Shelter You by Alice Montalvo-Tribue Read Free Book Online Page A

she was born. They never even let me meet them.”
    “What did you do?”
    “When I went into labor and was taken to the hospital, I didn’t allow my parents to be in the room with me. It was the only place that I had any say. I did it all alone, and they waited outside with the adoptive parents. After Lily was born I asked to hold her. Legally they couldn’t deny me that, I still had rights you know. So the nurse reluctantly handed her over to me. I looked at her and I knew Logan, I knew that I would die before I let anyone take her away from me. That I would die if someone did take her away from me.”
    “How did you manage to get away, Mia?”
    “The nurse,” I say, looking up at him again. “The one who let me hold Lily. After everyone had left for the night she brought her in to me. She was kind, and I found myself trusting her, telling her my story, telling her how I didn’t want to give Lily away. She didn’t say anything, just sat and listened,” I say through tears. I think of Kelly the nurse and smile. “The morning I was supposed to check out and Lily was to go with her adoptive parents, she came into my room. She had worked it all out: how I would escape, how I would get the money that I had saved away. My money. It was my only shot at getting away so I went along with it. I felt bad for the adoptive parents…I really did but legally I didn’t do anything wrong. I’m her mother. I hadn’t signed the papers yet and even if I did, I still had time to change my mind. My biggest problem was that I was only seventeen and if my parents found me they could force me to come home and if that happened there was no telling what would happen to Lily. I couldn’t trust that they’d just let me keep her. You have to understand I did the only thing I could think of to keep my daughter.” I cry. “I wanted to tell you that night, when I met you at the hospital but I couldn’t risk it. Not when I was so close to turning eighteen, being legal. I knew that it was the only way that no one could force me into anything.”
    “And you made it. According to this,” he says, holding up my passport, “your eighteenth birthday was yesterday.”
    I let out a chuckle. “Yes, I made it. I’m free to be me. I’m free to be Lily’s mom and no one can change that now. No one can take me away from her, not you, not them not anyone.”
    “I would have never done anything to take her away from you. I’m not your enemy,” he says defensively.
    “No, but you are a cop. It’s your duty to do what’s right.”
    “Sometimes legal doesn’t equal right. I’m not a robot, Mia. I would’ve helped you.”
    “But I had no way of knowing that, so I had to be careful.”
    “Does Sarah know?”
    I exhale slowly. The last thing I want to do is throw Sarah under the bus, but I’m learning very quickly not to underestimate Logan. He’ll get to the truth eventually and I’m done living a lie. “She wanted to tell you. I made her promise.”
    He shakes his head and rolls his eyes. “Fuck…”
    “I had to tell her. There was no way I could work on the books by giving her a fake name. She would have found out about me. I took my chances and told her the truth. It was a crapshoot, but she decided to help me. I promised her that if there was ever a need I would tell you myself after I turned eighteen.”
    “God Mia, I don’t know what to do with all of this.”
    “Just put yourself in my shoes. Think about what you would have done. I’m not a liar by nature, but I did what I had to do. Giving Lily up was not an option for me.”
    The sound of Lily crying from upstairs puts an indefinite end to our conversation. I’m glad for it, relieved for the ability to take even a small break from this soul crushing confession. I’m exhausted from having to relive any of it.
    “Go take care of her. I’m going to go to the grocery store. I’ll bring you back some breakfast.”
    “You’re not kicking me out?” I question, not