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it will be okay.”
    I lead her to where I placed the picnic blanket and lower myself to the ground. I take out a fresh ham, cheese and tomato sandwich and hand it to her before opening one for myself. We eat in a comfortable silence for a while, watching Macy and Ari.
    “I’m not sure how much of my conversation with Macy’s dad you heard, but I’m not a bad mamma,” Taylor says. “I needto clarify that.”
    I shake my head. “I didn’t think that at all,” I reply, my expression somber. “I understand.”
    She meets my gaze and something passes between us. A silent acknowledgment.
    She sighs and her shoulders drop in defeat. “I don’t know what I’m going to do,” she mutters, looking down at the half eaten sandwich in her hand. “Macy’s dad won’t pay for her daycare anymore and the only way I can afford all of it is if I take on another shift at the diner, but then I have no one to look after Macy when I’m at work.”
    I look at the girls and then back at Taylor. “I can help you,” I say. “At least until you can work things out with Macy’s dad.”
    Taylor lifts her head and shakes it. “No, I can’t make myself a nuisance to other people.”
    The internal struggle is written all over her face and she’s doing a terrible job of hiding it. Something about Taylor just screams ‘Help Me’ and if I didn’t understand how hard it is raising a child, I probably wouldn’t even offer to help. But I do understand. And she does need the help.
    “I’m happy to do it,” I reassure her. “My grandmother picks Ari upon Mondays and Fridays, and I get her on Wednesdays. Macy is more than welcome to come home with us until your shift is done at the diner.”
    Her bottom lip is pulled between her teeth and she nibbles on it before saying, “Are you sure though? You’re offering to help a complete stranger?”
    I chuckle at her skepticism and shrug. “We’re all strangers until we decide to be friends. Besides, it will be nice having someone who gets it.”
    “I suppose you’re right,” she pauses. “I promise, it won’t be for long, just until I can save enough money to take care of Macy’s daycare for a while.”
    “Take all the time you need,” I say in earnest.
    We turnour gazes to Macy and Ari who are both running towards us. They drop onto the blanket and Taylor and I give them each a sandwich and a juice box. We talk a bit more and I learn that she’s only twenty two, and got married to Macy’s father, Jace, when she was my age. I also learn that it’s literally just her and Macy, which also makes me sad for her. Her mother and father died when she was young and her grandmother disowned her when she found out Taylor was pregnant, even though she was married at the time. She’s very easy to talk to, and as soon as the girls are off playing again, I find myself confiding in her. I don’t tell her everything, but just enough. Besides Hannah, I feel Taylor might just become another friend, and I’m grateful for it. True friendship is somewhat of a novelty to me. The people I grew up with called me their friend , but in reality, they were the exact opposite. When I needed them, they weren’t there and for some silly reason, I was surprised to find that they had deserted me.
    “We’d better get going,” Taylor says, interrupting my mental trip down memory lane. “I need to get Macy home.” She hesitates. “And thank you, Hayley. I really appreciate it.”
    “No biggy,” I reply. “Us single moms have to stick together, right?”
    We giggle and pack the remainder of my stuff into my car before Taylor and I head in separate directions. Ari quickly falls asleep in the backand when I finally make it back to my grandmother's house, I spend a good twenty minutes watching her sleep. My mind shifts back to when she was born, and if I thought the day I found out I was pregnant was the day that really changed my life, I couldn’t have been more wrong.
     
     
    ~ July 1st, 2011 ~
    As I