Page 28 of Healed By Doc
I glance down at the basket and notice a box next to it filled with supplies: diapers, wipes, a bottle, formula, a tiny knit hat. And a letter. I sit on the bottom step, carefully cradling the baby in my arms, and my fingers fumble as I unfold the paper, the words blurring as I read them.
She’s perfect, isn’t she? A beautiful gift to the world and deserving of more than I could ever offer her. It’s because I love her that I know I can’t keep her. Please take care of her. Her name is Lily, and I’ll always love her, even though I can’t be what she needs. Please help her find a family who will love and provide for her the life she deserves.
I can feel the heartbreak in the letter, a mother’s farewell that a younger me would have appreciated getting from my own mother. I turn around just in time to spot a young woman running down the sidewalk, and it brings me some comfort to imagine she waited until she was sure someone had found the baby.
My baby.
God, I need to talk to James about this, and logically, I know I cannot just claim a baby I found as my own. The authorities will need to be notified. But something in my core is telling me that this baby was meant to be mine, I think as I settle the baby back into the basket, then gather it and the box to carry into the building. James and I haven’t talked yet about family, as it’s often a sour subject, but more than anything, I want one with him.
Forever with him.
“What’s that?” Samantha asks when she spots me, her eyes widening with surprise when she realizes the bundle I’m carrying contains a baby inside. “Oh, sweet baby Jesus, was she outside?”
“Yeah, I think her mother stuck around to make sure someone found her,” I tell Samantha as I lift the baby out of the basket again.
She leans in to peek at the chubby, reddened cheeks of the baby. “Here, let me hold her while you call Doc,” shesays, reaching to take the baby, but I step back, holding her protectively to my chest. “Cara?”
“She’s mine,” I say shakily, surprised by the sudden protectiveness that sets in. “Sorry, I…I’ll hold her.”
“No, it’s fine,” Sam says softly. “I’ll make the call. Why don’t you take her to my office? I’ll send Doc there when he arrives.”
I nod, carrying the baby to her office, but I find that I can’t sit, instead holding the baby to my chest as I pace the room, rocking her gently, and when James finally shows up, the baby is already asleep.
“Let me look at her, angel,” he says, reaching over to take the baby.
“I found her,” I say brokenly, still unwilling to let her go. “Something in me changed when I saw her. I don’t want to give her up, James. She feels right, like she is mean to be ours.”
“I understand, sweetheart, but I need to make sure she’s not hurt anywhere,” he assures me, and I finally relent, passing him the baby. He handles her with care, unwrapping the blanket and checking for any visible injuries or signs of neglect before swaddling her again and laying her gently in my arms. “We still need to take her to the hospital for a proper checkup and we need to notify the authorities.”
“But if they take her—”
“No one is going to take her from us, angel,” he says, leaning forward and brushing his lips softly over mine. “We’ll go through all the right channels to adopt her. Chicago is a safe haven city and Haven House is a registered drop-off site. We’ll talk to the social workers and make it clear that we want her to stay with us. Of course, they’ll need to do their backgroundchecks and safety inspections. It’s a good thing that lawyer we hired was able to get the state prosecutor to look at my case again. With that cleared from my record, I doubt we’ll have any trouble keeping custody. But I don’t think they’ll like her living at a motorcycle club’s clubhouse. We’ll probably have to stay here until we can buy a house of our own.”
“You’d do that? For me?”
“For us,” he corrects. I watch as he digs his hand into his jacket and comes out with a small box. My eyes widen in surprise when he gets on one knee and pops open the box to reveal a stunning emerald ring, the green glinting in the light.
“I was going to do this in a more romantic setting, perhaps at the dinner I had planned for tonight, but this moment feels perfect,” he says, blurring in front of me as my eyes cloud with tears. “Cara Dupree, you make me ridiculously happy and I want to spend the rest of my life loving you. Will you marry and build a family with me?”
“Yes,” the word is past my lips before my brain can catch up, and I nearly fling my arms around him before remembering that I’m still holding the baby—our baby. Instead, I lean into him and bury my face in his chest, overwhelmed by emotions as I realize that I’ve just gained a husband and a daughter in the same day.
It’s perfect.
Suddenly, I don’t mind being indebted to this outlaw if it keeps him in my life forever.
~The End