The next morning, the same routine went about. Anna had to get up extra early these days to drop Taylor off at a different daycare center that was much more distant than the last one had been.

She arrived at the newspaper shop at 7.
“Hey Randy,” her gloomy voice only got worse as each day passed.

“Hey Anna,” his voice got more sympathetic each day.

“Heard from Jack?” she asked this everyday.

“Not today,” he answered this everyday.

Anna had paperwork to fill out, as usual.

She skipped lunch, as usual.

She left about 8:00 pm, as usual.

She picked up Taylor at about 8:26, as usual.

They arrived at the hotel at about 9:00, as usual.

“How was your day at the center baby?”

“Good.” Taylor still didn’t like talking about daycare centers much.

“Yea? What happened?” Anna tried to make her voice sound cheerful.

“We made turkeys with paint on our hands,” he said slowly.

“Oh yea? That sounds like fun,”

Anna kissed his head, and then got in the shower.