The next week, Becky arrived a bit early. Luckily for her, he was already there, once again. "Hey Ryan."

"Hey Becky. Ready for round two?"

"Yeah. I hope this helps today. Tomorrow would've been Mark's birthday. I hate doing this without him."

"I know how you feel."

"How's your daughter?"

"She's good. She's going to start preschool soon. I have to go sign her up."

"Wow, preschool? Already?"

"Well, she'll be there for about two years. She can't start kindergarten until she's five. She'll learn a lot in preschool while she's there, though. It'll be good for her."

"What's her name?"

"Ava."

"That's a cute name."

Ryan pulled out his phone, "Would you like to see a picture?"

"Sure."

Ryan pulled up a photo and passed his phone.

"Aww! She's darling. Blonde hair blue eyes! Beautiful girl."

"Thank you. She looks a lot like her mom. Actually...you kind of remind me of her mom."

Becky didn't respond.

"I'm sorry. That's kind of awkward that I said that."

"Did she ever meet her mom?"

"Her mom died two hours after she was born. She held her once."

"You never thought about remarrying?"

"I haven't really brought myself to date again and I know it would take a special woman to love both me and her."

"I mean, most women like kids…"

"Yeah, but a lot of single women either don't want that overwhelming responsibility of filling the mom role, or they already have their own kids."

"What do you do for work?" Becky asked.

"I'm a teacher."

Becky remained silent for the rest of the night. She didn't even say goodbye after the session. Once again, she found herself sitting at the table with Darlene.

"He's a teacher. I feel like a loser. I couldn't even tell him what I do, there's no way he'd ever be interested in a waitress."

"You don't know that." Darlene encouraged, "Maybe he likes having a woman who will take orders from him."

"Very funny."

"Becky seriously, you shouldn't be ashamed of your job. If there's really anything there between you, your job won't matter to him. Did you find out if he's single?"

"He said he hasn't been able to date."

"Okay, so he's single. Do you know how old he is?"

"He's thirty six."

"Perfect! You're thirty five! Damn Becky, I'd go for it."

"He probably makes forty thousand dollars a year. He won't be interested when he finds out I work as a waitress. I need a drink…."

"You know what, instead of self-medicating with alcohol, why don't you talk to this guy? I mean just what little I've heard about him, he sounds good, Becky. You need good in your life. You deserve good."

Becky sighed.

"Does the kid part bother you?"

"I haven't met her….but the fact that he has a kid doesn't bother me."

"Do you want kids?"

"I'm too old."

"Not necessarily. Women are having babies in their 40s now."

"Rich women who aren't waitresses, maybe."

"Becky, if you hate your job, change it. Go back to school. Don't let your unhappiness with your job decide your fate. It sounds like you kinda like this guy. So try it! Go out with him. How much different would your life be if you had never met Mark?"

"Well, I'd probably be less depressed."

"You'd also be way less independent. Mark really encouraged your independence."

"Why do I keep coming back here and having these conversations with you?"

"Because they're conversations that your heart needs to have. And I'm your sister. Like it or not, cradle to grave you're stuck with me."

"MOMMY!" Mark yelled, running.

"Mom Mark fell and scraped his knee." Harris said.

"What happened buddy?" Darlene checked his knee. "It's okay. It's just a scratch." Darlene picked him up and held him against her.

Becky sat there staring at them and smiling.

"You want this, don't you Becky? You can lie to me and say no and you can whine about your age. You're kidding yourself, Becky. You want this really bad. You want a family. You want kids whining at you and running to you calling you mom. You wanted it so bad with Mark, and it didn't happen and you're scared to let another man in. And what are you scared of? That it might work out?"

"I'm not having this conversation anymore."

"You can refuse the conversation, but it's true and you know it's true. Your job does not define who you are, Becky. You have a lot going for you."