"I'll start the coffee," Doug said. Carol nodded gratefully. She looked down at the sleeping infant and her heart contracted painfully. To think that his mother had been willing to toss him in a Dumpster like a piece of garbage! How anyone could even imagine such a thing was beyond her comprehension.
"He doesn't have any clothes," Alix said. "I washed him off and wrapped him in the blanket but I didn't have a diaper."
"I'll dress him," Carol said. This seemed more like a dream than reality. She carried him into the nursery, placing him on the dresser and carefully removing the blanket. With one hand on the infant, she reached down for a disposable diaper.
That very morning, in just a few hours, she was supposed to empty these drawers so the department store could take everything away. Thank God that hadn't happened yet! She gently cleaned his bottom and secured the diaper. The tiny T-shirt came next. When she'd finished, she bundled him in the thick, soft folds of a flannel receiving blanket.
He made a small mewling sound and she picked up a baby bottle, clean and sterilized, ready for formula. She dared not allow herself to think this was her child, her son. Alix had come to her for help and Carol was the logical person to contact.
"Exactly how old is he?" she asked when she returned to the living room.
Alix glanced at her wrist, but apparently hadn't remembered to put on her watch. "About an hour."
"How'd you get here?"
"Jordan. He dropped me off, and now he's on his way back to the apartment to take Laurel to the hospital."
With Alix following her, Carol joined Doug in the kitchen, and they waited for the coffee to drip into the pot. "He needs to be fed," Carol announced as though she were an authority on the subject of newborns. Without asking, she handed the baby to Doug, then found a can of formula in one of the cupboards.
She filled the four-ounce bottle and set it inside the microwave just long enough to warm it. After shaking the formula on her wrist to test the temperature, she picked up the baby. He took immediately to the nipple, nestling in her arms as if...as if she was his mother.
"Okay. Time to talk," Doug said. He gestured Carol and Alix into the living room and carried in the coffee tray. Carol sat in the recliner, touching the baby's tiny wisps of hair. She almost burst into tears when the infant wrapped his hand around her little finger. He's mine, she wanted to cry out. She felt both a profound, soul-deep satisfaction - and greater fear than she'd ever experienced.
"I brought him into the world," Alix said proudly. "Laurel doesn't want him and I told her I knew someone who'd love him." She paused, clearly waiting for Carol to respond.
"This can't be legal," Doug said, answering for her, sounding uncertain and confused. "I've never heard of anything like this...."
"You have the baby, don't you?" Alix said. "He's yours now."
"I know, but..."
"She signed a paper saying she didn't want him." For the first time, Alix looked unsure of what she'd done. "I thought you'd want him."
"I do," Carol cried. Doug had concerns and so did she, but this baby filled her arms, filled the emptiness inside her. God help her, she wasn't letting him go! She refused to give in to the fear that she might lose this child, too. "Doug?" She turned to her husband, her eyes entreating him to do whatever was necessary.
Doug leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and his chin on his hands.
"Do you want this baby or not?" Carol demanded. "Because I do. I'll take him, no questions asked. I'll love him, I'll raise him, but I need to know that you will, too."
Her husband met her eyes, and Carol saw his apprehension. "I don't know if we'll be able to keep him, Carol. Like I said, this can't be legal. A woman can't just give her baby to complete strangers."
Carol didn't care what it cost, what sacrifices were required, she was willing to fight to make this child her own. Just when she'd given up all hope, a miracle had happened. She was going to accept that miracle, whatever it took.
"First thing we do is talk to an attorney." It was clear that Doug had reached a decision. "As Alix said, with Laurel in the hospital, the police will be notified. We have to make it look