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Peggy.
    Grandma Peggy framed her small face and stooped so their noses were close together. "I missed you so much, honey." Her eyes shone with a love Mary hadn't understood then or for years afterward. Her voice was choked when she spoke again. "I thought about you every day."
    "Me too!" Mary gave her grandma a long hug. Then she grabbed three titles from the stack of books. "These are my favorite ones, Grandma. Can you read them, please?"
    "Of course. Want me to start with Dr. Seuss?"
    Mary clapped her hands. "Yes! The Cat in the Hat's my favoritist of all. One of the ladies at the mission has a Cat in the Hat shirt, and I always remember you reading me that story."
    Grandma Peggy pulled Mary close to her. "I wish I could read to you every day, sweetie." She took The Cat in the Hat, opened the front cover, and began to read.
    Two hours later they were still working through the books, when Mary pointed to the picture of herself next to the bed, the one taken when she was three. "Is that me, Grandma?"
    "Yes, honey. You're a very pretty girl,- you know that, Mary?"
    "That's what Mommy's friend says." Mary had been too young to know it might be strange that one of her mother's many male friends would make a fuss over her.
    Grandma Peggy picked up on it, though. "Mommy's friend? Which friend?"
    "Mr. Paul." That's when Mary had remembered. "I'm not supposed to talk about him."
    Her grandmother leaned in close and put her arm around Mary. "Did Mr. Paul hurt you?"
    "No." Mary's answer had been quick and adamant. She shook her head. "He never hurt me, Grandma. Never." It was true,- the man hadn't touched her. But the subject had been uncomfortable for Mary at such a young age. She squirmed away and scampered across the room. "Look, Grandma! My pink teddy bear!"
    Grandma Peggy closed the book on her lap and faced Mary. "Sweetie, you know Grandma loves you, right?"
    Mary felt her eyes grow big and sad. "Yes." She swallowed and looked down at the floor. "I think about that sometimes when I'm scared at night."
    "Really?" Tears spilled onto Grandma Peggy's cheeks.
    Mary nodded and studied her grandma's eyes. They were full of a light Mary never saw in anyone on the streets. "Mommy says we'll be here for a while but not forever. But know what?"
    "What?"
    "I wish I could live with you forever, Grandma." She felt something sad in her heart. "But Mommy says that's a bad thing to say. She says I belong to her, and if I live with you she'll never get a chance to be my mommy again."
    Anger colored Grandma Peggy's expression. She went to Mary and brushed her knuckles against Mary's cheek. "You know what I wish more than anything in the world?"
    "What?" Mary blinked, her voice soft.
    "The same thing you do. That you could live here forever. You and your mommy. Not just for a little while but for always."
    "But what if my mommy goes away again?" A hint of hope sounded in Mary's voice. "Sometimes when she leaves me for a few days it's lonely without her."
    Her grandmother looked surprised and worried. "Your mommy might go, but if I had it my way you would stay. I'd take care of you, and you'd never be cold or hungry or lonely again."
    Mary leaned forward and planted a wet kiss on Grandma Peggy's forehead. "That would be my bestest dream in the whole world. Better than candy."
    "Yes, 'cause we'd be together always. Just the two of—"
    Suddenly there was a sound outside the door, and her grandma jumped. "Jayne?"
    Mary moved closer to her grandma. Outside the bedroom door no one said anything.
    Grandma Peggy went to the door, and as she did, Mary heard footsteps heading down the hallway. "Jayne . . . are you there?"
    Even as a little girl, Mary understood why her grandma looked scared. If her mother heard them talking, then she might take Mary away again and never come back.
    Mary had ordered her heartbeat to slow down. Calm, she told herself. Act calm. She watched as Grandma Peggy opened the door in time to catch the back of her mother as she walked