didn’t know that.’

‘Gosh, how traumatic!’ said Merry. She had no idea if she’d been vaccinated or not. And did vaccines work forever anyway?

‘Olek did not have the vaccine.’ Irena grimaced. ‘I felt very bad about that. It was around the time we moved from Poland. We did not register with a doctor in the UK straight away and, somehow, I never got around to getting him jabbed. His balls swelled up like beetroot.’ She hooted with laughter. ‘His father kept making jokes about beetroot soup, poor boy.’

‘Poor Olek,’ said Merry. ‘I think I’ll get my baby vaccinated against everything. I know there’s a risk, but …’

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the colour drain from Nell’s previously pink face.

‘Traumatic, long-standing trauma,’ she murmured under her breath.

‘Nell?’ Merry asked, concerned. ‘What are you saying?’

But Nell didn’t appear to be listening. She put down her tray of mulled wine and walked straight out of the shop and into the street, as if she was in a trance. Merry was bewildered. What on earth was wrong with her?

Chapter 18

Nell

A blast of wintry air hit Nell as she stumbled outside. But she was impervious to the cold. She walked a few paces into the marketplace and over to the far side of the Christmas tree, away from the glare of the Merry and Bright windows.

Olek had had mumps. Mumps could cause infertility. And Olek was infertile. The worry in the back of Nell’s brain that had been circling ever since that distressing day at the clinic was now front and centre. It could not be a coincidence, it simply couldn’t. An image of Dr Bajek questioning Olek about past trauma flashed into her mind. The doctor had obviously been trying to establish the cause of his infertility. Now a chance conversation in the shop had revealed the answer.

Orchitis. That was what that woman had called it. Nell googled it on her phone and winced at a picture of severely swollen testicles. Poor Olek having to deal with that as a teenager. She scanned the text until her eyes rested on the words, ‘male infertility’. A rare complication, apparently, but not unheard of. If Olek had suffered as badly as Irena suggested, this could well be the cause of his problem.

Nell pressed the phone to her chest and squeezed her eyes tightly shut. Her darling man. He was the absolute best father a man could be to a child and yet, if this was true, the chances of him having fathered Max really were very slim. She recalled the things he’d said outside his parents’ house the other night, about being prouder of your children’s accomplishments than your own. She couldn’t take that away from him by telling him her fears. She wouldn’t.

For the first time since she’d misled Olek about the results, she felt grateful for her decision. He must never find out. He must never even have an inkling that Max might not be his. He and Max shared the same colouring, even if build-wise they were chalk and cheese. But unless you were looking for differences, you’d never suspect a thing. More importantly, neither would Olek.

She blotted the tears which had gathered in her eyes and blew out a breath. She could do this. She could be strong for Olek and make sure he never, ever found out. She and he might never have biological children of their own, but at least Olek would always have Max. Yes, she was being dishonest by not passing on her theory, but faced with the knowledge that if she did she’d damage their relationship permanently, she’d live with that dishonesty.

‘Nell?’ she heard Max call. ‘Nell, are you out here?’

‘Yes! Coming!’ She injected a positive tone to her voice, sniffed back any remaining tears and hurried back towards the shop. Max was standing in the doorway directly underneath the bunch of mistletoe which Merry hung up every year. Nell resisted an impulse to gather him to her and give him a big hug. Thank goodness he was oblivious to everything that was going on in her head. ‘What’s up?’

Her stepson frowned. ‘Mum can’t come and fetch me. She’s already drunk a bottle of wine with Viktor.’

‘No problem.’ Nell opened the door and gestured for him to go in ahead of her. ‘I can take you home.’

Now, ideally, she thought. She was emotionally exhausted. But she’d stay until the end; she wouldn’t desert Merry, no matter how much her friend’s music was annoying her.