It was about five when I made it to the kitchen to start the coffee. Mike came into the kitchen about the time the coffee was ready. He stumbled to th... cupboard and grabbed a cup."When did you start drinking coffee?" I asked."This trip. I need something to help wake me up. Audrey kept me up most of the night. She can't seem to get enough." I gather she didn't sleep in Lena's bed." Duh! By the way, where did Lena sleep last night? Audrey went to get something out of her room and she wasn't. As difficult as it was, I made arrangements with the adoption agency that my doctor gently steered me to when I finally broached the subject with her. Maybe it was weakness, but I knew I wasn't able to bear the strain of being a single mother of a bi-racial child. I feared that I would be resentful, that I would heap my own failings and the collapse of my old life on an innocent child. Much better to find a home where that child could grow up in safety and love.I often thought about Ivan, at. I know you haven’t slept that much. I fear for your safety.” She replied to me.Nodding, I slowly got up. “How do you...” I started to ask.“I have detected the approach of several heavy pieces of equipment. From the speed of their approach I would surmise that they are heavily armored. At present I cannot extrapolate as to what they are. With the recent pursuit I would think that they were military.” Sheila replied.This of course snapped my attention to her as I hurriedly finished getting ready.. We got along well. We partied in the yard, they had hooked me up with a GF of theres, etc. Dan liked to do projects at the house but wasn't a handy guy. he would often ask for help, or to use tools. I'm like the tool guy, and I'm a union tradesman. After about a year of hanging out Dan kinda' disappeared. For now I have to rewind. Over the year Kate would be a bit of a flirt. We had a chain link fence between our yards. At this time I was still single, a construction worker, and still in the.