He blinked through his tears, “_Are you sure this is the only way?_”

Abby nodded and clutched his wrist. “_We don’t have much time. They’re almost here. Remember to run as soon as they see you!_”

They heard a door slam open and jumped into action.

“_Give me your money! Don’t push your luck, lady!”_

Abby wrested and fell to the ground with the knife pointed at her throat. Someone ran towards them.

She nudged Gerry and lay back on the ground. She heard Gerry run and she sighed in relief. She put her hand to the throat fake-gasping for air. A lady stopped by and held her gently while a man was dialing 911.

Abby sat up and looked at the concerned eyes looking down at her. She recognized them immediately even though she’d never seen them before. The plan was working.

“_Are you okay? We’re trying to get an ambulance but the hurricane is slowing everything down. We’re going to need to move quickly. How do you feel about coming back to our house until it passes? We can take you to the hospital after_.”

Abby nodded weakly.

They made their way to a small brownstone. The man helped Abby up the stairs and sat her down on a chair. The lady propped an ottoman by Abby’s feet. “_I’m going to get you some water. Try and sip on it if you can. It’ll help. I can’t imagine the shock you must be in. Poor thing_.”

Abby could hear them talking in the kitchen and sprung to her feet. She went to the photos on the mantelpiece.

Her eyes fell on a dusty photograph of a lady and a baby. Abby’s eyes misted over. Could this be her mother? The one who gave her up for unknown reasons? this was Abby’s only chance to understand. She had one night and she had to get straight to it.

Abby rushed back to the chair when she heard footsteps. The lady smiled gently and kept a glass of water and the man stood at the door looking worried. “ _You seem brighter. Are you able to talk? I’m Jennifer and this is my husband Peter. I’m so glad we were there tonight. This city is getting way too dangerous._“

“_Thank you for your help. I’m Abby. I’m so glad you were there too but I hope I’m not being a bother. _“

“_Have we met before? You look familiar. Or are you on television perhaps_?”, Peter asked while watching her carefully.

Abby shook her head. “ _I just moved here. But I’ve been getting that a lot._” Abby motioned to the photos on the mantle piece. “ Y_ou have a beautiful family. I don’t have much family myself so my eyes always go to the photographs. I hope you don’t mind.”_

Jennifer smiled , “_it’s just Peter and me. This is my sister’s house. She passed away a few months ago so we’re staying here to take care of a few things_ .” Seeing Abby’s face fall, Jennifer quickly added, “ _I’m glad my sister’s in peace. She was sick for a while. But, it’s a big house so it’s nice to have you here, despite the circumstances._”

Abby paused. So this was her aunt and uncle.

“_I’m sorry to hear about your sister. What was she like?”_, Abby asked quietly.

Jennifer looked at her feet and smiled, “ _oh she was special. Jo was something else. She was the smart one, the sensitive one. I think she cared too much about what people thought of her, of us. We weren’t close after a while. I don’t know if she knew how much I admired her. I hope I get to tell her someday._”

Abby smiled. She paused and added, “_ It sounds like you had a complicated relationship. Funny enough, even those make me envious. I moved here a few months ago without a job because I was told my birth mother lived in the city. I grew up in foster care and bounced around a lot and The only family I’ve ever known is a guy called Gerald. He and I shared two foster homes before he got adopted. I trust him with my life. To be honest, I hated my birth parents for what they did to me. I wanted nothing to do with them._ “

_“So what changed your mind?_”

Abby paused and looked at both of them. “_I’m pregnant. And honestly I’m unsure about what I should do. Im not ready to raise a child but I don’t want to put a child through what I went through. I came here to ask my birth mother what she would do. I wanted to know if she had any regrets_.”

Jennifer and Peter stared back at her, each looking for the right thing to say.

“ _I reached out to her last month to tell her I was here. But, I never heard back. So I called. No one picked up. I decided to wait in front of her house for days and I caught glimpses of movement in the house. I decided that today was my last day here and came back to the house one last time. _

_As I was about to leave, I saw two people step through the front door and make their way out. I hatched a drastic plan with Gerald in the hope that they would be kind enough to let me in_.”, Abby, paused.

Jennifer stood up.

“_But, I didn’t realize she passed away and the kind people who let me in were her sister and brother in law_. “, Abby added slowly.

Jennifer gasped. Peter scoffed.

“_It’s the eyes. You all have the same shade of brown. I should have known._”

“_ I don’t want anything from you. I’m still leaving tomorrow. All I want to know is, would she have wanted me to keep the baby? Do you know?_”

Jennifer started sobbing. “_Jo was not your birth mother. She had an accident as a child. And it was a good thing too. She did not have a maternal bone in her body. But she was a protective older sister. When I got pregnant, she took me in. She told me I was ruining my life if I became a single mother. I had a terrible delivery- I was incapacitated for three weeks. They didn’t know if I would survive. When I came to, she told me she put the baby up for adoption. I was livid but I understood why. I stopped talking to her soon after. It was just too painful._ “

Abby started at her with wet eyes. Could this really be happening?

Jennifer walked towards her with her arms wide open. Abby started sobbing. She was home.