Gabriella was at home in my bed, fast asleep, and knowing she was there soothed my anger a little. I had been shocked when I’d come home last night to discover what my mother had done, and I’d been more horrified than she had been when she’d told me my mother had expected her to abort our child and disappear. Gabriella had taken it with equanimity, either because she’d already been preparing herself for the possibility, or because she’d had all day to process it. I had been seriously angry and wanted to storm upstairs to her apartment, but Gabriella had distracted me with dinner and soothed me, making me promise to calm down before I did something I would regret. That she could still care enough to worry about my relationship with my mother after what my mother had done touched me in an unexpected way. Somehow, I had managed to calm down throughout the evening, but the first sight of my mother strolling into her office, and completely unaware of my presence, threatened to send me to that same rage-filled state as yesterday.
