This author's current whereabouts: travelling through many a flowerbed, looking for Writer200 and wishing her well.

April 20

Somewhere in Manhattan

Jessica's Point of View

Well… Melissa and I have officially completed the complicated and somewhat daunting tasks of rescuing Jeffery and Sophia, as well as finding the Dragon so I could get a divorce from him, allowing me to finally be free to love Yoshi without the burden of an awful marriage hanging over my head.

Right now, it's just the matter of getting back home.

I have to completely depend on Melissa to get me there, though, because my eyesight has gone from bad to completely worse because the special glasses that Abuela Ophelia had bought for me to help me with my blindness had been smashed to smithereens. My vision isn't dark, but it's gone incredibly hazy and I can just make shapes out, but I've definitely lost the ability to discern any particular details. Melissa is well aware of this, and she acts as my eyes. I appreciate that.

There's also the part where I'm heavily pregnant now, and it feels like I'm six months along… but I don't really know. I was able to gauge it when I was pregnant with Gabriella, but this time around, it just feels weird. (But I think that it's because I've gotten so used to living with my parents that after being out on the streets again, my body and sense of time have been really out of whack) I haven't been to a doctor yet, for a few different reasons, so I don't know the gender of my child yet, but this kid just loves to turn somersaults and stretch out. In fact, he's done everything except kick me. I'm still waiting for that to happen…

I also have to depend on Melissa to actually get us home because I long ago lost all sense of direction and no longer have no idea where we are, but it doesn't help much that Melissa is becoming increasingly skittish because she says that we're getting closer and closer to Westies territory. Of course, Melissa won't tell me why she's acting so weird, but whatever it is, it's got her jumping at every little sound and now we're travelling by alleyway instead of by sidewalk, which would make things go a lot faster.

But at least we've stopped to sit on some upturned crates and lean against the alley wall for a few minutes. I'm tired and the baby growing inside of me is heavier and more fidgety than my Gabriella was by a long shot.

"Melissa, what's the matter with you? What is it about the Westies that's go you so freaked out? Is it that they're dangerous?"

Her warm and somewhat thick Australian accent made me feel relaxed almost immediately. "No, surprisingly. The danger factor doesn't really freak me out, and I'll hide you if I have to because I don't want you or the baby to get hurt, and besides—Yoshi would kill me slowly if anything happened to either one of you."

"I have no doubt that Kiyoshi would do anything for me, especially to protect me, the baby or Bella," my unborn child stretched out inside me and I gave my belly a little rub when I felt the heel of a foot press up against my palm in response to the contact. "But enough with beating around the bush, okay? Even the baby wants to know what's got his Tía Missy so worked up."

"Excuse me, Jessica Rose? His Tía Missy? You could actually be growing a baby girl in there! She could come out really confused because she was referred to as a boy for nine months!"

"It's a mothering thing, and you'll understand when you're pregnant." (Even though I couldn't see her in what I was sure was early evening gloom, I just knew that she was blushing furiously) "Now hurry up and tell me what it is about the Westies that worries you so much."

"It was them who killed my parents and attacked me that night in the park."

"Oh." I answered lamely, feeling like an idiot for forgetting that. "You said that we're close to their turf now, so do you have a plan for if we get caught? I mean, they went after your parents and they hurt you pretty badly."

"I haven't gotten as far as what's going to happen if they recognize me, but they can't know that I'm a Queller, and they certainly can't know that you're an Esposito."

"Why the hell not?"

"They just can't, okay? I don't have all night to explain this one!" Melissa sounded a little persnickety, so I let her keep talking. "If we're caught, you tell them that your name is Neve O'Connor, all right?"

"I'm not Irish—at all—but Neve O'Connor is an extremely Irish name if I ever heard one…"

"Do you understand that that's the name you go by if they catch us?"

"Yes, but what's your alias, then? Something tells me that it's more important that you aren't recognized."

"My name will be Mairéad Finnegan."

"Mairéad…" I tried out. "That's a really pretty name. How is it spelled?"

"M-a-i-r-é-a-d, and the trick I had to learn the first time I saw it written down was that it's like saying the word 'parade,' but instead of a p, there's an m."

"Was there someone in your family with that name?"

"Oh, yes, and she came right from—what's wrong?"

I'd cut off her in the middle of a sentence, grimacing and put a hand to my belly again, right were the baby was moving around, but the next moment, I was giggling like I was a little again.

"My little boy is kicking me, actually kicking me for the first time!" I told her eagerly. "He's kind of a late bloomer, but… give me your hand, Melissa."

She gave it to me and I put her hand on the spot where the baby was moving. We both laughed when the baby started kicking up a storm when he had a new way to make his presence known to me. He got in a few good kicks, but when Melissa began talking to him, he started delivering lots of strong punches, too. There's no doubt that my baby is active, but my number one prayer and hope is that he's healthy.

"That's my little guy saying hello to you. I just…"

(One thing that's been really different between this pregnancy and my first one is that my emotions have been on a very long emotional rollercoaster. I know that loopy emotions and hormones are to be expected with my condition, but now, my emotions are still on a serious rollercoaster when I should have a handle on it by this stage, meaning that I can cry at the drop of a hat now because lots of little things can set me off. It's kinds of embarrassing, but bless Melissa's heart tenfold because she's learned to put up with it)

"But you just wish that Yoshi was here to feel the baby move, don't you?"

Tears poured down my face as I nodded. "Melissa, he's practically my husband. I'm sure that he's taking really good care of Gabriella and getting along well with my family, but I need to be with him because I know that he'd be excited about all of this! Yoshi doesn't even know he's going to be a daddy, but I know him well enough to know that once he got over the shock of it all, he'd be as happy as I am about this baby and want it as much as I do."

(During mine and Yoshi's last phone conversation before I left and later on during the brief time we spent together after making the baby, he held me close and told me that no matter the outcome of our sexual encounter, he was in it all with me for the long haul not because he felt that he was obligated to be, but because he wanted to be and was choosing to be because he loves me and Gabriella very much. Yoshi even told me that he really wants to be the father figure to my daughter that she's never had. I turned into a puddle of goo after that because although I've been with lots of guys in the past and I'm the first person that Yoshi has ever been with, he's been the first guy who makes me feel secure in every way possible, especially with my emotions. (I know without a doubt that I do the same for him, and it makes me feel lighter than air when I think about it) When he was done telling me those things and we were done making promises to each other that basically sounded like wedding vows, I started weeping because of how overcome with emotion I was, and he just held me closer and made soothing noises the whole time. (I think he was crying, too) I think that it went without saying for either one of us that that was the moment—other than when he made that joke about me never being able to get rid of him because of how I have his blood in me, thanks to the blood transfusion—when we both knew that we were going to be in each other's lives for good)

"I'm so happy for you that Yoshi is in your life." Melissa gave a happy sigh, thus bringing me back to reality. "We all know that your first meeting was a little out of the ordinary because it was a matter of life or death at the time, and we all know that the relationship you two have is the epitome of a whirlwind romance, but it works out because you two complete each other, Jessica Rose."

I felt myself blushing a little. "It means the world to me to know that you like him, but you, Alexis, and even Ashley and Calvin all told me that awhile ago, plus you dictated a love letter from me to Yoshi. Why haven't you ever said anything about how fast things have gone? Most people would…"

"I'm not like most people because my mum taught me to always love," (Even though I couldn't see Melissa, she sounded like she was fighting some deep dark feeling inside herself) "But do you really want to know?"

"As long as we can find food and/or a real shelter soon, yes, I would like to know exactly why the idea of a whirlwind romance doesn't bother you."

"It's because my parents met right here in Manhattan through a marriage that was arranged by their parents. My mum came from a poor immigrant family—the Thompsons of Surry Hilly, Sydney—but the Quellers were a little better off because they'd been in America for a generation already."

"So Lucy married into the Queller family to save her own from dying out financially?"

"That's right, and her parents especially liked that my dad's parents were from Ireland."

"Irish blood runs deep in your veins, then." I remarked, thinking vaguely of my Puerto Rican and African-American roots. "That's pretty cool."

I practically heard the smile in her voice. "Mum's parents were also from Ireland, and they were the first on the Thompson side to leave after having been there for heaps and heaps of generations. They left for Cape Town, South Africa after that."

"South Africa?" I echoed.

"Yep. I don't know why, though. It was never explained."

"But they didn't stay there, I gather."

"They didn't." she confirmed. "They had mum's older sister, my old Auntie Adelaide, when they were there, but they left after eight years before going to Sydney, Australia for a few years before immigrating here. As Auntie Adelaide told it, their mother was really pregnant when they came here. Lucy Rose Queller—my mum was born three months later. She was literally the first American born in her family, but she never lost her Australian accent."

"That's a nice family story, Missy," I smiled in her direction. "But getting back to your parents now—how old were they when they met, and how long did they know each other before tying the knot?"

"They were both fourteen and met on New Year's Day of a year I don't recall, and they were married by that September, just after they were fifteen."

I quickly did the math in my head. "That's only nine months!"

"It is, but my parents told us on separate occasions that they made their marriage last so well and for so long when they started out as teenagers because they had been lucky enough to become best friends on the first day that they met."

"That's how Yoshi and I have been." I mused. "Do we remind you of your parents in that regard?"

"Very much so. I'm the youngest Queller child, but I've heard stories of how my parents went through a lot, especially with having four kids before they were twenty—"

"What?"

"Madison is a triplet and Emily was born when they were three. My parents came from very traditional families that insisted they have kids early because that was the way it had always been on the Thompson side, and the Queller side."

"Lucy and Elijah were fine with having kids that early?"

"Yeah, but mum told me a few years back on our birthday that she and dad both decided that they were going to be the last ones to carry on that particular tradition because they wanted us to do what we wanted. Are you quite finished interrupting now?"

I nodded so she continued. "Mum and dad experienced lots of hard times, especially towards the end of their lives, but they made it through because they had had each other to lean on, and from the day they met and up to the day they died, they were best friends."

"Yoshi and I have known each other a shorter time than Elijah and Lucy before they got married. Do you think that he and I are going to make it, Melissa?"

"Absolutely, without a single doubt." She got off her crate and helped me to my feet. "Do you feel up to walking now?"

I nodded again and held onto her hand—so we wouldn't get separated—and started walking with her.

"Other than being near Westies territory, I don't really know because it's dark now and I'm not sure that I've been to this part of the city before."

"Great…" I mumbled.

"Don't worry, Jess—I'll find us a place before long."

True to her word, and probably on a stroke of luck, Melissa found us a women's shelter after only fifteen minutes of walking down the city block. We were pretty thrilled to find that we were in the Forty-Second Street area in Hell's Kitchen because it meant that we were a lot closer to home than we had been the last time we looked at a map or a sign.

Within a few minutes of arriving, Melissa and I were directed to the shower facilities so we could take hot showers and we were also given new clothes to wear. (I was particularly happy about this because my belly was pretty big and almost to the point of hanging out from under my shirt. Even if my new clothes were second hand, I'd never been so happy to have maternity clothes because I never had any when I was pregnant with Gabriella) After that, we were also taken to the on-site doctor, and it was there that I was finally able to get an ultrasound done to check on my baby's condition, and I almost fainted with relief to hear that despite me having been on the streets for so much of the pregnancy that everything was checking out pretty well and the baby was healthy and even growing right on schedule.

To top it all off, I was filled with all kinds of joy to see that I had been right about the gender of the baby. I'm having a little boy!

After dinner, Melissa and I were shown to our room—it was described to me as a college dorm room with a mini kitchenette thrown in—and we learned that we had a roommate.

Melissa sat down at the little table where the girl was, and I turned down her help because I wanted to do it myself, so I felt my way over and got myself settled in a chair before speaking.

(I couldn't quite see her because of my hazy vision, but I could still focus on her general sheet)

"Hello," I greeted her in a friendly manner. "My name is Jessica, and my friend's name is Melissa. We're going to be your roommates for a few days until we can get back on our feet. I hope you don't mind."

The girl made a motion like shrugging, but I couldn't be sure. Melissa realized this and spoke to her for me.

"Jessica is a bit blind," (that's putting it mildly) "So she can't really see either one of us. Verbal answers would be best."

The girl turned in my direction and when she spoke, she sounded like she was trying her hardest to sound as positive as she could after having ruminated on something sad for a long time in silence.

"I don't mind at all. Where are you two from?"

"We're from around Midtown."

I couldn't see her, but the sound of her voice told me that she was raising an eyebrow. "Jessica, we're in a poorer part of Manhattan and I saw you both when you came in. From the state of your appearances then, and also factoring in the size of your belly, that shows that you two have been away from this area for quite awhile. Why are you coming back from where you ran from? I sure as hell won't go back to where I wan from, ever."

"It's complicated, but long story short—Melissa and I left to do something to ensure the safety of our families, we've completed all there was to do, and now we're on our way home. Our business took us all the way up to Washington Heights."

"That's pretty far from here." She remarked. "How long have you been gone?"

"Since October."

"And you're just now getting back?"

"I told you, mija—it's complicated."

Our companion laughed a little, like she was amused by something, so I called her on it.

"What are you laughing about? Something I said?"

"It's that you called me 'mija.' I haven't been given a term of endearment in I don't know how long."

Melissa jumped in at this point. "You know our names, but what's yours?"

"I'm called Twitchy."

"Come now—that can't really be your name. What's the name that your parents gave you?"

"I don't really know." Twitchy answered. "I really don't."

"Why's that?"

"Because I've been in the state system for my entire life and at the countryside group home I lived in until I ran away, the caretakers told me that a good Samaritan brought me in after finding me out in the middle of nowhere, and even they didn't give me a name."

"Fair enough." Melissa said neutrally. "How old are you?"

"Again, I don't really know. Fourteen, fifteen or sixteen is my best guess."

"Where is the group home are you came from?"

Her answer was vague. "In the countryside, I said."

There was a sudden pause in the conversation that made me long for the Land of the Sighted because I could tell that Twitchy and Melissa were having a conversation with just their eyes, even though they'd only just met. Finally, Melissa turned to me and spoke.

"Jess, I think that you should talk to Twitchy… or whatever her name really is."

"Why's that?"

"She's carrying precious cargo, too."

I heard her chair scrape against her the floor as she got to her feet.

"Where are you going?"

"To take a walk. I'm not a mum yet, so I think that it would be better if you two had the room so you can speak about things, from one mum to another. Don't wandering."

"I won't, mama." (Sometimes I call her that as a term of endearment. I do it with Alexis, too) "Just go ahead and go already!"

She laughed, seeing that I was acting like a little kid shooing a parent away, and exited the room, shutting the door behind her. I turned back to continue my chat with Twitchy, but she was getting up, so I followed the sound of her footsteps, feeling my way over and stopping when I came into contact with a piece of furniture that felt like a couch. Still wanting to do things without help, I sat down in the empty space next to her. I also started massaging the lower part of my belly to soothe my restless baby.

"Melissa said that you're pregnant, Twitchy."

"You're pregnant, too, Jessica."

"You go first."

"Fine." She gave an angry huff but still sounded sad. "According to the doctor, I'm just shy of nine months now. It's a girl, and she seriously loves to kick me and do the splits."

"Baby girls are fun. I have a daughter, but she's not a baby—she turned six in January."

"Where is your daughter now?"

"Back home, with my folks. I can't begin to tell you how much I miss her."

"What about her dad?"

"Gabriella's bio dad doesn't matter anymore." I answered stiffly as I fought to keep back memories of the night my firstborn had been conceived. "They've never met, and they don't need to. I'm never going to give Gabriella a reason to ask about him."

"May I ask you another question?"

"Of course."

"What made you decide to keep Gabriella? I mean, you don't look all that much older than me, so you had to have been a teenager when you had her."

"I was fifteen and homeless."

"Then why did you keep her? You had other options. Most pregnant women in the United States do…"

"True, but one could say that my baby girl was my salvation because knowing that she was in there meant that I had a very good reason to get myself cleaned up."

"Did you do drugs, or something?"

"No drugs, but I fell into the 'or something' category, starting with when my sight went when I was a kid. I believe the accurate phrase to describe those years is 'wild child,' and it wasn't pretty at all."

"But it also sounds like Gabriella was your motivation to be a better person."

"She was and still is because one of my first thoughts after finding out that she was on the way was that she was mine. Another thought was that I was never going to let the wrong kind of person take her away from me because for the first time since I was about seven, I didn't feel so alone in the world."

"Where were your parents?"

I shrugged and started tracing shapes on my belly, knowing that the baby would start following the movements, like we were playing a game. "In the Bronx or Manhattan, I suppose. They were teenagers when they had me, and after lots and lots of drama with one of my abuelas, my parents put me into foster care when I was a newborn because they had accepted reality—they were barely scraping by and they didn't have enough money to provide for me, especially since my mom was looking into medical school and my dad was looking into the police academy and the Army. They told me once that they did it because they didn't want me to grow up poor like they did. My parents gave me up because they thought that it would give me a shot at having a better life."

"Did you have a better life?"

"For awhile, but I made it through, found my parents and even helped bring them back together after they had drifted apart for far too many years, and I'm pretty damn sure I'm close to finally having my happily ever after.

"Are you engaged to someone?"

"No, and I just got a divorce from the man I was married to. All of that aside, though, I found my happily ever after with the guy who is this baby's father."

I gave my belly a fond pat and then laughed when the baby responded by rolling both elbows across the surface.

"How far along are you?"

"Six months, and I just found out today that it's a boy. I can't wait to get back home to see his daddy and Gabriella, too. I'm sure that once parents and friends find out about him, they're all going to be wanting to plan a baby shower and start suggesting ideas for a nursery, too."

"It sounds like you have a good family and lots of friends…"

"I do, Twitchy, and I am blessed. May I ask you a question?"

"Go for it."

"Why are you so curious about my life?"

"Because I'm trying to figure out what to do about my baby. I realized that she was there after it was too late to get an abortion."

"And you came to love your daughter since then?"

"Very much, but I bounce around so much that I'll never be able to provide for her. I don't want her to have that kind of life—no offense meant, though, Jessica. It sounds like you've managed pretty well with Gabriella so far, and I'm sure that your son is going to be just as lucky and as happy as his big sister."

"No offense taken, and thank you for those kind words about my children."

I paused for a second, trying to get comfortable as I thought of how to phrase my next words.

"I have an idea for you that I think you're going to like."

Twitchy suddenly sounded apprehensive. "Is it going to cost me something?"

"Just your name—"

"I said I'm called Twitchy!" the young woman interrupted. "I got that nickname because of a nervous twitch I developed when I was growing up!"

"Have you ever given yourself some kind of name over the years?" (I kept calm because I had a strong feeling that her child must be doing jumping jacks inside her in reaction to her hostility. If I was calm, that might eventually make Twitchy and her daughter feel calm again) "There's got to be some point in your life where you were known by something besides just 'Twitchy,' and I bet that it was a really pretty name, too."

"Destiny." She said after a brief moment. "I call myself Destiny, and you can, too. I like it more than Twitchy, anyway."

"See? Now there's a pretty name."

She didn't really care. "Okay, so now you know who I am—what was it that you were going to tell me?"

I fished two little slips of cardstock from my pocket that I'd saved from the pockets of my old outfit and put them into Destiny's hands.

"These are business cards." She stated blankly.

"See the names on them?"

"Yeah. They say 'Detective Javier Esposito' and 'Delaney Parish Esposito, Medical Examiner.' There's contact information, too."

"Javier and Delaney are my parents, and they are the best and kindest and most loving people I've ever known. They're also pretty cool."

"You've totally inherited all of that from them."

I smiled at the compliment. "Look them up when you get into Midtown."

"They would help me out?"

"They would do the best they could for you and your baby—helping you find an adoption agency, and all that."

"Jessica, we barely even know each other. I'm definitely going to give her up, but I'm not going to be able to handle it if I stick around to see her grow up, meaning that I'd have to go right after she's born. Why are you being so nice to me about this? You're a mom, and you kept your first baby."

"I'm being nice because I want to show you that not everybody in this world is a bad person, and everybody, even the littlest baby, deserves a good chance in life. Being a parent is about loving your kids and doing what's best for them… even if it hurts. That's what my mom told me she and dad realized after they gave me up. If you don't want to come with Melissa and me when we leave, then I'll tell my parents all about you, and I'll be waiting for you at the Twelfth Precinct."

All was quiet for a few seconds before I heard a quiet sniffling sound coming from Destiny and I realized that she was crying. It was a few more seconds before she was holding me in a big hug, our big bellies touching.

"Thank you." She whispered. "Thank you so much."

I tightened the hug. "You're welcome."

Our joyful moment was interrupted and made us pull apart when the door to our room banged open loudly and rather suddenly. Melissa hurried in and she sounded pretty freaked out.

"I just heard something really, really bad for us, Jessica!"

The baby gave me a huge kick of annoyance when my heart began to race. "What is it? What did you hear?"

"That there's a few new people that have just come in, and now there are more people than there are beds! I heard the director talking with a few officials, and they're going to have to put some people out to make room!"

"Okay, that is bad, but I don't think that they'd turn us out. We just got here!"

"Of course they wouldn't turn you away! Not only are you pregnant, but you're really pregnant!"

"But you aren't, and you don't really have anything that can earn you a pity card." I realized with a horrible sinking feeling. "I do because I'm blind and seriously can't see anything in front of me."

"I heard them going through a list of people they're definitely kicking out, and my name was on it!"

"Maybe there's another Melissa here." I suggested lamely.

"There isn't." Destiny said dryly. "I would know if there was because I've been here for quite awhile."

My heart sank straight into my stomach. "What are we going to do?"

"Jessica, we have to go. Now, before lights out!"

"I don't think I can."

Melissa was very taken aback by this and she came to kneel in front of me. "Why not?"

"Because I'm really tired and I need lots of rest. Carrying a baby is the hardest job you'll ever have to do."

"I suppose I've been running you ragged for awhile…"

"I wouldn't use the word 'ragged,' but I've had enough adventure for awhile."

"I don't want to leave you, Jess. You're my friend…"

"Go, Melissa. I'll be safe here, and I'll be home soon."

"There are going to be a lot of people who aren't going to forgive me for coming back without you."

"Namely Gabriella, Yoshi, and my parents..."

"Exactly."

"Tell them I'll be home soon, and don't let Yoshi do anything stupid."

She hesitated. "Are you sure you're going to stay here?"

"Yes. The baby and I are going to be okay."

"All right."

She gave me a hug and gave my belly a pat before standing up and addressing Destiny.

"If you want to come with me, this is your chance."

Destiny sounded sad yet again. "I would if I could, but I really can't. I'm a minor, and they already have really strict rules for pregnant women and girls. I'll figure something out."

"Are you sure?"

"One hundred percent, and besides—everybody knows that we're in Westies territory. I don't fancy the idea of getting caught by one of them for trespassing on their turf, and I don't want to risk it. Not in my condition."

Melissa hesitated again, but Destiny and I wouldn't let her have it and spoke in unison.

"Go. Run."

That's exactly what Melissa did.