The Baby Switch!

by Melissa Senate

  Shelby reached in and lifted out a medium-size something wrapped in newspaper. She unwrapped it, stuffing the paper back in the bag on the floor. She gasped as she examined it. “Wow, it’s absolutely beautiful! I can’t believe your mother didn’t want this.” She turned it around in her hands, the ornately jeweled tin box sparkling when it caught the light from the floor lamp. She reached underneath and twisted the metal prong, Mozart playing softly. “Lovely. Honestly, I want it for myself.”

  He smiled. “Keep it, then.”

  “I love mysteries, don’t you? Don’t you wonder who dropped it off on your parents’ porch and why?” She leaned down and scooped up the bag, looking at his father’s name scrawled across it, then put it back down. “As your mother said, maybe your father once did the person a favor and this is a thanks.”

  “My father doesn’t do favors unless there’s one coming back.”

  She frowned at him and opened the lid. The box was about six by eight and lined in an unexpected pink velvet. Shelby smiled. “This is definitely not for sale. I’m going to keep it as a memento of the first time I met your family. The day I met you.”

  “It’s been one hell of a Friday.”

  She laughed. “Sure has.”

  “Let’s add Saturday to the mix, too, then,” he said. “Let’s go talk to the nurse who switched our babies.”

  Shelby turned to him, putting the jewelry box back in the bag. “Should we wait until we have the DNA results?”

  “I feel like I’ll go out of my mind if I don’t have information, something, to help explain where we are now. Shane can’t be your biological child. Something has to account for that. And it has to be the nurse.”

  Shelby nodded slowly, her expression so pained that he regretted his words, that Shane couldn’t be her child. He was.

  He reached for her hand. “I’m sorry this happened, Shelby.”

  “Me, too. Except—and this is going to sound crazy—if it hadn’t happened I wouldn’t have Shane. I wouldn’t have loved this little boy for the past six months. Granted, I wouldn’t have known otherwise. But how can I regret having loved Shane all this time?”

  He wanted to pull her to him and tell her he knew exactly what she meant. But he held back.

  “Let’s go talk to the nurse in the morning,” she said. “I want to hear what happened but I’m scared, too. That she’ll take any last, lingering bit of hope away. That somehow, this is all a mistake and Shane is mine and Alexander is yours.”

  “I know,” he said. “I know.”

  * * *

  In the middle of the night, Shelby woke up to the sound of a baby crying, and the different strain to the cries made her rush into the nursery. But it wasn’t Shane crying. It was Alexander. And Liam was already there, soothing him on the rocker.

  Half-naked.

  Shelby was suddenly aware that she was wearing a tank top and yoga pants and showing more than she’d planned to her new housemate. Note to self: from now on, grab bathrobe.

  “He’s settling down,” Liam said. “Maybe cutting his first tooth. I think I saw a little white nub on his gum.”

  “Shane cut his first just last week,” she said, coming over and caressing Alexander’s silky brown hair. His mouth quirked and his one hand shot up in a fist, then he scrunched his mouth around until he finally settled down, fast asleep. She smiled.

  “Sorry we woke you,” he said.

  She was staring at his chest, she realized. His very muscular chest, dark hair whirling in the center. He wore sweats and was barefoot and he was so damned sexy that she had to look away.

  “I’m used to it,” she whispered, barely able to find her voice.

  What she wasn’t used to was a man in her apartment, taking care of business, taking care of a child. In the hours between her discovering she was pregnant and telling Shane’s father the news, she’d had all these wonderful fantasies—fantasies that she thought would become reality. A scenario like this one, for example. Waking up to her baby’s cries and rushing into the nursery only to find his father there first, holding their child, soothing him, rocking him back to sleep. And then the two grown-ups going back to their own room and making love, falling asleep spooned together, his arms around her. Shelby protected and safe in his love. She’d had those fantasies for just four hours before they were blown to bits.

  Liam stood, and Shelby shook those thoughts away. She watched as he put Alexander in his crib and pressed a finger to his lips and then his son’s cheek. “Sweet dreams,” he whispered, and then they both quietly exited the room.

  He stared at her for a good long moment, and she wondered what he was thinking.

  God, I want to kiss him. That was her sudden thought.

  Was he thinking the same about her?

  Adrenaline and panic were at play, that was all. She had to keep her lips and hands to herself. This situation was hard enough without falling for a man who wasn’t interested in marriage or family life, despite being a great dad.

  “Well, good night,” she said. “Next cry is mine.”

  He smiled and headed back to his room and the moment he disappeared from her sight she missed him.

  Chapter Six

  In the morning Liam sat on the bed in the guest room at Shelby’s, distracted by the sounds of two babies gurgling and Shelby’s melodic voice asking who wanted apricot baby food and who wanted peaches. Then he heard her saying they could both have a handful of their favorite cereal, Toasty Os. He heard Alexander babbling happily and Shelby moving about the kitchen, the cabinet doors closing, a chair scooting in.

  He liked the gentle noise. He was used to living alone—well, with a baby, who said a couple of words that sounded like da and ba but otherwise babbled or cried or let out various levels of shrieks, happy or otherwise. Now, someone else—a woman—was taking care of Alexander this morning. It felt funny. And nice.

  He’d gotten up the moment he heard a baby stir and fuss—turned out to be Shane, and Shelby had beaten him into the nursery.

  “I’ve got this,” she’d said, a baby in each arm. “Relax, take a shower, have some coffee.”

  Relax? He couldn’t even imagine. Not for a long time. He’d thanked her, taken his coffee to his bedroom and had gotten busy on the telephone. He’d started with Anne Parcells.

  The Wedlock Creek Clinic’s administrator hadn’t been comfortable giving out the nurse’s contact information, citing a pending internal investigation, so Liam did some investigating of his own and easily found her name and then her address. Kate Atwood on Cumberland Road.

  Liam had then called Mrs. Atwood, explained who he was and why he wanted to talk to her, and she was reluctant and nervous. He’d explained that both he and Shelby felt a bit lost and thought hearing what happened, what may have happened, from the night nurse who’d been there would be a comfort or provide a sense of grounding. She’d finally agreed to have them over this morning at nine o’clock.

  Liam headed back into the kitchen. Shelby was scooping scrambled eggs onto plates just as toast popped up in the red toaster on the counter. “I was just about to call you for breakfast. I have no idea how you like your eggs. If you like eggs.”

  “I love scrambled eggs. And toast. And thank you,” he said.

  “Bwa!” Shane babbled. Alexander eyed him and said, “Tawaba!”

  Liam smiled. “From lonely onlys to brothers.”

  Shelby’s entire face lit up. “I hadn’t really thought of that. But you’re right.” Her gaze on the boys was so tender, so reverent, so...happy that he almost slid an arm around her and held her close so they could both just stare at these magnificent tiny creatures they’d created. Everything Shelby was going through, he was going through. He’d never experienced anything like it before. Liam wasn’t entirely sure, but he thought what was going on was called intimacy. Real, true intimacy. They understood ea
ch other on a level that was surprisingly comforting—and made him uneasy.

  Which was why he changed the subject. He explained about the calls and their appointment with Kate Atwood. The beautiful moment they’d shared—gone. And he instantly felt less tense.

  “I think we should go without the boys, though,” Shelby said as she put a few more Toasty Os cereal on each baby’s high chair. “I think that might be too much for the woman.”

  Liam topped off his coffee, which had to be his tenth in the past twenty-four hours. “You’re right. She may feel more comfortable talking to us if we’re not holding the babies she switched.”

  “I’m sure my mom and aunt would love to watch both boys,” she said. “They’ll be at the diner but can take turns keeping an eye.”

  “People eat pie for breakfast?” he asked. “I never thought of that.”

  “No one needs a reason or a time to eat pie. Our fruit pies are popular for breakfast, but my aunt Cheyenne makes five kinds of quiches for the breakfast crowd. Egg pie—with the most heavenly additions you can imagine. For dinner there are chicken pot pies, meat pies. Pie isn’t just apple pie.”

  “I’ll never think of pie the same way again.”

  She smiled. “They’ll make you take a few boxes for the road. It’s just how they are.”

  “Good. I don’t turn down pie.”

  He could talk about pie for hours. Anything but switched babies and retired nurses and clinic blackouts.

  “I’ll call my mom,” she said, reaching for her phone.

  While she was on the phone, Liam entertained the babies with a little peekaboo. Shane didn’t like when his face was hidden. But he got a big smile when he opened his hands from in front of his face and exclaimed, “Peekaboo! I see you!”

  Shelby put her phone back on the counter. “We’re all set. My mom said she can’t wait to meet Alexander. Cheyenne and Norah, too.”

  “Why do I doubt that your mom will react like my father? I don’t even know your mother but if she’s anything like you, I can’t imagine her referring to Alexander as her real grandson.”

  “Shane will always be her grandson. Alexander will feel like a bonus for a bit and then within a couple of weeks she’ll forget that she didn’t know he existed for the first six months of his life. Maybe that’s how it’ll be for your dad.”

  “We’ll see. But I won’t hold my breath.”

  They packed up the babies and drove over to the Pie Diner, just a quarter mile down Main Street and well situated next door to the library. The diner had been in business since Liam was a little kid, and his grandmother used to take him there all the time. Alexandra Mercer was no baker, but she loved pie. He’d never paid much attention to the menu and always ordered his favorite: Key Lime.

  “I love how the place has changed over the decades but still has the same feel it always had,” he said as they pulled into the gravel parking lot. He’d always liked the painted cowboy on a horse lassoing five painted wood 3D pies on the other side of the sign.

  They barely got out of the car with the babies in their carriers when the door burst open and three women emerged, all various shades of blond with Pie Diner aprons on.

  “I just saw you last night but I can’t get enough of you,” said the one Liam assumed was Shelby’s mother. She was tall and slender like Shelby with chin-length blond hair and Shelby’s green eyes. She took the carrier from Shelby and kissed Shane on his forehead. “Don’t tell your mom but I’m gonna give you a little taste of apple filling this morning. Just wait till you get a real tooth and get through my amazing pie crust.”

  Liam smiled and extended his hand. “Liam Mercer. And this little guy is Alexander.”

  “Arlena Ingalls,” she said, shaking his hand. “I’d pull you into a hug but we’re both short a hand.” She turned to Alexander in Liam’s arms. “Hello, Alexander. You are absolutely adorable.”

  Shelby smiled. “And this is my aunt Cheyenne and my sister, Norah.”

  “Nice to meet you all,” Liam said.

  Cheyenne’s long, curly hair blew forward in the breeze but she didn’t brush it back from her face. She was staring from Shane to Liam, from Liam to Shane. “My God, Shane is the spitting image of you,” she said to Liam, her hand covering her mouth.

  “He is,” Shelby’s mother said with a nod.

  Norah was looking from Alexander to Shane, then to Liam and Shelby. “And Alexander looks a lot like Shelby if you can ignore all that blond hair she has. It’s in the eyes and the expression. And—he has the little Ingalls birthmark. Shelby has it. And so did our father.”

  Shelby nodded. “It all adds up to the babies being switched. That’s why we have no doubt what the DNA tests will reveal. It may seem early to go talk to the nurse, but we just want to, need to.”

  “I can understand that,” Norah said. “Was she nervous about the idea of meeting with you?”

  Liam nodded. “I assured her we just need to talk to her off the record, nothing official, that this isn’t about pointing fingers or looking to blame. It’s just to understand, feel more connected to what happened.”

  “Well, you two take all the time you need,” Shelby’s mom said. “We’re thrilled to watch both babies.”

  “Appreciate it,” Liam said.

  A few minutes later they were in Liam’s SUV—alone. He looked in the back seat, sure he’d find Alexander and Shane back there, as usual, rear-facing in their seats. But just the bases were there. It was a funny feeling.

  “Do you feel like we’re missing something?” he asked.

  She nodded. “I’m so used to having Shane with me at the shop that anytime he’s not with me I feel like I lost something.”

  “You have a nice family. They seem like a very loving bunch.”

  She smiled. “They’re in the pie business. It’s a happy, loving thing.”

  “Happier and more loving than mergers and acquisitions and management, that’s for sure.”

  “But you love your work?” she asked.

  “I like it. I wouldn’t say I love it. But I do love the family history, the tradition, to working on something started by my great-grandfather. I’m glad it’s Saturday, though, so I don’t have to have Mercer Industries on my mind. I put in a few hours on the weekends, but I try very hard to devote off time to Alexander.”

  She smiled. “You’re a great dad.”

  He felt her compliment inside him. “Means a lot coming from a great mom.”

  That beautiful smile lit up the car again, and when a swath of her blond hair fell forward he was tempted to tuck it back away from her pretty face. He’d been so aware of her last night in the room right next door. He’d been tempted to get out of bed and pretend he heard Alexander fussing just so he could see her again, look at her, be with her. He wasn’t sure how he’d feel about living in a small apartment above a shop, but the moment he’d arrived last night with his bags and Alexander’s things, he’d felt at home because Shelby and Shane were there.

  But he still didn’t feel a connection to Shane yet. Maybe he’d need the DNA test results to make it feel real and then his heart would catch up with his head. Or maybe it would just take time. Just because Alexander wasn’t his biologically didn’t mean the baby was any less Liam’s son. Liam had a feeling the space he was putting—emotionally—between himself and Shane was because of Shelby. At this point he wouldn’t want her throwing herself into the role of Alexander’s mother, just as he was sure she wouldn’t want him to suddenly become Shane’s father. They both had to move slowly—and were.

  After fifteen minutes down a rural service road, Liam turned onto Berrymill Road and slowed down as he approached the yellow Cape Kate had told him to look out for. “Looks like we’re here.”

  A woman stepped onto the porch. She was petite and looked haggard and tired, as though she hadn’t slept in days. Or since yest
erday.

  “Ready?” Liam asked Shelby.

  She nodded and they both got out of the car. Liam held up a hand to the woman, and they headed up the porch steps. Up close, Kate Atwood definitely showed even more signs of not sleeping. There were dark circles under her eyes, and she looked as if she might break down in tears at any minute. Liam’s research had revealed she was sixty-six years old and she looked quite a bit older. She was petite and thin with short, light brown hair shot through with gray, and brown eyes behind glasses.

  “Come on in,” she said. “I’ve made iced tea and have homemade oatmeal cookies, if you like.”

  Shelby offered a gentle smile. “I never pass up a cookie. I come from a long line of bakers. Pie bakers, but I do love cookies.”

  Shelby’s warmth clearly set the woman at ease. Liam watched Kate’s shoulders relax and her entire countenance changed. She still looked like she might cry, but the fear that had been in her expression, as though they might turn their anger on her, lightened up some.

  They followed her into a cozy living room. Liam and Shelby sat on the love seat across from the recliner that Kate took. She gestured at the cookies, the pitcher of iced tea and glasses. “Please help yourself.”

  They did, more to ease in to what was to come than thirst or hunger.

  Shelby took a sip of tea, then put her glass down and clasped her hands. “Mrs. Atwood, we understand that you were the nurse on duty in the maternity area of the clinic the night our babies were born. As you know, the clinic administrator has informed me that my son Shane can’t be the baby I gave birth to. We’re awaiting DNA testing but all signs do point to the two male babies being accidentally switched. Can you tell us what happened? What you remember?”

  Kate looked at each of them and took a deep breath. “First, I am so sorry.” Tears glistened in her eyes. “When Anne called me and had me come in to discuss that night, I had no inkling that I might have switched two babies. But when she said that one baby couldn’t be the biological child of one of the mothers, I immediately knew that I must have switched the two male newborns.”