"So, are you planning to see your baby after it's born?" asked Tina.
"Of course!" said Kim. "Why shouldn't I?"
"I'm not," said Karen. "That would just make having to give it up that much more painful."
"What do you mean, 'having to give it up'?" Kim was shocked.
"Don't you know?" Tina asked her. Kim shook her head.
"Here at Our Father's House, we're all expected to give our babies up for adoption after they're born," Tina explained. "John and Linda Curtis, the folks who own this place, believe that every child deserves to be raised in a Christian home with both a mother and a father."
"Well, I'm not giving mine up. Not for anything!" Kim exclaimed, horrified at the very thought of handing over her precious baby, the only thing she had left of Andrei, to strangers to raise.
Karen was shaking her head. "You'll change your mind, Kim."
"No! I never will!" Kim was so upset that she was almost shouting.
A couple of weeks later, Kim was with Karen when Karen went into labor and was quickly transferred to a nearby hospital. Two days later, she returned to Our Father's House with a flat belly and a woebegone expression on her face.
Once back inside the home, she went immediately to her room, where she stayed for the next two days, not even emerging for meals. On the third day, Kim's curiosity got the better of her, and she tentatively knocked on the other woman's door.
"Come in," Karen said weakly.
Kim entered the room to find Karen lying in her pajamas on the unmade bed, staring at the wall.
"Karen?" Kim asked gently.
"What do you want?" Karen's voice sounded unfriendly, angry, almost.
"Well, what did you have?" asked Kim.
"I don't know," Karen said miserably.
"You mean you don't even know what you had?" Kim was incredulous.
"No," said Karen. "They took it away as soon as it was born."
"So you didn't even see it?"
"No."
Kim suddenly felt profoundly sad. "I'm so sorry, Karen."
"Go away and leave me alone!" Karen snapped. Kim left the room as quickly as she could.
Kim was about eight and a half months pregnant when Linda Curtis told her that there was a couple who wanted to meet her.
"Their names are Mike and Sharon Brown, and they're a lovely Christian couple. I know you're really going to like them," Linda said.
"Why do they want to meet me?" Kim asked suspiciously. Linda didn't answer.
True to Kim's suspicions, Mike and Sharon Brown looked exactly like the cookie-cutter perfect couple. Mike was built like a football quarterback, with short, dark brown hair and brown eyes, and Sharon was a slender blue-eyed blonde. They were both dressed as if they were on their way to church, back in the old days, when there was church.
"Hello, sweetheart." Sharon embraced Kim warmly, and Kim caught a generous whiff of her expensive perfume. "It's so good to meet you. Please, have a seat. We want to talk to you."
"Coffee?" asked Linda.
"Yes, please," said Sharon. "Let's get right to the point," she told Kim. Suddenly her tone sounded a lot less friendly. Kim felt a chill travel down her spine. "You are a Christian, right?"
"There isn't really any such thing anymore, is there?" asked Kim.
"Why, of course there is!" Sharon exclaimed. "True Christians who have Jesus in their hearts and walk with God let their lights shine in even the darkest of times. Have you ever asked Jesus into your heart, Kim?"
"Well...um..."
"Would you like to ask Him into your heart right now?"
Kim glanced around nervously, like a trapped animal desperately searching for a path of escape.
"You can come to God any time you are ready, dear, and He will welcome you with open arms," said Sharon. "What I want to discuss with you right now is what plans you have for your future, and for that of your baby. I know you want to do what's best for your child." The icy chill returned to Kim's spine.
"Mike and I could provide your child with a wonderful home, Kim. The Lord has really blessed us financially. Your child will want for nothing. He or she will always have the best of everything."
"No!" Kim grabbed her crutch and limped away from the Browns as quickly as she could. She had almost made it back to her room when a sudden sharp pain gripped her abdomen so tightly that it made her gasp.