“ Well, isn’t this sweet.”

TC and Grace looked up to see Kay standing there.

“ Kay..”

” I can’t believe you, Grace. To think that I got weak and felt sorry for you. What a mistake. One that I won’t make again.”

” Kay..”

Kay pointed to TC. “ You! Don’t you say anything. To think that my father considered you his best friend. What a joke.”

” Kay, I’m sorry.”, TC said.

” Spare me. You know, you and Grace cornered the market on righteous indignation, and here you are – adulterers, pregnant with a bastard love child on the way. What examples you are.”, Kay snorted. “ I’m through with you, Grace. Forever.”

Kay ran out of the house, and Grace yelled after her.

” Kay!”

TC held Grace. “ Let her go, Grace.”

” But, TC..”

” She’s not in the mood to deal with you anymore than Whitney and Simone want to see me.”

” She’s my daughter.”

“ And you love her. If they forgive us, it will take time.”

Grace looked at TC. “ You’re right. I don’t want you to be, but you are.”

“ It will take time.”

“ I love my children.”

” Including this one?”, Grace asked cautiously.

“ Yes.”  TC sat down on the couch. Grace could feel that he wanted to say something.

“ TC, what’s wrong?”

“ I got a call from Principal Dobson. He wants to see me.”

“ Oh.”

” I wouldn’t  blame him if he stripped me of my title as Athletic Director.”

” He knows?”

” This is a small town, Grace. You know how fast gossip travels.”

” Yeah, I do. I went to Mass this morning, and I got a lot of stares.”

“ We have to weather the storm, Grace. It’s not like we can run away. “

” No. Our lives are in Harmony, good or bad.”

“ Sort of bad right now.”, and they both laugh.

“ I never thought I’d laugh again.”

” Neither did I.”

Grace gets a shocked look on her face. “ Grace are you ok?”, TC asked.

She smiled. “ I felt the baby move.”

TC looked at her in awe as she took his hand and placed it over her stomach. Until now, it wasn’t all that real. Even with the devastation, it wasn’t real. But, a baby moving. That was real. TC knew that things would get better.
 
 

Eve was cooking dinner when she heard the front door close.

“ Mom!”, Whitney yelled out.

“ In the kitchen.” Eve looked up to see Whitney and Simone standing in the doorway.

” Good, you’re both here. Set the table, because dinner’s almost ready.”

Whitney and Simone put the dishes out and they all settled in for dinner.

They ate in silence until Eve spoke up.

” I wanted you girls here tonight because I want to clear the air about some things.”

Whitney and Simone looked at one another and shrugged their shoulders.

” First of all, I’m on a leave of absence from the hospital.”

” For how long?”, Whitney asked.

” Three months…maybe more. I realized in my state of mind that I wasn’t going to be of any use to my patients, and I have a responsibility as a doctor to not put them in jeopardy.”

” What about your job?”, Simone asked.

” It will be there when I return.”

“ What are you going to do?”, Whitney asked.

” I don’t know. Redecorate the house? Do some projects around the house. Do some reading. “

Eve paused. “ I went to see Grace today.”

” WHY?”, Simone asked.

“ Because I thought I was strong enough. I was wrong. It was hurtful, painful and humiliating. It was a mistake. But, I also realize that I want to end things with your father as fast as possible. It’s too painful to drag out. I can’t begin to heal until things are finished with him.”

“ You think the divorce will be bad?”, Whitney asked.

” I doubt your father will fight me on anything. I don’t want to clean him out. I just want this house. He can have the cabin at the lake, and we can split the rest.”

” Make him pay!”, Simone demanded.

” Simone, no. I can’t do that. I can’t take it. The pain and agony of a long divorce. “

” I understand, Mom. I feel like Simone, but I don’t want you hurt.”

Eve smiled at her daughters. “ I love you so much. Which is why what I have to say is so difficult.”

Simone looked at her mother. “ You’re scared. About what?”

” About telling you the truth.”

” The truth?”, Whitney inquired.

“ About my past.”

“ Your past?”, Simone asked.

” There’s a reason why I’ve been so hard on both of you since the day you were born. I’ve acted the way I did because of what happened in my past.” Eve began to cry.

Whitney and Simone got up and went over to their mother, scared, and hugged her.

“ Mom, whatever it is, we’ll understand.”, Whitney whispered.

” Whit is right. No matter what it is.”

Eve looked at her daughters. She felt so weak. So afraid. She loved them so much. They helped Eve into the living room and they all sat down on the couch. Eve held onto their hands, trying to gather the strength.

” I suppose the first thing that I should tell you is that your father wasn’t my first love. Someone else was.”

” Oh.”, Whitney said.

” I was no older than Simone when I began Radcliffe. “

” But, you didn’t get your degree from there.”, Simone interjected.

” No, Honey. I didn’t get my degree from Radcliffe. I was young. It was the first time I was out from under my parent’s supervision in my life, and I felt free.”

” Your parents? How could that be? You said your parents died when you were a little girl. You were raised by elderly aunts.”, Whitney chimed in.

“ No. My parents were alive back then. They’re alive today. Please..let me tell you the truth while I have what semblance of courage I can muster. “

Eve sighed. “ So, I was young, and for the first time, I was going to do what I wanted to do with my life. Which was sing. I know that I all but banned music from this house, but the truth is, I loved music. With my heart, soul and breath. It was all I wanted to do. So, I went and auditioned for a small, but well-known jazz club in Boston known as The Blue Note. I began singing there, regularly. After classes weeknights, and on the weekends. I just enjoyed being able to express myself. I had finished a set up one night, when I went to the bar to get something to drink, and a man offered me a glass of champagne. I’d never had any, and he told me that I’d like it.  So, I took the glass and drank it. And, so it began – the relationship with my first love. “

Eve got up off the couch, and walked to the fireplace. She couldn’t quite face her daughters, who hadn’t taken their eyes off her.

“ It was a different time, back then. The reason why you have so many anti-drug campaigns now, is because of the excesses back then. This man was so worldly and sophisticated. Before I knew it, I was living a fast life, partying, traveling, drinking, and even using drugs. Speed, at first, but of course, with drugs, the slippery slope is so fast that I soon graduated to harder drugs, ending up with cocaine. Soon, my life became about the drugs, and little else. Not even my beloved music. I wound up partying too much one night, and found myself in an emergency room, where the doctor delivered news that would change my life.

I was pregnant.

Imagine my shock. I was so young. So scared. My lover had left town on business for his family. I went cold turkey. Haven’t had a drug since that day.

But, I was scared. I didn’t know anything about children. About having a baby. What was I going to do? Until I could get in touch with my lover, I went back to singing. It kept me company.

As the baby grew inside of me, I got happier. I had never known this kind of love. I thought everything would be ok.

Until my lover, under pressure from his family, dumped me. Abandoned me and our baby. That was a hard blow. Horrible.

Then, somehow, my parents, who had been traveling the world, came to see me sing. I don’t even know how they knew about it. They were shocked to see that I was pregnant, and didn’t approve. They told me that I could come back home, and be their daughter, IF I gave up my baby for adoption. I told them to go to hell, and I haven’t spoken a word to them since that night. In my heart, they were dead, because parents would never ask you to throw away your child.

It was Christmas Eve when I went into labor. I was going to get my Christmas miracle. Early Christmas morning, I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. He was premature, and small, but so beautiful. I got to hold him, and I knew what heaven must be like. It was a hard labor, so they let me sleep and told me when I awoke, I’d feed him.

I never got that chance. The doctor came in and told me that my son had died. Just like that, I had nothing: no parents, no family, no love, no child. Nothing. There was a cremation, and I spread his ashes into the river.

My son’s father’s family made me an offer of ‘hush money’ – they’d pay for my education. I couldn’t sing anymore. Too painful. So, I’d dedicate myself to helping others, and I went to school. And tried to build a life I could be proud of.

I…..I’m sorry for lying to you. I…I just didn’t want you to make my mistakes. It was nothing but pain, and it’s so hard to tell others of that pain…I understand if you hate me..”

Eve was sobbing wildly now, holding herself up with the mantle. The next thing she knew, she felt arms surrounding her. She looked up and saw tears in Whitney and Simone’s eyes.

” We love you, Mom.”, Simone said quietly. Whitney didn’t say anything, but just nodded.

They held Eve in their embrace.