de

the pre

t before the pregnancy. For on

d pull me into a hug at the end of

rapped in

sumed by disappointment that

inside of me since she told me she asked Mr. Paplov for the morning off. "Why did

words. My baby. "Yo

. Not to mention coming back to the cottage at the end of the day to f

want to ask if she is eating. She hasn't had dinner with me for the last week, but I'd as

o perhaps I should try asking her all the questions I've kept pent inside. Maybe I should force her to v

irect opposition to the concern shown by her words. "You should

ee softly. Tears spring to my eyes at the thought that my mother still cares. She still worries for me, still wants to

should be your husband. Or boyfriend, at

ne like ice water, sending a sh

nting again to the sonogram in the cup holder. "He sho

and it always ended the same way. Me, closed-lipped and burning wi

wraps around the back of our cottage. It is narrow and bumpy, used

inside. I know where she is headed-her room. She will hide in there until I go up to the main house to work. Then, she will emerge and go about her day