Suddenly

Confession

Grace hovered outside Hannah's small kitchen, listening to her friends talk to her daughter while they made breakfast.

"What does she eat?" Mamrie questioned as she rifled through Hannah's cabinets, looking for a suitable breakfast for a one year old.

Hannah shrugged. "You think she eats people food yet?" She was carrying the little girl on her hip. Ayla's big brown eyes watched the two women closely.

She liked the two loud women, but she was still very confused on the role these two were playing. If Mama liked them and trusted them, then she would give them a chance.

"People food?" Mamrie laughed. "Hannah, she isn't a dog! I'm sure she eats normal things, just nothing hard or big?"

Grace heard Hannah snort at the redhead's choice of words. She figured she had better intervene before the two of them fed the baby something she couldn't handle.

"She can eat most things," the blonde entered the kitchen and pulled her daughter from Hannah. "Like Mames said, nothing too big or hard." She settled the tiny girl on her hip. "She's still breast fed on occasion, it's really just a comfort thing at this point."

Hannah and Mamrie exchanged a look of surprise, neither of them had imagined Grace taking to breastfeeding a child, let alone going at it for more than a year.

The blonde felt her cheeks redden at the looks from her former friends. "It's what's best for her, I've read a dozen books on it." She felt herself getting emotional at the thought of them judging her. Tears began to pool in her eyes.

It wasn't until she felt Mamrie's comforting hand on her shoulder, that she snapped out of it.

"Gracie, you are this girl's mother. You know what is best. Hell, Hannah and I don't even know what to feed her for breakfast!" The older woman comforted the blonde. "She adores you. We have no reason to think you wouldn't do what's best for her."

Hannah nodded vigorously from behind Mamrie's shoulder. Grace felt a little silly for being upset in the first place. It's just that her biggest fears lied in screwing up her daughter.

The three of them fell into silence as they finished making breakfast. Once everything was cooked and ready, the four of them sat to eat.

Hannah quietly shoved eggs into her mouth as Mamrie sipped on a sip of coffee and munched on a bit of toast. The air in the room was thick and tense. Grace pretended to not notice as she slowly ate and fed small pieces of buttered toast to Ayla.

After a very tense ten minutes, Mamrie banged her hands on the table. "For the love of all things holy, I can't take this." She softened as she looked at a scared Ayla who's mouth hung half open with a large piece of scrambled egg inside. "Gracie, honey, you gotta tell us what's up."

The blonde took a deep breath. Part of her thought about making up an excuse to further prolong this process. Ayla needed a nap. She needed a diaper change, anything to give her a few more moments before she had to tell her story.

She knew it would do no good to keep putting things off. Eventually her story would have to come out. If she could just get it out, then maybe it would be easier the next time, then the next. Until she could recite the events without feeling a panic attack creep up inside of her.

It's just, these two would be the hardest to tell. The two friends who had warned her about Josh. Who she had begged to give him a chance, and the friends who she dropped like a hot plate.

She took a deep breath.

"I really don't know where to actually start." She looked down at Ayla, who in return looked up at her mother with her big, brown, inquisitive eyes. Grace brushed a lock of dark hair away from her forehead. She could do this, she had to do this, for Aylie.

"First of all, Josh doesn't know I am here. He went on a business trip and I have until Wednesday before he is due back in New York."

Mamrie and Hannah nodded understandably.

"Secondly, I am all in. I did not leave on a whim or because I thought it would teach him a lesson. Josh has become a monster and I can't live the rest of my life in fear." Ayla had settled into her arms, her eyes becoming heavy. She felt her heart clench at the innocence of her baby. "I can't let her grow up like that."

Her eyes had become blurry with tears, all she wanted to do was take her baby and hide under the covers, and just have all of this go away.

She felt a hand grab hers, it was Mamrie. The redhead looked on the verge of tears herself. "You are doing what is right, Gracie."

Hannah sniffles and gave a nod, she had been crying for a few minutes. She had always been the more emotional one of the group.

"I only have a week. I'm not sure if I can pull it off. I have plenty of proof. I've been taking pictures and keeping the camera hidden for over a year. I'm just terrified he is going to use his money to get Ayla." She was fully sobbing now. The reason she had stayed for so long had been her little girl. She knew Josh had money, and with money came power. The last thing she could handle was him taking her daughter away from her.

Mamrie and Hannah shared a look. It was a legitimate fear.

"We will get you a good lawyer. We start hunting this morning." Hannah assured her friend. "I'm not letting that bastard get the two of you."

Grace gave her a small smile. It was all she could manage at the moment. Thankfully, the three friends didn't need words. They were there for her, and that was all she needed at the moment.