The Next Morning 9 am

I've showered, made breakfast, fed Gracie, and seen Andrew off to work. Now, while Andrew works, Gracie and I are going out for a walk through the park. I pulled out her stroller, which was a rather nice and farely expensive baby shower gift from Andrew's parents. I get the feeling sometimes that they feel bad for me, having lost both of my parents when I was sixteen. I don't need, nor do I want anyone to feel bad for me. Yeah, it was a loss, but I got the chance to prove myself to anyone who stepped in my way. I'm not exactly proud of the life I've lived, seeing as though my employees used to view me as a "poisonous bitch…" but I think I've changed for the best since meeting Andrew. In fact, most of my employees came to see me in the hospital following the birth of my daughter. I've relaxed since marrying Andrew, I've also let myself be taken care of. After all, who's the one working while I stay home with the baby? Andrew, after how I used to treat him before our little rendezvous in Alaska.

So here I am fooling with the lock on this stroller. I feel pretty stupid when I find the latch that says "pull here." Maybe I set my mind at ease a little too much when I married Andrew… Now I'm transferring Gracie from her baby carrier to this. I love how the weight of her small body feels against my chest… I often like to jog in the morning to relieve stress and stay fit, which is why it was a struggle for me to accept the 9 month lack of my daily routine. But now, having this stroller, Gracie can accompany me while I reduce my jog to a walk. Living in New York, I like to walk along the winding patch that goes through Central Park. I absolutely love the feeling I get when people stop me to ask about her. That's another way I feel I've changed since marrying Andrew; I feel I come off as more approachable. Before, I was all buisness with a tight dress who, if messed with, would rather ignore you than respond to anything out of your mouth.

I was sitting on one of the benches in the middle of the park, taking in the landscape, when an older gentleman sat next to me. "That's a beautiful youngen' you have there"

"Thank you," I said, glowing.

"How old is she?"

"Two months old, she'll be three months in June." I told him.

He smiled, and then continued to tell me about his life. "I have a daughter, but it's long distance. She lives down in Florida."

"Oh, I see." I told him, I felt kind of bad for him, he seemed lonely, so I felt obligated to stay and continue the conversation. "I have relatives up in Alaska."

"It's kind of nice," he began, "you get the chance to have them fly in and spend holidays hardly have any worries. No one's overstaying their welcomes…" he explained.

"Yeah, my in-laws live in Alaska. You always here about in-laws getting annoying and trying to control your house, but I've never had the chance for that to happen. So far they've just been very helpful."

"Well, that's very nice," he said with a smile on his face… "Well, I'd better get going, I have to run to the store and pick up some of my medication."

With that he got up and left. He still seemed like a lonely soul, I didn't even catch his name. I blew it off, figuring I would just see him the next day in the park. I then proceeded to continue my journey on through the park and then back home.