Beneath a Southern Sky - By Deborah Raney Page 0,109

save for a diaper that dwarfed her in spite of its miniature size. At Daria’s touch, the infant stretched slowly and her eyelids fluttered ever so slightly. Love for this child welled up within her, but sorrow welled up alongside it. The doctors were optimistic that she would grow and develop normally, but what would life hold for Nicole Hunter? Would she know the blessing of a mother and a father who loved each other and tucked her into bed together each night? Or would hers be a life of being shuttled from one home to the other, with secrets about her circumstances whispered everywhere she went? And what about Natalie? Oh, how Daria ached for her firstborn.

Natalie had not even met her baby sister yet. Daria’s parents had come to Kansas City to get Natalie when they heard that Daria had been admitted to the hospital. However, they hadn’t gone back to Bristol before hearing Vera Camfield’s protests. Though she felt mildly guilty about it, Daria had finally resorted to using her tenuous condition to persuade Vera to give up the fight and quietly allow Natalie to go back home. She was certain that Vera was afraid that Cole would have ready “access” to her granddaughter. With some reassuring from Jack and Nate, Vera had conceded that in the interest of Daria’s health and the baby’s, Daria’s wishes should be granted where Natalie was concerned.

As it turned out, Vera needn’t have worried about Cole—not regarding Natalie anyway—for even before Nicole’s birth, he had been staying in Kansas City with his college friend and lawyer, Dennis Chastain. He’d visited Daria every day until the baby’s birth, and now he went to the Neonatal ICU nursery with her several times each day, holding Nicole every chance he got. The tender mixture of joy and sadness Daria saw on his face every time he picked up his tiny daughter broke her heart.

Nathan hadn’t been to see Daria in the hospital since Nicole’s birth. Daria wondered if the pain of seeing her with another man’s child was too strong, too searing for him to ever forgive. Vera, however, had called to check on her several times. She never asked about the baby, but only inquired about Natalie and tried to find out when Daria would be released. She always made it a point to tell Daria what Nate was up to, going on and on about how well he was recovering and how anxious he was to “get settled.”

Her doctor had informed her early that morning that he would be discharging her the following day, but Nicole would need to remain in the Neonatal ICU at least an additional week. Of course Daria would remain in Kansas City until Nicole was discharged, but even if she’d desired to do so, her insurance wouldn’t allow her to remain a patient. Vera had offered her a place in their home. But even though she would only be there to sleep, she felt funny about staying at the Camfields’ with Nathan there. It didn’t seem fair to him, and it certainly didn’t seem fair to Cole. Finally she’d decided to get a room in a hotel near the hospital. She could walk the short distance to the hospital to nurse the baby several times a day.

To complicate matters, Daria’s father had fallen off a ladder and broken his collarbone, which meant that her mother had her hands full caring for him and Natalie. Margo would not be able to make the planned trip to Kansas City to be with Daria.

Daria still did not know what was going to happen with Nate and Cole. She had been too wrapped up in Nicole’s birth and her own rather tentative condition to think about the decisions that still loomed. Now she wanted to put the decision off as long as possible.

She reached into the radiant warmer bassinet and picked Nicole up, carrying her gingerly over to the large overstuffed chair that sat ready nearby. Already the baby felt sweetly familiar in her arms. And though Nicole was still featherlight, Daria imagined that she could feel the weight of a few added ounces. Barring any unforeseen complications, she would bring her daughter home from the hospital this time next week.

Home.

But where was home? And more important, who was home?

Cole and Daria sat side by side on a comfy sofa in the Neonatal ICU nursery. Little Nikki—as Cole had taken to calling her—lay on her mother’s lap, her wide eyes staring