“You want to do lunch? I wanted to talk to you about something.”
“Yeah. I wanted to talk to you too.” I check on Faith before I grab my bag and we leave the shelter. Two guards trail behind us. If her husband Roman isn’t near Fawn, then these two follow her around. I don’t blame Roman. Not after the story Fawn told me about how they came to be.
“Pizza or diner?” Fawn asks.
“Diner. I love their fries.”
“Me too.” We cross the street, heading into the diner. We snag one of the booths.
“You getting a root beer, Winnie?” Jill asks. She pulls her pen out of the front of her apron. Jill is always done up. She reminds me a lot of Dolly Parton.
“Yes, please.” It’s nice that I’m starting to feel like this could be home for me. I’m finally beginning to settle in here. Everything doesn’t seem as scary as it did before. I am lucky that I landed here. God only knows what would have happened if I hadn’t.
“I think I’ll do the same. I haven't had a root beer in forever,” Fawn says before placing the rest of our order.
“What did you want to talk about?” I ask, a bit worried. I’ve been at the shelter for a while already. “I’m trying to find a place. I know that…”
“Winnie. You can stay at the shelter forever for all I care. That’s kind of what I want to talk to you about.” She gives me a bright smile that has me relaxing. Even if I did have the money, I’m not sure I’d want to leave the shelter. I already feel so alone all the time. I can’t imagine not being around other people on a daily basis.
“Megan said you completed a bunch of job applications around town, but I wanted to see about you taking a spot at the shelter.” Holy crap. I have been filling out a ton of applications. I had to wait to get some form of identification, and I finally got it taken care of. I’m pretty sure Roman had something to do with that.
“You’re so good with the kids,” she keeps going, and I realize I haven’t responded.
“Yes. I would love that so much.” Even as I say the words, doubt starts to creep in on me.
“I asked you because I truly think you’re good with the children. If I didn’t, I would have helped you get a job somewhere around town. This is not a pity thing, Winnie.”
“How the heck do you do that?” I ask. She always seems to know what I’m thinking.
Fawn shrugs. “We’ve been hanging out a lot. I can read your moods. Speaking of. How are you feeling?”
I put my hand on my stomach. “Really good actually. They think I’m out of the woods, especially since I’m in my second trimester now.” I was so scared when I woke up in the hospital with no recollection of who I was and no memory of a life before. They told me I had been placed in a medically induced coma so that my body could heal. The blow I took to the back of my head was making my brain swell. So they did what they needed to do in order to save me.
From what the doctors told me, I was lucky to even be alive. Then they dropped the bomb on me that I was pregnant. It has all been more than overwhelming. Scary too. The doctors said I had a high chance of miscarrying with everything I’d been through. I guess my little jelly bean is a fighter because we both pulled through.
“I was thinking we should do a dual baby shower in a few months. It would be so much fun.”
“That does sound wonderful.” I barely get the words out, my throat going tight on me. I try to blink quickly to stop the tears, but it’s pointless. Everyone at the shelter has been so damn good to me. I don’t know where me and my little jelly bean would be if it weren’t for them.
“Winnie.” Fawn jumps up from her seat and proceeds to slide into the booth with me. She wraps her arm around me, pulling me into a side hug.
“I don’t know what I would have done without you. I’ll never be able to make all this up to you.” I try not to think about me losing my memory too much. Each day I wake up, hoping I’ll remember something, but I don’t dwell on it the way I did in the beginning.
It had consumed me when I first got out of the hospital. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I want to remember who I am and where I’m from, but I have to hope in time it will come. So each day I put one foot in front of the other and try to make the best life for me and my jelly bean.