Contents
February 1982
Overview
Margaret Jean becomes a nun after the abandoned-baby incident but conceals her role when the birth mother, Valerie, appears. To ease guilt and seek redemption, Margaret invents a vision assuring the child’s safety and offers to finance Valerie’s housing and education. Their monthly pact begins, reshaping both women’s futures.
Summary
After witnessing a man claim the baby left on St. Monica’s steps, Margaret Jean spends a sleepless night and resolves to change. At dawn she petitions to join the order; acceptance brings a rush of relief and a mission of redemption that contrasts with her past cons.
Weeks later, now Sister Margaret Jean, she learns a young woman is searching for the abandoned baby. She denies hearing anything that night, then follows the woman—Valerie Mann—to a café, torn between guilt and the urge to help while protecting herself from exposure.
Over breakfast, Sister Margaret Jean fabricates a “vision,” assuring Valerie the child is safe and loved by a family who viewed her as a miracle. Valerie, grieving and terrified of legal consequences, confesses she left her newborn, whom she named Julia, hoping to secure a better future for them both.
Moved and ashamed, Sister Margaret Jean offers concrete support: find an apartment, return with proof, and she will pay the rent. She promises ongoing guidance so Valerie can finish high school and pursue her dream of becoming a lawyer.
They agree to meet on the first of each month, beginning a clandestine arrangement born of Margaret’s deception and desire for atonement, and Valerie’s determination to reclaim her life.
Who Appears
- Sister Margaret Jean (Margaret Jean)Becomes a nun seeking redemption; lies about a “vision,” reassures Valerie, and offers to fund her housing and schooling.
- Valerie MannYoung mother who left her baby at the church; regrets it, fears legal trouble, accepts Margaret’s support to rebuild.
- Man with the shiny shoesClaims the abandoned baby on the church steps the night she is found, catalyzing Margaret’s transformation.