The day after Christmas was crazy in Manhattan with people returning gifts and shopping for sales. Not sure if the office would be open, he opted to go to her apartment first, praying that being newly pregnant, she had decided to stay home rather than face a visit with her family. He arrived in time to find a woman in her late fifties, her head wrapped with a scarf and her heavy winter overcoat bound tightly against the cold, letting herself out of Meghan’s apartment. “Hello,” he greeted her, pleased that Meghan was home and this woman was leaving, so they could be alone. He stepped up to the door and pressed the bell, grinning. The woman watched him with a suspicious eye. After he rang the bell a second time, she finally said, “What you think you do? Ms. Shay not here.” “Then what were you doing in there?” he countered, just as wary. “I check di little fuzzy ducks,” she stated with dignity, her arms crossed over her bosom, daring him to top her motive for being there.
