Page 112 of Marley

Maca looked up, his eyes moving from Len, to me, and back again.

“Apparently, the last time we were together, I got her pregnant and she had an abortion. She’s held on to some misplaced belief that me and her would get back together. Tonight’s the first time I’ve seen her since the wedding. She’s pissed off and decided to tell me and the rest of the room her pregnancy story.”

“Fuck.” Len stated as he sat down on the sofa next to Maca.

“I’ve never liked that girl. Now I know why.” I told them both as I sat down in the wing backed chair facing them.

“Yeah, you’ve said before.” Len confirmed what I’d told him a few times.

“How you feeling, Mac? That couldn’t have been good to hear, or the best way to find out?” Len asked.

“Like a complete cunt.”

“You didn’t know, mate. What were you supposed to do?” He looked at me for a few seconds before answering.

“How would you feel if that was your baby?”

I got goose bumps. If he’d asked me that when I was younger, I’d have just been relieved it had been taken care of, but now, since Ash? Since becoming a father? I filled up at his question. I could only nod my head, unable to speak past the lump in my throat.

“Exactly.”

“I’m sorry, dude, I really am.” Len said.

We were all quiet for a few moments, none of us wanting to address the elephant in the room. Thankfully, it was Maca that spoke first. “I don’t want Gia knowing about this. I’ll tell her, but just not right now. We’re trying for a baby at the moment and I’d hate for her to doubt my commitment. And I don’t want her flying off the handle either. You know what she’s like.”

I looked across to my brother and we both shrugged.

“Your call, mate, but you sure she won’t go public with this?” Len asked.

“Not if she wants to keep her job.” I told him.

“Well, they’re signed for the next two albums. We start recording in January. Hope this isn’t gonna be a problem?”

Maca shook his head no. “I’m pissed off with the way she told me, but I understand why she’s so angry. I’ll talk to her, we’ll keep it professional.”

I shrugged and shook my head. I personally thought he should stay the fuck away from her, but if he thought he could handle her shit, then on his head be it.

On New Year’s Eve of 1999, we played in New York’s Time Square. Georgia surprised the shit out of us all when she walked out on stage and told Maca that she’s pregnant.

The celebrations that followed were of epic proportions. The babies were all at home in England with my parents, so even Len and Jimmie partied like it was 1999. (You see what I did there)?

By the time we land back in England though, things took a frightening turn for the worst, and Georgia was rushed into the hospital.

Her pregnancy was ectopic and she lost her baby, and nearly lost her life. Maca nearly lost them both, as well as his mind.

Jim, Len and myself were waiting outside the room they’d taken George into when suddenly all hell broke loose. An alarm sounded, doctors and nurses came running from every direction, and when the shout went out for the crash team, I threw up in the rubbish bin.

George was wheeled past us on a trolley, a team of medical professionals working on her. I stepped into the room to find Maca in a chair, sobbing.

“Mac, what happened?”

He looked up at me, his eyes almost vacant. His face was a mess of snotty tears.

“The pregnancy is ectopic and they think it’s ruptured. She has internal bleeding.” He can’t hold back the sobs anymore. “She went into shock, then cardiac arrest where they couldn’t get the blood pumped into her fast enough.”

Jimmie walked past me and wrapped her arms around Maca, holding him as he cried.

The next few weeks were hard. George moved back to my parents’ place so that my mum could look after her. We were busy working on a new album in the studios Maca had had built in the grounds of their home in Hampstead. That’s where we were most days. We had the usual team working with us, which included the delightful Carla.