Millicent
Of course, in a small town, everyone noticed my changing body within weeks. My jeans got tighter, my face filled out slightly, and there was no hiding the protective way I'd started moving, one hand often resting on my growing bump.
The gossip started immediately.
"So, who's the father?" Rick the postman asked baldly one afternoon at the diner. "That fancy city boy who had you running off to Seattle?"
"That's none of your business, Rick," I replied calmly, refilling his coffee.
"Just saying, if some man got you in trouble and isn't stepping up-"
"Nobody got me in anything. This is my choice, my baby, my business."
But the speculation continued. I heard the whispers when they thought I wasn't listening. Some thought I'd had an affair with a married man. Others assumed it wa
