Both women had been hired for the same reason and both were in desperate need of the money, if for different reasons. One needed the money because at seventeen, there weren't many jobs for single, Jewish girls who'd run off from home. The other, because she needed to get away from her boyfriend and to do that she needed money. The other perk of the job was that it offered food and board in a private institution for ten months. 

When they found out the details of the 'job' both were more than a little scandalized, but both were also desperate. It was a choice; agree to be artificially inseminated, agree to give up all claim to the resultant children or go back to where they came from. 

For Naomi, the promise of food alone was almost enough for her to agree. She hadn't eaten in three days. The prospect of going back to the street was not a pleasant one. For Madie, being cut off from the world, hidden from her boyfriend was enough. The addition of five thousand dollars only sweetened the pot. Naomi was eventually intimidated into also agreeing. 

The two girls were roommates at NuGenesis, going through the rigors, joys and sorrows of their pregnancies. Though they knew they wouldn't be allowed to keep the babies, the natural bond between mother and child grew anyway. The feel as the two babies started to move, to feel the new life growing inside of them made them regret their choice. When Naomi went into labor, she was whisked away only to be returned a day later, quiet and withdrawn. 

"They wouldn't even let me see him," was all Madie could get out of the new mother. Putting a hand protectively over her bulging stomach, Madie could only dread her own labor. That night, the pains came and she had a boy, only to have the baby whisked away. 

Both women would be allowed a month to recuperate before they would be given their money and sent on their way. During the first day, all they did was stare at the grey drab walls, not moving, not thinking. Naomi abruptly sat up.

"I'm not going to let this happen. It's not right."

"Naomi, there's nothing we can do. They watch us constantly, they're not going to let us anywhere near our boys." Madie pulled herself up and tried to comfort her friend, though failing miserably with her total lack of experience.

"I have to do something, I have to try." Naomi shrugged off the hesitant hand, her own clenched in white knuckled fists. "I can't let them take him away, he's special, I can feel it. I won't let them hurt him."

Naomi went over to the door that only opened for meal times and to allow the women out to see the doctor. She ran her hands along the smooth seam, her nails scraping at the lock. She soon resorted to pounding the door, her bare fists making no dent and her heal doing nothing but creating noise. 

The ache that had been eating at Madie, grew. She didn't think there was a part of her left that could care, but was quickly finding out differently. She quickly pulled Naomi away from the door.

"Naomi, just wait." She pulled her friend back, trying to get through the building hysteria.

"I can't..." Her eyes were brimming and it took Madie's rough shaking to get through to her. Sharp green eyes pierced through her, forcing Naomi to calm down.

"Trust me, just wait." Madie pulled her friend close, allowing the other's tears to soak the front of her shirt.

***

That night, as the lights switched off she went into action. They knew the rooms were monitored, but in the darkness, they wouldn't be able to see what was happening. The only light in the room was a thin crack coming from under the heavy door.

Madie reached under the mattress and pulled out a thin piece of metal. Ever since she was a teen living with her abusive father, she swore she would never be locked in a room again. She'd become quite adept at picking locks and no matter what the situation, she made sure she always had a way out. Now that particular piece of paranoia is coming in handy.

With Naomi still sleeping, she glanced up at the small camera lens in the corner and the heavy blanket draped over it. She'd done that before and knew the people monitoring them wouldn't notice the difference. After that final glance, she slipped out the door and down the hallway. She explored the hallways, taking the only unfamiliar direction open to her. It didn't take her long to find a series of offices, where she could hopefully find something useful.

A quick search initially revealed little. She searched through the filing cabinets, finding the paperwork for both her and Naomi. She took the files along with the few dollars she'd so far found. It wasn't until she got to the end of the hallway that she struck pay dirt. It seemed to be the office of the boss, and in it was a small safe.

Whoever owned the safe must have been trying to save money, since the lock was almost jokingly easy to crack.. It took her a little while, but she soon had it open and rifled through the contents.. There was a stack of money that she grabbed, a long with the eight red files. She only hesitated a moment over the gun hidden inside before she picking that up as well. All this was quickly added to the other things she'd found, and stashed in a bag along.

She crept back down the hallway and searched some more, but in her limited time and with growing unease, she wasn't able to find anything else. She couldn't even find a clue as to where the nursery would be found. With a heavy heart she returned to their room and placed a quiet hand over Naomi's mouth.

The young redhead woke up immediately with a tearful look in her eyes. Madie didn't have to even explain. Naomi quickly dressed and followed the other mother out the door. When Madie turned down the hall, to where they had first come in many months before, Naomi stopped her and led her to a plain door, almost hidden in the shadows. It didn't take Madie more than a second to open the lock. Now Naomi took the lead, following something that Madie couldn't trace. But soon, a faint wail caused her heart to beat triple time.

Standing just outside a glass window, they caught a glimpse, of the woman sitting in a rocking chair, trying to calm the screeching baby. Naomi knew without even thinking about it that that was her little boy. There were two other young babies in the room. And Madie had reached her breaking point. Enough was enough..

She grasped the cold steal of the automatic and scanned the walls looking for one of the cameras that had been present in their room. Spying the round lens in a corner, she got an evil grin on her face.

Opening the door, Madie quickly took the camera out with one shot, and then pointed the gun at the head of the nurse. The woman had been in the process of getting up, but didn't have a chance to do more than begin to rise when she froze in response.  Naomi rushed forward, eager to comfort her son, but ended up coming between the nurse and the gun. That was all that was needed for the nurse to respond.

She bolted up from the chair and dived down, clutching the boy, but not caring too much about his welfare. Madie cursed and dashed around, trying to avoid the three small bassinets and find the damn nurse. Naomi followed the retreating form and soon caught the young woman by her ankle.

In a quick flurry, Madie was surprised to find Naomi digging her finders into the arms of the nurse, whispering in something that sounded suspiciously like the growl of a large cat. The nurse paled and released the precious bundle and promptly fainted. Madie blinked in surprise before quickly jamming the gun back in the bag and rushing to the bassinets. Looking at the two babies, her heart broke as she realized she couldn't tell which of the four-day-old babies was hers.

Finally, eyes opened and she was shocked to see a pair of eyes open, with hints of green hidden within the drab blue depths, and for the first items she understood Naomi's desperation. She picked up her son, looking at the baby left behind, wishing she could take the child with her, but unable to think of how to manage the task of caring for the two babies, let alone three. It would be hard enough trying to get out as it was.

With her son back asleep in her arms, she glanced at Naomi with gratitude shining. It didn't take them long to stuff a few diapers, some of the simple white sleepers and other essentials lying around into the bag and rushed out to make their escape.

***

It had taken a while but finally, Madie was feeling safe. She and Naomi were in a rundown motel room, some of the hoarded stash of money reluctantly doled out for the luxury, but the need for sleep outweighed the need to save money. 

Madie had fallen back on skills learned while she and a boyfriend her father didn't even know about, had run wild. He was also the guy who taught her to break into the safe. Naomi had watched with wide eyes as Madie had hotwired the different cars and looked the other way as Madie shoplifted the things they couldn't afford.

They had sped across the country, crossing the border into Mexico for a quick stop to pick up new ID's and enough other paperwork to help them avoid detection. She hoped. Then it was back across the border, and heading into the Deep South. Madie had friends there who could help her out and Naomi seemed content to go anywhere that wasn't NuGenesis.

Finally they had stopped in this small motel in the less then upper class section of Atlanta, and allowed themselves the luxury of both of them sleeping at the same time. At least until the two little boys got hungry and demanded to be fed. That was far too often. Some how the two inexperienced mothers were muddling their way through.

Now, Madie was sitting in the green recliner, watching her little boy as he slept bundled up safely in the well-padded drawer. How Naomi came up with that idea was beyond her, but Naomi was the one who kept her sanity at three in the morning as both boys cried, needing to be changed and fed. She had a way with children that amazed the older and more worldly Madie. Hell, she hadn't even been able to come up with a name for her boy, unable to find one that seemed to fit the stubborn pride already glowing in eyes now more green than blue.

She didn't want to saddle the poor child with something horrid. She hated her name and the way her father's southern drawl dragged out the single syllable. Maude. Who in heavens name would name their child Maude? Her parents, that's who. She'd been insisting on Madie since she started school.

She sat back, rubbing her sore eyes and wondering why she was sitting in this chair, watching the babies sleep instead of getting some rest herself. She just didn't want to drag herself away, content to watch the gentle movements as the little boy sighed in his sleep. He was precious. He helped her feel something again.

She'd cut herself off from everyone, willing to interact, but not willing to open herself up to people, just so they could hurt her. Or so she could hurt them. Her father would beat her senseless for years before she ran off and she went to any man who could teach her some of what she felt she needed to survive. She'd learn what she could from each of them and then move on. When she could steal, or con enough to live on her own, she dropped men like a lead weight. Until one of her boyfriends caught up to her. That was a bad time; he was too much like her father. It took her a while to leave him behind and she ran till she found NuGenesis.

But that didn't matter. All that mattered was keeping her son safe and out of danger. He was a strong little boy. He needed a strong name. Her eye caught a glimpse of the bible on top of the bureau. It got left there after they emptied the drawers to make the kids' beds.

Out of curiosity, she picked it up, pausing on the story of the Jews fleeing Egypt.

     And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes,
     and behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid:
     and the children of Israel cried out unto the Lord.

Yeah, she knew what that felt like. There had been a close call, but it had turned out to be false alarm. As far as she could tell, they had managed to get away clean. And she was not naming any son of hers Moses. That was like plastering a kick me sign on the poor kid. She paged on some more, coming on to the Psalms. She passed through those quickly, images of her father sitting and reading those out loud on Sunday, giving her the shivers.

Jeremiah? She could shorten it to Jerry. That just didn't sit right with her though. Habakkuk? Never. Matthew? Too normal. Jude? Yeah right. She started paging back to the beginning, the words golden and silver, jumping out at her. They were talking about building the house of God. She was about to flip the page, when the name at the top caught her eye.  

Ezra. It had a ring to it. Ezzie, Ez. Couldn't exactly shorten it much and truth be told, she liked the way the whole name sounded. Ezra. She actually liked that.

She looked at her little boy, surprised to see him looking at her, his eyes wide as he looked at her in the solemn way newborns seem to have. He looked at her, blinked a few times, each time his eyes stayed closed a few moments more until they didn't open again.

"I guess that means you like it too." Her soft drawl broke the silence. "Ezra it is then."

She really did like the way it sounded, her mind musing over it as her own eyes blinked a few times, and slowly closed. It had been a long week since they had fled the clinic. She'd just close her eyes for a minute and then go to bed. Only for a minute.

Maude drifted off to sleep, feeling safe for the first time in a long time.