A year and more passed. Coreen stayed with Lisa and never returned to her husband. The little dog stayed too and barked defensively whenever someone passed the window on the fire escape outside. Lisa and Coreen lived and worked together in peace, each seeming to understand the other's needs before any word was said. They had enough work to pay for their most basic necessities and nothing more. They aged pleasantly and their faces bore little resemblance to the woman they once were. Since they never talked about it, or thought about it, Coreen without realizing it, eventually forgot who her husband and her adopted children were; Lisa also was happy enough to let the past go; but both had a level of unconscious memories like the underground sewer system of the city surrounding them. The odours emanating from this symbolic sewer system were unpleasant and ignored - the odour disappeared from awareness as any constant odour will. Neither of them liked themselves but each liked the other very much.
One late winter afternoon in the creeping dusk, Lisa was walking home after having delivered two dresses to the designer who had ordered them. Dirty puddles covered most of the desolate street. Dim yellow lights illuminated windows. The wind was light and seemed noisy for its strength. A ways ahead, Lisa noticed a woman lift the cover of a community garbage bin and drop something inside before running away. As Lisa's path drew her nearer the garbage bin, she heard troubling sounds. She stopped beside the garbage bin and thought she heard something inside. As she slowly raised the lid, she expected to find a raccoon. The sound seemed familiar and distressed her. Dark plastic bags at the top of the trash were moving slightly. She reached inside, moved the bags, and to her horror and shock, there was a tiny, naked human baby struggling there. It could have suffocated against the plastic. Lisa reached in, gently and swiftly retrieved the baby and immediately snuggled it under her clothes against her warm skin. She went straight home, feeling that she was carrying the most precious thing in the universe. She tapped on the door and Coreen opened it right away, expecting her.
Lisa put the baby in Coreen's arms, and whispered, "Sit here with her. I'm getting water and a towel to clean her. I found her in the garbage."
Coreen was stunned and did as Lisa said. Her soul reached out with all the love in the world enveloping the tiny one, "She's a newborn," Coreen said as they gently cleaned the infant. Coreen stayed with the baby while Lisa went out and bought baby formula and bottle supplies, which they carefully prepared and the tiny one drank readily.
"Let's keep her," Lisa said.
Coreen looked at her in wonder, "Can we?"
"Why not?" Lisa replied, "She was abandoned. I think I saw the mother drop her in the bin. If we report this, we will not be allowed to keep her. Who would make better parents than us. She has already changed our lives for the better. Even Puppy loves her, look at him." He was wagging his tail, smiling, and cooing gentle sounds.
"That would be the most beautiful thing to ever happen." Happy tears poured from Coreen's eyes in deep gratitude, "What shall we call her?"
"Let's think about that and decide another day," Lisa answered.
Eventually after much discussion, Coreen and Lisa decided on the name Eve and they would call her Evie.
"Now what about a last name?" Lisa asked, "Have you been able to recall your last name Coreen?"
"No," Coreen replied, "I try and try but nothing comes to mind."
"Stop trying about that and never mind," Lisa said, "We will need ID for Evie; for a doctor and to get the shots required by schools. We can get you ID too and have it as proof that you are Evie's biological mother, that way no one will ever take her away from us."
