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Lainey loved long walks in her stroller. So our two dog-walking jobs not only gave her stimulation, and me exercise, it provided about sixty-dollars per day, minus the little bit I set aside for taxes.

And when we weren’t walking, we were driving from restaurants to houses or apartment buildings, dropping off food and making some tips.

Was I technicallyallowedto bring my baby for those jobs? No. But barring someone turning me in, I figured no one was getting hurt by breaking that particular rule.

The money for delivery wasn’t as good as the dog walking, but every three-dollar tip helped.

That said, another puppy would allow for more moneywithouthaving to pay so much in gas as I typically needed to do for food delivery.

“Oh, and his mommy needs us six days a week,” I told Lainey, who was half-asleep with a little milk gathered in the corners of her mouth.

An extra thirty bucks meant that I could try to get some more food in my own body because as things stood, I was currently twelve pounds thinner than I’d been before I’d gotten pregnant. I was starting to look a little gaunt when I looked in the mirror.

Given my knotted stomach that made me worry I wouldn’t keep much down, I’d been putting most of my personal food budget toward stocking up on extra formula or diapers to have in case of a bad income week.

I dragged the playard between the two beds so Lainey would be close if she woke up fussy. I lived in fear of neighbors complaining about her crying and getting kicked out of our motel room.

Then I climbed up on the bed myself, turning on my side to watch my daughter sleeping peacefully.

“I promise I am going to get this figured out before you are big enough to know what’s going on,” I told her.

I might be willing to be hungry, to wear holes in my shoes, to neglect going to the doctor myself, but I’d be damned if my baby would ever personally know that sacrifice.

That was part of the reason why we’d changed to a new motel building.

Our last one had been closer to Miami. Which meant Miami rates. By moving a little further out, it allowed me to shave off a significant amount on our weekly rate.

I’d been worried that being further away from a big city would also mean that income would dip. But I’d been pleasantly surprised to find that being in a smaller town meant there was a lot less competition for said delivery jobs.

If all went to plan, I would have the start of a savings by the end of the week. Within a few months, I could breathe easier.

After that, well, I had plans.

To possibly get some sort of certificate to allow me to get a decent work-from-home job. Even if I continued to do gig work outside of that for extra cash, at least it would be a guaranteed paycheck. The security of that might allow my shoulders to stop being up by my ears all the time.

Hopefully afterthat, I could get us an actual apartment. Health insurance. A safety net for an easier future.

With any luck, by the time Lainey was going to school, she would be just like any of the other kids in her class.

Minus her father. But, well, there was nothing I could do about that.

Besides, I’d been raised by a single mother and hadn’t really known any hardship about it.

Until, of course, my mom was gone, and I was on my own.

“I’ll just have to live forever,” I told Lainey when my heart seized at the idea of her being alone without anyone to love her.

“Ugh,” I grumbled when my phone bleeped.

On the one hand, I wanted to sleep.

On the other, I knew that I probablywouldn’tsleep. Then I would spend all night kicking myself for not taking a job when I wasn’t getting any rest anyway.

I reached for my phone, checking my app, then quickly accepting the job when I saw the ‘predicted income’ amount for the order.

Sure, that wasn’t always accurate. But for the most part, it seemed to be close. And I damn sure couldn’t be turning down thirty-five dollars, no matter how tired I was.

I jumped up, carefully slipping Lainey into her pumpkin seat yet again, grabbing my bag, and rushing out of our room.