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Chapter 14
December 23rd 2005

AJ was already up the next morning, when Win woke up. She looked around her surroundings, not recognizing where she was for a moment. When AJ approached her with a cup of coffee, everything came flooding back and she remembered what had led to this moment.
The bed dipped on her left side and AJ’s familiar presence comforted her.
“Morning Beautiful,” he said as he pressed his lips to her cheek.
“Thank you baby,” she replied taking the coffee. He put his hand on her back and rubbed in circles as she drank.
“You feeling all right? It was awful cold out there last night.” AJ asked.
“Mm, I’m fine baby, really.” AJ let her drink some more coffee before he asked anything else.
“You want to talk about it?” She stilled, holding the coffee in her hand before her face.
“They wanted to explain to me, why they did it,” she said softly.
“Did they tell you?”
“They admitted to doing it so what else was there to talk about?”
“I see your point. But what about their intent?” She snickered.
“Intent? Funny, but I doubt that when they put me in a dumpster they intended me to live and actually grow up to be someone. I don’t believe in intent anymore. Intent is a load of promises that mean nothing to me anymore.”
“It did when I hit you.”
‘That’s different.”
“How?”
“AJ, don’t okay?”
“Why, just tell me, okay?”
“It doesn’t matter because you, AJ, I just love you, okay? You were provoked. It was understandable, and aside from that, there was no harm done.”
“I broke your nose.”
“Would you let me finish?”
“Sorry, go ahead.”
“No lasting harm. AJ, can you think of anything worse than leaving your own child for dead, not dropping them off at the police station, or leaving them where they could be found, but leaving them to die?” AJ thought for a long moment and did not know how to respond. But he had to.
“No.” He said solidly.
“They had no intention of me living. It was as if I didn’t matter. And I didn’t not until now, not until they realized I was alive. That I was alive, and that I might look for them, and I might turn them in.” She stood up and went to the window, looking out, her eyes becoming moist and she knew she was in for more tears.
“Why would you turn them in?”
“Because they are wanted for attempted murder. Leaving your infant in a dumpster in March is considered attempted murder, a felony. And he should know too,” Win sniffled and wiped at her tears. AJ watched from the bed and his brow crinkled in confusion.
“What should he know?” he asked, standing up, taking a spot beside her, turning to her, looking at her with his arms crossed as he waited.
“They’re both big professors at Princeton, she’s in English, he’s in law. He’s like the head of the department, you know. Big wig. This gets out, and well, they lose everything. It’s a wonder that they found me. But I suppose they kept up on the news.”
“They just came so that you wouldn’t turn them into the police?” AJ was stunned to hear this.
“Yeah, nice ain’t they?”
“Did you know they were coming?”
“I didn’t know it was them, I got their name mistaken, but then I realized,” here she stopped.
“Do you think you’ll talk to them again?”
“No,” she answered sharply.
“Perfectly understandable.”
“I just got my life figured out. Why’d they have to come in and throw it all off kilter? I’d come to the realization, I’d squared it away, and I’d made peace with it. They didn’t want me, now, twenty five years later, they find me, they come here, and, now I don’t know what to think.” She took a drink of coffee swallowing hard and looked over at AJ.
“I don’t need to know them to be complete. I know who I am, I’m Winifred Louise Caldon, I was loved and raised by I woman who cared about me. I’m smart, I can work hard, I can sing, I have friends, and I have you and Latecia. I don’t need anything else. I have you, you’re all I need. I’ve always been complete, I don’t need anyone to be complete. You AJ, you are just the perfect compliment. You are my family.” She brushed a hand through his hair and held his face in her hand.
“I’ll never not be your family. And God forbid, if we’re not always together, I’m still gonna love you, and I’m still gonna be your family. I’ll never let you go, I mean that, and I know that I’ve made some bad promises. But I will never abandon you, I could never do that.”
“I know you won’t AJ, I know, and I believe you.”