[A/N. Can anyone remember the age of May during the "Melody" series? I seem to think she was a teenager, or just becoming one which could make her just fifteen or so in this story? Also I realise that Lara would only be six weeks old here and therefore most babies would still be taking their milk from their mothers, but I guess I decided that for some reason Lara isn't, maybe there is a medical reason Melody has to wean her or something. It's not important why, but it fitted in with my story for it to be happening. And sorry that this chapter is a little shorter than usual but I wanted to get something up here since it's been ages since I updated, and now I've got a few more chapters in my mind.]

Four:

I was surprised to find May waiting on the front porch when I got home. I signed to her, asking why she wasn't at home, and wouldn't Aunt Sara be wondering where she was? She signed back to tell me she'd made up an excuse about having something to do after school and that she really needed to talk to me. I studied her thoughtfully. It seemed only yesterday that May had only been a child, and a beautiful one at that. I hadn't realised how grown up she was becoming, how adult she looked. My eyes met her eyes, and I saw that she was troubled, and quickly invited her in. We went through to the kitchen and she nursed Lara while I got her bottle ready. She'd only recently been weaned and on some occasions wasn't too happy with the bottle, however when May offered it to her she took it eagerly.

"You'll make a good mother one day." I signed to May, and to my surprise she blushed darkly.

"So, what do you want to talk to me about? I assume it's something you couldn't talk to your mother about." I asked her as Lara finished her bottle and I took her off May. She followed me through to the living room where I put Lara on her blanket on the floor.

"There's not much I can talk to Ma about." May admitted to me. "I sometimes get the impression that her answers aren't so much hers as they are Dad's."



I smiled. "Well I suppose that's only natural isn't it? Your mother wants your father to think she's doing a good job of raising you."

May shrugged, and then told me the real reason she was there. "It's this boy, Tommy his name is, and he's wonderful. He can hear and speak, but he never looks at me differently because I can't." I was tempted to interrupt and say that nobody should treat her differently, but I decided that it was best to let her continue. "Tommy said he loves me. I think I love him too, but I'm not sure. I've never been in love before so I don't know how it feels...how does it feel Melody?"

I sensed this wasn't the main question, but I replied nonetheless. "I guess it's different for everyone, but if you're in love you should be walking around happily, like you're in the middle of a dream, and feel all warm and fuzzy." I said.

May smiled. "That's the way I feel when I'm with Tommy."

"That's wonderful May." I said, genuinely happy for her.

May sighed then, and then continued. "I don't know a lot about things, like things between men and women, but I know what I hear from girls at school. That's where I learnt about a lot of things because Ma would never tell me anything like that. The thing is Tommy says if I really love him like I say I do I'd go all the way with him. But I'm scared Melody." She finished.

I bit my lip, trying to decide the best way to handle it. In the end I decided that the best way was to tell her the truth. "May, sex is a very important thing between two people who love each other very much. You don't want to have sex with someone if you're not sure that you love them very much." I told her.

She frowned. "The girls at school say that's an old fashioned concept. They're all having sex."

"Maybe they are, but that's them May, not you. You've got to do what you think is right for you, not for them. In the end you're the only one who knows whether you love Tommy enough to take such an important step with him."

A strange look crossed her face and then she smiled. "I thought you were going to tell me off, and tell me I'm too young." She admitted.

"I might think you're too young May, but I'd never tell you off. Like I said, you're the one who's in charge here. But you have to promise me two things. First, think very, very carefully before you make any decisions. Sometimes we think we're in love, or we chose to do something for another reason, and it turns out to be wrong." When I said that I was thinking about how close I'd come to sleeping with Adam Jackson more than anything. Would I have done that for the right reason I wondered? Since the day in town before Lara's christening I hadn't seen Adam on the few occasions I'd been in town, something I was very grateful for.

May nodded and I continued. "And the second thing is when you do end up having sex, whether it's sooner or later, you have to promise me to be very careful and use protection."

May's face reddened a little at this, but she nodded. I decided that the conversation had finished and changed the subject to something else, the thing which was occupying my mind most days- Lara. Later on, as May was leaving, she made me promise not to discuss the conversation with anyone, especially not Cary. I promised, and promptly forgot all about the conversation. A baby takes up a lot of your time and it seemed as though the six weeks since Lara had been born had just flown by. It was a week later when I next thought of the conversation.

*****

There was a frantic knocking at the front door. I left Lara on the floor and hurried to answer it. Aunt Sara stood there, her face pale and her hair all messed up. She didn't wait for me to invite her in but hurried inside herself and into the living room.

"It's May." She said dramatically.

I frowned slightly. Had Aunt Sara somehow found out about May's problems? "What about May Aunt Sara?" I asked.

"She's gone." Aunt Sara said, and she collapsed into a chair.

I hurried to her side. "Gone? What do you mean?" I asked, trying to work out what was happening. Did this have anything to do with our conversation?

"I mean she's gone." Aunt Sara snapped. "G-O-N-E."

"Wait a moment Aunt Sara, I think I better get Cary up from his workshop." I said standing up and taking a deep breath. I went to the intercom and told Cary that he better come up to the house, that his mother was there and it was something to do with May, but I wasn't sure what. Then I went back into the living room. Aunt Sara had flopped in the chair, and her eyes were wide open and she was taking deep breaths, her hand on her chest.

"Aunt Sara do you want a glass of water?" I asked, beginning to feel scared.

"Yes thank you Melody. A glass of water would be nice." Aunt Sara said politely, her tone far removed from the one a few moments earlier.

I went into the kitchen to get her a glass and just as I was giving it to her Cary came in, panting. "Ma, what's wrong?" He cried, hurrying into the room.

"May's gone." Aunt Sara said.

Cary glanced over at me, but I shrugged. I had no more ideas than he did, and he didn't know about the troubles May had come to me with the other week since I'd been sworn to secrecy by her.

"She didn't come home from school today, and went I went to her room she'd left me a note on the dresser. Here, see for yourselves, I don't have the strength to read it out loud." Aunt Sara said, and she handed Cary the note. I read over his shoulder:

"Dear Ma,

I'm sorry for doing this to you but I can't stay here anymore. I've done something really bad, and if you ever found out you'd be furious. You'd tell me I was a sinner, and maybe I am. I'm going away so I can't pollute our home and lives with the germs of a sinner.

Love May.

P.S. Please thank Melody for her advice. She was right."

Cary turned to me. "What advice?" He asked.

"Exactly what I want to know, Melody, what on earth is going on? Where is my May, and what has she done?" Aunt Sara demanded, glaring at me. I had never seen my kind Aunt look at me like that and I realised it was because this time her young daughter was involved. Part of me would have liked to comment on the fact that if it weren't for the attitude of Aunt Sara and Uncle Jacob before he died that May would never have thought she had to run away after what she did.

I gulped and opened my mouth to tell them.