"Well, I gotta get to the office." See you tonight, sweetie."

Kissing her on the forehead, Mr. Robinson grabbed his suitcase and headed for the front door. Veronica shrugged deciding her father was right. Maybe it was a stupid prank. Too bad she didn't know it wasn't.

The next day, Veronica visited her grandmother, who needed help doing the chores. After vacuuming behind the couch, doing the dishes and dusting the ceramic figures, Veronica's grandmother fell asleep in front of the TV. Veronica turned off the television and decided to check out the attic.

In the attic Veronica found boxes and boxes of old junk. Yellowed newspapers and magazines. Black and white photographs. Records. Heirlooms, like ugly 50's jewelry. In one box she found old journals of her grandparents and her father's. Veronica opened her father's journal and flipped it open. She read:

JUNE 4

What I am feeling right now is a joy beyond discription. I am unable to put my emotions into words. My dear wife Roxanna and I will have a child! For so long we've both wished for a family, a child to love and care for and bring up as our own.

Veronica stopped reading. She didn't remember her mother. Her father had said her mother had died when Veronica was a baby. Veronica flipped to the last entry, about seven months later.

JANUARY 15

Good Lord. This cannot be happening. It simply cannot. Has my life any reason to be continued? NO. Roxanna was hired to babysit Mrs. Webb's six year old son, Jonah. I was at work when I received the call. Roxanna was at the hospital. I immediately got off the phone and drove as fast as I could to the hospital. There Mrs. Webb awaited, her eyes red. Jonah was nowhere to be seen. Neither was Roxanna.

Mrs. Webb explained. Roxanna had been watching Jonah as he played in the backyard. Then a rabid boxer had appeared from a loose board in the fence. The dog attacked Johan, and Roxanna had rushed to help. But the dog then attacked Roxanna, biting her wrist until it became a bloody mess. Still biting her wrist, Roxanna had ripped at the dogs face with her nails, ripping the very skin off! The dog had backed away, but only to bite her ankle. Roxanna's bleeding hands grabbed the dog's leg and with all the strength she had, she did her best to break the bone.