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Tool of the trade

Three women, three kids, one thing in common...


Published by: Paul Carter & Amy Thompson
Published on: 24th February 2011

Spotlights – that was exactly what my apartment needed. My housemate had just moved out to live with her boyfriend and, for the first time ever, I was going to live alone. So, it was time to decorate!
I couldn’t help feeling excited as I flicked through the local paper for electricians, picking one at random.
I’ll get spotlights put in the kitchen and my bedroom, I thought calling the sparky’s number. It’ll look amazing!
Next day, I was so excited when there was a knock on the door – it was the electrician. I opened it up… ‘Hi, I’m Martin,’ he said.
My mouth opened, but no sound came out apart from maybe a tiny squeak.
It wasn’t just that Martin was lush, with his blue eyes, stubble and full lips.
It was more that there was this incredible, well, electricity between us. I could practically see the sparks zapping from me to him as I showed him in.
Watching him tinker with my fuse box, I flirted shamelessly.
‘You look like you work out,’ I grinned, handing him a cuppa.
‘I do my best,’ he smiled back.
He held my gaze a fraction of a second too long.
Just half an hour later, we’d arranged our first date.
‘He’s coming to pick me up for dinner on Saturday,’ I told my friend Gemma.
‘You’re so lucky,’ she sighed. ‘All the electricians I’ve ever met have been bald with builders’ bums!’
Seeing Martin, 24, again was even better than the first time.
We both loved comedy and horror movies, and dance music – and when he kissed me at the end of the night, there was a real buzz between us.
I’d never felt so strongly about anyone before, and our relationship moved at lightning speed.
A month after we first met, Martin moved in with me.
But things didn’t slow down after that. Just six weeks into our relationship, I was at work when a wave of nausea swept over me.
Dashing to the loo, I felt dizzy. Then I realised something…
‘Oh no,’ I gasped, pulling out my phone and looking at the calendar.
My period was a week late!
As soon as I could, I nipped to the shop and bought a pregnancy test. Back home, I waited anxiously for the result – positive!
My hands shook. I was going to have a baby! The most important question though was, would I be raising the child alone?
When Martin got in, I sat him down and broke the news. ‘I know we haven’t been together long,’ I started. ‘I’ll understand if you don’t want to stick around.’
He smiled and shook his head. ‘I’m going to be a daddy,’ he said. ‘I’m not going anywhere.’
Phew! The next step was telling my parents – and introducing them to Martin! Although he’d met a few of my mates, we’d never got around to meeting each other’s families.
Thankfully, Mum and Dad thought he was lovely. Then we told them about the baby…
‘It’s a bit sudden isn’t it?’ said my mum Claire, 44, looking a bit worried.
‘We didn’t plan it,’ I said. ‘But we’re really excited. Plus, this little one will be your first grandchild.’
‘Well, as long as you’re happy,’ she said, fighting a thrilled smile and failing miserably.
Everything might have been happening fast, but I could already picture me and Martin with our new baby, a happy little family.
Over the next few months, he proved he was going to be a great dad, too, taking on more work to help pay for things.
And when we discovered we were having a girl, he decorated the spare room pink, bless him.
The antenatal classes freaked him out a bit, but he came along anyway without so much as a word of complaint.
His face was a picture when he practised the breathing exercises with me, puffing out his cheeks and taking in short breaths.
I was too busy laughing to do them myself.
‘Come on,’ he chuckled. ‘You’ve got to learn this stuff, too.’
Martin had a knack for making me feel special, constantly showering me with compliments even when I felt like a beached whale. The only problem was, he was having to work all hours to fund our new addition.
But he was right by my side when I went into labour last April. ‘You’re doing great,’ he encouraged, gripping my hand in the delivery room.
‘I’m in agony!’ I panted back.
When our daughter Maddie finally made an appearance, though, it was all worth it.
‘She’s gorgeous,’ Martin said, welling up as he cradled her.
I nodded happily.
I couldn’t believe that less than a year earlier I’d been looking forward to living in my flat alone, having spotlights fitted.
Now, here I was with a beautiful baby girl and gorgeous, loving boyfriend.
Just as I’d suspected, Martin was the perfect dad.
He doted on our little girl.
When he came home one night, there was no wiping the soppy grin off his face.
‘Look what I’ve got for Maddie,’ he said, showing me a tiny teddy bear with the words To a Special Daughter emblazoned on the front.
There was no doubt about it, Martin had taken to fatherhood in a flash.
He was a natural. He knew how to change her nappies and heat up her bottles properly.
‘You’d think he’d been a daddy for years,’ Mum said, impressed.
There was just one thing missing…
‘Why don’t we get married?’ I suggested to Martin over our dinner one night.
He looked up at me, startled.
Then he shook his head. ‘I want to propose to you properly,’ he said. ‘Let me save up for a while, and do it when the time’s right.’
I shrugged, smiling.
‘Okay then,’ I said.
To be honest, I was secretly pleased by Martin’s reaction.
He wanted to pick the perfect moment and surprise me with a romantic proposal!
While doing the washing up or vacuuming, I often daydreamed about how he’d eventually pop the question.
One evening, thinking about it while making tea in the kitchen, a shrill bleep made me jump.
It was Martin’s phone, lit up on the kitchen table. He was in our bedroom rocking Maddie off to sleep. She was two-months-old already.
Where does the time go?
Without thinking, I picked up his phone to take it to him… and froze. A picture message of a dark-haired woman about my age filled the screen. In her arms was a newborn baby.
Why would someone send Martin a photo of a random woman and her child? Was it his mate’s girlfriend with their new baby or something?
Opening the message, I read the text beneath the photo…
Martin, your son is two-weeks-old now and you haven’t even seen him! Sarah.
My heart was thumping hard, my palms sweating. Son?! What was she on about?! Carefully, I closed the kitchen door, then rang the number from Martin’s phone.
‘Hello?’ A girl’s voice answered, sounding surprised.
‘Umm…’ I started, awkwardly. ‘My name’s Samantha, you just sent a picture to my boyfriend’s phone, and I was wondering if you’d got the wrong number.’
There was a moment of silence.
‘Is your boyfriend’s name Martin Mellor?’ she asked.
My blood ran cold.
‘Yes,’ I croaked, a sickening feeling forming in the pit of my stomach. ‘Who are you?’
‘I’m the girl who just had his baby two weeks ago,’ she said, tearfully. ‘He hasn’t been around for a while, but I didn’t realise he’d moved on already.’
‘Moved on? I’ve been with Martin for more than a year,’ I said. ‘We have a two-month-old daughter… we live together!’
Sarah gasped, before bursting into tears.
‘I’m so sorry,’ she sobbed. ‘I had no idea. He told me he was single! He’s been seeing me the whole time I’ve been pregnant…’
She took a shaky breath. ‘…but a couple of months ago, he just stopped contacting me. It must have been just after you had your little girl.’
I felt like a lightbulb had switched on in my head.
So, Martin hadn’t been working extra hours while I was pregnant – he’d been seeing another woman!
As I hung up the phone, I felt sick. But I was determined to find out as much as I could before I confronted him.
I scrolled through his messages. I didn’t expect to stumble across anything, but you never know…
There were photos of another little boy, from another woman. The lad looked about four! The message read: When am I seeing you again, Daddy?
I collapsed into a chair. Daddy?!
Images of how quickly Martin had taken to being a parent flashed through my mind.
‘You’d think he’d been a daddy for years,’ Mum had joked. That was because he had been!
My shock quickly gave way to anger as I realised something else.
With two women on the go, plus juggling three kids at once, there was no way Martin was waiting for the right time to propose.
No, he had no intention of getting down on one knee, he was bluffing.
Standing up, I stormed into the spare room, where Martin was working on his laptop.
He looked up at me with a smile.
Before he could say a word I picked up his computer, hurling it at the wall.
‘What the…?’ he gasped, jumping up.
‘When were you going to tell
me about your other kids?’ I fumed, chucking his phone at him.
‘When were you planning on telling me that Maddie has two half-brothers, and you’ve been cheating on me for months?’
He stared at me, his mouth opening and closing like a fish.
‘I’m sorry,’ he mumbled. ‘I fell in love with both of you, I couldn’t choose… but it’s over with Sarah, I want you and Maddie, nobody else. I haven’t even seen her little boy.’
My blood boiled.
Did he think that made it okay?
What kind of man turns his back on his own flesh and blood like that?
What if he’d chosen Sarah and her son over me and Maddie?
It could just as easily have been us left to fend for ourselves.
‘Get out,’ I growled.
‘W-what?’ he stammered, shocked.
‘You heard,’ I yelled at him, storming into our room and packing a bag for him.
Shoving it into his chest, I frog-marched him out the front door.
‘You can’t do this,’ he protested. ‘You can’t stop me from seeing my daughter.’
‘I don’t intend to,’ I replied. ‘Call me when you want to see her, and we’ll sort something out.’
With that, I slammed the door in his face and collapsed in tears.
My perfect world had shattered around me. I’d loved Martin so much, but he’d broken my heart just like he’d broken Sarah’s.
I couldn’t believe that Maddie’s doting daddy was able to turn his back on his children the moment something better came along.
There was no way I’d give him the chance to do the same to her.
It’s been seven months since me and Martin split up. He does see Maddie occasionally, but we’ll never get back together.
I would never trust him again. I never dreamed that while my boyfriend was working, he was on the job in more ways than one.
He must have known he’d get caught out eventually.
But then, he may be a great sparky, but he’s no bright spark.

Martin Mellor, 24, told Full House!: ‘I was daft having two girls on the go.
‘I didn’t mean to, but I loved them both and I couldn’t decide which one I wanted to be with.
‘Both pregnancies were a mistake, as was the other one, four years ago.
‘I’ve always let what’s in my pants rule my head, so I suppose it’s my own fault.
‘In my job, I do get women coming on to me.
‘The trouble is, I find it very hard to say no.’
Samantha Smith, 23, Stalybridge, Cheshire