October 16th, 2002

Marilyn walked into the hallway. She could hear some blues coming from the music room. She thought she had turned everything off. Marilyn walked slowly to the room and peered in. Danny was sitting at the piano listening to the radio. She quietly walked into the room.

"Hey." She said. Danny looked up.

"Oh sorry. I thought you were gone." He said as he got up, "I'll leave."

"No no." She said, "Sit. Stay. Listen." Danny nodded and sat back down. Marilyn sat next to him.

"How's Ronnie?" She asked. Danny scratched his chin.

"She's getting better everyday." He said, "She's up and about now. She told me this morning that she wants to go back to work next week."

"As long as she's not pushing it too much." Marilyn said. Danny smiled.

"Yeah." Danny said, "Thanks for the card and dinner by the way. Ronnie really appreciated it."

"I wish I could have done more." Marilyn said. They sat in silence for awhile, "How are you doing?" Danny looked up at her.

"You're the first person to ask." He said. "I'm…I don't know to be honest. Sometimes, I'm fine. Others, I'm so depressed I think nothing to help."

"But you gave the baby a name and a memorial, doesn't that help?" Marilyn asked. Danny nodded.

"It helps tremendously. The baby was always Christian Mitchell. We just knew in our heart that it was a boy." Danny said. "We got the plaque put in the graveyard yesterday. Ronnie didn't come. She couldn't. I didn't want to go either, but I had to go. I had to go for Christian."

"That's what you need to do, just go on honouring his memory, but also get on with your lives. I think that's what he wants." Marilyn said. Danny smiled.

"That's exactly what I think." He said. "I should get home. Ronnie will be wondering where I am."

"All right. Get going. If you ever need anything, give me a call." Marilyn said.

"I will thanks." Danny said as he got up.

* * *

Danny walked into the pent house. He walked into the kitchen to see Ronnie making a salad.

"Hey." Danny said. Ronnie jumped.

"Christ, Danny." She laughed, "You scared me."

"I see." He smiled, "How you feeling?" Ronnie bobbed her head.

"Restless." She smiled softly; "I'm making dinner."

"I see." He said. "How you feeling physically?"

"Okay. No aches today." Ronnie said cutting a tomato.

"Good." Danny said grabbing a couple of plates. Ronnie nodded. Her body was now recovering from the miscarriage. She didn't feel pregnant anymore. She had lost what small weight she gained. Her aches and pains were lessening every day.

"Do you want carrots in the salad tonight?" Ronnie asked.

"Yeah sure." Danny said, "Marilyn said hi." Ronnie smiled.

"I miss everyone there." She said.

"They all miss you too." Danny said, "Even Lipschultz was asking about you." Ronnie laughed.

"I'm surprised her remembered me." She said, "Dinner is ready." Danny helped her put the food on the table. They both sat down to eat. Danny smiled.

"This looks good." He said.

"It's only pasta. It isn't some gourmet meal." Ronnie said spearing a tomato with her fork.

"I know, but you made it. It's really good to see you get back into things." Ronnie smiled tenderly at him.

"It's good to get back into things."

October 30th, 2003

Ronnie took in a deep breath as she looked at the high school. Her first day back. This was a big deal. She walked up the steps. She hesitated for a moment. Her son died in this building. She walked into the building. Why did the building look exactly the same? Why didn't it change?

"Welcome back, Ronnie." Marilyn said from her doorway.

"Thanks. Glad to be back." Ronnie said opening her classroom door. She sighed deeply and stepped in. She looked at the floor. She looked at the spit where her son died, where he exited her body. The floor was newly cleaned, buffed, and waxed.

"I can do this." She went to her desk and grabbed the folder that Scott left her about what her class has been doing. She chuckled when she saw he had been assigning report after report. That was just like Scott. Danny walked into the room.

"Everything okay?" He asked.

"Yeah. Just waiting for students." She said.

"Right." Danny said, "If you need anything, sweetie, you know where my room is." Ronnie chuckled.

"Yes. I know where it is." She said, "Now shoo. Go teach."

"I love you." Danny said as students started file in. They giggled.

"GO!" Ronnie giggled. She watched as the students sat down. They were quiet. They were the same class as when she lost Christian. She looked over at Julia. She had a small bump on her stomach. So she was pregnant. Ronnie smiled softly at her. "Good morning class."

"Good morning Miss Cook." They all said.

"I've been reviewing what Mr. Gruber has been doing to you and I'm sorry." She chuckled, "He gave you a lot of unnecessary work."

"No kidding." He few muttered. Ronnie smiled.

"What holiday is tomorrow?" She asked.

"Halloween, Miss Cook." Julia said.

"Halloween. I suspect all of you are going to be home passing out candy instead of being out and causing trouble." She looked at her students. A few nodded. Ronnie winked pulling out a pile of paper. "Who is Edgar Allan Poe?"

"He was a poet. He wrote dark poems and short stories." Albert said. Ronnie nodded.

"Yes he was. Can any of you tell me what he wrote?" She asked.

"He wrote The Raven." Everyone in the class said.

"Yes he wrote that." Ronnie said passing out the papers. "He also wrote The Tall Tale Heart which happens to be my favourite piece written by him. I'm passing out copies of it. I want you to read it for homework and write a page on what you thought about it. Be brutally honest."

"Just a page?" Julia asked.

"Unless you want more." Ronnie smiled.

"No. A page is fine."

* * *

Ronnie walked down the hallway during her lunch break. She could feel people staring at her. Yes I lost my baby! Get used to it. Harvey waved at her. Ronnie smiled back at him. She enjoyed Harvey even though he wasn't all there. When she walked into the teacher's lounge, everyone when quiet. Ronnie frowned.

"Did I walk in on something?" She asked.

"What? No. No you didn't." Lauren said as she stood up. "I was just on my way out. Here have my seat."

"Thanks. " Ronnie said sitting down.

"It's great to have you back." Marla smiled. "You were really missed.

"Thanks." Ronnie chuckled opening her salad.

"Yeah. It's really nice to have you back." Ronnie looked up at Harry.

"Hey you." She said pulling out a seat for him. "It's been awhile."

"Yeah it has." Harry sat next to her; "I've been wanting to stop by your house to check up on you."

"You should have. I would have enjoyed your company." Ronnie said.

"Really?" He asked. Ronnie nodded.

"Really. You can come by whenever you want. Regardless of what's happened, Harry, you're my best friend." She said. Harry smiled softly.

"Thanks." He said. Ronnie began to eat her salad. Everyone was still silent and not looking at her. Maybe it would take awhile for her to convince everyone that she was all right.