they’d done, and gratitude for her son.
She stole a glance out of the corner of her eye, saw that Billy watched the baby as he stroked a lap full of cats. Other cats curled around his feet. The noise of so many purrs made her laugh.
He smiled crookedly. “I spoil them.”
“They’re your friends.” There was something oddly appealing about such a big man enjoying pets.
His eyes narrowed. “Better than friends. They don’t judge or condemn.”
She understood his reluctance to trust people. She shared the lesson. But through it all, she had Marie, a special friend whose support sustained her. “Not everyone is the same. I had a friend in the orphanage who always helped me.” Even if Marie got herself into all sorts of awkward situations, she never failed to help Vivian when she needed it.
Joshua stiffened in her arms and wailed.
Billy bolted to his feet with surprising agility. “I’ll get the bottle.”
Joshua took the bottle readily and Vivian settled back, rocking gently. A person could get used to this so long as they knew what to do.
Billy snored softly.
Vivian smiled. So much for not going to sleep. She rested her head on the back of the rocker and closed her eyes. The storm still raged outside as questions raced around inside her head.
Who was she? Vivian Halliday. But who was that? She didn’t know. She’d lost all sense of who she was when her life had been stolen from her. Or had she let people take it from her degree by degree?
It no longer mattered because from now on, her every thought and decision would be on Joshua’s behalf and for his good.
She smiled, her eyes still closed.
True, taking the baby from the orphanage wasn’t entirely an unselfish act. Yes, she wanted her baby to have more than a foundling home could offer, or even an adoption. But it had been to quench the hunger of her own heart that had spurred her to go against everything she’d been told to do.
Yes, Joshua’s birth had given her a strength that had before been foreign to her.
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