Baby

or demean us again. So put a smile on your face and get ready for dinner.”
    “Ok, but if he does, I’m going to make a magic sword to protect us with. I’ll always protect you and Mommy.” Scrambling off Abby’s bed, he ran to his own room. He took out his book of fairies from his backpack and slid it into a drawer. He would solve his fairy dilemma on his own and in secrecy. That’s probably what his fairy wanted anyway.
    Sitting down to dinner, he noticed his mom serving mac and cheese again, on the fancy blue and white plastic plates she got as a wedding gift before his birth. The aroma of hot gooey cheese tantalized him. Mom made it almost every other day because he loved it, naturally. Chowing down, he noticed Abby and mommy talking in low voices about the welfare money. They needed the welfare money. Everyone got welfare money.
    “Kids, I have some important news for you.” He looked closer at his mom’s face, her lips tightly pursed, her eyes tense. Not with anger, more like scary disappointment. Did he see fear on his mom’s face? What was going on? Looking at Abby, he could tell she already knew.
    “We’re going to have some new house guests.”
    “No, not Daddy, please.” His stomach started to ache. His mommy reached over to stroke his arm, calming him.
    “No baby, it won’t be your father. He’s gone for good. I don’t even know where he’s going but I do know he’ll leave New Jersey. We’re going to share the house and expenses with another family. It’s all arranged. You know the Diaz family, isn’t Jose on your bus, Abby?”
    “No, mom, he’s still in grade school. Is the whole family coming?”
    “Yes, except for Mr. Diaz. He’ll be heading to Mexico to try to jump the fence. If he’s successful, he stands a good chance of nabbing a job. They’ll probably move out if that happens. If he gets caught, he’ll go to prison. It’s a felony in Mexico; they’re very serious about protecting jobs for their own people. Then we’ll have to think about a more permanent solution.”
    “Solution to what, Mom?” Abby asked.
    Honey, anyone with a job is being removed from the welfare rolls. We can keep our housing stipend and our energy assistance, thank God. And the food stamps will help until they cut them out. My paycheck will not cover the rest of our expenses. Not with the co-pays for Abby’s dialysis. The Diaz family is losing their welfare check too.
    “But, Mom—why? Why is the check going to stop? Can we talk to the mailman? Is this the week that he comes, or is it next week?” Scotty’s voice faltered with fright.
    “Don’t worry, honey, everything will work out if we all pull together. The government is just finding it difficult to collect the money from the rich people. They can’t give it to us unless they collect it first. I know it’s not fair, the rich have so much compared to us. It’s not the government’s fault. The rich people are just getting better at hiding the money. We’ll learn to make due. That’s why the Diaz family is moving in.
    “All the boys will sleep together in your room, Scotty. The three of us will sleep together in Abby’s room. I’m going to move my bed in there. The Diaz family will have two rooms for six people. Most importantly, they’ll pay us rent. That’ll make up for most of the loss of the welfare.” Grinning, his mom tried to put a smile on her face but Scotty could see the struggle.
    “Mom, as long as we’re together, that’s all that matters,” Abby got up, putting her arms around her mother. “Hey, champ, since we’re going to be roomies, why don’t we do the dishes and give Mom a break?”
    Scotty understood that many changes loomed large in his life. As he cleared the table, he thought about Jose Diaz, the only one in the family he recognized. Jose, an older kid on his bus, didn’t speak English very well. He kept to himself, never horsing around with the other kids, although he nodded now and then as Scotty boarded the bus. Rumors said he grew up in another country.
    Helping his mother up from her chair, he glanced out the window, hoping the sun finished chasing away the rain. The thunderclouds covered most of the sun as it began its nightly disappearance below the horizon. Oh well, maybe tomorrow.
    ###
    Sunny skies greeted Scotty as he rose to get ready for school. Unexpectedly returning home after getting early dismissal when his teacher failed to show up, he changed into his old jeans and ran up