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each day when she woke up. She was tired of the sound her gagging made, she was tired of waking up her friend Lucy every time she

they barely had enough food for the two of them. Lucy wasn't much of a shopper and Melody didn't have time to buy anything, because when she finished her shift at the c

by she was expecting, a woman capable of raising her unborn child well, she

t Melody realized, during that week away from her mothe

was what her mother yelled at her

e replied as tears st

you only have 3 more quarters left. That happens right a

as pregnant; her parents had w

oying my life.

dicine ahead of you. Your father and I didn't kill ourselves paying your edu

nt that she deserved her mother'

eing united and hard-working. Her father, Charles Redford, born and raised in that small Bronx neighborhood in New York, was known for being the one who helped his neighbors and who ha

ere were car competitions, the kind with rich, pretentious billionaires. She had realized how in love she was with him, until one night, af

er father had the place lined up for her to start her own vet shop, they had

years old a

mother anchored herself to her arm and forced her to look

o use cryin

en an ultimatum: A

seconds for the d

ld alone. Many young women had done so and

e hated to be the cause of so much pain and unrest in her mother. But th

ve an abortion. Don't you understand what you are asking me to

till a fetus!" h

ased her grip on her hand and shoved everything faster into th

hing. It'll be like appendix surgery, on

out of her room. The room that had been hers

had to

ave any problem accepting her into her tiny studio apartment

She couldn't look at her mother with the rage she felt at that moment, the fury coursing through

e know when yours and Dad

t without l

rvice and toothpaste sales. She came in late every night, past three in the morning. Lucy was twenty-four years old, an orphan of both p

ally h

d called him immediately, scared to death. Richard was a jerk who just tol

e had pl

Lucy stood in the bathro

pulled her hair back and kept her g

were mornings when she would stay for more than t

getting

s a f

before. She had lost a lot of weight as she had no desire to eat anythin

normal? I mean, I don't have a lot of experience with pregnancy and boys, or e

ort, I really couldn't fee

t when you get to give birth it won't turn out well. There are a

tion right now. I'm sorry, Lucy. I'm sorry to wake you up at s

. I know it's a lot

riend had

er own breathing. She was trying to control her te

down. Let me kno

efore she felt anoth

g to have a