Brian Haner Jr

The cacophony of the video games blended perfectly with the sound of shrieking, screaming children. Kelly glanced around the madness that was Pizza Pete's and was incredibly grateful she wasn't prone to headaches. She looked at the child in her arms, but Skylar slept on, apparently unaware of the frenzy around her.

"The woman on the phone turned out to be one of Sam's aunts," Alex was saying, her voice raised to be heard over the din. As she spoke to Nicole, she kept her gaze fixed on her son, Tyler, and Kyle, who were intensely concentrating on a game that involved hitting a fake gopher with a sponge bat. The gopher popped out of different holes in the ground and so far had eluded even a single pop to his plastic head.

"I didn't know, Sam had any family other than her mother," Nicole said. Sam, the pregnant teenage who had moved in with Alex until her baby was born, had told Nicole that she was pretty much alone in the world.

"I guess it didn't occur to Sam that anyone would help her. After all, her own mother threw her out when she found out the girl was pregnant." Alex shook her head. Her short brown hair flew around her face before falling back into its perfect wedge. "I don't understand parents like that. But it's turned out well. The aunt wants to give Sam and her baby a home and good start. Apparently this aunt is a teacher and her semester will be up in a couple of weeks. Sam's going to stay with me until then."

Nicole studied her friend. "You don't look happy about her leaving."

"I'm not," Alex admitted. "She's a terrific young woman and I'll confess to adoring her baby. But this is going to be good for her. She's going to sign up for community college and go after her degree."

"Just think, you'll have a spare bedroom again," Nicole teased. "How long until it fills up again?"

Alex laughed. "I'd like to have a week of peace, but I have no expectations."

"Uh oh. I know that look. Who's next?"

"No one." Alex hesitated, then moved her plastic soda glass in a circle on the picnic table. "Okay, there's this kid. Brett. He's sixteen and really doing well since his surgery, but he needs to start rehabilitation. His insurance doesn't cover living expenses while he's in rehab and he lives too far away for commute. I haven't decided yet, but I'm thinking of offering him a room with me. Just while he recovers."

"You're amazing," Nicole said. For as long as she'd known Alex, the other woman had been giving room and board to a parade of strangers in need.

"We've had this conversation before." She paused as Tyler came running up.

"We got 'em!" he crowed. "Did ya see, Mom? Kyle got him twice and I got him once."

"Good for you. Want to play again?"

Tyler nodded furiously. Alex handed them each another quarter and the two boys took off. Nicole looked around for Brian, Kyle and Tyler, then spotted him them entering the laser tag arena.

"I dont' know how you did it," Nicole said, her gaze moving to Tyler. "I thought resiency was hard enough on its own, but you had a child."

Alex shifted on the hard seat. "I"ll admitt to being tired a lot of the time. Having a baby terrified me, mostly because I didn't know anything about them. But we're muddling through together."

"It's more than muddling. You're both thriving."

"Maybe," Alex said. "It helped that I was so far along i my sidies. I think if I'd been in medical school I wouldn't have made it. But I was well into my residency when he was born."

Nicole thought of her own past. She'd been seventeen when she'd gotten pregnant. She hadn't even been to college, let alone medical school.

"Did you always want to be an orthopedist?" Nicole asked.

"Absolutely," Alex grinned. "When I was all of twelve my dad helped me with a bird I'd found. It's wing was broken. I still remember how stunned I was that the wing actually healed and the bird was able to fly away. From that moment on I knew I wanted to do the same for people."

"There aren't alot of women in that field," Nicole said.

"Tell me about it. There have been problems, but I've survived. What about you? Did you change your specialty? I know most students have trouble deciding."

Nicole drew in a deep breath. "I wanted to be a pediatrician but that didn't work out."

"Too bad." Alex nodded at the sleeping infant. "You're good with them, but then you're good at what you do now. Think of the mothers and babies you've saved. Besides, we women have to stick together."

Nicole made herself smile, even though she could feel the familiar sadness filling her. So many questions. Had she made the right choice with her career? Not that it mattered. It was too late to change either decision.

"Enough being serious," Alex said as she slapped her palms on the table. "Come on. We'll challenge the guys to a race. I know it's silly but I love those car video games. Where else can people crash into walls and walk away without even a bruise?"

Nicole followed her toward the collection of freestanding videos. Brian, Kyle and Tyler appeared to be talking excidedly about their game of laser tag.

"You hit me fifteen times," Kyle complained as he studied his score sheet.

Brian looked sheepish. "You're an easy target, kid. What can I say. I hit Tyler a bunch, too."

"Yeah, but I didn't hit either of you once," Kyle said.

"You didnt hit anyone," Tyler pointed out. "But don't worry. You'll do better next time."

"He's right," Brian said, pulling the little boy close. "Besides, you're better looking than both of us."

"And smarter," he insisted.

Brian laughed. "Maybe."

As Nicole watched him, she couldn't help remembering her own past. Her father had been wonderful with her. He'd expected a high standard of behavior, but not matter what, she'd always felt he loved her. As she cradled Sky close, she knew that Brian was going to be the same kind of father. Gentle, kind, yet always teaching and showing by example.

"How are you holding up?" Brian asked.

"Fine." She motioned to Skylar. "She's wet, so I thought I'd go change her. I'd make you do it, but I doubt there's a changing station in the men's restroom."

"Saved by inequality," Brian teased. "Thanks for taking care of her while I was with the other kids."

"It's hardly difficult. I adore her."

"Me, too."

Their gazes locked and she knew they were both thinking about what happened last night. And what had not happened. The kiss had come close to leading to something else. Something neither of them was ready for. But had it being inevitable? A shiver rippled through her.

She turned and made her way toward the restrooms at the rear of the building. As she moved through the crowd, she heard a man yeling at his daughter. Nicole held Sky close, grateful this little girl wasn't going to have to deal with a difficult parent. She would always be loved, as Nicole had been loved...right up until she got pregnant. That was the one thing her father couldn't forgive. Was that why she couldn't forgive herself?

She reached the restroom. the door pushed open and three girls stepped out. They were walking and laughing and didn't even notice her. But she studied them. Wondering if any of the three could have looked like her daughter.

Then, as she'd done a thousand times in the past, she'd pushed away the aching inside of her and focussed on the tast at hand. She'd lost the right to worry about her daughter the day she made the decision to give her away.