A Dangerous Passion (COMPLETED)

Chapter 21

A bowl of steaming-hot stew is set in front of me as soon as I take a seat at the table. Just sitting here, you can tell they've built this place from the ground up. The dining table is is a smooth oak wood, traced with flowery designs and the chairs are instead, benches, giving the entire room a homey, rustic look to it.

I pick up my spoon and stir the mixture around, blowing on it gently every so often. It feels like forever since I've had a hot meal like this.

"So.." Philip begins and places down his spoon after taking a bite. "Where were you coming from exactly?"

I look up from my stew stirring and rest a hand onto my stomach. "I'm sorry," I sigh out and hang my head guiltily.

"About what, Dear?" Macy urges and tilts her head questionably at me. Oh no, she must think I'm a criminal now. Well, I guess she's not wrong, though.

Taking a deep breath, I say, "I was working for the mob- I was a maid, not a killer, though." The two look to each other with wide eyes and then back at me. "Before, I was living on the streets and had no other choice but to join them. I didn't want to die," I quickly add before the evident fear in their eyes comes out.

Philip sucks in a breath and lets out a long sigh. "Why did you run exactly?" he asks without making eye contact, which suddenly has my anxiety through the roof.

"Well, when I was there I had to do something so I wasn't kicked out or killed." My stomach starts to churn and I lace my fingers together nervously.

"Go on.." Macy says, nervous to hear the rest.

Tears pool in my eyes and I quickly thumb them away. "I- I got pregnant," I say, silencing them both. "With the boss's baby," I add and watch as Macy shakes her head with obvious disappointment. Good job, Skylar. These people were going to take you in and now hate your entire existence. You're just a stupid whore at this point.

I stand from my seat and step over the bench. "Well, thank you for the stew, but it seems I should leave now." I go over to the coat hanger and retrieve my jacket and fish both arms through the two holes.

"Wait," I hear Philip call out just before I've completely stepped through the doorway, backpack on and everything. Turning around, I see the two standing in the mudroom side by side.

Macy calmly takes a couple steps towards me and takes my hand, pulling me back inside and out of the cool wind. "Stay. Stay here and raise your baby- we'll help, too." Her smile is soft and reassuring as she speaks to me, reminding me of the times Mama used to do this.

"Th-Thank you," I say, my voice airy as tears of joy take over me. She pulls me into her small, yet strong body and gives me a gentle squeeze which I return. When I glance up, I see Philip watching us with a smile. He gives me a nod and I smile.

Let's just hope this doesn't end in hell...

A couple days later...

7 am

The muffling and buzzy music from the radio is what wakes me today. Yesterday it was Naomi, the husky-lab cross dog that guards the farm; she was barking at a couple barn-cats squabbling in the driveway at 5 am.

Knowing well that breakfast is being made just from the faint smell of cooked meat, I roll out of my wood framed, single bed and slip my feet into my slippers.

"'Morning, Sky," Macy greets while she stirs something over the stoves burner.

"Morning," I say and shuffle over to the cupboards. I grab some plates and cups, stacking them all into one hand and head over to the table.

As I begin setting the table, Philip is flipping through the weekly paper and taking a sip from his coffee. "Hope yer hungry, Macy's cooking up quite the breakfast today," he tells me as he continues to read an apparently pretty interesting article.

I smile and take my seat. Everyday I've been here so far, one of them will wake up extra early just to make me a big, yummy, healthy breakfast. "You know.." I begin as Macy begins to place some sausages on to my plate. They refuse to let me serve myself, they say I need more than what I give myself. "You don't always have to make me breakfast, you've given me a place to stay and that's more than I could have ever wished for."

Scooping up some oatmeal, she replies with, "no, no, don't be silly. We love having you here! And besides, you need this so you and your baby grow nice and strong." She pushes my bowl and plate towards me. "Eat up!"

We all eat our breakfast, talking amongst ourselves and listening to the weather report on the radio. Apparently it's suppose to be much colder than it usually is and snow could begin falling any moment now. When I've finished, I help clean up breakfast and do the dishes.

"You know.." Macy rests up against the counter while I put away the last of the dishes. "Up in the attic, there's some clothes!"

"Clothes?" As much as I love this woman, I hope she's not trying to get me to dress into some old get-up of hers. She's half my size!

"Baby clothes!" she cheers and shakes her fists together in excitement. "You stay here, I'll go get them!" she turns away and heads to the living room as fast as she can.

Smiling to myself, I close the cupboards and wipe up any remaining water off the counter. For once, I'm actually excited about my baby's arrival. Not that I don't want my baby, it was just hard to find the joy in it when I was being told to get an abortion by it's father.

I hear a box land roughly on the counter and a heavy sigh follows. "We had a few of our own," Macy explains while she rummages through the large box. I stand over the box and pick up a tiny, blue, cotton sweater that's so soft, I suddenly wish I could fit it. "Of course we don't know the gender yet, but you will soon. That's if you want to, of course."

"How am I going to do that?" I ask and place the little sweater down on the table.

"We'll drive you into town. The hospital isn't big, but they can help." She turns to me. "You should talk to Philip, he used to work there. He would know more than I do."

Knowing well that Philip has worked at the hospital from her telling me many times, I nod and smile along. Philip said she used to work there as well, but can't remember since it was only a short time. She was a x-ray technician, before she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, that is. We've had to remind her what my name is nearly everyday now. Today is the first time we've gone without doing so.

For the rest of the day, we look at baby clothes and plan out times for doctors appointments. The plan is to dye and cut my hair, maybe even get contacts, then get my fake ID. Philip apparently has a large friend group of retired old-folks who 'have connections' and will help with the whole ID thing. After, we'll just have to book the appointment and always be cautious of who's around us.

"First thing tomorrow, I'll give my 'ol pal Rick a call. He'll get you the ID in two-three days give or take and we'll be at the hospital in no time. Sound good?" Philip asks as he scribbles down our plan of action.

"Great," I reply. "And thank you. I'm so grateful for everything you guys are doing for me. How could I ever repay you?"

The two look up at me. "We're just a couple of old farts, Deary. We're just glad to have some company other than each other for once" Macy says. I find she calls me Dear or Deary when she can't remember my name.

"What she said," Philip agrees and gets up to throw another log on the fire.

And that's how the night ended...