Divorced for Being Barren, I Birthed Twins for My New Husband

My father was thrown in the county jail, and my mother collapsed with illness. I went to beg my husband, Elliot Watt, to step in and save him. Instead, he made me choose.

"We've been married four years and you've never gotten pregnant. Now Paige is carrying my child, and the Watt line can't die out. I have to think of her and the baby."

"Either you stay on as Mrs. Watt in name only, move into the guest room, and let Paige run the house. Or we get divorced."

Paige was an orphan I had taken in. She looked timid and docile, yet she had ended up in bed with my husband.

It was too late to undo. I chose the second option.

Clutching the signed divorce papers, I helped my aging parents back to our hometown, Pine Hollow.

But a single woman attracts gossip. In the daytime, men catcalled me in the street. At night, drunks pounded on the door.

Just when things were at their hardest, Sandra came to see me.

"Kane Cross, down at the end of town, asked me to bring you a proposal."

"He's heard you run a good household. He wants to marry you. He'll take care of your parents, and he's hoping you'll help him raise his son and daughter."

I grew up in Pine Hollow, but I had never heard of anyone named Kane living at the end of town.

Sandra explained.

Kane had enlisted at eighteen and fought in the war. Back from the service only since last year, he'd bought a butcher shop at the edge of town. His wife had died in childbirth, leaving him two small children and an aging mother.

He could provide for a family but needed someone to run the house.

He knew I couldn't have children and understood my situation. He wanted us to marry, look after each other, and get on with life.

After Sandra left, I told my father, who was lying in bed.

Jail had worn his frail body down further, but he forced himself to talk it through with me.

"Kane...I've seen him a few times."

"Big fellow. Doesn't say much."

"But he's honest. Every time I bought meat at his shop, he never shorted the weight. Only..."

Dad was worried. Kane had two children, so I'd be a stepmother, the hardest job there is.

I fed him his medicine, one spoonful at a time. "Dad, it doesn't matter that he has kids. With kids already, he won't mind that I can't have any."

Dad froze, then turned his face away, tears running down.

Right. I couldn't have children.

In four years of marriage to Elliot, his mother, Jane, had called me a hen that can't lay eggs.

Elliot was a devoted son who couldn't stand Jane's wailing. Or maybe he'd simply tired of me, because he took up with the orphan I'd taken in.

The day it all came out, Paige stood beside Elliot, one hand on her still-flat belly, looking sweetly wronged.

"Esme, I didn't mean to steal your husband. I only wanted to repay you."

"The Watts have had just one son for three generations, and his mother has waited for a grandson until she's nearly cried herself blind."

"I thought, since you can't have children, I'd have one for Elliot in your place and give the family an heir."

She glanced at Elliot, all shy blushes.

"But Elliot said he couldn't let a mother and her child be separated. He'd rather divorce you and marry me, so the two of us would have a name."

"Esme, don't blame me. In the Watt house, not being able to have a child is an unforgivable sin."

I went numb.

I was hoping Elliot would explain, maybe say it was all a joke.

He just looked at me coldly.

"Esme, four years and you've never conceived, but the Watt family can't end with me."

"Now that Paige is pregnant, I have to think of her and the baby."

"Either you stay on as Mrs. Watt in name only, move into the guest room, and let Paige be the lady of the house. Or we divorce."

Elliot and I grew up in the same town, high school sweethearts.

His father died young and his mother raised him alone. My father pitied him and, figuring he'd be his son-in-law sooner or later, threw himself into helping.

But in the end, my father refused to cook the books for the owner of Hendricks Lumber, got falsely accused in return, and was locked up in the county jail. Elliot was a clerk at the county courthouse who knew the prosecutor and had pull, yet he used my father's life as leverage against me.

"Sign, and don't make a scene, and I'll find a way to save your dad."

"He's old, and his heart is bad. He can't survive the hardship of jail."

By then I had nothing left to cling to. I signed and cut Elliot out of my life for good.

He kept his word, and my father was released on bail soon after.

Back home, I'd hoped for a quiet life, but it wasn't easy either.

Jane's mouth had spread the news of my infertility all over town. People laughed behind my back, and the church ladies whispered that I was cursed by God.

Half-grown kids threw stones at me in the road, shouting that I'd bring the town bad luck and keep more women from getting pregnant.

I couldn't defend myself. In four years I'd seen countless doctors and taken countless medicines. All said my chances were extremely slim, and my belly had never shown a sign.

I figured I'd be alone for the rest of my life.

I never expected someone to come knocking.

Later that day, my mother, a little better, came home from her part-time job at the laundromat and urged me to think it over again.

But the town wouldn't give me more time. Whether it was Dale from the trailer park up north or Randy at the end of town whose wife had died, someone drunk was always pounding on my door.

"Esme, cold at night? Let me come in and warm your bed."

"Your man threw you out. Must be rough, sleeping alone. Let me keep you company."

"Esme, quit playing high and mighty. Me touching you is your good luck."

He beat on the gate, spewing filth.

I called the police. The deputy came twice, said that as long as a drunk didn't get inside it was nothing, and told me to lock up.

A young woman who'd been dumped, like me, was a piece of fatty meat dropped in the road. Dale today, Randy tomorrow, any man wanted a bite.

Kane knew how hard it was for me, so he had Sandra pass on one line.

"Marry me, and I'll protect your whole family."