June loved being a mother. Her kids grew quickly and were soon in school. June would help them with their homework when they came home.

She had a little more free time when she finished all the cleaning. She could now spend more time painting until the children came back home. She would knit, too. She made many scarves, sweaters, decorations, and baby clothes. Once a month she would sell her knitted creations and occasionally a painting.

For a while, she felt that she and Ken were drifting apart. He seemed to always be working. At home, he would eat dinner and go to bed.

Luckily, things improved. Ken began working less hours and spending more time at home with his family.

Ken wasn’t too excited to learn that he was having another child. He already had a son and a daughter and they were becoming more independent. He liked that he could have conversations with them, play games, and toss a ball to Daniel. Now June would again be preoccupied with an infant.

Last time Ken felt overwhelmed with responsibilities and neglected by his wife, he had had an affair. The affair with Liz had ended years ago. He felt a twinge of guilt when he thought about it, but usually kept it out of his mind. He was young then, he excused himself and he didn’t plan to go that route again.

They named the baby Kendall.

Francine wasn’t too thrilled to have a baby brother. He took a lot of her mother’s attention and Francine did not like waiting.

Ken was at the office when he received a letter that would again change his life. He opened it. The letter informed him that Liz had passed away. Sad, it was, but he hadn’t talked to her since he ended the affair years ago.

He put the letter down and remembered the last time he saw her. They had agreed to split. He had a wife and she a fiance. There was just one thing. Liz was pregnant. She would raise the child with her soon to be husband, but thought Ken should know. Ken wrote her a check and tried, mostly successfully, to put it out of his mind.

Ken asked few questions. He didn’t know at the time whether Liz would tell Bert the truth or not, but she must have at some point. He picked up the letter written by Liz’s husband, Bert. He wrote that he was no longer interested in raising a child that wasn’t his. They hadn’t had any children and he could not be expected to be saddled down with someone else’s.

Ken could either come collect the child or she would be dropped off with social services. It made no difference to him as long as the child was gone.

Ken was stunned. There was a number in the letter and he dialed it.

The man was abrupt. He was leaving town in a few days. He could pick the child up tomorrow or not it didn’t matter to him.

Ken left work. He went to a bar and had a few drinks. He knew what he had to do.

Ken took off work the following morning. He drove to the address Bert had given him on the phone. Bert opened the door and pushed a little girl out in front of him.

“This is Heidi,” Bert said.

“Hi Heidi. I’m Ken,” he told her.

Liz’s husband went inside. He came back out with two suitcases.

“Here’s her stuff,” he said and then went back inside without a word to Heidi.

“Do you like ice cream?” Ken asked. The little girl nodded.

“Let’s go get some ice cream,” Ken suggested. He picked up her bags and led her to the car.

They ate their ice cream in mostly silence. Ken asked a couple of questions and she replied with short answers. She looked as though she wanted to cry. Ken felt a surge of anger. Sure, Heidi was not the biological child of Bert, but he had raised her for eight years. He couldn’t even be bothered to wave goodbye. Had she meant so little to him?

Ken felt a twinge of guilt. He, too, had given Heidi little thought. Until today he hadn’t even known her name and had never even seen a picture of her.

They finished their ice cream and headed home. What would he tell June?

Ken led Heidi inside.

“June, this is Heidi. She’s coming to stay with us,” Ken told her, “She can share a room with Francine. I need to go back to the office.” He kissed June on the cheek and left.

Later after the kids were tucked in bed, Ken and June sat down to talk. Ken admitted to his affair. It would never happen again he promised. June wiped the tears from her eyes. She had tried to be a good wife and mother. Was there something she had done wrong?

“Did you know about her this whole time?” June asked.

Ken nodded and looked down ashamed.

“Bert said he would send her to an orphanage. I know it’s a lot to ask, but,” Ken stopped.

“It’s not the child’s fault, but what do we tell the children?” June worried.

“We will tell them that she’s my cousin’s child. Her mother died and we took her in,” Ken said. He didn’t want to see the disappointment in his children’s eyes, too. “I don’t think Bert told her anything. Just shoved her out the door.”

June could not sleep that night. Sure, all those late nights did cause her some suspicions, but she hadn’t had proof and she didn’t want to believe that Ken was seeing someone else. The proof would be staring at her everyday.

Still, June felt sympathetic towards Heidi. She remembered how it felt to be unwanted and alone.

Francine did not want to share her room. Not with some strange kid, not anyone. Keep your stuff on your side of the room, she had told Heidi that morning.

“Don’t touch my stuff without permission. This is my house,” Francine ordered.

“That’s not your spot. Sit over there,” Francine told Heidi at breakfast.

Heidi wiped her tears and sat where she was told to.

Charlotte came to visit. June started to tell her about Heidi, but Charlotte cut her off. Charlotte’s concerns were always more important. Charlotte complained about not having enough money. She had burned through her inheritance. She had sold some items, but Arthur and Georgia were giving her a hard time. They had gotten a lawyer and having her evicted.

“They are going to lose the house anyway,” Charlotte stated,”They don’t even care what I’m going through. Leonard left me for a wealthier woman.” Charlotte began to sob.

“I’m broke, single, and old,” she cried.

“What am I going to do? You have to take me in,” Charlotte demanded,”I have no where else to go.”

June started to say that she would have to talk to Ken. Then she stopped herself. She didn’t need Ken’s permission. Her mother was family and he certainly didn’t ask her before he made decisions that would change her life.