The dust of the bumpy desert road surrounded my black two door truck.

I did my best to focus on driving and enjoy the small amount of cool air the A.C was providing.

New Mexico wasn't exactly the best place to take a vacation, but it was better than just sitting around at home back in Houston.

All I did there was take care of my apartment and my white pitbull Zero.

Until about six months ago it was just the two of us. But something VERY unexpected happened that turned my whole life upside-down.

*Six Months Ago*

It was around 3oclock in the morning when I got the call!

With a groan I reached over and said a half asleep "Hello?"

"Amber! Amber! You have to help me! I think my water just broke!"

I gasped and quickly sat up in bed.

"Okay I'll be right there! Hold on!"

I quickly grabbed my keys and made my way to my best friends apartment as fast as I could.

Luckily for me she didn't live that far away.

Running inside, I found her in the bathroom sitting in a pool of water and blood.

"Crystal! Are you okay? Can you move?" I asked kneeling down to be by her side.

She gave me a weak smile and with my help she was able to get back on her feet.

Now that she was closer to me, I could study her features more better.

My god she looked awaful.

She was very pale, her blue eyes were bloodshot and from what I could see she had tear stains on her cheeks. Her usually neat kept blonde hair was a tangley mess and she was currently wearing a long black sleeve maternity shirt. Over a pair of Gray soaked Batman pajama pants.

"Come-on Crystal we gotta get you to the hospital" I said as I lead her out the door.

Buckling her in, I drove to the hospital as fast as I could.

About an hour later Crystal was in a hospital bed and hooked up to an IV.

The doctor asked me about the whereabouts of the father of her baby.

"He's not in the picture" she explained as more tears fell from her eyes.

"It's okay Crystal, I'm here for you" I said as I let her cry on my shoulder.

Finally the doctor came in and told us it was time to start pushing.

Crystal screamed in pain and pushed for hours.

Finally at 8:30am her precious little boy was born.

7lbs 8oz, pale, a tiny patch of brown hair. And when he finally opened his eyes I saw that they were the most beautiful shade of blue. It was like staring into the ocean ans witnessing it's beauty.

"Oh Crystal he's beautiful. What are you going to name him?"

But she didn't reply, she just layed there and she looked completely exhausted and she was breathing heavily.

Suddenly a bunch of doctors rushed in and practically pushed me out of the room.

I groaned and made my way down the hall to the maternity Ward to see crystals baby.

He was sound asleep, wrapped up in a small blue blanket. 25 years on this earth, and until now I never knew I could feel love for a child that wasn't mine.

I was so busy looking at him, but I didn't see the nurse approaching me.

"Ms. Amber, you may go in now" she said with a hint of sadness in her voice.

Running into Crystal's room, I came face to face with the doctor.

"How is she? What's wrong with her?"

"She had a serious blood clot during her pregnancy. Due to this Ms. Crystal has lost a severe amount of blood, and were not sure how much longer she will last."

Hearing that made streams of tears flow from my eyes.

I mean how else am I supposed to react knowing my best friend was about to die?!

Leaving the room to let us say our goodbyes, I thanked the doctor ans ran to Crystal's side.

"... Crystal... Please don't die" I said as I kneeled down and held her hand.

With a shakey hand, Crystal put her hand to my cheek and gave me another weak smile.

"Amber.. Take care of him for me...He needs you." And with that, Crystal took her last breath and never opened her eyes again.

Soon enough afterwards, I filled out the necessary paperwork and became Carter's guardian and godmother.

I choose the name Carter because I wanted him to have a name similar to his mothers. This way she would always je a part of his life.

Life was different after that, but I had to stay strong for Carter's sake.

I worked hard to support all of us, and when I finally got a chance to take a vacation I sure as hell took it.

I'm not sure why I decided on New Mexico but here we were on our first family vacation.

*Present Day*

Not to far off the road, there seemed to be a small gas station and rest stop.

'Guess we better stop and refule you guys" I said as I parked by a gas pump.

Getting out of the truck, I saw my baby fast asleep in his carrier and Zero was on the floor of the truck panting from heat.

" Don't worry boy's we'll be there soon."

"Can I help you Ms?" Asked an older man walking up to me. He had tan skin, thinning white hair, and a broken smile. He was also dressed in a brown mechanic uniform and was smoking a cigar.

"Oh hi, yes sir I'd like some gas please" I said trying to sound as nice as possible.

The man flash me a gross yellow tooth smile. And started looking me up and down making me super uncomfortable.

I shrugged it off, I never thought of myself as stunningly beautiful or anything. I was just your ordinary 25 year old girl.

5'3, creamy white skin, dark brown eyes and short brown hair pulled back in a ponytail.

I'm guessing the man was looking at me in the first place was because of how I was dressed.

A grey tank top, with red and silver galaxy shorts and white low top Converse with red laces. And I guess you can say that a bit of my cleavage was showing from the tank top. I mean I can't exactly help it that my boobs are big but he didn't have to stare.

"How far ya goin missy?" he asked.

"Just a few miles up the road, I have a room reserved for me at a motel further down in White Rock."

"White Rock huh? Well I can guarantee you miss that you're a long way from there. Even if you were to leave right now you wouldn't get there till very late. And it's not safe to travel in the desert at night. If you like you are more than welcome to stay in the spare room I have in the store. And be on your way in the morning.

'Um I'm not to sure about that, I'm sure we'll be fine sleeping in my truck sir."

"Oh come on now Missy, I'm sure a truck would it be very comfortable for you and your little boy there. But it's completely up to you, the offer still stands."

I sighed, I didn't exactly feel comfortable staying in a strange place such as this.

But he was right, I didn't want Carter to have to sleep in the truck all night.

So making the right decision I accepted the offer and got both Carter and Zero out of the truck and followed the man to our room.