Waiting Fate Read Free Page A

pickup roared into the driveway. “Is she here? Is she home?” Kim, Ivy’s middle sister, burst into the house like a tornado, enveloping Ivy in a hug. Kim was the same size as Ivy, but her presence was so much bigger. “Don’t you ever go so far away again.” Kim’s voice was muffled in Ivy’s hair. “Do you understand me?”
    Ivy nodded through tears. “Yes, ma’am.” If Ivy didn’t know better, she’d think Kim was crying, too. But Kim was tough. She never cried.
    Her family didn’t know about Vick’s violent side, but it didn’t matter. The baby of the family was hurting, and they flocked to her side, ready to protect her from forces they didn’t even know existed. That was how her family worked, and that was how Ivy would heal. They surrounded Ivy and Desee and even Sadi in a protective circle of love. The pain eased, the fear subsided. Hope bloomed on the horizon.
    ****
    “So what are you going to do with yourself now?” Jack asked one night. It was early July and they were having an easy meal at home. Quiet. Safe.
    “I’m going to get my degree. I’m almost done… I think,” Ivy said, trying not to choke on the mashed potatoes that suddenly seemed too thick in her throat. “I need to register because classes start at the end of August, but I’m not sure what to take.” Overwhelmed? Why yes, that would be an understatement, Ivy thought.
    “Well, let’s go talk to your academic adviser. I’ll take you tomorrow.” Jack nodded. The situation was settled before she could get a word in and Jack moved on to other topics. All Ivy could do was smile. In all the time she’d been away, her dad hadn’t changed a bit.
    ****
    Ivy’s palms were sweating as she watched her academic advisor, whom she had never met before, look over her file. She’s going to tell me I’m a slacker and I need to get my tail out of her office. She’s going to tell me I’m never going to graduate. She’s going to tell me…
    “Well, it looks like you had a rough start, but the last several semesters you’ve done well. If you could take two full-time semesters, you could get your BA.” She turned her monitor so that Ivy could see her file. “These classes here are the ones you’ve taken. These classes here are all the ones you have to have for your degree.” She dragged her finger down the list. “There are a few you took that you didn’t need. Those are here.” She looked up at Ivy with a smile. “And in this tiny little list here are the ones you need.”
    Ivy leaned forward, studying the list. “I’m so close,” she whispered.
    “Yes, you are. Let me print this for you. Go straight downstairs to registration and get all set up.” She hesitated, then winked at Ivy. “If there are classes you need that are full, come talk to me. I can pull some strings. Good luck on the final leg of your journey!”
    “I don’t know what to say. Thank you so much!” Ivy said as she backed out of the office on shaking legs.
    “I was in your shoes once. Quitting is so much easier than never giving up. But you’ve come so far. I’d love to help you finish.”
    Ivy had been attending college via online classes for the last three years, ever since Vick had joined the military and moved her around the country, but she could only take a couple of classes a semester when she’d had to keep up with a baby and two jobs. And once she’d gotten to Alaska, she hadn’t had Internet, so she’d had to do everything at the local library, which was just awesome trying to manage that with a baby. Now, finally , she could go full-time and get her degree. The thought that she might make it, might see that dream come true, was almost too much to hope for. But she hoped anyway.
    ****
    “I feel ridiculous. No one else on campus is gonna have a baby!” Ivy exclaimed as she tried to feed Desee with one hand and eat her own cereal with the other. Her first class of the semester started in forty-five minutes. To say she was nervous