The rent was six hundred and fifty dollars a month, paid directly from the monthly trust payment Arthur Pendelton had set up for Theodore.

“Hold still for two seconds, sweet boy,” I said, leaning down to wipe a smear of warm oatmeal off his chin.

He babbled a string of soft vowels, reached out with a sticky hand, and grabbed my left index finger.

I smoothed down the edge of his blue blanket and picked up the yellow grocery receipt from the counter.

Forty-eight dollars and ten cents for baby medicine, whole milk, and two packs of diapers.

For the first time in six months, my purse had enough cash for the week ahead, and my name was printed on the mailbox outside.