Free You Are My Sunshine: A Novel Of The Holocaust (All My Love Detrick Companion Novel) by Roberta Kagan Page B

have been going through so many changes in my life. But she knew better. She was nauseas and could not eat. She was very tired. And her belly was growing. Zofia was pregnant.
    O n a brisk morning in March Helen Sobczak came in, Zofia looked up from her machine to see a woman just a few years older than herself, lovely with blond curly hair and soft blue eyes.  Fruma had left to go to the bakery where she would purchase some rolls to share with Zofia.
    “May I help you?” Zofia asked the beautiful blond.
    “Hello, my name is Helen. My mother and I have been coming here since I was just a little girl. Is Mrs. Kolowsk y gone?”
    “No, she just went to Zuckerman’s bakery. When that Mrs. Zuckerman bakes the smell is so wonderful that everyone who works on this street lines up to buy the bread . I am Zofia, her apprentice.”
    “Hello, Zofia, it’s so nice to meet you. Well, let me get to the point of why I am here. I am getting married in the summer. I would like to have a dress made for my wedding.”
    “I am sure we can help you. But I have a feeling that Fruma will probably want to take your measurements herself.”
    “Yes, probably so , but if you want to try and then compare them to hers I don’t mind.” She smiled. Zofia liked her right away.
    “I would like that. It would help me to see how accurate I am.”
    When Fruma returned with the bread Zofia was taking Helen’s measurements.
    “What are you doing?” She asked.
    “Nothing,” Zofia said and put the tape measure down on the table.
    “It’s alright. I asked her to do it.”
    “But she isn’t ready to measure you properly.”
    “I don’t mind, e ven if it’s just for practice.” Helen said.
    Fruma smiled. “All right then Zofia, you can go ahead and let’s see how you do.”
    After Z ofia had finished, her boss checked her work.
    “Very good , I am happy to say, you are getting the hang of this.”
    Z ofia smiled and Helen smiled too.
    Helen spent hours sifting through bolts of fabric. She finally decided upon an ivory satin with a lace overlay.
    “She is a nice girl,” Fruma said after Helen left. “I’ve known her and her mother for a very long time. Her mother is a mid wife. She is a good woman, not a Jew. But she’s never shown any distain for us either.”
    “Oh.” Z ofia said. She turned away. A mid wife, she would need a mid wife, but she was an unmarried woman. Nobody in their right mind would want to become involved in such a scandal. She was worried. How would she tell Fruma that she was pregnant? What if she lost her job? But before Zofia had a chance, Fruma decided to talk to her.
    “Here eat; I brought some rolls and a hunk of cheese. Are you hungry?”
    “Yes, a little ,” Zofia was ravenous.
    “Z ofia, sit down here. I want to talk to you.” Fruma Kolowsky put the grainy bread on a plate. “I have been fitting women longer than you have been on this earth. That would come to about 35 years. I know the female body very well. And, well…I am not going to beat around the bush here… Zofia, you are with child. I can see it.”
    Z ofia dropped her thin slice of cheese.
    “It’s alright. I am not going to let you go. You have a job here. I might seem harsh sometimes, but I understand more than you know. I am going to help you. That’s why I told you that Helen’s mother was a midwife.  We will talk to her and perhaps she will deliver the baby here in my apartment right above the shop.”
    Z ofia realized that she knew very little about her boss’s personal life. But the kindness Mrs. Kolowsky was showing her brought tears to her eyes.
    “It’s going to be fine.”
    “Will your husband be angry if I give birth in your apartment?”
    “I have no husband. I have never been married. I live with a la dy friend. She is kind and understanding. You will like her. She will be fine with us using the apartment.”
    “Are you sure?”
    “I am sure. Gitel and I have lived on the edge of society for a very long time. So