Everything would be fine. She bit into her sandwich. Lori would find out Stevie was type O, they’d get the hospital to redo the diabetes test and it would again be negative.
“I’ve got it, Beth, but I don’t understand it.”
Beth looked up as her friend entered the room. “What do you mean you don’t understand it?”
“Stevie’s blood type is AB-positive.”
Beth shook her head. “But that’s impossible. Lori, I told you, Steven and I both had O-type blood. I’m not a nurse, but even I know we couldn’t have a child with AB blood.”
What was going on? Beth had expected answers—not more questions.
“Are you sure yours is O?”
Beth slumped against the chair back. This was not the way it was supposed to turn out. She felt as if she had entered the twilight zone. She nodded. “Yes, Lori, I know without doubt mine is O and I know Steven’s was, too.” Her voice wavered. “He always thought it was so neat for us to have the same blood type, as if that made us closer or something.”
Lori sat in the nearest chair. “Tell me about the day Stevie was born. What went on at the hospital?”
“It was at night.” Beth closed her eyes remembering. “I went into labor at my parents’ house in Blue Springs. They rushed me to the hospital in Kansas City. She was born late that night—well, actually the next morning at twelve twenty-eight.”
“What was going on at the hospital?” Lori persisted. “Were you the only one giving birth?”
Beth shook her head. “No, there was a woman in the adjoining labor room. I remember hearing her screams, then sudden silence. I guess they gave her something. I really didn’t know. Except she died. I heard about it the next day. Her little girl was born within one minute of Stevie. Isn’t that strange?”
A look Beth couldn’t read crossed Lori’s face as she nodded. “Yes, very strange.” Then she asked, “What else, Beth? Surely there was more happening than just two births.”
“Yes, there was. I didn’t know about it then, but a freeway pile up brought so many injured into the hospital that every available doctor and nurse was called in to take care of them. The woman who died giving birth had been in the accident. I guess she was in pretty bad shape.” Beth gave a laugh without amusement. “I picked a bad time to have a baby.”
“You certainly did.” Lori looked away.
Beth turned to watch Stevie take a tiny bite of hamburger bun and then hold the sandwich toward her. “Mama eat.”
Beth tried to smile, but found the effort too hard. A tear slid from her eye. Without taking her gaze from the child she loved more than her own life, she spoke. “She isn’t mine, is she?”
Lori’s voice sounded as if it came from far away. “She’s yours, Beth. You’ve had her all her life.”
“Yes, but she isn’t the baby I gave birth to.” Beth’s breath caught in her throat as she choked out, “Lori, where is my baby?”
Chapter Two
Jonathan McDuff sat in his office at McDuff Family Law and read the letter three times before looking up. He reached for the phone and dialed his home number. On the second ring, his housekeeper picked up. “Hello.”
“Mrs. Garrett,” Jon’s voice carried a hint of steel. “Is Alexis all right?”
“Yes, of course, Mr. Jon. Lexie is fine.”
“Is she where you can see her?”
There was a pause on the other end. Mrs. Garrett’s voice sounded as if she thought Jon was the one who wasn’t all right. “Yes, Lexie is right here playing with her dolls.”
“Okay. Thanks.” Jon hung up and the tight band that had circled his chest the first time he read the letter eased a bit. He picked it up for a fourth reading.
Some woman in southern Missouri thought Lexie was her child. What kind of fruitcake was she? And what kind of law firm would buy such a story? He inspected the letter to determine if it was official and realized the embossed letterhead appeared to be as official as his own. He found the phone number for Brewster and Web Law Offices under their name in the letterhead.
Again, Jon reached for his phone, and punched in the number while he breathed a prayer for help in controlling his temper. After reaching the secretary, he spent several minutes listening to classical music before a male voice came on the line.
“Yes, this is Gary Web. How can I help you?”
“For starters you can tell me what kind of scam you and this—” He glanced at the letter on his desk. “—Mrs. Elizabeth Carter are trying to pull.”
“Ah, yes.” A touch of amusement sounded in Mr. Web’s voice. “You must be Jonathan McDuff. Am I correct?”
“Yes, I’m Jonathan McDuff, and I don’t appreciate this threat against my child.”
“Mr. McDuff, I understand my letter came as quite a shock, but I assure you there is no threat and no scam. According to the blood tests done at the hospital here in Bolivar, Missouri, the baby Mrs. Carter has been raising as her own cannot possibly be hers by birth.”
“So what makes you think I have anything to do with her problem?”
“According to the research I personally conducted, your wife gave birth on July 15, one and one-half years ago at the same hospital where Mrs. Carter’s baby was delivered, also on July 15, at twelve twenty-eight p.m., only one minute from the time your baby was delivered.”
He paused and, when Jon didn’t respond, continued. “If you will think about it, Mr. McDuff, I believe you’ll agree that your baby and Mrs. Carter’s baby may very well have been switched through an error that night. An error likely caused by the confusion of a freeway pile-up that brought more injured in than any hospital should have been expected to handle at one time.”
Familiar weight dropped into his chest at the mention of that night. Images he’d rather forget played in his mind. After Sharolyn’s death, his baby, Alexis Gayle McDuff, brought meaning back into his life that the sham of his marriage had taken. It was a miracle she’d lived through the wreck that twisted her mother’s car. Without Lexi, Jon didn’t know what he would have done. She was God’s gift of love to an undeserving man. And now some woman in a little town in southern Missouri wanted to take her away from him because of some crazy idea that Lexie was switched at birth with her baby? No, he didn’t think so.
“Of course, DNA testing will need to be done to prove the parentage of both little girls.” Gary Web’s voice penetrated his angry thoughts.
Jon frowned. This woman and her lawyer were crazy. Just because his baby was born in the same hospital as hers didn’t mean they were switched. No one would be taking Lexie from him. He shook his head and spoke into the phone. “No, I don’t think that’s necessary.”
“Mr. McDuff, we can get court-ordered testing if you refuse to cooperate in a voluntary manner.”
Jon sighed. “I’m sure you can. I also know I can take some time to think about this. To sort out what you’ve told me. I’ll get back with you.”
“Fine,” Mr. Web said. “If we don’t hear from you in two weeks, we will start proceedings to go to court.”
Jon didn’t give dignity to the threat by answering but hung his phone up and went in search of his father, the senior attorney at McDuff Family Law.
Ray McDuff was discussing a case with Jon’s sister, Cecelia, when Jon pushed through the door of his office.
“What’s the matter with you, little brother?” Cecelia asked. “You look like a thunder cloud about to burst.”
“Yeah, maybe I am.” Jon thrust the letter at his father but spoke to his sister. “I would say this is private, but since nothing in this family ever is, I might as well save my breath.”
“What an astute observation.” The pretty brunette smiled. “While Dad reads whatever that is, why don’t you tell the best attorney in our firm about it?”
Jon snorted. “That’s debatable.”
Cecelia laughed. “I’m ready any time you are. Of course you’d lose, you know.”
Jon shook his head, refusing to rise to his older
sister’s jibe. “Sorry, Celia, I think Dad better take this one.”
Cecelia’s eyes widened. “Oh, really? Then something really is wrong.”
“Yeah.” Jon turned his attention to his father as the older man lowered the letter.
“Have you ever had any suspicion, any question at all that Lexie might not be your child?”
Jon heard Cecelia’s gasp at their father’s question. Ignoring her, he shook his head. “None, and I still don’t. What are the odds this woman thinks she can get a tidy little sum with this scam?”
“How do you figure that?” Ray asked.
“What are you two talking about?” Cecelia reached for the letter and began reading.
Again Jon ignored her. “Look, Dad. If my marriage taught me nothing else, it taught me that maternal instinct does not always reach beyond the pocketbook. Why else would this woman all of a sudden after eighteen months decide I have her baby? Why not right there at the hospital after the babies were born?”
“Maybe she didn’t know until now. Maybe she really wants to see her baby.” Cecelia looked up from the letter. “Besides, have you considered that the baby she has may very well be your own flesh and blood?”
Jon gave a disgusted sound. He grabbed a picture off his father’s desk and thrust it at his sister. “Look at Lexie. What do you see about her that isn’t either McDuff or Allen?”
Cecelia frowned as she looked at the portrait of Alexis McDuff at age one. Finally, she shrugged. “I don’t know if you can tell for certain. Her coloring is like Sharolyn’s, but then that could also be said of a million other people. I always thought she had your smile, but I don’t know. I understand you don’t want her to belong to someone else, but how can you be sure?”
“Without the DNA test, you can’t.” Ray answered for Jon. “I think it would be in the best interest of everyone involved if you submit yourself and Alexis to this testing as soon as possible. Let’s get some answers based on fact rather than emotion.”
Jon met his father’s gaze. “It looks like I’ll be in need of an attorney. Are you willing to take the case?”
Ray nodded. “Of course, son. You know I will.”
“Fine.” Jon turned toward the door. “Now if you don’t mind, I think I’ll run home for a few minutes. Lexie was asleep when I left this morning.” He paused a second time. “Oh, and I’d appreciate your prayers.”
~*~
Jon pulled into his driveway and sat looking at his house. Built in the Tudor style, it was as different from the house he had shared with Sharolyn as he could find and still stay in a decent neighborhood. After her death, he couldn’t live in their house any longer. Everywhere he looked he saw her things, her decorating, her choice of color, everything that belonged to her, and it brought back all the ugliness in their lives. How could he have let his Christian faith slide so much to become unequally yoked with a woman who didn’t even pretend to be a Christian? He’d learned his lesson the hard way. Yet even the sham of their marriage had produced a beautiful little girl.
Jon smiled as he thought of Lexie. He left his car and went inside where he found his daughter busy in the family room with crayons and a coloring book. He peeked around the doorframe and put a finger to his lips so the housekeeper wouldn’t warn Lexie of his presence.
“Where’s Daddy’s girl?” He crouched down to look behind a chair. “Has anyone seen my girl?”
Lexie stiffened at the sound of his voice and turned with eyes wide. As soon as she saw him peering under the chair, calling her name, she put both hands over her mouth and giggled.
Jon glanced across the room at her, then settled his gaze on the housekeeper. “Mrs. Garrett, I seem to have lost Lexie. Do you have any idea where she’s gone?”
Mrs. Garrett’s short gray curls shook back and forth. “No, Mr. Jon. I don’t see her. But she was here just a minute ago.”
Lexie bounced and clapped her hands as they both looked under furniture and even in her coloring book, trying to find her. Her soft giggles were a balm to Jon’s troubled mind.
“Dadda, I here.” Her little voice finally called out.
He looked directly at her for the first time. “Here she is, Mrs. Garrett. I found my Lexie girl right in the middle of the room. Now how do you suppose we missed seeing her?”
The housekeeper moved toward the door as Jon grabbed his daughter, bringing more giggles to the surface. “I haven’t the slightest idea. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll let you spend a moment together.”
Jon scarcely noticed when Mrs. Garrett left the room. His attention was centered on his daughter. His by birth or his by mistake, it didn’t matter. Lexie was his alone. No woman had the right to say otherwise.
Then Cecelia’s words that morning sounded again in his mind. Have you considered that the baby she has may very well be your own flesh and blood?
He hugged Lexie, burying his nose in her clean, baby scent and wondered about the other baby. If she were truly his own child, she would be just as precious to him as Lexie. Something stirred in his heart toward the child he had never seen.
He leaned back and looked at Lexie. “How would you like to go visit the hospital so we can get some questions answered?”
Lexie’s large blue eyes brightened. “Go bye-bye.”
Jon laughed. “You’re always ready to go bye-bye, aren’t you? But not just yet. I think we’d better get an appointment first.”
~*~
A cold March wind blew a gale around Beth’s house as she followed Lori outside.
“Make sure Stevie’s blanket is over her face.” The warning she called to Lori was snatched away as soon as it left her mouth, but she saw her friend snuggle the baby closer and knew she had heard.
In the car, Beth turned up the heater while Lori fastened Stevie in her car seat. Lori climbed into the passenger side and shivered. “Brrr. I thought March was supposed to be warmer than this.”
Beth smiled. “It is warmer than this. The wind just makes it feel cold.”
Lori laughed. “I suppose there’s some truth in that. I just figure if I feel cold, it’s probably because it is cold.”
Beth knew Lori talked nonsense to help keep her mind off the one question that had been hounding her. What would happen to them all now the DNA test results had come back? Just today, Gary Web had called then run over to give her a copy of the lab reports. Stevie’s biological father was a man named Jonathan McDuff, who lived somewhere in the Kansas City area, and his baby was indeed her birth daughter.
She had thought knowing the results would give her a measure of peace. That knowing the truth would be cause for celebration, which was why she and Lori were going out to eat. But she hadn’t counted on the trickle of fear that continually chased her thoughts leaving uncertainty behind. How could she build a relationship with a nineteen-month-old child in a couple of hours a month or even a week? A year and a half of growth and development in the McDuff home would have made her baby a McDuff, and a few brief visits would never change that.
“Surely you’re not worrying now about your other baby.” Lori seemed to read her mind.
Beth pulled to a stop at Highway 13, waiting for the light to change in her favor. She flashed a glance toward her friend. “Why is it the things you’re most anxious to have take the longest to arrive?”
Lori shook her head. “I don’t know. We could rationalize that the problem is in our perception. We just think it takes longer because we want them so much. But in this case, you have the results. You know what you suspected is the truth. I would assume then you can’t wait to hold another little darling in your arms. Am I right?”
Beth caught her breath and nodded as she crossed the highway to the restaurant. She pulled into the parking lot and stopped her car before she spoke. “I’m anxious and scared, too, Lori. But the worse of it is the thought of going into court to reach an agreement acceptable with both of us. Do you realize how long that could take? I don’t know how much longer I can wait.”
/> ~*~
Three days later, Beth still hadn’t heard when her day in court would be. Each day seemed to stretch into forever as she waited for some word from her lawyer. Thursday afternoon was no exception as one by one her daycare children left for their own homes until only Debbie and her baby brother had yet to be picked up. The baby was fussy so Beth settled into the rocking chair to coax him to take some formula and a nap. Just as his eyes drifted shut, the doorbell rang.
Beth breathed a sigh of relief even as Debbie popped up from the floor where she’d been playing and said, “Mama.”
Beth loved the little ones, but by the end of the day, she was always ready for them to go home. When Debbie’s mother didn’t come in as she usually did after ringing the doorbell, Beth stood with the baby and went to the door. As she opened it, Debbie pushed past her and stopped short.
A stranger stood on her doorstep—a tall man in a hat and long coat who somehow made Beth think of the city and theaters and limousines. He looked very out of place on her humble front porch. Her arms instinctively tightened around the baby she held, and she guided Debbie to the side away from him. Debbie went back to the blocks she and Stevie had been stacking.
“Mrs. Carter?” The man had a nice sounding voice. “I’m Jonathan McDuff. I wonder if I may have a word with you?”
Beth’s hand tightened on the door. She wanted to close it in his face. “Excuse me?” In all her wildest imaginings, Beth could never have guessed Jonathan McDuff would be standing on her front porch. “Do you mean to tell me you are the Jonathan McDuff from Kansas City?”
He inclined his head. “Yes, the very same. Could I step inside? It’s been unseasonably cold all week. I’m letting your heat escape.”
Beth pulled the baby’s blanket closer around him. “May I see proof of your identity?”
The man pulled his billfold from his back pocket and flipped it open, revealing his driver’s license.
This Child Is Mine Page 2
