Declan

by Chris Keniston

  "She'll be pissed." Becky knew her other best friend very well. Always the Lucy Ricardo character egging Kelly and Becky into all sorts of trouble, Grace also leaned toward running the show. A reason why law school was a great fit for her, even if she claimed the only reason she'd chosen it after college was because a JD was the fastest way to a doctorate salary.

  The way DJ looked at her, she wasn't sure if he was reconsidering the brother's decision or if maybe she'd put her blouse on backwards this morning. "You always did have my sister's back," he finally said. "We'll just have to deal with Grace when the time comes."

  "You do know I talk to her all the time? Kelly too? She's going to find out the baby."

  DJ winced. "Of course, you're right, but I'm not dealing with speaker phones or chat time tonight. Let's figure out where we stand and then we can bring sis in."

  All Becky could do was nod. Regardless of the outcome of the family gathering, there was little Grace could do about anything hundreds of miles away in Dallas. "My apartment is almost ready for company."

  "About that." DJ put the car in gear and backed out of the space. "I've been thinking—"

  "Stop." She cut him off, shaking her head.

  Turning the car onto Main Street he glanced in her direction.

  "Don't say it."

  DJ lifted a questioning brow.

  "We're not passing this baby off to someone else." Angling herself to face DJ, she leaned against the door and crossed her arms. "Tell me one thing."

  Returning his attention to the road, DJ nodded.

  "If this weren't Ethan's baby—"

  "Alleged baby," DJ corrected.

  "Fine. Alleged baby. Would you try to find a different foster parent?" She watched DJ's lips press tightly together and his jaw muscles tighten. She also saw the moment he'd made up his own mind.

  "No," was all he said.

  "I thought not. No matter what you or anyone else in this town thinks, I'm perfectly capable of taking care of anyone's baby."

  "That was never the problem." DJ reached the point where he'd have to continue to his place or turn for hers. Glancing at the rear view mirror, he stopped in the middle of the street and faced her. "Towns talk."

  "Tell me something I don't know."

  "If you don't want people carrying on about your feelings for Ethan—"

  "Alleged feelings," she corrected and was glad to see that bring a smile to DJ's face. She knew damn well how she felt about Ethan, but that didn't mean she hadn't spent most of her life convincing the town otherwise.

  "Alleged feelings, then it might be best for us to figure out another solution. If I wait to report—"

  "Don't go there." Becky held her hand up at DJ, palm out. "First, you're a respected and fair man, Declan James Farraday. Don't start breaking the rules now because of me."

  "It's not—"

  "And second," she said over him. "You don't think not letting me care for this child isn't going to make the town talk? Surely you didn’t move away for so long that you could have forgotten everything is everyone's business in this town and if it isn't, they'll find a way to make it so. Heck, if they could, they'd make me the mother."

  DJ swallowed a smile. "I suppose it’s a good thing you haven't put on any weight lately."

  "See." She uncrossed her arms and turned forward. "Take us home."

  Chapter Three

  It had taken only a few minutes to redirect everyone to Becky's new apartment instead of to Brooks and Toni's house. Becky made sense. There would be no protecting her from gossip no matter how the situation was handled. The first thing he unloaded was the travel crib. "Where do you want this?"

  "I suppose in my room." Becky set the infant carrier on the floor and led the way.

  Up until about the time Adam and Meg married, Becky had been living with her grandmother Dorothy. It had taken a few weeks of battling not only her grandmother, but the entire Tuckers Bluff Ladies Afternoon Social Club to get the stamp of approval on moving into her own apartment. The final acquiescence came when Adam chimed in how helpful it would be having someone he trusted living over his animal clinic now that he'd move into Meg's remodeled Victorian. Of course the discounted rental rate hadn't hurt her case any.

  Becky ran ahead and pushed an old rocker aside to make space in the corner of her room. "Right here will be good. I'll get a knife to open the box."

  "No need." DJ pulled a Swiss Army knife from his pocket and sliced the tape open then dumped the contents out of the box. Becky reached in front of him and, squatting, unzipped the case surrounding the folded contraption. Her pants tightened nicely around her backside and DJ found himself taking a mental step back.

  "This is really easy." She tossed the outer case aside and, pushing herself upright, spread open the one-piece crib.

  "Interesting." Despite the ladies assuring him at Sisters that this brand was the simplest on the market, DJ had expected the some-assembly-required rule of projects-from-hell to come into play.

  "Easy peasy." She smiled up at him, bending over and pressing down on the middle, once again displaying a surprisingly well rounded bottom.

  The hospital scrubs that Becky always wore for work gave no inkling of the figure hidden underneath. As a matter of fact, her normal attire tended toward baggy sweatshirts over blue jeans, denim pants standard for anyone in ranch country. More than once through the years, he'd caught a snippet of conversation between his sister and her friends where Becky would bemoan having the shape of a teenage boy. Right about now DJ would be willing to testify on a stack of bibles in any court of law that not a thing about her backside resembled any teenage boy he'd ever known.

  "All we have to do now," Becky said as she snapped an overlapping side into place, "is make sure these are secure."

  "Let me." Grateful for something to do with his hands, DJ took over securing the snaps. Even if Becky hadn't loved his brother for most of her life, the thoughts suddenly running through his mind were totally and completely inappropriate. Becky was one of his sister's best friends. His baby sister.

  "Great." Spinning about, she grabbed another section of crib still in the case. "Now we add this."

  "Okay." He nodded, redirecting his thoughts to the project at hand. "Now this is making more sense."

  Together they snapped another higher section in place, inserted support rods and finally added a padded section to give the baby more comfort.

  "We don't want the padding too soft." Becky stepped back and, smiling, gave the newly assembled infant bed a nod of approval. "We done good."

  Her arm shot out and DJ instinctively grabbed hold to shake. The soft hand felt so unexpectedly fragile in his that he almost withdrew his hand. When she pumped his arm once and pulled away, he lingered somewhere between relief and regret at the loss.

  "Okay." She rubbed her hands at her sides and looked around the room. "I'd better get Brittany."

  "Yes. Right." On her heels, DJ glanced around as he crossed the small room, his eyes falling on the large bed in the center piled high with pillows and framed with an old brass headboard. His mind instantly shot places it had no business going. Little sister's best friend, he reminded himself, and then he decided as soon as this baby business was over he was taking a day off and going to Butler Springs. It was way past time he let off a little steam.

  In the middle of the living room, Becky bent over to lift Brittany from the carrier.

  Okay—a lot of steam.

  ***

  Even though Becky wasn't part of the family, every Farraday brother in the room insisted she stay and participate in the conversation.

  "So what do you think?" Adam held the birth certificate in his hand. "Does this ring legit, or is she just looking for an easy mark to take on her kid?"

  "No clue." DJ hefted a tired shoulder. "Didn't see her."

  "Doesn't matter, you can't judge a book by it's cover," Toni chimed in, squeezing Brooks’ hand. "Or in this case, a mother, had you seen her."

  "D
oesn't strike me that we need much to conclude whoever she is, she's a lousy mother." Meg leaned back against her husband Adam. "Really lousy mother."

  "Not sure I agree." Brooks set the note he'd been reading down on the table in front of him. "I've seen a lot of women who shouldn't take care of their own kids, didn't want to take care of their own kids, but did. The results were pretty grim. If this woman, whoever she is, left the baby with a caring family, that may be the most praiseworthy thing she could have done."

  Becky didn't like the look that had washed over Brooks' face. Tucker Falls was no Garden of Eden, lots of bad stuff happened to good people, but she was pretty sure nothing compared to the ugly things coming through the ER of a big city hospital. And she suspected all of them had just flashed before Brooks' eyes.

  "What's it going to take to know the truth?" Connor asked. Rather than ask Aunt Eileen to baby-sit Stacey and risk her asking too many questions, he and Catherine decided she'd stay home. The way he looked at his brother's and their wives, Becky got the feeling he missed having Catherine at his side. Funny how quickly a man could change once he met the right woman.

  Meanwhile, Finn, the youngest brother who'd ridden into town with Connor, hadn't said a word the entire time. He'd read the note and the birth certificate and then passed it on to the next brother beside him. He'd listened to the comments and questions and hadn't made a single gesture or sound to give an impression of what he thought.

  The scene before her almost had Becky laughing. All the brothers, ranging somewhere between six foot and six foot four, were imposing figures. The strong Farraday genes had taken root in every one of them. There would be no denying these men were related. And though Adam was the eldest and Finn the youngest, for some time now his words seemed to always be the deciding factor. She had a feeling this wasn't going to be any different.

  "If we let the county handle the DNA evidence," DJ said, "it could take six weeks. Or more."

  Adam winced, Brooks nodded, Connor shook his head and Finn merely took the information in.

  "We could go private," Brooks added.

  DJ nodded. "We could. But unlike TV where DNA results are in by morning, even if we use a private lab they'll need days, and the good ones that can do it in days are backlogged."

  "Agreed," Brooks sighed. "But even if it takes one week, that's better than months."

  Finn looked to his brother, the police chief. "Have you reached out to Ethan?"

  The four other brothers snapped around to face him. Clearly the collection of blank expressions meant that the thought hadn't occurred to any of them. With a nod, Finn pulled out his phone, swiped at his screen, ran his finger across it and slid it back into his pocket.

  "He mentioned something at the wedding about being out of touch soon." Brooks looked to Finn.

  "I remember," Finn said in his normally soft tone, "but still, the best person to let us know if he was anywhere near this woman eleven months ago would be Ethan."

  All heads bobbed.

  "It might be really early wherever he is," Meg contributed.

  Adam shrugged and smiled. "It's not like the Marine Corps sleeps in."

  Meg chuckled. "No. I suppose not."

  "Definitely not." Both former marines, Connor and DJ echoed.

  "Which brings us back full circle." DJ leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees. "State laws have to be followed. I have to report the abandoned infant and the only way to keep control of the situation is to place her with an emergency care certified foster parent here in town."

  Becky raised her hand and wiggled her fingers. "That would be me."

  "Really?" Meg said, then quickly covered her mouth with her hand. "Sorry, just—"

  "Don't worry about it," Becky cut her off. One of the downsides of looking like she was still a teen was that some people had a hard time believing she could do an adult's job. The bright side, she kept telling herself, would come in about thirty years if she still looked half her age. "I'll get even at forty."

  Meg chuckled, a few others smiled, and DJ went back to the conversation. "Becky has changed residence since she was certified but the idea is that an emergency parent is ready at the drop of a hat to take in a child and, as you can see, we've made her ready. I do think it sucks that we have to impose on her or anyone else for Farraday business—"

  "If it's Farraday business," Adam interrupted.

  "Exactly," DJ continued, "and that's our dilemma."

  "Can't we just take the baby to the ranch and tell the county she's with Becky?" Toni asked. "I mean, if the problem is you want the baby at the ranch."

  "I'm not so sure I do." DJ leaned forward, and a little like a choreographed scene from the musical their mother had loved enough to name them after, the other brothers inched forward also. "I don't even think I want to tell Dad and Aunt Eileen until we know for sure."

  "She'll skin our hides for keeping this a secret." Connor pushed back in his seat again. "Twice."

  DJ nodded. "Agreed, but do you really want her fussing over a new baby and then have to give it back?"

  "So you think this woman is lying?" Adam leaned back this time.

  "That's not the point." Brooks sighed. "Aunt Eileen will also start stewing over how many other Farraday grandbabies has Ethan been sprouting that we don't know about until the possibilities drive her crazy with worry."

  "Exactly," DJ said. "Besides, we don't need the county paying a surprise visit and finding the baby not with Becky."

  "What can they do?" Connor asked.

  Finn leaned forward. "Doesn't matter. We do this the right way. Becky keeps the baby." He dipped his chin in her direction. "Thank you."

  She smiled back at him. Such a nice guy.

  "But we need to make other arrangements as well," Finn continued. "Babies need a lot of attention and care and Becky has a full-time job. One that requires her getting some sleep at night."

  So enamored with the little baby, Ethan's baby, she hadn't given much thought to how different caring for an infant would be from caring for her distant cousin. "I suppose I could move back to Gran's for a while." Though she really, really didn't want to do that, she also had to be practical.

  "We're not going to chase you out of your home." Adam was the first to shake his head, then he glanced at Meg and she shrugged. "Are you opposed to letting one of us sack out on the sofa?"

  "Well," she glanced at her secondhand sofa. Though comfortable for her, she couldn't picture it holding Adam's or Brooks' over six-foot frame. But again, she knew it would be better taking turns at night if anyone was going to get any real rest. "I suppose that will be fine."

  Brooks and Toni exchanged a round of silent communication and Becky felt like she was waiting to see who drew the short straw. Who would have to upheave their lives to help her with the baby. A big part of her wanted to say don't bother, she'd be fine, but the truth was, she had no idea how well she would handle single motherhood.

  "I happen to have an in with Becky's boss," Meg smiled. "Nice fellow. I think it's safe to say the baby can stay at the clinic during the day. This will make it easy for everyone to chip in. I don't really have to stick around the B&B once breakfast is over."

  "Of course you do," Toni spoke up. "You don't want guests roaming about without a homeowner."

  Meg shook her head. "I've only got that one couple and they're out all day long antique scavenging."

  "I think the point is that we're all willing to help," Finn chimed in. "Though frankly, if this isn't resolved quickly, it's going to be hard for me to get away from the ranch without Aunt Eileen and Dad asking a lot of questions."

  "Ditto," Connor said.

  "Meg is right." Adam winked at his wife. "The baby can come to work. That won't be a problem and we can cover for you in the morning if you need some extra sleep. But Connor and Finn bunking out won't work at all."

  Becky bobbed her head. This was starting to get a bit more complicated than she'd first considered. The only corner not heard
from was DJ. He'd sat rather quietly. His gaze darted over to the bedroom door where the baby slept, the silence broken by tiny sounds signaling she wouldn't be sleeping for long. He looked around to Becky. "I was only six when Grace was born, but I remember finding Aunt Eileen in the hall late at night, and looking dead to the world most of the day."

  “Dad was having a hard time, he wasn't much help the first few months," Adam said.

  DJ's gaze shifted to the room where the tiny cry had grown stronger. "She's going to be waking up every few hours, isn't she?"

  "That's how it's supposed to work. Feed, change, and back to sleep." Becky shifted a little closer to the door, eager to cradle the bundle again, but knowing the longer Brittany slept between feedings the better for everyone.

  "You're going to need help when she starts screaming at two in the morning." DJ wasn't asking.

  "She might sleep through the night." And pigs might fly.

  "No." DJ shook his head and stood. "Until paternity can be conclusively determined to the satisfaction of the county, looks like you've got yourself a roommate."

  Chapter Four

  What the hell had DJ gotten himself into? Over the next short while, the family got totally distracted passing the now wide-awake and very hungry baby around. Meg felt certain she had the strong Farraday chin. Toni agreed the blue eyes resembled any one of the brothers, which made each of them, married or single, squirm just a bit.

  While everyone pretended having a baby around was no big deal, nothing out of the ordinary, DJ took advantage to make a run to his place for a change of clothes and some sleeping gear. As much as Becky might appreciate the help in the middle of the night, he didn't think she'd want him running around in his boxers. An overnight bag packed and ready to go with a few necessities, he put in a quick call to his oldest brother.