The parenting program was lame. Colby had an incredibly strong gut instinct when it came to Luna. Starting with leaving the hospital early and ever since, she was positive that she knew best. She liked to think that it was because her own mom had been the same way, but Colby couldn’t know. She couldn’t ask her dad. And there was no one else.
The other girls in the program—there were a few dads, too, but they mostly sat silent, slouched in their chairs, looking bored—seemed so nervous about their babies.
Not Colby. She knew exactly how she wanted to do things. Take feeding, for example. Colby was the only one who nursed. And she planned to for as long as she could. That’s what her boobs were for, after all. All the other girls gave their babies bottles. And they left them lying in their strollers for hours and hours at a time, crying, while they texted on their phones and smoked and were generally nasty skanks.
Nobody’s Perfect was entertaining enough, she supposed. Milo came with her, and he camped it up to the point where the other guys hated him and his Super Gay Daddy act. But he made Colby laugh.
The twelve-step meetings were pretty good though.
She could admit that.
Held at the Legion by the SkyTrain station, it was full of freaky East Van folks. Jordan and Milo came with her, and Luna too, usually asleep in Colby’s arms.
At first they sat at the very back, in the last three chairs on the right. They spent the whole meeting whispering and laughing about what everybody was wearing. Or saying. Or doing. Or the color of their hair. Or what they had pierced.
But then one day a woman met them at the door. She was tiny and skinny, with short-cropped hair and a full sleeve of tattoos down each arm, of trees and crows and sky. She looked tough, but her smile was welcoming enough.
“Hey. I’ve noticed you guys. Acting like brats at the back of the meeting.” She blocked their way. “You’re not going to do that today, right?”
“We didn’t—” Milo started to protest.
“You did.”
“We weren’t actually being—” Jordan started.
“Mean?” The woman cocked her head to one side. “Yes, you were. What low-life assholes come to an NA meeting to tear people down? A room full of people trying to get clean or stay clean. Really. That’s super low.”
“We’re really sorry,” Colby said. “We thought no one could hear us.”
“And that makes it any better?” She glanced at Luna. “What are you teaching your kid by being so mean?”
“Hey, now.” Jordan bristled. “Leave Luna out of it.”
“But she’s part of it, right?” The woman held out her hand. “Shauna. And you are?”
“Jordan.” Jordan put a protective arm around Colby. “This is Colby. And that’s Milo.”
“And Luna.” Shauna put a finger on Luna’s arm. She cooed at her, which surprised Colby. “My youngest is almost one.” She looked up at Colby. “You need hand-me-downs?”
“I…uh…” Colby wasn’t sure what to say. She’d just been scolded by the very same woman who was now offering her hand-me-downs for Luna? “Yes. We could use some more sleepers, for sure.”
“Honey, I have a garbage bag full of really cute stuff. My sister buys gorgeous things. You’ll love them. Not all pink either.”
Colby laughed, still nervous. She knew the scolding part wasn’t done. She waited, unsure what to do next.
“This is the deal.” Shauna stepped away from the door. “You’re welcome in, but not if you guys pull that shit at the back. Tonight you sit at the front. With me.”