It was ten months later, when I was feeling more stable, that I met Don. Don was at St. Hilda's for drug rehabilitation and to wean himself off booze. We hit it off right from the start. I liked Don's really wacky sense of humour. He had me in stitches, hopping around the patients' lounge on his one good leg while playing crazy golf with a ping-pong ball and his detached prosthetic leg. It was good for me to laugh. It had been too long that I hadn't laughed. I couldn't even remember the last time, but it must have been while with Eddie. That thought made me sad, but I knew I had to put Eddie behind me. So, Don and I became close. We slept together, and I thought that by that act I could break the spell of Eddie for ever. I ended up pregnant. Don was excited and eager for us to marry, so as soon as I left the hospital and moved into a flat with him we made arrangements to tie the knot. It was a small registry office wedding. From Don's side of the family came his mother and his brother Martin. On my side of the family, came mum, gran, Carol and Patrick. And, like a ghost from the grave, there was my father too. Eddie came along with Janice and the boys. Janice was pretty well near to giving birth to her baby. I was alarmed to see Eddie there. I didn't know mum had mentioned the wedding to him.
"I had to tell him, Juliet," she told me. "Janice would have thought there was something wrong if they weren't invited. It's natural that a father would be at his first child's wedding, especially that of his daughter. Imagine if you'd got married in church. He would have given you away."
Eddie looked guilty. He couldn't look me in the eye at first. His presence filled me with grief. Don I liked, but Eddie I loved.
