NEVER CAME HOME After a shock call, Nicola Rickus, 45, thought she’d never know happiness again
Giving my husband Glen, 34, a kiss goodbye, I wasn’t looking forward to him leaving.
It was February 2008 and he was heading off to Oxford for a friend’s stag do. I was five months pregnant and also had our son Ryley, then two, to run around after, so I had a weekend of solo parenting ahead. ‘It’s just one night, I’ll be back before you know it,’ he reminded me. He was right, but still, I’d miss him. ‘Have fun,’ I told him.
We’d planned to find out the gender of our baby when he returned, and I knew he was looking forward to it – and was hoping for a baby girl.
Later that evening, I decided on an early night. ‘We’re just heading out for dinner. It’s going great,’ Glen said when I called to say goodnight. He sounded happy and relaxed, and I was glad that he was having a nice time.
DEVASTATING NEWS
Early next morning, I texted Glen to see how the rest of the night went. Usually he woke early, but strangely he didn’t reply. At first I wagered he’d probably stayed out late with his friends and was having a rare lie-in. But when I didn’t receive a reply by 10am, I knew something was up.
Sending him another message, and still getting no reply, I started to panic. Scrolling through my phone until I found contact details for one of his friends on the stag do, I called him. Thankfully he answered, but when I asked where Glen was, he blurted out an apology before hanging up.
Confused, I went to call him back but then I heard someone opening the front door. I figured it must be Glen, home early, and I felt a small wave of relief. Only, it wasn’t Glen, it was my mum. ‘You need to sit down,’ she said gently. Shaking my head, I refused. ‘What’s going on?’ I begged. As she tried again to get me to sit down, I felt a flash of anger. ‘No!’ I insisted.
‘Glen’s dead,’ she said suddenly, tears in her eyes.
It didn’t register at first and I pulled out my phone to text Glen again. He couldn’t be dead, he just couldn’t. But then I looked at Mum properly, her face pale, eyes red and bloodshot. She looked devastated. I didn’t want to believe what she’d told me, but I knew she was telling the truth. This wasn’t the sort of thing to joke about.
I sat wide-eyed and frozen with shock while Ryley played obliviously with his toys. Mum explained that the police had gone to her house first so
