The Women in My Life Ch. 10 Pt. 04

Two days later she was with her mum full time. Four days after Grace's birth we were home. We were inundated with both sets of parents, siblings, cousins and friends. At times I didn't realise we knew so many people!

Over that first week off, in the time we spent together just the three of us, we came to realise that our lives were going to be very different. Something I'm sure every new parents realise. Grace changed the focus of our lives.

Emma chose to have 6 months maternity leave. She recommended Chloe to fill her role in the interim, but she told Rob that she would return part-time, 3 days a week.

Emma was a fabulous mum, attentive and loving to Grace. And still so, to me! I did my best to be the same to both of them. I was a hand-on dad, changing nappies, getting her to sleep, feeding her when she wasn't on Emma's breast and generally being the 'bring me, fetch me' partner!

Partner became husband in the April of 1990, almost a year after we discovered Emma's pregnancy. We had already moved to our new house in Daresbury in the February and were married in Emma's home Church with Sara, Libby and Cath as bridesmaids and Rob as my best man. It was a struggle trying to invite everyone we knew, but I think it went OK!

There are more memories than I could possibly include here, but key moments would be:

• Grace's first birthday & first steps

• Grace's first day at primary school & secondary school

• Grace's puberty

• Grace's 6th form College and A Levels

• Grace living away from home at 18, studying at Liverpool University

• Grace's first class degree and graduation

• Teaching Grace to drive and buying her her first car

Grace dominated all our memories, but the other main event was when Rob had me promoted to Group Information & Communications Manager, dragging me out of the Computer Room! Emma left to work as a Teaching Assistant in Grace's school. She was a natural child/people person.

In all those years, Emma and I never got pregnant again! Whilst her periods seemed to have settled into a more normal routine, for all the love we made and for all the copious amount of insemination, pregnancy never happened again for us. We were OK with that because we had Emma.

Eventually, she returned home from University and got a job in Personnel. She started a serious courtship with Michael, Sara's son who was born in the same hospital just 3 weeks before her!

Within a year, we were paying the deposit on a house for them. Walking distance from ours! A few months later I walked her down the aisle at her wedding. One of the proudest moments of my life.

Next to the gift of Grace in our lives, perhaps the other great joy was in 2013 when Grace gave us identical twin girls, Daisy and Iris. Like Emma and Grace, they had red hair and heterochromatic eyes!

These four, Emma, Grace, Daisy and Iris are the real Women in My Life.