October 1899

"You're gonna be okay here," Baby nodded, looking around the room.

"And we'll come visit you, we promise," said Penny.

"Thank you, girls," said Maggie, giving them a hug. "Thank you so much. And please, please don't tell the boys."

"We promise," said Penny, miming buttoning her lips.

"We won't say a word," said Baby.

Maggie looked over at Amelia, who was sitting on the bed, buffing her nails on her skirt.

"Amelia?" said Maggie.

"Yeah, yeah, I won't say a word, who am I gonna tell?" she rolled her eyes.

"You think you could be a little more supportive? This isn't easy for Maggie," said Penny.

"She has us, she has a place to stay, and she's avoiding the embarrassment of confronting the boys," said Amelia. "What more do you want?"

Penny rolled her eyes and sighed. "Take care of yourself," said Penny, giving Maggie a hug. "We'll come see you next week."

"Thank you," said Maggie. Baby stepped forward and gave her a hug.

"Bye," said Baby, as she and Penny walked out.

Maggie sat down on the bed next to Amelia. "You ever need anything, you tell me, okay?" Maggie nodded. "And don't you worry about anything after the baby is born – I plan on spoiling that little kid rotten." She gave Maggie a hug. "Take care, sweetie."

Amelia stood up and walked out of Maggie's room. She walked through the hallway, the rooms filled with new or expecting mothers with nowhere else to go. She walked out of the house to where Baby and Penny were waiting.

The three girls began walking down the street.

"How come she's not staying with you?" Baby asked.

"It wasn't for my lack of offering," said Amelia. "She didn't want to for more than a couple nights. She said she wanted a place where she could make it on her own for once in her life – her words, not mine."

"I wish she didn't decide to disappear," said Penny. "Despite how mad he is, Skittery would've understood. Knowing him, he would've helped her and raised that kid."

"Only after some heavy convincing, I think," said Baby. "Skitts is very trusting, and once you break that trust, you're done. He would've needed to wait until the baby was born to be convinced it wasn't a con."

Penny and Amelia nodded. Baby looked over at Penny. "You gonna be okay? What are you gonna tell Specs?" she asked.

Penny shrugged. "I'm not going to tell him anything," she said. "I'm not even going to tell him that I know where she is."

"Probably for the best," said Baby. "If he knew, and he knew you were keeping that from his best friend…"

"Are you going to tell Jack?" Amelia asked Baby.

Baby shook her head. "Good idea," said Amelia. "It wouldn't be fair to let it drive a wedge between you two and your boys."

"What about you and your boy?" asked Penny, smirking.

"Rock?" asked Amelia.

Baby rolled her eyes. "No, Spot."

"Spot is not my…Spot is…no…he's not…we're not…no!" said Amelia, laughing at the end.

"Really?" Penny chimed. "He broke a guy's hands to get you your best friend back."

"He didn't do that for me," said Amelia. "He did it because…it was the right thing to do. You know, to help Skittery."

"Oh please," said Baby. "With the way you two are always going at one another…there's tension there. And not the bad kind!" She winked.

Amelia rolled her eyes as they got on a trolley that headed straight downtown. They passed right through Amelia's neighborhood.

"You're not going home?" asked Penny.

Amelia shook her head. "I want to check on Skittery," she said.

The girls go off at a stop in front of Tibby's and walked to the lodging house. A few of the boys were all hanging around. Amelia saw Skittery sitting in the corner, clutching Maggie's note in her hand.

When Skittery saw the girls, he stood up and walked over angrily.

"What is this?" he asked, holding the note up. "What's going on?"

"She's gone," said Amelia. "She knows you want nothing to do with her, and for her, it would just be easier…for everyone…if she left."

"Do you know where she is?"

Amelia meant to shake her head, but she paused too long.

Skittery walked over. "Tell me."

"I can't," said Amelia.

Skittery sighed. "Fine," he said, turning around. He walked toward the door. He walked halfway before turning around and looking back at her. "But I deserve better than this." He held up the note. "No matter what she was lying about, or how angry I was, I deserve more than a lousy note."

"I know you do," said Amelia, nodding.

A small expression of surprise passed over Skittery's face at his hearing her agree with him. He just nodded and walked out the door.

Amelia sighed. "I should've told her to come clean a long time ago," she said.

"You knew?" Specs asked. Amelia nodded. "You've done some things in your time," said Specs. "But this is one of the lowest."