Free All the Waters of the Earth (Giving You ... #3) by Leslie McAdam Page A

then to my horror, tears started welling in my eyes. I never cried. But apparently, now I did. And I found myself telling everything to Amelia. I think that being served with the papers was the start, but Jake acting so weird was the trigger, and I couldn’t take it anymore.
    “Carlos dated me for three months in high school, until he talked me into having sex with him.  He got me pregnant the first time we did it. In his Toyota Camry. Not very romantic. And then he dumped me for another girl who was a cheerleader.” I wiped at the tears streaming down my face. Amelia handed me a Kleenex, listening.
    “That’s the short story, at least.  I felt like complete shit. He just used me to get off his teenage hormones and then once I said yes, he was on to the next. I was young and stupid and I didn’t use any protection. Or we were young and stupid and we didn’t use any protection.  So a few weeks later, when I started feeling weird and realized that I missed my period, I was like, no . I couldn’t be pregnant. My parents would kill me.
    “So there I was, pregnant with Roberto, and was Carlos there at all during my pregnancy? Did he go to any doctor’s appointments?  No. He’d moved on to a girl on the dance team. And was he there when I was in labor? No. He was then dating a girl who used to sit next to me in math class. And did Carlos come to see his child? Not until he was a month old. And that was only because I went over to his house and pounded on his door, demanding that he meet him.”
    I started sobbing in earnest, all of the old thoughts of the past coming to me now as I relived them.
    “I was flat out abandoned and rejected by Carlos.  He left me by myself, all those pregnancy hormones, all those feelings, all those changes. He didn’t care. And I couldn’t make him care. But it scarred me. It fucking scarred me.  That bastard hurt me and now he’s doing it again. He doesn’t care about anyone except himself.
    “So was it too early for me to have Roberto? Absolutely. Do I love him with all of my heart? That and more. But he’s my child . Carlos didn’t do anything. I had to chase him for child support. 
    “I had no money.  When I had Rob, I was trying to get my GED and then go to community college. I lived with my parents. I worked at Taco Bell. I did anything just to get an education and to get money for my kid because there was no way in hell I was going to be another unwed, Hispanic single mother,” I spat.  Amelia reached over and patted my hand as my sobs subsided.  I dabbed my eyes, noticing all of the makeup coming off on the tissue.  I took a deep breath.
    “And yet, that was exactly what I was.  What I am.  And I’ve had to accept that, had to accept that I’m a stereotype and I’ve had to fucking pick myself up and do the work to make a wonderful life for me and Roberto.
    “I knew that I wanted to be a writer and in between everything, in between school and studying, in between work and trying to make money, and in between taking care of my son, I wrote. I wrote in the middle of the night. I wrote because I had to. And I’ve managed to make a living out of it, but it was through a lot of hard work.  Carlos needs to pay the damn child support to take care of his son and leave us alone. He doesn’t really want to be around us anyway—he doesn’t want to be tied to anyone or anything.  He likes the rush, the good time.  He always goes for the next thing.  He doesn’t have the attention to be a dad.
    “When Roberto turned three, Carlos decided that he wanted to start having a relationship with Rob, so he started with evening visits once every other week, and then the judge gave him every other weekend. I understand that fathers have rights. But I don’t believe that Carlos cares.  This is just a ploy to get out of paying so much in child support.” 
    Amelia nodded, agreeing with me.
    “And what’s going to happen to Rob? How is he going to get to school? Do his