“Do not come back.”
Charlie didn’t have a chance to reply before the door slammed in her face. She stood there and stared at it until it opened again. Terrified he was coming out to retrieve her, Charlie scampered down the steps. Keeping her head bowed and refusing to look at Charlie, her mother tossed something onto the porch and shut the door.
When Charlie realized it was her winter coat, she scurried forward, snatched it up, and ran before her father changed his mind and took away her chance to escape.
But escape to where? She had nowhere to go. She didn’t have close friends; she had no money, no job, and no vehicle. She had nothing more than the clothes on her back.
She roamed the streets with her hand on her belly as she tried to think of a way to feed herself and her child, but she kept coming up with nothing. How could she take care of a baby when she couldn’t take care of herself?
She spent the entire night wandering around, shivering, and crying. She was desperate to curl up somewhere and sleep, but she didn’t dare stop moving for fear she’d never get up again. She wept with joy when the sun rose, and she settled on a bench in the park to take a nap. It was still cold out, but not nearly as bad, and she was exhausted.
After a few hours, she woke and started rambling the streets again until she found herself staring through the plate glass window of a familiar and hated place. Within, she watched as the children fumbled around the floor while they pirouetted. Their parents looked on and laughed at their children’s sweet attempts.
Maybe, if things had been different, she would have laughed and bumbled around like these kids. But at five, ballet wasn’t something for her to enjoy; it was something to master.
She didn’t know what drew her to the door and inside the studio, but she found herself standing at the back of the class, watching as Miss Dodd instructed the children who were more interested in staring at their feet or the ceiling. For the first time in her life, Charlie found some joy in ballet as she watched the kids. She had one of these innocents growing within her.
Charlie didn’t realize the class had ended until she found herself standing all alone in the corner of the studio. Miss Dodd glanced at Charlie while she spoke with the last mom who was upset about not being able to sew her costume for the upcoming recital. Miss Dodd assured her that she would help if it became necessary and her daughter would not be the laughingstock of the class.
The woman finally left. Miss Dodd remained staring at Charlie for a second before gliding across the room toward her. In her fifties, Miss Dodd’s pale blonde hair was turning silver, and her face remained remarkably unlined. She’d retained the lithe body of a ballerina and could easily pass for a woman in her mid-thirties.
The smile left her face when she saw the right side of Charlie’s face, which still throbbed from her father’s blow. She had no idea what it looked like, but it sure didn’t feel pretty.
“Whathappened?” Miss Dodd cried as she rushed forward. “My God, you’re freezing!”
The tender touch of her hand against Charlie’s cheek was her undoing. She’d been so foolishly happy yesterday morning, but all she’d encountered was cruelty since then. This kindness, after all the awfulness, caused Charlie to burst into tears.
Miss Dodd draped her arm around Charlie’s shoulders and guided her into her office. She settled Charlie into a chair, handed her a cup of coffee, and rested her hand on Charlie’s knee as she sat across from her. Charlie poured her heart out before she could stop herself.
She didn’t reveal who fathered her child, that was a secret she would keep until her child was old enough to decide if they would like to meet their father. However, over the following years, she suspected Miss Dodd knew it was Chad. Miss Dodd was warm and loving to everyone, but whenever they encountered Chad at ballet recitals, she became as cold as ice.
When Charlie finished telling Miss Dodd the awful tale, her eyes were nearly swollen shut from crying, and she couldn’t stop sniffling. “I have nowhere to go. My baby—”
“You’ll come home with me,” Miss Dodd said firmly.
“Oh, no, I couldn’t,” Charlie protested.
“You can and you will.”
“But it’s such an imposition.”
“You came here for a reason. What was it?”
Charlie looked at her as she tried to answer that for herself. Why did she come here? And then she knew. “You’re the only person who’s always been kind to me.”
Tears formed in Miss Dodd’s eyes as she rested her hand on Charlie’s cheek. “No child should ever give those words as an answer. You’re coming home with me, and that’s final.”
Charlie wanted to argue with her, but she had nowhere else to go, and she couldn’t stand the idea of spending another night on the streets. “Thank you,” she whispered. “I won’t stay long.”
“You’ll stay as long as necessary, even if it’s years.”
Charlie gawked at her. “I couldn’t; there’s a baby coming. You don’t want a baby in your house!”
Miss Dodd leaned forward and clasped Charlie’s hands. “I never married, and I’ll never have children of my own. I have a small house, but it has three bedrooms. My sister occasionally visits, but she’s the only one who ever stays with me. It’s my dogs and me, and while I’m fine with that, it does get lonely. You don’t deserve what happened to you, and that baby deserves to live somewhere it will feel safe. You’ll both have that at my house.”
Charlie started crying again. “I have nothing to give you.”
“You don’t have to give me anything, but if it makes you feel better, I know you don’t like to dance, but you’re very talented. I could use help here. I planned to retire in a few years, but I wouldn’t mind relaxing a little more now. If you would like, you can help me teach classes before and after the baby comes. If not, then you can help me around the house, but this isyourchoice to make.”
