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“I made you some oatmeal, Vi. I think you better get up. It’s nearly time for you to leave,” Her grandma said, breaking into her thoughts.
“Sorry, Grandma, I didn't sleep until the early hours.” For some unknown reason, memories about all that she’d been through were close to the forefront of her mind and she didn’t seem to be able to shift them. “I’m coming now. I’ll just have a shower first.”
“You do that, honey,” the older lady said.
How had she been so lucky to end up here with this gentle woman? The big question was, how had this gentle woman raised her witch of a mother? From the moment she knocked on her grandma’s door, she had enveloped her with love. She stood under the hot spray and her mind drifted back to that first day…
“Vi?” the elderly lady asked. “Is that you?”
Vi stood, suitcase in hand, unable to find words to explain how or why she came to be standing there on her grandmother’s doorstep. So much rested on her grandma’s acceptance, she didn't have a plan B. What if she turned her away? “Yes, Grandma Lillian, it’s me. Do you remember who I am?”
“Of course, I remember who you are!” the woman said, taking the bag and pulling her into the house. “You are my only granddaughter; how could I forget you? There has never been a day I didn’t think of you, or a night that I didn’t say a small prayer for God to protect you.”
“Grandma, I know it’s a lot to ask but could I stay with you for a bit?” Her eyes filled with tears. Asking for charity was never an easy thing for her. “I don’t have anywhere else to go.”
“As if you have to even ask, I’ve longed for this day.”
Now, for the hard part, fear twisted in her belly. “I have to tell you something first, it’s only fair.” Vi fiddled with her raggedy ponytail, one hand instinctively protecting her still flat belly.
“You want to tell me that you’re having a baby?”
Vi was shocked that her grandma had guessed her secret and even more stunned that she didn’t seem to mind. “Um, well, ah, yes, but how did you know?”
“There are signs,” Lillian said with a smile. “When I opened the door, you had your hand on your belly, like you were protecting something, you still do. Only one thing that you could be protecting in there,” she said with a chuckle.
“Are you okay with this? I mean, you don’t mind?” Vi asked.
“Why would I mind about an innocent little tot? Especially one that will be my great grandchild.” Lillian smiled.
Vi did something she hadn’t allowed herself to do up until that point, she burst into tears.
“Oh, honey, everything will be okay.” Lillian hugged her tightly. “You poor little thing, I bet you’ve been worried sick all the way here. How did you get here?”
“My mother bought me a bus ticket,” Vi said through her sobs.
“Oh well, it might have been the kindest thing she did for you yet, to get you away from that man. I'm just sorry I couldn’t have taken you away from there myself sooner.”
“She couldn't wait to see the back of me.”
Lillian said nothing for a minute and then grinned. “You know what we need? A little bit of cheer. I’ll get us something to eat, a hot drink and then we’ll go to bingo.”
“Where is bingo, Grandma?” Vi asked as they walked along the sunny, tree lined street.
“The church hall, not much further to go.”
Vi stopped in her tracks. “You won’t tell them I'm pregnant, will you?”
“Why ever not?”
“It’s a church! Won’t they think I’m an evil sinner?” Vi had been told her whole life what God thought about sinners, she thought she'd finally escaped all the judging.
“Not all churches are like that, honey. In my church, God loves everybody.”
“Sorry it’s only oatmeal, honey,” Lillian said, as she sat down at the table.
“I love the way you serve oatmeal, Grandma,” Vi answered with a smile. This woman could serve burnt toast and make you feel like you were eating pancakes and bacon.
“Why don’t you call in sick today, Vi? Have yourself a little nap.”
“I can’t, Grandma,” Vi said. “But I’ll get an early night tonight if I can.”
“You need some fun, Vi, it isn’t good for you to hang around here punishing yourself forever you know.”
“Who said I’m punishing myself? I just get tired after work, that’s all.”
“Hmm, you tell yourself that enough times and you just might believe it. You didn't do anything wrong, it’s normal for teenagers to do those things these days. It was up to your momma to teach you about contraception and such.” Lillian walked over to the mantel and picked up a photo that Vi had given her and brought it to the table.
Vi looked at the photo of the sweet, little girl in her pretty dress full of frills. It was one sent to her from the adoption agency as agreed upon with her partly open adoption. While she wasn’t permitted direct contact, she received a photo every year. This was last years and her favorite. She smiled at the photo. “She does look happy doesn't she, Grandma?”
“That she does. The decision you made to give that baby girl up for adoption was one of the most mature and selfless things I’ve witnessed. You hold your head up, girl.” She kissed the top of Vi’s head.
Vi put the photo down on the table next to where her grandma was about to start her own breakfast and ‘read the paper’. Vi smiled. What her grandmother called reading the paper was actually going on Facebook. She loved to trawl her friends’ pages and see what they were all up to. She played the odd game of bingo or slots. A lot of her friends were people she’d never met and hardly spoken to. Still, she felt somehow invested in their lives. Vi gave Lillian a kiss. “I better go and get ready, I’ll be late.”
A while later she returned to find her grandma in the same spot. “I’ll see you this afternoon, Grandma. Is there anything you need me to get on the way home?” Her grandma didn’t answer. She was staring at her laptop. “Grandma?”
“You need to look at this.” Lillian had gone white. Her eyes were flicking from the photo in front of her to the one online and back again. “I think this is the same child.”
Vi was across the room in a couple of steps and she looked where Lillian was staring. There on the Facebook page of a stranger, was a photo very similar to the one on the table. It was definitely the same little girl; she was even wearing the exact same dress. The only difference between her photo and this one was the adults who were sitting side by side with the child between them. They were all laughing at whoever took the photo. So, it was obviously taken the same day. Vi dropped into a chair beside her grandma. “Oh no,” she said, reading the post that the person had written. “No, no, no, it can’t be so.” She read out loud, just so she could try and understand what she was reading.
“Today marks