Chapter 8 #2
Kathleen straightened and pushed her long brown hair, streaked with lovely silver strands, behind her shoulders.
“You are by far the most punctual volunteer I have ever had. And you told me first thing this morning that you had to see a patient, so you aren’t even late at all.
” Kathleen pointed toward the hallway past the welcome desk.
“Sydney, however, has been waiting for you quite impatiently.”
“Oh. I didn’t see Warren’s pickup outside.” Though Victoria could have easily missed it with how deeply engrossed she was in her thoughts.
“He said he had to get to work at the plant, so he couldn’t wait to take her home after the prenatal class this time.”
“That’s understandable.” Victoria was just grateful Sydney had someone to drive her to the pregnancy center and her doctor’s appointments.
As Sydney’s mentor through Life Center, Victoria chauffeured the pregnant teen whenever she could, but her work schedule made her unavailable most weekdays.
Thank the Lord, Sydney’s brother cared enough about his sister to help her.
“Do you think you could take her home?”
“Of course.” Victoria met Kathleen’s gaze, which stayed on her with a peculiar expression dipping the woman’s eyebrows.
“Are you all right?”
Victoria hesitated before answering. She wouldn’t lie and say she was fine. “What makes you ask?”
“You seem…” Kathleen’s head angled slightly to one side, “sad.”
A small smile touched Victoria’s lips. “I can see why Jada says your people-reading skills are legendary.”
“So I’m right.” Kathleen’s mouth pressed into a line as concern shaped her features.
“I lost a friend today.”
“Oh, Victoria.” Kathleen stepped closer and touched Victoria’s arm. “I am so sorry.” She watched Victoria for a silent moment, sincere grief in her eyes. “Was your friend ill?”
“No.” Victoria shook her head slowly. Thomas’s face when she’d found him—cold, dead—blocked her vision. “He was killed.” The words escaped before she’d meant to say them. So very unlike her.
She blinked and straightened, meeting Kathleen’s gaze as her own cleared. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to share that.”
“Honey, we all need to share our burdens. And you are carrying a very heavy one. You have nothing to apologize for.”
Victoria mustered a small smile. “Thank you.”
Kathleen nodded. “The passing of a loved one is hard no matter how it happens. But to have life taken through crime—murder—is the hardest. I’m so sorry.” Kathleen spoke as one who knew from experience.
Oh, yes. Kathleen had shared in her testimony at a fundraising event that her son had been murdered.
Dismay pushed up Victoria’s throat. “Oh, I didn’t think. I’m sorry, Kathleen. I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories for you.”
“Stop right there.” Kathleen shook her head, the set of her jaw firm. “We share our burdens and hurts here. I know you haven’t needed that from us so far, but I am always here to listen and encourage you.”
A guilty flush rushed to Victoria’s cheeks. Kathleen had all she could do to provide that service to the unwed expectant and new mothers who came through Life Center’s doors. She didn’t need to waste her time on Victoria.
“I appreciate your kindness.” Victoria mentally pulled herself together. Her troubles were unimportant compared to the burdens Kathleen already carried—her own and others’. “But I had better find out what Sydney wants to discuss with me and drive her home, if she’s ready.”
Kathleen gave her a smile that was a little too knowing, then looked over her shoulder. “She was just back—”
“Victoria!” Sydney Morris burst into view from the hallway. The normally skinny sixteen-year-old looked ready to pop at thirty-five weeks into her pregnancy. She rushed toward Victoria and stopped in front of her, dramatically thrusting her slim arms into the air at her sides. “What am I gonna do?”
Victoria waited a moment before answering, trying to be the calm in the emotional storm Sydney often seemed to stir up to a frenzy, whether warranted or not. “Why don’t we go to my car, and you can tell me what happened while I drive you home?”
“No. I can’t.” Sydney clamped her hands on her belly, shaking her head side to side.
Victoria glanced at Kathleen, hoping for a sign to indicate whether or not the situation was as dire as Sydney seemed to believe.
Kathleen put a calming hand on the girl’s back. “Why don’t the two of you sit down here? No one else is in the lobby right now, so you can have a private chat.”
And Sydney could calm her system before she did any damage to the baby.
“Good idea. Let’s sit for a while.” Victoria nodded to Kathleen as the older woman guided Sydney into a chair, and Victoria pulled out another one from the row along the wall. She set the chair in front of Sydney and sat down so they could face each other.
“I’ll be in the classroom if you need me.” Kathleen sent Victoria a sympathetic look before she turned and headed for the hallway.
“I think my mom’s going to kick me out.” Sydney’s voice tightened with panic. “Like for real this time.”
So that was it. Sydney’s mother had held the same threat over her daughter’s head since the day Sydney had announced she wanted to keep her baby. “Tell me what happened.”
“She said, ‘If you have it today, don’t come home.’”
It. As if the beautiful baby girl growing inside Sydney was an it.
No doubt Sydney’s mom was trying to hold on to the idea a baby was a meaningless clump of cells.
Sydney had shared that her mother had aborted several babies.
Pretending the baby wasn’t human was one way to cope with the guilt of that decision.
“I’m so sorry she said that to you.” Victoria leaned forward and rested her hand on Sydney’s in the girl’s lap. “That’s awful, and I know how much it must hurt to have your mother say something like that. I think from what you’ve told me, she’s hurting, too, through all this.”
Sydney looked away and shrugged one shoulder. “I guess.”
Victoria’s heart warmed. Not all teenagers in Sydney’s position would even be willing to consider the idea that their parent could have feelings. “It’s probably a reminder to her of things she’d rather forget.”
Sydney met Victoria’s gaze. “You mean the babies she...”
Victoria nodded.
“Hadn’t thought about that. But she still shouldn’t kick her own daughter out of the house. And her granddaughter.” Sydney pulled her hands out from under Victoria’s to rub her round belly.
“I know. You’re right. But we all do many things we shouldn’t.” Speaking of which…Victoria chose carefully how to approach the truth she’d been trying to persuade Sydney to reveal for months. “Have you contacted your little girl’s father? Has he said if he’ll take you in or offer you support?”
Sydney dropped her gaze before Victoria could read anything in her eyes. “He’s not answering my texts.”
Same answer as the last time Victoria had asked Sydney about the unidentified man. “Have you tried calling him?”
The teen’s chin dipped a microinch with what Victoria assumed was an affirming nod.
“If you give me his name, I might be able to help you reach him.” It was the same offer Victoria had made three times before. But she didn’t know what else to try.
Sydney shook her head from side to side as she folded her arms above the baby inside her.
“Sydney,” Victoria kept her tone calm and patient, “you know who the father of your baby is. Many of the girls who come to the center don’t know that. It’s a gift you can give your daughter, to be able to tell her the name of her dad. Why won’t you tell us who he is?”
The teen finally lifted her gaze. “I told you. He doesn’t want anyone to know.”
“But you say he loves you.”
“Yeah.” She nodded emphatically. “He totally does. He’s going to marry me.”
“Then why wouldn’t he want anyone to know he’s your baby’s father?”
“It’s…” Sydney shifted in the chair, “complicated.”
Victoria held back a sigh. What secret was the girl so intent on keeping? The man or boy who’d fathered the child must have quite a hold on her. If only Victoria could figure out how to shake Sydney free of that hold. “You said he supports your choice to give birth to your daughter?”
“Uh-huh.” Sydney avoided Victoria’s eyes as she gave the answer that seemed incongruent with the rest of the story. But at least it meant there wasn’t another person in Sydney’s life pressuring her to abort her child.
“Then I would think he would want to support you in raising her and financially, as well.”
“Oh, he’s going to. We’re going to get married.”
Victoria watched Sydney, trying to figure out the puzzle. Was the girl simply engaging in wishful thinking? Or making things up? If Robert were there, he could tell Victoria if Sydney was lying. Having a brother who was a psychiatrist could be handy in some ways.
Victoria took in a breath. “Okay, when do you think that will happen?”
Sydney shrugged both shoulders. “Sometime after she’s born, I guess. But he said he loves me and wants to marry me. So I know he will.”
And Victoria knew a dead end when she reached one.
“Well, in the meantime, I don’t want you to worry about your mom and your living situation.
The rooms here at Life Center are all full right now, but I’ve gone through the process to become an approved temporary foster home.
You can stay with me if your mom does evict you. Okay?”
“Really?” The teen’s blue eyes widened. “Oh, that would be awesome.” She pressed her hands to both sides of her face as a smile blossomed.
Victoria returned the smile. “I wanted to tell you the news at an appropriate time. You don’t need to worry about a place for you and your little girl to stay.”
“Thank you so much.” The breathlessness in Sydney’s voice expressed the joy and gratitude written on her face.
“Don’t get too excited before you see my house. It’s tiny and nothing fancy. But it’ll do if needed.”
Sydney giggled. “It’ll be so cool. I know it.”
“Let’s get you home for now. And you know you can always text or call me if you need me.”
Sydney nodded, still smiling as she scooted out of the chair and stood. “You’re like the nicest person in the world.”
“That’s Christ in me, Sydney. I’m not nice or good on my own.”
Sydney squinted slightly. “Oh, right. Like how you said Jesus lives inside you and changed you to want to do good things. It must be cool to always know what’s the right thing to do.”
Victoria fell silent as she helped Sydney put on the winter coat that couldn’t quite close over her extended stomach.
If only Victoria did always know the right thing to do. Even with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, she wasn’t always sure, as in the situation with Detective McCully. Or perhaps, she was letting fear or timidity keep her from sharing more of what she knew about Thomas.
By the time she closed the passenger door of her car for Sydney and walked around to sit behind the wheel, she knew what she must do after dropping off the teenager. She needed to pay a visit to the police station.