Cassie had trouble keeping her attention on her driving. her stomach was still tight, something she
always felt after dropping off her month-old baby nathan at her mother's house. cassie desperately
needed the income from her job, but she felt it was still too soon to leave her son in someone else's care,
even her mother's. she was miserable.
cassie discovered she was pregnant in march of her senior year in high school. she graduated, then
married tim in june. their life had been stressful. tim was working two part-time minimum wage jobs,
but it just was not enough. cassie's doctor was concerned about both cassie and the baby and told her she
had to stay in bed most of the time. nathan was born three weeks early, small but healthy.
without medical insurance, the bills for prenatal care and the baby's birth seemed overwhelming.
cassie knew she needed to get a job. when her mother volunteered to care for nathan, it was a big
relief. she knew he would be well cared for and they would not have to pay child care fees. her job as a
receptionist did not pay a lot, but it did come with medical insurance.
cassie worried constantly about missing nathan and about their debts. she and tim hardly seemed to
see each other because of their work schedules. she found herself making silly mistakes at work because
she had difficulty concentrating. now she was afraid she might be fired. "pull yourself together," she
whispered to herself as she pulled into the parking lot at work.
1. how may cassie's relationship with her mother be changing?