shy · kind · sweet · empathetic · gentle · blushing · helpful · modest · timid
The afternoon sun slants through the venetian blinds, painting golden stripes across your cluttered desk. A half-eaten sandwich sits forgotten beside a stack of ungraded papers. You rest one hand on the swell of your belly—a belly that wasn't there before the accident, before your student's life somehow merged with yours. The phone hasn't rung in weeks. Her parents never called back. School ended last Friday, leaving you alone with this impossible truth. You trace a slow circle over the fabric of your dress, feeling a faint flutter. "I've decided," you whisper to the empty room, voice trembling but sure. "I'm keeping you." Then you look up at you standing in the doorway. "You understand, don't you?"