“Did it go well tonight?” Amy inquired as she set the sleeping Daisy down on a tattered armchair.

Drake closed his eyes and swallowed thickly.  “No.”

“What happened?”

“I said some things I shouldn’t have.  And she doesn’t want me anywhere near the child when it’s born.”

“Can you blame her?”

“Yes.  After all, I am the father.”

“I know that.  You know that.  But in Dru’s irrational thinking, you don’t have a right to that child.  You gave it up long ago.”

“But that doesn’t make any sense.”

“And I’m also guessing that Dru wouldn’t want your influence to rub off on her.”

“That is exactly what she said.  You know her well, don’t you?”

“Ever since we were in grade school we’ve been the best of friends.”

“When did you first meet her?”

“We were on the bus.  It was her first day of kindergarten, in the middle of March.  They had just moved.  She sat by me on the bus and I showed her around school that day.”

“They moved a lot back then even?”

“They moved again 134 days after they arrived, but Dru and I have visited each other since then, though lately the visits have been getting few and far between.  Excluding today, this is the first time I’ve seen her in three years.”

“What was she like?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you’ve known her a long time.  Cade said she was always happy all the time when he first met here.”

“Very happy.  She found good in everything and always seemed to, well, I don’t know, but, shine!  Even when she was in kindergarten she was a good influence.”

“And now she’s different,” Drake confessed.

“Don’t complain.  You were the one that did it to her.”

“I know.”

“I don’t know why I even let you stay here.  I shouldn’t, knowing you’re the person that completely ruined my best friend’s life!”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t tell me, tell her.”

“Because it would be a lie.”

“Then why did you lie to me!”

“I didn’t.  I’m sorry I ruined your best friend’s life, but I’m not sorry for what happened between Dru and I.”

“You’re a jerk, you know.  You cause her all that pain and aren’t even sorry for it!”

“I just wish it could have been different.”

“Different how?”

“I wish I hadn’t made everything so difficult for her, and so agonizing.  I know I hurt her, both emotionally and physically.  I watched her every now and then without her knowing and what I saw hurt me even more than it probably hurt her!  She flinched every time any guy touched her.  And she couldn’t walk for over three months.”  Drake paused, and when he spoke again his tone was wistful.  “I wish everything was under different circumstances so she wouldn’t have gotten hurt.”

Amy smiled, finally seeing everything clearly.  He loves Dru, she thought.  And it’s killing both of them!

Amy said goodnight to Drake and put Daisy to bed.  Then she went into her room and saw Dru sitting on the bed.

“What are you still doing up?” Amy asked her.

“I woke up and couldn’t get to sleep.”

“I didn’t wake you up when I came in, did I?”

“I woke up about a half-hour ago.  I was going to come out when you got home, but you started talking about me, and I?“

“Eavesdropped on our conversation!  Why, Dru, you little sneak.”  Amy said.  She wasn’t mad, Dru could tell it in her tone of voice.

Dru used the same tone,  “See?  This is what happens when I stay around the same people so long.  I become like them!”

“What time are you guys going to leave tomorrow?” Amy asked.

“We aren’t leaving together.  I’ve decided not to continue on this wild goose chase.”

“This is wonderful!” Amy exclaimed.  Then, seeing the tears running down Dru’s cheeks, she stopped.  “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know what to do,” Dru sobbed.  “I can’t go to college, not with the baby coming in October.  I can’t go home, because those people are still trying to find me, and I won’t go to Mother.  She’ll freak out if she finds out I’m pregnant!  Worst of all, I don’t even know what I want to do!”

“Why?”

“For so long I’ve only wanted to do one thing.  Now that I have decided not to there isn’t a purpose in my life anymore!”

“What did you want to do before you met Drake and his family?”

“I wanted to be a correspondent for the New York Times.”

“So do that.  You’ve got a story right in front of your nose.  Use it!”

“But I don’t know the first thing about that sort of stuff.  First I would have to write it, then
find the information for getting it to the newspaper.  I’d also have to-”

“So what!  Think about that later, just do what you want to now!”

Dru thought for a moment.

“Okay,” she said.  For the first time in what seemed like ages she had something to look forward to not based on hatred.
 

They woke up the next morning to a knock on the door.  Not surprisingly, it was Drake.
Dru pulled her robe on and Amy did the same, then the two followed Drake into the main room.  Amy went into the kitchen and returned with a box of Cheerios.  She sat down next to Dru on the couch and the two of them took turns reaching in and pulling handfulls out and popping them into their mouth while Drake spoke.

“I’m going to leave now.  Dru, I left some money for you in the kitchen.  If you need anything call Cade.  His address and phone number are on a paper by the money.  My pager number is also there, but don’t use it unless it’s an emergency.  That’s pretty much it.”

Amy said,  “If you ever need a place to stay, feel free to come by.  That is, if you don’t mind my couch.”

“I’ll probably take you up on that sometime.”

“Then I’ll see you later,” Amy said.
Amy and Drake turned pointedly and Dru.  “Oh!  See you later,” she said at the last minute.

“Actually, it might be a good thing if you came with me.”

“What!  I thought we agreed I was going-”

“No, not with me with me!” Drake laughed.  Just come downstairs to the parking lot with me and get in the car.  I’ll let you out in the back and you can come in the back way of the building.  I saw it yesterday.”

“Why?” Dru said.

“Just in case anyone followed us here yesterday.  It would be good if they thought you were still with me.”

“Yeah, sure,” Dru allowed.  “Whatever you need.”

Dru took the elevator down with Drake.  After getting out, he let her lead to the car.   She waited for him to unlock her door and climbed in when he did.

He drove out of the driveway and circled around the block, going back in the driveway through a different driveway.  He stopped near a door at the back of Amy’s building and waited for her to get out.

“I’ll come back sometime soon,” he stated.

“Don’t bother.”

“It’s not a bother.  It’s something I want to do.”

“Doesn’t it matter to you what I want?” Dru exclaimed.

“Sometimes.  Not this time.”

Dru scowled and reached for the door handle, but Drake pulled her back.

“Don’t do anything stupid, Dru.”

Dru held his gaze for a moment, and then she said,  “I could say the same for you.”

Dru opened the door and got out of the car.  She watched Drake leave and then went to the door.

Amazingly enough Dru felt a loss.  Of what, she could not understand.  I’ve been with Drake too long, she thought.  I shouldn’t be used to him.  I should be glad he’s gone!

Instead of being glad, the feeling of loss and responsibility swept over her.  She wasn’t so blind as to miss Drake’s appearance that morning.  His eyes had gray hollows underneath them, and it had looked as if an invisible force was dragging his mouth into a speculative frown.

Dru wearily walked back to the elevator.  The last days had been too much for her; she was utterly exhausted.

When Dru got back to the apartment, she heard Amy in the kitchen and decided to have breakfast with her.

“Back so soon?” Amy said.

“Was I supposed to take long?” Dru returned.

“I don’t know.”

“Where did the Cheerios go?” Dru asked, changing the subject.

“Still on the couch.”

Dru went and got them and returned to Amy.

Amy asked her,  “What are your plans?”

“I think I’m going to Cade and see where Ivey is.”

“I thought Ivey was a good friend of yours.”

“She is.”

“Then why don’t you know where she is?”

“She’s in a coma, somewhere in a hospital in Tennessee.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Now we’re off the subject.  I’m going to call Cade and see where Ivey is.  I’ll rent a car, or fly out there and see Ivey.”

“What are you going to do after that?”

“Find a little apartment somewhere and start writing my story, under your suggestion I might add.”

“I have a better idea.  Why don’t you stay here for two weeks or so and write, and then going out there.  I’d like your company here.”

“Are you sure that is okay?  We’ve already been such a bother!”

“You haven’t been anything near a bother!  You forget we haven’t seen each other in three years.  This is a treat.”

“I’ll think about it,” Dru said hesitantly.

“Better idea: I’ll think for you.  You’re staying.”

“But all the expenses!  There’s food, and I’m in your apartment while you pay the rent!”

“Don’t worry about expenses; I have everything covered.”  Amy struggled to keep the smile that was tugging at the corners of her mouth under control.  When Drake and Dru had left Drake had signaled to Amy to go into the kitchen.  When they left, she had, to see an envelope with her name on it on the table.  Upon opening it, she had seen a lot of green.  There was a note telling her to use it to cover any expenses Dru created.  Amy, unlike Dru, accepted the fact that Drake was just plain generous.  She decided that if Drake wanted her to use the money, she would, and that was that.
 

Dru ended up staying until the twenty-ninth of August.  After sending her story to the New York Times, Dru had also sent it to the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune on impulse.  With the story, she sent a request to get in touch with her.  Dru didn’t want Mark Burke knowing it was her who wrote it.  That would give him a real reason to be mad at her.  A reporter from two newspapers showed up at the apartment, eager to see her.  Dru had skillfully handled them with the help of an enthralled Amy.

The reporter from New York wanted to rewrite her story from a more unbiased point of view, including excerpts from Dru’s original.  The reporter from Chicago rewrote the story with her, making sure to not misinterpret any facts.

The reporters both promised to send her the newspaper in which the story was printed and Dru was paid for her work.

The day Drake left, she and Amy picked up Dru’s jeep at the airport parking lot where Dru had left it less than a week before.  To Dru, the days she and Drake had spent looking for his father seemed like eons, instead of the mere three days.

Dru insisted on helping Amy out with household duties.  Therefore, Dru cooked three nights a week, relieving them from the spaghetti Amy cooked every night.  She also babysat Daisy whenever Amy was at one of her yoga classes or writer’s workshops.  Dru tried in vain to keep the apartment clean, but gave up after two weeks.

They soon found that the money Drake had left was more than they had expected.  He had left a box, with several keys.  The keys, as told in the letter in the box, were to the places that Drake had hidden money in.  There was also $1500 in cash and a handgun.  Dru had hardly touched the cash and the gun was stashed under Amy’s bed somewhere.

Dru got in touch with Cade less than a week after she had decided to stay with Amy for a little while.  He gave her the information she needed for when she went out to Tennessee.  He also mailed her a list of hotels and motels that she could stay at if she decided to drive.  Dru marked them all on a U. S. map and saw they were on a nearly straight line from San Francisco to Nashville.

In this list Dru found six cabins.  When she called Cade to ask about them he had seemed embarrassed.  “Those are cabins we own.  I figured you might like staying at these instead of hotels.”  He had gone on and told her about them, where their keys were, that they all had food essentials in them, and that she would be wise to bring a sleeping bag.  When Dru had asked why, he had told her the beds only had sheets on them and that it was usually cold.

Cade was staying at his home, about fifty miles out of Nashville, where Ivey was at a hospital.  Cade assured Dru that he checked on her at least every week.
After finishing the business with the newspapers, Dru had become restless.  At about the same time Amy had sent off the manuscript for her third book, the final one in the trilogy.  Neither of them knew what to do next.  Amy came up with a wonderful idea.

“We should write a book together!” Amy had burst out.

“What?” Dru said, not believing her.

“It would be so much fun!  And that lady from Chicago said you were a good writer, if you just had the practice!  And you have such wonderful ideas.  Besides, I’m sick of horror.  It’s getting old?“

“You aren’t serious,” Dru said.

“We could start out with a short book.  Maybe a hundred and fifty pages.  It wouldn’t be too much of a project.  If you don’t like it we could stop right away.”

Dru had thought about it and agreed, though somewhat reluctantly.  The reluctance very soon slipped away.  They bounced ideas off each other and finally decided on writing a story about a homicide detective.  By the end of July they had the plot mapped out and only had left to write it.

Dru found great joy in writing the book.  Though Amy had said she was sick of horror, she still loved blood and guts.  At the beginning of the story, where the detective was called to the scene of the murder, Amy convinced Dru to let it be somewhat gory.  Dru was surprised to find it only added to the story, making it much more real to her.

The two of them worked without stopping through August.  Daisy decided she didn’t like it and the result was often a tantrum, but she adjusted as Dru and Amy did.  Daisy was a constant source of amusement to Dru, with all her antics for getting Amy’s attention.
Dru and Amy’s once solid friendship grew even stronger.  There were some small disagreements, but they always put their differences aside in the end.  They talked about everything, even more than they once had.  Amy now knew everything about the situation Dru was in, and Dru knew the names of every boyfriend Amy ever had, no matter how insignificant.

On August 20, a package arrived for Dru.  It was the previous day’s edition of the New York Times.  On the front page was Dru’s article.  ”Drug Scandal Leads to More Deaths!” the headline screamed.

And that was when everything started going wrong.
 

Dru totally forgot about her birthday; Amy didn’t believe in birthdays.  Nevertheless, Dru got a wonderful present.  On Dru’s birthday, Amy went into labor.  They were eating breakfast when the major contractions started.  Dru didn’t panic, amazingly enough.  She called 9-1-1 and arranged for a friend of Amy’s in the building to watch Daisy.

Chad Cydmyn was born at 12:08 on August 22.  Both the mother and baby were perfectly healthy, which amazed Dru because Amy had never once seen a doctor!

After being assured that Amy would be fine on her own for the rest of the day by both a doctor and Amy herself, Dru left.

On the drive back to the apartment Dru decided that as soon as Amy was situated and ready to be on her own she was going to Tennessee.  I’ve put it off much too long.  I want to see how Ivey is doing!

Dru picked up Daisy on her way up to Amy’s apartment and met Drake in the hallway.
Dru couldn’t carry Daisy, and had to attach one of those leashes to the two of them.  Daisy was a very curious child, and would not stay beside Dru any other way!  Dru had felt a tug and said,  “Daisy, come on, we can’t play games today.”

When Dru didn’t hear the usual ‘okay aun’ Doo’, she looked behind her and saw Drake holding Daisy.

“What are you doing here?!” Dru exclaimed.

“Let’s go inside and we’ll talk,” he replied, not answering the question.

Dru let them in when they got to the apartment.

There was a package in front of the doorway.  Dru picked it up and opened it, already knowing what it was.  The lady from Chicago had kept her promise.  There was the newspaper, with Dru’s story on the front page.

Drake sat down and waited while Dru took care of Daisy.  Daisy had been fed, but hadn’t yet taken a nap.  This was very convenient, now that Drake was here.

Dru battled with Daisy trying to get her to sleep, but eventually won and joined Drake in the main room.

“Do you do that every day?” he asked her, meaning putting Daisy down.

“No.  Amy usually does, which is why Daisy was putting up a fight.”

“I would hope not.  She doesn’t normally scream, right?”

“Not when Amy is around,” Dru laughed.

Drake pointed to the newspaper now lying on the ground in front of him.  “Dru,” he said,  “I thought we agreed not to do anything stupid.”

Dru instantly erected her wall of defense.  “I didn’t,” she stated.

“You call splashing all of our names across one of the biggest newspapers in the country ‘not stupid’!”

“People need to know what is going on,” Dru said, her voice now full with emotion.

“I’d say that enough people know now.  Not only does my father and your mother know that someone is writing about them, every FBI agent does, too!”

“What does my mother have to do with this?”

Drake appeared flustered for an instant.  “Nothing,” he muttered.

Dru continued to defend her actions.  “Drake, they aren’t going to do anything to us!  Look at me; I am fine!  If they really wanted to find me, they would have already; I have been in one location for over a month, now!”

“Dru, this isn’t about you anymore.  It’s gotten much bigger than just you.”

“What do you mean, Drake?  You know something, and you aren’t telling me.”

“Later, I’ll tell you later.”

“I don’t like this,” Dru said, not one bit comforted by his ‘later’ that was meant to quiet her.

“It isn’t for you to like,” Drake chuckled.

Dru fought to control her temper, knowing what would happen if she did not.  She decided changing the subject would be the best option.

“Now, why are you here?”

“I’m in San Francisco for a few days and thought I’d stop by.”

“Are you still looking for your father?”

“Sort of.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve pretty much given up on that.  I’ve been applying for jobs.”

“What field are you in?”

“Physics,” Drake said proudly.

There was some silence, and then Drake said,  “Where is Amy?”

“In the hospital.  She gave birth to a son earlier today.”

“She said she was due-”

“She misjudged the date.  The baby was full term.”

“Name?”

“Chad.”

Drake’s face moved into a momentary scowl.

“I gather you don’t like it.”

“Actually, no, I don’t.”

“Well Amy does, which is all that matters.  But I do too.”

“What are you going to name our daughter?” Drake asked.

“I haven’t thought about it yet.”

“Don’t name her anything too ordinary.  But not too different, either.  My parents made that mistake.  Drake isn’t as bad as Ivey or Cade, though.”

“I’ll name her what I want to.  Seriously, though, I like the name Monica.  And Chloe.  I like Chloe a lot.  It sort of roles off my tongue.  And there is always Ashley.  That’s pretty.”

“I don’t like Monica.  Or, for that matter, Ashley, either.”

Dru shrugged her shoulders.  “It isn’t for you to like,” she mimicked.

“I guess I deserved that.  What hospital is Amy at?  I think I’ll see the baby and then come back here.”

“You’re coming back?  I thought you were just stopping by!”

“We need to talk about some more serious things.  I’m not in the mood right now, so we’ll do it later.”

“If you can wait until later, we’ll go to the hospital later with you.  I planned on taking Daisy.”

“Okay.  I’ll wait.”

They spent the rest of the afternoon playing Monopoly.  Until Daisy woke up.
 

“Daisy!  Do you want to see your mom or not!” Dru said, exasperated.
“I ‘anna see Mamoo,” Daisy yelled in her childish, mock-demanding voice.

“Then let me change your clothes so you look nice.  You want to look pretty for Mamoo, right?”

Daisy smiled and decided to start cooperating.  Several minutes later Dru and Daisy emerged from Daisy’s room.

Drake said,  “Your powers of persuasion are somewhat lacking.”

“It worked, didn’t it?”

Drake shrugged his shoulders and said,  “Well, let’s go now.”

They went outside and Dru headed to her car, Drake to his.

“Aren’t we driving together?” he asked her.

“The car seat is in my car.”

“Oh.”

Dru put Daisy in her seat and climbed into the driver’s seat, turning the keys in the ignition.  Very soon they were at the hospital, and heading up to the maternity ward.

They stopped at the glass-enclosed nursery area.  Dru’s eyes scanned the area until she found the cradle with Chad Cydmyn’s name on it.  Drake picked Daisy up and Dru pointed.

“There your brother is, Daisy,” Dru said.

“Baby brudder!” Daisy giggled.  “Baby brudder looks like dolly!”

“But your brother isn’t a dolly, Daisy.  Do you remember what your mom showed you?  We have to be careful with baby Chad.”

Daisy nodded.  “Careful.  Don’t throw baby brudder like dolly.”

“Good girl,” Dru said.  “Do you want to go see your mom now?”

Daisy gave an enthusiastic yes.

They walked down the hall, and entered Amy’s room.

“Mamoo!” Daisy squealed.  She squirmed out of Drake’s arms and ran to Amy’s bed.

“Be careful, Daisy.  Your mom is very tired right now,” Dru cautioned.

Amy looked up at Dru wearily.  “Did you call Donna?” she asked Dru.

“She should be here anytime,” Dru replied.

Drake looked confused.  “Who’s Donna?”

“Amy’s sister,” Dru replied.

Amy peered behind Dru and saw Drake.

“I decided to visit today,” Drake said before Amy could ask.

Daisy climbed from a chair onto Amy’s bed and hugged her mom.

“Baby Cad is pertier than dolly,” Daisy said.

Dru stifled a giggle at Daisy’s reference to Chad.

“Is that so?” Amy asked.

Daisy nodded seriously.

They chatted for several more minutes, until Donna walked in.

There was a moment of awkwardness, and then everyone started talking at once.

The introductions were made, and then Donna said,  “I called Mom and Dad.”

“What!” Amy exclaimed.

“I thought they had a right to know.”

The two started arguing, and Dru decided it was time to leave.  She mouthed to Amy that she would come back tomorrow.  Drake saw this going on and picked up Daisy, who was already bored.

They left and went back to the apartment.
 

Dru sat down on the couch, the weariness she felt showing in her eyes.

Drake, on the other end, said,  “You okay?”

Dru shook her head.  She had never taken care of Daisy by herself before.  There were a few days when Amy wasn’t feeling well, so Dru had taken care of everything, but there was always the assurance of Amy’s presence.

Dru was starting to doubt herself as a parent.  Maybe she should give the baby up for adoption.  The unbidden thought had occurred to her many times over the course of the day.

“You’re worried about the baby,” Drake stated.

Dru nodded, her face crumpling up, but she held back the tears.

“Now probably is not the best time to bring this up, but we have to talk.”

Dru nodded, and said,  “It’s about your father.”

“Yes, it is,” Drake affirmed.  “I stumbled upon some interesting information the other day, as luck has it.”  He paused.

“Well, get on with it!”

“He, um, well, he was with your mother last week.”

There was a pause until Dru said,  “What are you trying to say, Drake?”

“I saw him and your mother eating at a restaurant together.  In Iowa.”

“I don’t get it.”
“You can be really dense at times, Dru.  Listen to this.  I bribed the waitress to tape their conversation.”  Drake pulled a small tape recorder out of his luggage and pressed a button on it.

Dru immediately picked out her mother’s voice talking with a man’s, one she recognized as Dr. Burke’s.

“The deal was that you didn’t involve Dru.  You broke your end of the bargain, therefore, I can break mine,” came Marilyn’s voice.

“I never agreed not to involve your daughter.  You mentioned it in passing and assumed I agreed.”

“How can you be so stupid as to think I will let this go?”

“Because you can’t do anything about it.  You wouldn’t dare go to the authorities!”

“No, I wouldn’t.  That would defeat the entire purpose.  But I will retaliate!”

“Idle threats.”

“Not idle.  You remember your son Cade, do you not?  Well, right now there is a nice lady following him to his weekly visit to see your daughter.  And that’s not the last of it!  Ivey is in a coma right now.  I wonder what would happen if?”

“Don’t include them.  They never once hurt your daughter.”

“Dru never hurt you, either.  If you can use Dru as a decoy, then I can use your children.  Money gives one an enormous amount of power; you should know this, Mark.”

Drake turned the tape recorder off and looked at Dru.  She looked so vulnerable!  Drake wondered what her reaction to this would be.

Dru leaned back into the couch, for she had been perched on the edge of the cushion.  She closed her eyes in what appeared to be calmness.

“All I ever wanted is to be normal,” she stated aloud.

“You weren’t normal from the day you were born, Dru,” Drake said.

“I never thought my mother was involved,” Dru said, still calm.

Drake was waiting for her to explode.

“I don’t know why she did it.  Money was never a problem for us, as far as I know.”

Still waiting.  Drake had a vision of a shaken up 2-liter soda bottle having its lid taken off.  The fizz started coming out slowly, at first, and then suddenly it was shooting out in every direction-- wherever there was room for it.

“And its not like she associated with criminals,” Dru continued.

Then, like the soda bottle, her emotions were shooting out through every hole.  Her cheeks turned bright red, her eyes flashed, her hands twitched, and her voice boomed.

“How could she do this?  There is no excuse for behavior like that!  What kind of mother does something like that to her kid?  Did you hear that tape!  Of course you heard it.  She was blaming him.  As if he is all to blame.  Sure, they both have their share in this mess, but she was blaming him for all of it!  She agreed to the plan in the first place.  My mother is blaming her problems on everyone else, when she is a criminal!

“And you thought I was dense!  Have you ever heard that phrase about the plank?  It says something about not complaining about the speck in someone else’s eye until you take care of the plank in your own!”

Finished with her outburst, Dru unexpectedly felt drained, and fell back tiredly.

Drake’s emotions were not far from Dru’s.  “I know,” he said quietly.

Dru couldn’t quite make out what he said.  “What?”

“I know.  I’ve felt the same way for the last three years.”

Dru looked at Drake.  Not like she normally looked at him, but closer, seeing all the pain he had been harboring for so long.

How long has he been holding in all that pain? Dru thought.  How long have I been ignoring everyone but myself!

Dru moved over to him, only half-knowing what she was doing.  It was pure instinct.  Humans were meant to comfort one another.

Drake held his arms out to her and she fell into them.  For so long they had held everything inside them, unable to talk to anyone about it, because there was no one that understood; those that did understand were unwilling to talk about it.  Serendipity had brought them together, and no one could break that bond.
 
 

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