As they walked back into their hotel, Edgar read through the TRO paperwork. His hands shook. “We’re screwed, Heith. If we go within five-hundred feet of Milli or attempt to contact her in any way, we will be arrested and charged with felony stalking, regardless of wether she agrees to press charges or not.” “What about Marni?” Heith demanded, trying not to touch his broken nose. Edgar flipped several pages as the elevator descended. He looked at Heith, confused, “It doesn’t say anything about Marni.” The hall outside their room smelled like sewage or garbage or both. Opening the door, the smell that wafted out of the room hit them both like a slap in the face and they gagged. Edgar vomited in the hall as Heith slammed the door shut, swearing colorfully. Heith was glad his nose was packed with gauze, as he left Edgar puking, and stormed back upstairs to the front desk. The girl at the front desk blinked at him with an expressionless face, then sent the bellhop

Milli sat in her car, snowflakes swirled against the glass as she waited for the light to turn green. She watched them dancing, carefree like the fireflies of the summer, and couldn’t stop the tears from running down her cheeks. The only reason her hands weren’t shaking because she was gripping the steering wheel so tightly it turned her knuckles white. She was trying to keep it together until she got home from her obstetrician appointment. The doctor had come all the way back on a Monday to see another high-risk patient and to give Milli some devastating news rather than wait for her appointment on Thursday.   * * * Last Thursday...   The nurse took all her vitals and had her put a half-gown over her breasts and baby bump. A cart with a portable ultrasound was wheeled in. The obstetrician, an older man with thinning hair and jovial voice, asked Milli a myriad of questions, then if she had any concerns before th

As Milli iced the gingerbread cookies Aunt Elizabeth had volun-told her to make, she struggled with the pain. It had only been a little over a month since her world went to heck in a cake box. She had spent two days decorating gingerbread cookies. Camille had asked for help from the Women’s Auxiliary since the diving coach wasn’t much of a baker and the dive team needed a fundraiser for the Winter Carnival and were assigned the cakewalk and bake sale booths. Every cookie brought back a memory of home Milli didn’t want to remember, and she ruined half of what she baked before she found her groove. She decorated the traditional cookies with red, blue, or green scarves and hats, then added white dots or stripes or zigzags. It had been an exercise in frustration at first, but Milli knew she needed the cookies to succeed if she wanted to build her reputation before her bakery opened someday. A hard knock on the door had her peeking at a sleeping Emily as she passed. A pretty blon

At 12:05 AM on December 26th, the doctor cut a thin line across Milli’s stomach. The nurse cleaned and wrapped Charlie quickly before placing him on Milli’s chest. Milli didn’t feel the rest of the procedure, she only remembered the priest blessing her child before giving him last rites. She remembered Jackson saying, “Charlie is the most beautiful baby I have ever seen.” As he took pictures of Milli holding her baby. Milli ran her fingers over Charlie’s tiny perfect face in the quiet room, marveling at how much he looked like a mixture of Edgar and herself. “He looks like both of us.” Her baby never cried, never took a breath, but he would live in her heart forever. Dorine helped Aunt Elizabeth come in. She said softly, “He’s so handsome.” Aunt Elizabeth nodded in agreement, “I’m certain he will give Marni nothing but trouble in the afterlife. Look at that bit of mischief in his smile, oh yes, he’s an ornery one, a little troll just like you.”

Four days after Christmas, Dallas...   After two weeks of helping the last of her father’s miners quit Rowling Enterprises, Jean Lasater arrived back in Dallas to see her doctors. They said the same thing they did at every other appointment and always before she had politely listened, but this time, she stood up and walked out without a word. She wanted to go home to die but she didn’t have a home any longer. She had sold her parents’ house years ago, so she drove to the spartan upscale apartment where she had lived for almost a decade. Looking around, she didn’t have photos or paintings, nothing lovely decorated her dwelling; she didn’t even have a Christmas tree. Her home was as lonely as her but it’s not time to think about that. There was little time left and she needed to be quick with her actions. Thinking about the next move, she went to her answering machine and pushed the play button, waiting to hear the messages that filled in.