Sam, Sandra’s ex-husband, drowned his sorrows in alcohol as usual. It was nothing new. He was sitting in front of the tiny and worn-out television that was placed on an equally worn-out table in the rundown building in which he now lived. He was livid with rage and took solace in his bottles of alcohol, of which there were many scattered at his feet. He needed to start at his job, he knew, because if he didn’t, then he was going to be well and truly screwed. The television was on, but he stared at the images on it through blurred, unseeing eyes as he took another chug of the drink straight from the bottle, or at least, he tried to. The bottle was empty.He got up, tottered drunkenly on his feet, and took a moment to regain his balance, before weaving drunkenly to a corner of the room to pick up another bottle of drink, which happened to be the last one. Damn! He needed to restock his supply, but where was the money to do so? He scowled unseeingly at the wall for a few moments, before

Becca closed her eyes, trying to get some sleep, but sleep eluded her. She felt very sorry for herself, and utterly alone and helpless, even though there was no reason why she should feel that way. It wasn’t the first time Emma was spending the night away from home, after all, she had gone to summer camp for almost three weeks sometime back, so what was a weekend without seeing her now compared to that? Still, she could not help how she felt, and she knew the main reason why.When she had been feeling lonely earlier in the evening, she had headed to Dan’s house, so that she could at least have some company, since Sandra was spending the night away with her boyfriend on the other side of town. When she got there, she discovered that Dan was not around. Instead, she had met the heavily pregnant Clarissa, sitting in front of the television in the living room. In the same living room was Alex, lying on the floor in a pool of his own vomit, groaning and crying pitifully. “What’s going on

“I’d like to take everyone out to lunch to celebrate Emma’s success in the competition.” Ryan offered as they all left as a group.“Thanks, but I think I’ll just go home and sleep. I feel sort of tired. The rest of you can go on without me though.” Becca declined, much to Tracy’s delight. She did not like the way Ryan had been trying to talk to Becca throughout the competition, even when it was clear that the woman was focused on her daughter. It was very evident that Ryan still felt something for this woman, so she was going to do her best to quench whatever feelings he had. Becca watched Tracy hang on to Ryan’s arm as though she was drowning and he was the only solid thing that she could find.“That’s okay, Becca. We’ll send some food home to you. You don’t have to cook anything.” Tracy offered, and Becca sent a tight-lipped smile her way, quelching the urge to rip Tracy’s fingers off Ryan’s arm. What was wrong with her for chrissakes? The woman was only trying to be friendly.“I th

At the touch of Ryan’s lips against hers, Becca felt as though her body had been charged with electricity. She had forgotten how succulent his lips were and how much of a good kisser he was, and now, she couldn’t stop kissing him. She knew that she should stop, that any of the kids could wander in at that very moment, but she could not for the life of her bring herself to stop him, not even when his hands left her face and trailed down to her neck and beyond.Ryan moaned into her mouth and changed angle, kissing her even more thoroughly, until Becca was sure that she would explode. She ran her hands over his muscled back, enjoying the hardness of his body underneath his shirt and reveling in the feeling of his warmth. They must have remained there just kissing and touching each other for ten minutes or more when the sound of excited giggles caused both of them to fly apart as though they were kids whose hands had been caught in the candy jar. She was backing the door, so she could not

Becca found Tracy hovering at the entrance to the hospital, looking nothing like the impeccably groomed woman that she usually was. Immediately the woman sighted Becca, she scurried over to her side and gripped her hands tightly, her pretty face streaked with tears, and spoke before Becca could. “I know that you must hate me, Becca. Hell, I hate myself too and I would gladly trade places with Emma if it were possible. I know you probably don’t believe me, but I swear that it was a mistake. I didn’t mean for this to happen.” Tracy said, sounding very sincere, but Becca was not in the mood to listen to anything until she saw her child.“Let go of me. I want to go see her. I’ve had the most anxious wait of my life trying to get here.”“Oh, sorry. Of course. I hear that she’s going to be okay.” Tracy said in a small voice, letting go of Becca’s hands as though they had suddenly caught fire.“Yeah. Ryan said so. Better hope it’s true, otherwise, you’re going to be very sorry.” Becca repl