PART 1
I came home from work expecting to hear my little boy laughing.
Instead, I heard him crying.
The sound cut through the pouring rain before I even reached the front porch.
There, lying in his stroller at the bottom of the steps, was my eleven-month-old son, Noah. His tiny blanket was soaked through. His cheeks were red from crying, and his little hands trembled from the cold.
I dropped my work bag and ran.
“Noah!”
I lifted him into my arms, holding him tightly against my chest. His clothes were freezing. He buried his face into my neck, still sobbing.
Then I looked toward the house.
My mother stood in the doorway with her arms folded, completely dry.
Her face showed no concern.
“I don’t raise bastards,” she said flatly.
For a second, I couldn’t believe I had heard her correctly.
“What did you just say?”
“I told you before,” she replied. “You made your choices. That child isn’t welcome under my roof.”
Before I could answer, my younger sister Ashley stepped beside her, laughing.
“Serves you right,” she sneered. “Maybe next time you won’t sleep around like some filthy little whore.”
The words hit harder than the rain.
I had spent the last year working double shifts as a nursing assistant just to keep food on the table after Noah’s father disappeared before he was born. Every paycheck helped pay my mother’s mortgage because she claimed she was helping us.
Apparently, she had been waiting for the chance to throw us away.
“You left him outside!” I shouted. “He’s a baby!”
“He’ll survive,” my mother answered. “Now leave.”
I stared at the two women who were supposed to be my family.
I realized they weren’t.
Without another word, I wrapped Noah inside my jacket and turned away.
The storm had become violent. Thunder rolled overhead while rain blurred every streetlight. My phone battery had died during work, and I had nowhere nearby to go.
I started running toward the main road, hoping to find help.
Behind me, Ashley laughed again.
“Good luck!”
I never looked back.
Noah was shaking against my chest, and I whispered over and over, “Mommy’s got you. Mommy’s got you.”
Then headlights suddenly exploded through the curtain of rain.
A horn blasted.
I turned.
Everything went white.
The last thing I remembered was Noah slipping from my arms as my body was thrown across the wet pavement.
