where the heart is

"No..you're staying with us." Jen wouldn't take NO for an answer. "My mom loves babies."

"I couldn't." Carly mumbled. Jen suspected she was crying and so was the baby. Carly's sister was in jail.  They'd found her in an abandoned house on drugs. Her brother-in-law still had custody of Bella.

"What about your Mom?" Now Jen's mother was on the phone. "What about you?"

"Oh, I'm fine."

Jen's mother looked at Jen as if she didn't believe it. Her mother wanted to know what kind of formula to get. She already had a roast in the crock pot.

"We'll be there as soon as we can." Jen promised, but the sleet was beginning to fall and she knew her mom would hesitate.

So Jen started the car. Her mom followed. Actually, Jen trusted her own driving better than her mother's. Her mom put on some classical music.

Jen shook her head.

"Don't you ever listen to anything else?" Jen asked as she drove around the corner into more sleet on  the wet streets.

"Never. Its too distracting." Her mom informed her.

She drove past the mega grocery store into the older part of town. Past the dollar stores and the strip malls that were vacant. The trailer park was close to the dump. They found Carly's home next to the place with the metal cross in the front yard.

Carly had the baby in a carseat. She strapped her in as if she could do it in her sleep. For a moment, Jen was certain, this wasn't her sister's baby, but Carly's.