Matters Of The Heart novel Chapter 2

As she walked, she came across a heart stopping view. A pregnant Abbie sitting at on the sidewalk with a jacket over her head to shield her from the rain. She was shivering terribly as she couldn't even rub her arms warm as her hands were wrapped tightly around her body. She noticed a traveling bag besides her, it was clear she was living on the streets.

She walked to stand next to her, with her umbrella covering the both of them. Abbie didn't even notice her presence next to her until she couldn't feel the heavy rain droplets on her, and she looked up in confusion. Her eyes softened as she noticed how young Abbie looked, her eyes puffy red as an indication that she was crying.

"Hey", she greeted with a warm smile on her face and Abbie nodded her head at her and turned to look away. "I'm Stephanie Daniels", she extended her hand for a handshake. Abbie took another look at her and placed her ice-cold hand in Stephanie's.

"Abigail Haines", she shivered they shook hands and broke contact after a few seconds

"Why are you sitting in the rain?", she questioned before the other woman looked away again

"I'm waiting for someone", Abigail lied without even looking up, the truth was she had nowhere else to go. Stephanie immediately picked it up and wasn't willing to leave her like that.

"Come with me", Stephanie breathed out after the short sigh she took, Abigail finally rose her head to look at her

"What?"

"I said come with me", she repeated as she grabbed Abbie's bag and hung the sling over her shoulder before helping Abigail to her feet, clearly puzzled of what was going on

"Where are we going?", Abigail questioned as Stephanie held her by her arm and guided her to catch a taxi

"To my place", Stephanie said as she hailed on an oncoming taxi, and it came to a halt. They both got in and Stephanie told the driver her address.

At the apartment, Stephanie gave her clothes to change into after she ran her a hot bath. She turned the heater on and Abigail sat comfortably on the couch, watching TV.

"Thank you", Abigail smiled as she accepted a plate of food from Stephanie, and she immediately shoved the food into her mouth. She hadn't eaten a proper meal for two full days, and she was beyond starving. Stephanie watched her as she ate, cleaning her plate out within a few minutes.

"You were pretty hungry, weren't you?", she asked and Abbie paused chewing to shyly nod her head

After they ate and washed the dishes together, Stephanie made the both them tea. Abigail told her everything that has happened to her and why she landed on the streets. Tears streamed down Stephanie's face as Abigail told her story.

"I'm sorry", she sniffed as she took Abbie's hand in hers. "No woman has to go through what you went through"

"It's okay. Thank you for your hospitality. I don't know how I would have survived the rain. I'll leave immediately when it stops", Abigail said and Stephanie looked her dead in the eye.

"You're not going anywhere. You're in no condition to be living on the streets right now", she protested and Abigail blinked at her and Stephanie's eyes softened as she looked at Abigail's belly.

"How far along are you?"

"No, Aunty Stephanie is taking you. Mommy is writing a test today honey", she said and Steph appeared behind them, always cheerful as ever. Abigail always wondered how she did it, wake up every morning beaming with happiness. She could be having the worst day of her life, but a smile would never leave her lips.

"Are you ready for today Abbie?", she asked and Abigail hesitated before she shrugged

"I'll see how it goes", she breathed out as she watched Steph help Emily put her bag on and held her by her hand. The two of them were inseparable.

"All the best okay?", she said as they walked towards the door

"Bye Mommy", Emily waved at her as Steph opened the door for her

"Thanks Steph. Bye sweetie, I love you okay?", she called out to Emily.

"I love you too", Emily said as Steph closed the door behind them. Abbie sighed heavily as she pulled her notes towards her to go through the chapters she studied the whole night. She yawned as she paged through her notes. She was studying microbiology part-time at the Richfield University, and it was her last year. Things were much easier for her now that she had a car of her own. Having to depend on Steph and public transportation for traveling to and from campus was never a problem, the problem was when she sometimes arrived late for lectures and exams. She didn't like drawing attention to herself when other students would look at her like she just murdered someone.

But she seemed to be handling it well, working as a waitress during the day, studying part-time and raising a child all in one scenario

They had to move shortly after Emily was born. Stephanie got promoted at work to another branch in another city. Abigail secured a waitressing job when Emily was about a year old. She didn't want to depend on Stephanie for everything when she had already done so much for her, and she was grateful. Together, they were taking one mission at a time