Being Their Baby Read Online Free Page B

had been too ashamed and miserable to call Elizabeth for two days, until she began to fear her cell-mates: two tougher-than-nails prostitutes who promised to teach her “a thing or two.” Desperate not to learn even the first thing they had in mind, let alone the second, Sophie had finally begged for her phone call.
    Sophie stopped, intending to let Elizabeth walk to her car alone; after all, Elizabeth had barely looked at her all morning. Unexpectedly, however, Elizabeth stopped walking when she did. “What are you doing?” Elizabeth asked, her voice extremely firm and curt.
    “Nothing, I was just gonna walk home,” she said.
    “Where’s home? You’re still listing your parents’ apartment as your address. I saw your form,” she demanded, her voice filled with accusation.
    “It’s just up the street,” Sophie said, pointing. Way, way up the street… Probably about eight miles. It was worth the walk; Elizabeth was looking pretty tense.
    “Get in the car,” Elizabeth ordered, unlocking the passenger side. “I’m driving you and walking you in.”
    Sophie’s eyes rounded. That was not going to do at all! She felt panic rise into her throat. “No, no!” Sophie said, waving her hands back and forth. “That’s okay, I’ll just take a bus. You’ve done too much already, really, I—”
    “Sophia Lynn, I told you to get your little fanny into this car right now!” Elizabeth snapped so loudly that a couple of cops coming out of their squad cars paused, turned, and looked over to see what the fuss was about.
    Sophie jumped, took a shaky breath, and then scurried into the front passenger seat of Elizabeth’s bright-red Lexus. She watched with uneasy, seat-gripping tension as Elizabeth got into her side and turned on the car. “Buckle up and tell me where you live,” Elizabeth gritted.
    With one last stab at dignity, Sophie shuddered, “U-Uh-Um… I… Um… I really—”
    “Sophia— where have you been sleeping ?”
    Sophie slid down in her seat, murmuring, “One-eleven northeast Hutchens Avenue,” as she slowly reached for her safety belt and snapped it on.
    Liz turned to her and blinked. Her lips were pressed firmly together as she was visibly gathering her patience. “That’s the address of the firm.”
    Sophie swallowed loudly. “I know. I’m sorry… It’s only temporary until I save up a little bit…”
    It wasn’t until that moment that Elizabeth’s demeanor changed, as she realized that Sophie wasn’t trying to pull one over on her. “ You’ve been sleeping at the office ? Do you even have an office to do that?”
    “I sleep in the attic, actually. But—I—I’m sorry, I know—”
    “Do you have things there?”
    “Yeah, like some clothes and stuff…” Sophie chewed her bottom lip as she watched Elizabeth drive them out of the police station’s lot. “I’m sorry, Miss Button,” she gushed after trying to hold in her apologies again. “I don’t want to get you involved. I only called you because I couldn’t think of anyone else, and I had your business card in my pocket…”
    “Sophie, stop it. Just stop,” Elizabeth demanded, swiping her hand through the air. Sophie silenced immediately, and Elizabeth continued, “If you say that you’re sorry to me one more time , I’m going to stop this car and spank the daylights out of your stubborn little butt. You’re apologizing for the wrong thing.”
    Sophie was suddenly fighting back tears of humiliation as they drove toward the office. Did Elizabeth just threaten to spank her? Sophie sat as still as she possibly could, her throat feeling tight and far too nervous to continue apologizing. Even breathing seemed difficult.
    When Elizabeth pulled up in front of the office and got out of the car, Sophie was beginning to fear that she really was in a violent mood, especially when Elizabeth walked over to Sophie’s side and pulled her out of the car by her upper arm. “Show me where you’ve been sleeping,” Liz