Christmas Babies (14 page)

He tasted it. “Dee-lee-cious.” He
poured the red bubbling mix into the glasses set on a silver tray.

The lady chuckled smugly. “I did
my part. You do yours.” She gave him a knowing look. “Have fun. And don’t
forget to pass the drinks around.”

“I will,” he promised. Too many
questions floated in his future. Too many goals he needed to sort out. “Tomorrow,”
he muttered under his breath. He swallowed a glass of punch and refilled his
glass. Tomorrow, he’d explain to Madelyn that her friendship concept had failed
big time. He wanted commitment, a promise that his feelings wouldn’t be smashed
again.

The hors d’oeuvres wet everyone’s
appetite. Soon, Barbara asked Madelyn and Nick to bring out the pans of
cannelloni, veal
marsala
, eggplant
parmegian,
green beans, sweet
potato, and the turkey cooked to perfection.

 They ate and drank, opened
presents and hugged. And cuddled the babies during the whole party. Madelyn and
Barbara loved their presents, the Macy’s pictures he’d put in silver frames,
and he admired the leather wallet Madelyn gave him.

“Open the big boxes, Nick,” the
ladies shouted. “Open them.”

He didn’t understand their
giggles and eager urging, but he obeyed and unwrapped a dozen colorful knitted
blankets. “We made them for Anne Lee Meyer and her companions.”

“For my mother?” He blinked to
suppress an unmanly display of emotion. “I don’t know how to thank you.” He
hugged them one by one and promised that he and Madelyn would deliver the
pretty afghans before the end of the year.

Content to be held by one pair of
arms after another and cooed to by smiling ladies, the little angels behaved
themselves and didn’t utter a single wail. They sucked on their milk while
playing with the green and red ribbons Barbara had wrapped around their
bottles.

By six o’clock, the ladies helped
clear the table and left. Barbara went to change into a traveling pantsuit.

“It’s was a perfect Christmas
party. But everything comes to an end. I have to leave now.”

“A perfect Christmas,” Madelyn
echoed.

“The best of my life.” Nick
shifted his gaze from the sparkling tree, to the two women hugging and
sniffling, to the babies that meant family now.

“Mom, thank you so much for
coming.” Madelyn handed her mother her coat and bag.

“We need to go, Barbara, if you
don’t want to miss your plane.” He’d offered to drive her to the airport while
Madelyn relaxed with her babies.

True to herself until the last
minute, Barbara smothered him with advice on how to handle her stubborn
daughter. He gritted his teeth and patiently nodded while trying to concentrate
on the road.

Although Nick admitted to himself
he’d enjoyed the mess, noise, and chaos the babies and their many foster
grandmothers had brought to his life. It was almost like having a family and an
extended Italian family.

Tomorrow was another day.
Tomorrow Madelyn’s condo would return to a quieter environment, and Nick would
ponder his future, and theirs too.

****

The phone ring pulled Madelyn out
of her slumber. Still half asleep, she patted the night table for her cell.

“Dr. Ramsay, this is Louisa
Mantay. How are the babies doing?”

“Great. They’re getting bigger
and prettier. Simply adorable.”

“Wonderful. Can I come to see them?”

Madelyn glanced at the digital
clock. Good God, it was already 9:10 am. The twins started fretting. “Sure.
Anytime.”

“In an hour. Will you be at
work?”

“I’m off today and staying with
my babies.”

“I have good news to share,” the
woman said with a satisfied tone.

Madelyn’s fingers clenched the
phone. “Ah. Tell me.”

“As soon as I arrive.” The line
cut.

Madelyn stared at the phone, her
pulse erratic. Why was she so anxious? The CPS social worker would probably
tell her she appreciated the care given to the babies. She might even announce
Madelyn could keep them another three months.

Determined to be positive, she
slipped out of bed, showered, and got dressed. Celia wailed and Liana echoed.
“Your turn, girls.” She cleaned them and dressed them in pink today.

“Breakfast is coming.” She put
the warm bottles on her night table and laid the babies in the middle of her
bed. After climbing back in bed, she raised the pillows against the board,
nestled Celia against her left side and gave her a bottle, then reached for
Liana. Both babies comfortably secured in her arms sucked with amazing energy.

Madelyn chuckled at their
slurping noises. “Next week, I’ll give you an official checkup and I’ll record
the data for Louisa.” Not that they needed any more checkups. Madelyn had
weighed them every other day, listened to their hearts, lungs, and bellies with
her stethoscope when she changed them at night, and peered into their throats
for any sign of infection.

“You are the healthiest babies in
the world, sweetie pies.” When they finished burping, she settled them in the
stroller. “Now, you’ll stay with Mommy while she has breakfast and takes her
pills.”

Before Madelyn had time to brew a
cup of coffee, the door bell chimed announcing their visitor. “Come in, Ms.
Mantay. Would you like a cup of coffee?”

“Nothing, thank you. Did your
mother leave?”

“Yes, last night.”

“How are you handling both babies
on your own?”

Annoyed at the patronizing tone,
Madelyn frowned. “Perfectly well. Why wouldn’t I?”

The social worker surveyed the
living room. It was neat and bright. Thank God, Nick had helped when he
returned from the airport. Together, they’d tidied the place and stowed the
china and silver in the kitchen cabinets.

Louisa bent over the stroller to
peer at the babies. “Here are the Willis babies.” Madelyn gasped at the
appellation but gritted her teeth. “They sure look healthy. Good.” She turned
toward Madelyn, and looked her straight in the eyes. “I have good news that
will make you as happy as I am for these orphans. We have a family that wants
to adopt both of them.”

Madelyn’s throat constricted and
her vision blurred. “Ad...adopt them?”

“Yes. They are ready to take them
as of February 1st.”

A bullet fired at her wouldn’t
have hurt as much. Louisa wanted to take
her
babies. Give her little
angels to unknown people. No way. Madelyn blinked several times to suppress her
tears and stepped in front of the stroller to protect her children. Unable to
think clearly, she blurted, “But my contract is till the end of March.”

“Dr. Ramsay, this form I filled
wasn’t an official contract. You didn’t accept money. It was just a volunteer service
on your part.”

Of all the unfairness in the
world, she was penalized because she didn’t want to take money from the agency.
She wouldn’t cry, wouldn’t collapse now. She’d fight to protect
her
babies, the angels she loved so much.

Anger simmered and burst in her
chest. “What type of people are these? I’m not giving
my
babies to some
couple who can’t take good care of them.”

Her lips pinched, Louisa observed
her for a moment. “They are very mature people. They have been married for two
years. The wife is in her mid-forties and the husband in his late fifties.”

“They’re too old. Why have they
waited so long to adopt?”

“She has three grown-up kids, two
married and one in college, from a previous marriage. The husband is a
stockbroker with plenty of money. This is his third marriage. He badly wants
kids, heirs to his fortune. But his wife is not ready to go through a pregnancy
now,” Louisa explained. “Adoption is a good solution for them. The Willis
babies will be pampered and live in luxury.”

They’re not the Willis babies.
Their names are Celia and Liana
, she wanted to shout at the dense woman. “If
she doesn’t want to go through a pregnancy, how will she handle two babies?”
Nick’s confidences about his childhood popped into Madelyn’s mind. Lot of money
and no love.

“She has the perfect solution.”
Louisa’s smile grated on Madelyn’s rattled nerves. “She’s already hired two
nannies. One for each baby. Isn’t that wonderful?”

Her breathing labored, Madelyn
glared at the woman. Her hands fisted. How she wanted to punch her, but
violence wouldn’t help. The woman was doing her job.

Madelyn heaved a deep breath to
calm down and think clearly.

“Ms. Mantay, I realize you’ve
been doing your best to help these babies. I appreciate your good heart. I’m
sure you’ll understand me when I say I’ve become very attached to Celia and
Liana. I love them as if they were my own.” Her voice broke, but she stiffened.
“Is there any way I can keep them?”

Louisa’s features softened. “I
know you love them and you did a great job with them. But CPS can’t leave them
in foster care when a suitable family is ready to adopt.”

“Okay, can I adopt them? Doesn’t
a foster parent have priority in the adoption procedure?” Louisa and her CPS
were officially responsible of the babies. There should be some loopholes, some
way to compromise with them.

“Foster parents do. But not a
single foster mother. It’s always better for a child to have a mother and a
father.”

She couldn’t agree more with this
theory. But these were her babies. The only ones she’d ever have. She couldn’t let
go.

“Dr. Ramsay, you knew that
eventually the babies would be put for adoption. You have personally insisted I
find them a good home, that they should not be separated. I did my best to
satisfy you.” She touched Madelyn’s hand. “I can feel your pain,” she said
gently. “But whether you keep them till February or March won’t make a big
difference to your feelings. You’re young, Dr. Ramsay. One day you’ll get
married and have your own kids.”

Unable to utter a word, Madelyn
stared at her.

“I have to go now. I’ll call you
next week, if I have more news.”

Rooted in place, Madelyn watched
her go. When the door closed behind the woman, she kneeled in front of the
stroller. Holding two little hands, she covered them with kisses. Tears rolled down
her cheeks and she sobbed. Only last night, she thought it was the most
beautiful Christmas of her life. She had Nick and she had babies.

Some Christmas. It was turning
into the worst nightmare of her life.

Her crying awakened the twins and
they chorused together in a sad concert. When she let all her tears out of her
system, she rose. “Darlings, we can’t continue to cry.”

She picked up Liana, and hugged
her before changing her, then took care of her twin. These babies had become
the center of her universe and knew how to pull the strings of her heart. How
could she let them be taken from her?

How could she keep them?

Her mind resonated with the two
questions as she frantically searched for plausible answers. “We have to find a
solution. But first we better eat. Right?”

 She’d forgotten to take her
pills in the morning. As if she needed a relapse to complicate their difficult
situation. The fridge overflowed with delicious leftovers, but Madelyn’s
stomach rebelled. “Mommy will have a glass of milk with you, girls, and a piece
of bread before taking her medicine.”

Babbling with the babies restored
some calm to her heart. Once they were all fed, she rolled the stroller to the
balcony and slumped onto a lounge chair. It was a gorgeous December day, with seventy-something
degrees in sunny Florida. The nice breeze and the smell of the ocean soothed
her tired nerves.

What if she tried to contact the
prospective parents and explained the situation?
Don’t be naive
. They
wouldn’t care about her explanations. Besides, no one at the CPS would give her
the time of the day. They’d just raise a confidentiality flag.

If only she had more time to tell
Nick her feelings had shifted from friendship to love. To convince him marriage
wasn’t a bad idea anymore. Two days ago she’d daydreamed of them being together
forever. Of seducing Nick even. She couldn’t get pregnant but with the two
babies they’d have a family guaranteed. Now only emptiness awaited her. A bleak
future.

What if she asked Nick to marry
her, temporarily, until she adopted the babies? She’d promise a marriage in
name only. She’d promise not to hinder his freedom, and she’d give him an
annulment or a divorce as soon as the adoption was signed.

Darn, she was losing her mind.
Why would he complicate his life for a woman who couldn’t have children?

Realistic questions and crazy
answers swirled in her head.

Her thoughts flew to her previous
life when career came before marriage and family. Could she go back there? Not
here in Florida where she had such a lifetime of love and good memories packed
in a single month. A bout of tears threatened to overwhelm her. She raked her
hair, sniffled, and bit her lip. If she lost Nick and the babies, her only way
not to plummet into depression would be to go far away. She’d leave Florida,
travel to Africa and help save babies in need.

Exhausted physically and emotionally,
she curled in the lounge chair. Gazing at the sweet faces in the stroller, she
lost track of the time.

Chapter Eleven

Nick banged on the door several times
and then opened it with the spare key she’d given him. “Madelyn,” he bellowed.

Where was she? She hadn’t
answered her cell phone when Sandra had called her in the morning. He’d tried
later to no avail. He noticed the open balcony and exhaled in relief. She was
enjoying the nice weather. Good for her.

He strode outside and froze. What
happened to his Madelyn? Eyes reddish and swollen, hair mussed, body slumped in
the lounge chair, and a whole air of despair about her.

“Madelyn.” He squatted beside her
and felt her pulse. Normal. Thank God, she didn’t have a seizure.