The story line. © Edward C Aylward 1999

The story starts at the wedding reception of two mid-twenty-year olds; she is four months pregnant.

They are very loving, holding hands and looking into each others eyes.

In the background are the two sets of parents. The bride's father and the groom's mother are smiling and enjoying the occasion. This contrasts graphically with the looks of pain and anguish on the other parents' faces, but this is noticed only by a friend who knows the full story. This friend becomes the narrator.

The friend looks back to the married couple and dwells on the series of mishaps that have resulted in this bizarre, but poignant relationship. He speaks about the complex series of events that have led up to this happening.

The bride's father, Ian Hemmings, and the groom's father, Roy Clarke, met when they were in the army during their National Service. Both enjoyed sowing their wild oats. Indeed, they were more like brothers than friends. It was not unusual for them to "share" their girlfriends. They never had any feelings of possession or jealousy. It was an open joke in the circle of their male friends that they took "turns about". "They like the old buttered bun!" they would joke.

Roy was the more outgoing and Ian the more inward looking. It was Roy who was always the girls' fancy. Roy picked off virgins as though they were ripe fruit hanging from a tree!

At a dance they meet two girls, Joan Ford and May Dean, the future mums of the bride and groom respectively. During the early years of their relationship, as was their enjoyment, the boys took "turns about". As usual, Roy was first.

The relationships of each couple settled out that matched Ian to Joan and Roy to May. The circle of friends realised this and accepted it. Their courtship progressed over a long period. It was to be in their forties when they were to marry.

During the early years there is a traumatic event. Joan gets pregnant. Ian believes Joan when she says that the child is his. It is not! It is Roy's child. Because of his love for May, Roy goes along with the deception.

Ian arranges and pays for an illegal abortion for Joan. This is the late fifties. Things go wrong and Joan is taken into hospital. Her parents find out and morally blackmail Ian. He is caught! He had no intention of ever marrying.

Time goes on and Ian and Joan marry. Ian is threatened by Joan's parents. (Joan is getting on in years and they don't want to see her "left on the shelf"). A few years later; when May is pregnant, she marries Roy.

The couples drift apart, meeting only sporadically. At a party, Roy and Joan re-consummate their relationship! As a result Roy has fathered two children within a few months.

When Joan realises that she is pregnant by Roy, she makes every effort to keep a big distance between them. She also makes certain that Ian will believe that the child is his. He enjoys a period of high sexual activity!

The children are born. Mike to May and Kay to Joan. Both Roy and Joan make certain that the two families move apart. She even concocts stories to turn Ian against Roy. They also move house and cease to use the old meeting places.

Kay grows up and is a very precocious child. She appears to have a knowledge of the true relationship. When she is fifteen she seduces Ian when he is drunk. (a la Lot at Sodom!) Kay is pregnant. Abortion is legal. Joan thinks that Kay is pregnant by a boy friend, (which is the truth!), and takes her away for the termination. Problem solved.

Joan does have some inkling that something is wrong. She is very shrewd and cunning. During a family row she does pick up some innuendo, but discounts it as she believes, (correctly), that Ian is impotent.

Ian, is ridden with the guilt that he has committed incest and got his daughter pregnant. He tries to atone by lavishing all he can on Kay to keep her happy. This just makes her into a spoilt brat and she uses the advantage. She despises Ian. Joan is happy believing that Ian is being a doting father.

Kay is intelligent and with hard work gets a degree. She joins a multinational and has to travel abroad.

Mike, in his time, reaches adulthood and becomes an entertainer.

Kay on a trip overseas meets Mike and falls in love with him, and he with her. (good sub-stories)

There are many incidents, during which the two sets of parents nearly meet. (good sub-stories)

They all finally meet; just the six of them. This is a terrible shock for Roy and Joan.

Roy and Joan never discuss the situation. Ian and May are very happy that they are all friends again.

The wedding passes. The child is born. Kay dies giving birth. Ian commits suicide never knowing the true story.

Mike goes to live with his parents with his child, named Kay in memory of her mother. Mike, living the life of an itinerant entertainer, descends into forgetfulness with alcohol and drugs and dies of an overdose.

Kay is raised by her grandparents.