The woman's smile was genuine as she took them both in visually. "My name is Lisa. Won't you have a seat?" She said gesturing towards a sitting room off to one side of the massive foyer and Anna directed Kevin towards it.
Everyone sat down and an awkward silence ensued. Lisa smiled at someone behind Anna and Anna turned to see who it was. A toddler that couldn't be much older than a year had stumbled into the room rubbing sleep from her eyes.
"All done with your nap Taleah?"
The little girl saw her mother and gave a gap toothed gurgle of joy and took off for her at high speed. Anna smiled taken in by the sight of the mother with her child.
She felt herself relax a little more around her hostess. It became readily apparent what the little girl was after and with a soft laugh Lisa through a small blanket over the toddler and began to nurse her discreetly.
The sight of the nursing child didn't bother Anna, but instead it sent a pang of longing through her to experience doing the same with a child of her own again. She had loved nursing Kevin, but with all the stress of working two jobs and sometimes three to make ends meet she had lost her milk after only a couple of months. She had always felt like she'd cheated Kevin out of something good by losing her milk supply so early. She looked up from the outline of the baby under the blanket to see Lisa watching her.
"You're safe here Anna. It's okay to let your guard down a little. No one here would ever hurt you or your son I promise!"
Anna nodded as tears slid down her face and she relaxed her tight grip on Kevin. The woman was genuine and Anna knew it was okay. Tyre had been right to tell her that this was a safe place to come to.
"I'm so out of my league! I'm not good at any of this…… stuff!" Anna breathed out in a rush, already trusting the other woman.
"I know just where you're coming from honey!" Lisa responded with emphasis.
Anna twisted her hands in her lap together, "I suppose you're wondering why I've dropped in on you so unannounced?"
Lisa smiled, "Now that you mention it I am rather curious as to your appearance here. Why have you come Anna?"
Anna looked down, "A man…." She stopped.
She looked up and met Lisa's eyes squarely, "The man that I love told me that if I was ever in need of help that I should come here. In specific he told me that I could find a man named Flint here who would help me."