'I don't want to have to,' Erika said. 'I haven't got much of a choice, though. That was one of the reasons I stayed with my ex for a couple of months - he helped pay the bills. Admittedly the small ones, but...'

"Hm... Isn't there some other way you can pay off your debt without having to work nonstop?"

'Nope,' Erika said, shaking her head. 'I lived on the streets for seventeen years until after I graduated university earlier this year. My first pay cheque was the first real money I'd ever had. I'd gotten into university with a full scholarship, but still, I earned myself a few thousand dollars in debt paying for my textbooks - not to mention the bills that come paying for an apartment, bills, food, clothes...If I'm lucky, I can work hard and pay everything off in a couple of years, but...'

"There has to be a way to help ease it at least a bit, isn't there?" He looked at her with concern. "I don't really know that much about this stuff... My sister used to help me a lot when I had to afford books in college because I hadn't enough money to afford them but she had plenty. I lived out of the orphanage still at that point so I never had to worry about paying for the apartment or anything. It was just college I was dealing with, and she helped with most of it. But still... There has to be a way to do that even without that help, isn't there? Not that I'd be any help, but I do want to."

Erika smiled at him. 'Thanks. Though, I'm afraid the only way to pay them all off without help and without working would be if I won the lottery.'

"Well, if there's at least ever a way I can help, let me know alright? I still owe you, I think."

Erika smiled at him. 'Thanks. I will.'

He smiled in response, looking around the room for a minute to take in the scenery of the diner around them. "This really is a nice home-feeling place isn't it?"

'Yes, it is,' Erika said, as their waitress brought them their order. She took a bite of her salad. 'I haven't been here in years. They haven't changed much.'

Taking a bite of his sandwich simultaneously, he smiled. "I'm hoping that's a good thing, since thus far I'm pretty happy with it. Though having good company tends to help anyway."

Erika smiled a little. 'I agree. It's boring, going to restaurants alone.'

"I meant in general, actually, but I guess that's true too." He chuckled, nodding. "It's more fun to be out in general with others than on your own."

'Yeah,' Erika said, nodding. 'I haven't had that chance for a while.'

"Well, let's try to make the bets of today then, alright?" He smiled easily to her, soon returning to eating his sandwich and little else.

Erika smiled as she ate, feeling happier than she had in months. He was certainly worth keeping as a friend...

Finishing his food in a generally average amount of time, he leaned back against the chair and let out a content sigh. "That really was a good meal, I must say. You made a good choice in eating places."

Erika smiled as she finished her salad. 'Thanks,' she said. 'I'm glad you liked it.'

He smiled to her in response, digging through his pockets for his wallet. "Let's see.... Now we just need the bill. Unless you wanted dessert, of course."

'I'm fine without it,' Erika said, smiling. She took out her wallet as well and opened it; the business card for a baby store fell onto the table.

He smiled in return, however soon saw the card and looked at it curiously. "Huh... I meant to get a gift for my sister's friend now that I think of it. Mimi said she had a friend who was having a baby, and it was someone I've met so I figured it'd be a good idea. Guess you know someone having a kiddo too, huh?" He chuckled, smiling simply as he held the card out for her. "Kids are sweet- whoever's having the kid is gonna have a big job ahead of 'em though, I hear."

Erika looked up quickly as she was putting down money to pay the bill, and nodded, smiling a little sadly. She took the card back and slipped it back into her wallet. 'Yeah...I'm going to have a lot of work to do.'

"So it was morning sickness that time... But if you weren't feeling well from being pregnant... Why didn't you just say so when you were working? You can take your time you know... You need to be careful..."

'Because this is a pretty big problem for me,' Erika said, sighing. 'I must've broken up with my ex days after I got pregnant. When I found out, I tried contacting him, but he's moved to Australia, and I can't seem to contact him. If I bothered going through official channels to get child support, I wouldn't get anything until after the baby's born, and that still leaves me scrambling to get everything I need for when I have it. Being a single mother isn't easy for most people, but when you've already got debt...'

Erika gave a weak smile. 'I got out of the habit years ago of telling people about my problems. I'm going to keep it, and I do want this baby, but only a few people know about it so far.'

"You can't always just rely on no one else but yourself, you know..." He thought for a moment, then an idea popped into his head. "Mind joining me to the store you had a card for? I do need to get something for my sister's friend anyway... Who knows? I might be able to get you an early gift for the kiddo too."

Erika felt relief course through her. 'I don't mind at all.' She stood up; the change could be used as tip for their waitress. 'I've tried to rely on my brother more in recent years,' she said, in response to what he said earlier, 'but it's not easy. On the street, you look out for yourself.'