Closed Motherhood

[Sophie Elliston]

Sophie knew that ever since having Brianna, she had come quite far. This time last year she definitely wouldn’t have stepped foot outside her house, let alone attended a mother’s group with fellow mothers. It was a big step for her, but her family had been the ones to mostly encourage her to join it. It took a bit to get Brianna away from Etienne, but eventually she had done it and Sophie was now off to a mother’s group just hoping that everything would go smoothly. With Brianna in her arms, she entered the building and took a seat in one of the chairs provided as she looked around at all of the other people. She hadn’t seen so many babies in one room before. They ranged from newborns to toddlers, probably about 4 years old. Sophie was also definitely one of the younger mother’s there, which just made the whole thing a little bit more intimidating. As a woman sat in a seat nearby, she smiled at her, just keeping Brianna close as she suddenly felt extremely shy.

 

[Zoe Westwick]

If Zoe had thought twin babies were a lot to deal with, she was entirely unprepared for twin toddlers. Nessie and Arachne were far too confident in their walking and talking, and she felt like she spent half her time running back and forth after them, keeping dangerous things out of mouths and hands out of dangerous places. It was a relief to get out of the house and see other adults, and she had been looking forward to the mummy group ever since hearing about it. Releasing the twins from their pram once they arrived, Zoe watched the girls run off to play with the toys and settled in next to another young woman, giving her a gentle smile. She looked younger than Zoe and her heart hurt for her, remembering how much she had dealt with - still did sometimes - for being such a young mother. "Glad I'm not the youngest one here." She said gently, figuring she may as well strike up conversation with the woman. "They can be so nasty to young mums sometimes, can't they?"