There were things about life that Quasimodo was only just beginning to understand. He had been told that Dawn was going to have a baby, but he didn't really register how. He had been told by Claude that God gives babies to those who are meant to have children, but that was as far as Claude had ever gotten. Lately, he noticed that Dawn was getting rather…uh…fat.

It didn't escape his notice that her hands were on her stomach a lot. She seemed very proud of it and would smile at it every now and then. His master would touch it, too, and smile. One day, his curiosity finally overcame him and he had to ask.

"Why?" he finally said.

Dawn was surprised…she knew that Quasimodo had been sheltered, but she didn't realize just how far. She took his hand and placed it over her swelling abdomen. He felt something move and stared at it, puzzled.

"Feel that?" Dawn asked.

He nodded.

"That's the baby."

The mental image that entered his mind made him stare. Had she swallowed it?

"How did it get in there?" he wanted to know.

"Well…" she wasn't sure how much Claude would want her to tell him, "you might say that God put him there…there's a special place in a woman's body for us to carry the baby until its ready to come out. It's going to grow for a little while longer and come out when it's big enough."

The baby kicked.

"He's saying hello," Dawn said warmly. Quasimodo's nose was an inch away from her belly.

"Hello in there!" he called. Then, he had another question.

"How do you know whether it's a boy or a girl?" he asked.

Dawn shrugged.

"I'm guessing," she admitted, "but I just have a feeling."

"What's his name?" Quasimodo asked.

"We haven't picked one out yet," Dawn confessed, "we've been really busy. Did you see that girl that's been here today?"

He nodded.

"She's going to have a baby, too. Hers is almost ready to come out."

Quasimodo had been shocked to see that woman's baby belly—she looked like she'd pop any second. Her belly had resembled a melon stuffed down the front of her dress.

"Where is my master?"

It was almost time for Quasimodo's lessons, but with the recent chaos, they needed some time to work things out.

"He said to tell you he'd be up here later," Dawn informed him, "and just to get your chores done while you wait. If you're done early, you're welcome to go play with Squishie. I have to go downstairs now."

He nodded and watched her go.

Just last night, he'd heard a lot of shouting and gone downstairs to investigate. He'd seen three guards drag a dark-haired woman into one of the rooms and lock the door so she couldn't get out. He'd been told in no uncertain terms to get back to the bell tower. This morning, he had gone downstairs to ask what had happened. One of the older priests told Quasimodo that the girl had been caught stealing from the kitchens and that Claude and Dawn needed to decide what to do with her. It appeared as though she'd gotten herself into a major predicament. Quasimodo had tried to make friends with the girl, but she'd been rather hostile to him. Dawn told him not to worry about it, that she was only scared because of the situation. He took up his mop and began to mop the floors. He knew that the girl needed a friend, but it took at least two people to make friends. It was hard to be friends with someone that didn't want to be your friend—he knew that from experience.

Dawn descended the stairs and went back to the girl's room. All morning, that little rat had been screaming at the top of her lungs and throwing anything within reach. Dawn hoped she'd calmed down some since then.

She pressed her ear to the door. All she could hear was quiet crying. Dawn made the "open the door" gesture to the guard and he obeyed. Claude hadn't allowed Dawn to get close to her for fear that the girl would hurt her and the baby, but the men weren't getting through to her. In fact, it looked as though they were making matters worse.

She lay flung across the bed, her wild dark hair hiding her face completely. Dawn's nose wrinkled. She stunk horribly. Dawn resorted to breathing through her mouth as much as she could to keep from getting sick. The dress she wore was ragged and torn.

"Hey," Dawn said quietly.

The girl didn't look up. Squishie jumped up on the bed and began to lick the girl's hand.

"What do you want?" the girl choked out, her voice muffled by her arm.

"Well…not assaulting my husband would be a good place to start," Dawn replied.

The girl raised her head. Her eyes were still hidden, but Dawn could see part of her cheek.

"That man was your husband?" she sounded surprised.

"Long story," Dawn answered, "we're trying to help you, you know."

"By treating me like a common prisoner," the girl spat acidly.

Dawn wasn't phased by the bitterness in her voice at all.

"Well, I'd say it's better than being imprisoned, don't you think? Unless you'd rather have darkness, dampness, and rats…I hear they make good pets."

She was joking, but the humor was lost on the girl. The girl lay her head back down, though she did cautiously stroke Squishie's head.

God bless that dog, Dawn thought, she's got more patience than all of us put together.

"If you're going to have me arrested, then just do it," the girl said brokenly, all the life draining out of her voice, "it was only a matter of time anyway."

"Prisons aren't really the best place to have babies," Dawn commented, "I'd really rather you stayed here."

"And then you can turn us out afterward. The lot of you church people are all alike!"

Good God, this girl was a pessimist. Instead of jumping down her throat for saying such a thing, Dawn ventured closer.

"What happened?" she asked.

"What do you care?"

"I care because there are two lives at stake here," Dawn said calmly.

A silence.

"Let's get it out of the way," the girl sighed, "you're going to tell me I'm an unfit mother because I stole from the one place where I knew it wouldn't be missed much. I have nothing to offer this child and I don't want it. There. That's the ugly truth. I don't want your damn pity. I just want out of here and to be on my way."

"Where's the father?" Dawn asked.

"Gone. In another town. Somewhere I refuse to return to."

"Husband? Boyfriend?"

"Complete stranger."

The same thing had happened to a friend of Dawn's when she'd been on the rebound from a broken heart. Like a drug, it had stopped the pain, but at a terrible price.

"What about you? Any family members you could stay with?"

"None. I've been disowned."

"That sucks," Dawn said sympathetically.

"I've always been alone in the world," the girl commented flatly, "they merely made it official."

"Sorry."

"I'm used to it. I hate men. Beastly, ghastly things. They live only to tell us what to do and satisfy their urges. If they didn't want those two things, they'd have no need of us."

"Not all of them," Dawn objected, "some of them are genuinely good…they're just very hard to find. I almost gave up, too. Then, there was Claude. I've never met anyone else that cares about people the way he does."

The girl made a dismissive gesture with her hand.

"Just wait until you make him angry enough," she muttered, "it will pass."

Dawn sighed. The girl was beginning to frustrate her. It was hard to believe that she'd intended to work with children and teenagers those distant years ago when she'd earned her degree.

"Let's make a deal," Dawn said finally, realizing she wasn't going to change the girl's mind, "you and your baby can stay here and we'll help you get back on your feet. In exchange for that, all you have to do is try to act like a civilized human being. These guys won't hurt you. So help me, if any of them touches you, I'll go after them myself. Have your baby here and then see if you change your mind about keeping it. If you still don't want it, we'll take it and either find it a good home or raise it ourselves."

The girl finally looked up at her.

"What's the catch?" she asked darkly.

"The catch is that you can't leave the grounds," Dawn told her, "you're far along enough now that it's not a good idea to wander off. We want you to stay where you're safe. If you can agree to that, then we'll get you something to eat, a bath, and some clean clothes."

She stared at Dawn as if trying to figure out if this was some sort of a trick.

"You swear on everything…this cathedral, your baby, your husband, and all of the priests?" she asked warily.

"I swear." Dawn drew an X over her heart before crossing herself; it was a habit she'd gotten into after being around Claude.

"All right," the girl said reluctantly, "I'll stay, but I'm going to leave when I can walk again."

"Fair enough. You got a name?"

"My name is Marie."

"I'll be back," Dawn told her.

She had a feeling that her deal wouldn't go over as well with Claude. They already had one baby on the way, but two…? She prayed that he wouldn't be too upset with her. After having some bath water and food sent up to the girl, she retrieved one of her old dresses. It would be loose everywhere but the belly, but it was clean and mended. She had that sent upstairs, too. She'd missed Mass this morning, but she was sure that Claude would forgive her.

"You look as though you've been up to something," he remarked.

"You could say that."

She slid into his embrace.

"Was it the girl?"

She nodded.

"What happened?"

"I cut a deal with her. You don't have to worry about bodily harm anymore," Dawn said with a grin, "I made her swear she wouldn't attack anyone."

"How did you get her to listen?"

"Sit down. I'll tell you all about it."

They had gone to the kitchen for lunch. After they'd received their food and the blessing was said, Dawn hungrily devoured a few bites.

"I told her to stay here and have the baby," Dawn said, "and not to go wandering off. I said if she still didn't want it that we'd take it."

Claude choked and took a moment to regain his capacity to breathe. He stared at her.

"You what?"

"I said if she didn't want it after it was born that we would take it," Dawn repeated.

"Do you realize what you've done? You're telling her that it's perfectly fine to abandon her child!" Claude said sharply.

Dawn reached across the table to touch his hand. She knew how strong his feelings were about things like this.

"I know it's not the best," Dawn said quietly, trying to de-escalate the situation somewhat, "but why make the kid suffer? For all we know, she'll go off and kill it. Or, she'll be a crappy mother and be mean to the kid. Do you really want to risk that? If we take the kid, then we can find somebody who really loves babies and can't have one of their own. The kid gets a good, stable home and parents that love it. Besides, Marie may change her mind…some mothers don't realize they love their babies until they're born and they hold them for the first time."

The doubt in Claude's eyes still lingered, but she felt and saw the tension draining out of his body. He couldn't very well argue with her…not when she put it that way. Dawn loved children and she hated to see them suffer for the sins of their parents when they couldn't choose their parents.

"And if we can't find the child a home?" he asked uneasily.

The look on Dawn's face gave him his answer. He could see the stubbornness in her dark eyes.

"We'll find it a home," she answered, her tone loaded, "period."

His stomach clenched and he was thinking the same thing she was thinking earlier. They would be new parents…but really, two babies? One, he knew, was enough work on its own.

"Nothing I say is going to change your mind…" it was halfway between a statement and a question.

"Afraid not," Dawn apologized.

"You care too much."

"I'm a priest's wife, that's my job."

He smiled and she did, too. He squeezed her hand.

"And Marie? What of her?"

Dawn shrugged.

"I made her swear to stay until the baby's born so that we know they're both safe, but she says she's leaving quote 'when she can walk again'. We can't keep her here indefinitely," Dawn lamented, "I hate to see her go off on her own and think that she's totally alone in the world. I've lived that way myself and it's a very rough place to be. The only thing we can do is show her love…even though she's an unwavering pessimist."

His thumb caressed circles into the back of her hand.

"Have I told you today how much I love you?"

"Not since this morning." Dawn grinned. He pecked her on the cheek and they finished their meal in companionable silence.