Chapter 6

Jenny braced herself as she got out of the sports car.  Out of habit, she shouldered her backpack.  She never went anywhere without it.  

She took slow, deep, breaths as she approached Charlie's door.  Number 121.  Instead of a mansion, Charlie lived in a very practical, all-bills-paid apartment complex.  She figured he paid less for housing than she did!

Of course, she thought idly, as she located the key, he did send support checks.  Those had come as a shock, arriving a few months after she'd moved out.  He must have hired an investigator, who found her in that hellhole apartment.

She'd been able to use the money to rent her home until she'd saved enough for a down payment.  So, in a sense, Charlie had helped buy her house.  She took another deep breath as she put a key in the lock.  She could hear crying, in the apartment.

As she swung open the door, a black fur ball launched at her ankles.  "Yow!  Yow!  Yow!"  What?

She leaned down to examine the kitten.  The poor thing only had one eye, but the other one, bright green like Princess', gazed at her eagerly.  The cat turned around, rubbing her ankles.  It was female.

"Hello, sweetie"  Jenny absently stroked the kitten as she searched the apartment.  Two bedrooms.  One, an office, with a treadmill perched in the corner.  Plain white walls and beige carpeting.  She searched the other bedroom.  A navy blue bedspread, clearly purchased at a discount store, light blue pillows and sheets, cheap laminate dresser.  The dresser looked awfully familiar.  She opened a drawer, spotting the sports team sticker.

It was the first piece of furniture they'd bought, at a thrift store, after their wedding.  She wondered why he'd kept it.  She'd left it in the storage unit when she'd taken her things, and figured it was destined for the dump.

She turned again, surveying the room.  No baby.  Where was the baby?  Meow!

Wait a minute... Jenny looked at the cat again, rubbing against her feet.  The cat wore a hot pink collar with tags.  Jenny picked her up.

Baby Girl


Charlie's "Baby Girl", was a cat!

"Come on, Baby Girl" Jenny cooed "Let's get you some din din."