Committed to the Baby: Claiming King's BabyThe Doctor's Secret Baby

by Maureen Child

  He heard footsteps outside on the walkway and hurried into the living room to flip the TV back on and settle himself on the sofa with an appropriately relaxed air. And if he could pull that off, he’d get an Academy Award for outstanding performance by a jealous guy who had no right to be.

  The deadbolt turned just before the door swung wide and Em was there. “Hi.”

  “Hey.” He stretched and yawned, wondering if that was performance overkill. “Did you have a good time?” In his mind he added, with…? Hoping she’d fill in the blank.

  “Yeah.” She set her purse on the bar beside the yellow bowl. “How’s Annie?”

  “Good. We had a great time. Couldn’t have been better.”

  “Did she cry very long after I left?”

  He stood and slid his fingertips into the pockets of his jeans as he wandered closer to her. “She was successfully distracted by five-pillow pickup.”

  “Oh?”

  “She threw them on the floor, and I picked them up.”

  “I know that game. It’s one of her favorites.” Em met his gaze. “Did she wear you out?”

  “Nah.” Maybe the yawn was too much. “So… Where did you go?” And who did you go with?

  “Just dinner. The Grand Café at Green Valley Ranch.”

  He wanted to shake her into giving him the information. Or kiss her and make her forget anyone but him. More than once she’d teased him about being dumb for a smart guy. This was another one of those times. Kissing her was a very stupid idea. The last kiss had landed them in her bed where he found out for a fact that she still had the same floral comforter he’d once swept onto the floor because he couldn’t wait a second longer to have her.

  Cal backed away when the sweet scent of her skin tempted him to ignore his common sense. He figured flat-out asking who she’d been with was the only way to find out what he wanted to know.

  “So who did you go to dinner with?” he inquired, as casually as possible.

  She met his gaze and whatever she saw made her take several steps back. “I met Sophia.”

  The friend who’d been with Em when Annie was born, he thought. Instantly the tension inside him eased. “How is she?”

  “Fine.”

  He waited for more, but got nothing. “Was it a special occasion?”

  “Just catching up.” Em shrugged and glanced at the clock. “Look, Cal, I appreciate you watching Annie for me….”

  But it’s time to go is what she meant. The devil of it was that he wasn’t ready to leave. “I figured you’d be out later and there’s this movie on HBO.”

  “It’s getting kind of late.”

  Emily-speak for hit the road. He tried in vain to tamp down his annoyance by telling himself he couldn’t have it both ways. Right here in this room he’d pushed her away with the story of his past and shouldn’t be so angry that it worked.

  “Okay.” He grabbed his car keys from the bar. “You’re right. I should get going.”

  Back to the big empty house on the golf course. The mansion that was as boring as the TV season during summer reruns.

  Emily followed and they stood in front of the closed door. “Thanks for staying with Annie. It was an unexpected treat to go without a diaper bag. Although I missed her terribly.”

  And what about me? he wanted to ask. Did you miss me, too?

  He looked down at her, the big dark eyes and a mouth that was made for kissing. He curled his fingers into his palms before he reached out for her, to draw her against him. She was behaving exactly as he’d wanted her to and it would be stupid to undo the steps he’d taken.

  “Okay, then,” he said. “I’ll—”

  A knock sounded, startling both of them. Em looked puzzled before opening the door. Patty stood there, blue eyes wide with surprise when she saw him.

  “Hi—” She looked from him to Em. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were—I’ll come back another time.”

  “It’s okay, Patty.” Em glanced up at him. “Cal was just leaving.”

  “Yeah. I have to go.” Because it would be nine kinds of stupid to stay. “Nice to see you, Patty. I’ll just—”

  A baby cry came from Annie’s room. Em looked at the teen. “I need to get her. Can you—”

  “I’ll go,” Cal said. “You guys can talk.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Completely,” he said. “Pretend I’m not here.”

  He walked into the bedroom and looked in on his daughter. Her eyes were closed and she was on her tummy. She moaned, but he didn’t want to pick her up unless absolutely necessary and full-on wake her up. He put his palm on her back and rubbed, gently, soothingly, just to let her know someone was there. Voices drifted to him from the other room and he could hear every word.

  “I have to tell you something, and you’re not going to like it—” Patty’s voice broke on a sob “—I’m pregnant.”

  “Oh, Patty, no.”

  “I missed my period and hoped it was just a false alarm. But the pregnancy test was positive. Please don’t be mad—”

  “I’m not mad.”

  “It’s against the rules,” the teen said. “I know that. But we’re a family and it was so hard, you know?”

  “Yeah. I understand.”

  “I don’t know what I’ll do if I have to leave Helping Hands. You always say we have to learn from our mistakes. We didn’t mean for this to happen. We were so careful.”

  Cal understood that. He and Em were poster children for careful and he stared down at the result of being cautious. Birth control wasn’t 100 percent foolproof. He was the fool who could swear to that. But when he felt the rise and fall of his daughter’s back and watched her so sweet in sleep and remembered her laughter, he didn’t feel like a fool. A feeling big and pure welled up inside him that he recognized as love.

  “Patty, does Jonas know you’re going to have a baby?” Em’s voice was firm and calm, not betraying her feelings.

  “I can’t tell him.”

  “You have to,” Em urged.

  “You’re going to throw me out,” Patty sobbed. “I knew it. And if I tell Jonas he’ll leave like Lucy’s boyfriend did.”

  “Jonas loves you.” Em’s voice softened. “I know it will be hard, but he has a right to know the truth. Being honest is always best.”

  “Not this time,” Patty protested.

  “You’re wrong. I made a mistake not telling Cal about his daughter. I wish I could take it back, but that’s not possible.”

  “Jonas won’t understand.”

  “He might be angry at first,” Em said, “but he’ll get over it. He loves Henry. You know that. And he loves you. He’ll love this baby, too.”

  “You always said that one baby is a lot of work. Two is four times as much. How can we work that out? We can barely do it now.”

  “You’ve got a support system,” Em told her. “Me. Jonas. Lucy. Cal—”

  Was he part of their little family? He hadn’t wanted Em to stay here, but she wouldn’t hear of leaving. So, in getting to know his daughter, he’d gotten sucked into this ragtag group.

  When he determined Annie was sleeping soundly again, he went into the living room. “I could pretend I didn’t hear, but it would be a lie. Em’s right about telling the truth.”

  Both women looked at him before Patty shook her head. “I have to go.”

  “Wait—” Before Em could stop her she was gone. When she looked up at him her eyes were troubled. “This is a fine mess.”

  No kidding, he thought.

  And he didn’t just mean what he’d overheard.

  * * *

  Emily smiled at the gray-haired older man who’d followed her into the hall outside the E.R. trauma bay where his terminally ill wife was now breathing more easily.

  She put her hand on his arm. “Mr. Mendenhall, I promise I’ll find a place for Esther in hospice care. They’ll keep her comfortable.”

  “That’s what I want.” His dark eyes turned into black, bottomless po
ols of sadness. “Esther has taken care of me for over fifty years and now it’s my turn to make sure she has what she needs. We’ve had quantity togetherness and now it’s about quality.”

  “I understand. Mercy Medical Center has a wonderful skilled nursing facility.” She closed the chart. “I’ll make some phone calls and make sure there’s a bed. Don’t worry.”

  He smiled regretfully. “From your mouth to God’s ear.”

  She turned away and walked down the hall past gurneys, medical machines and laundry carts toward the waiting area and the elevators beyond. Her heart was heavy for so many reasons, not the least of which was trying not to cry for a man and woman who’d spent more than half a century with each other and would soon have to say goodbye.

  At least they had those years together. She’d never get a chance to find out what a life with Cal would have been like. And Patty was pregnant which was going to complicate the hell out of the life the teens were working so hard to build. Her vision blurred as moisture filled her eyes and she quickly moved past the information desk and a tall man standing there.

  “Emily?”

  Oh, for Pete’s sake. Why couldn’t she have the tiniest little meltdown in private?

  She blinked the moisture from her eyes as best she could, brushed the rogue tears from her cheeks, sniffled and turned to see Cal’s father. “Ken,” she said with as much perkiness as she could. “Nice to see you.”

  He frowned. “What’s wrong?”

  “Oh, you know—” She shrugged.

  “Is it Annie?”

  “No,” she cried. “I dropped her off at Cal’s—”

  “I assume he’s there?” his father asked wryly.

  She smiled. “He is. I was called in to work and he isn’t in the E.R. today. We always try to make sure she’s with one of us if possible.”

  “That’s wise,” he agreed.

  “That’s us. The cool parents—”

  When her voice caught, he took her elbow and guided her around the corner from the E.R. into a quiet hallway. “No one’s around. You can tell me what you’re upset about.”

  “How much time have you got?” she asked, trying to joke her way out of talking.

  “As much as you need. I’m here to see a patient, then I have the afternoon off.” He leaned a broad shoulder against the wall. “Spill it, young lady. Is it work? You came from the E.R.”

  The man wasn’t giving her a choice. “I just came from talking with the spouse of a patient facing a terminal illness.”

  “I’m sorry. That’s never easy.” He looked sympathetic even as he asked, “What else is bothering you?”

  “One of the teens in my program just found out she’s having another baby, a second unplanned pregnancy.”

  “I see.”

  “The thing is, I tried so hard to get the message across to the girls that we all make mistakes, but we can learn from them.” She looked up at him. “I’m the wrong person to be telling them what to do.”

  “Why would you say that?” he asked.

  “I’m a failure. I always have been. I have no business trying to be a role model to these girls. It makes me a do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do kind of person. They at least had the guts to keep their babies. I gave mine away—”

  “That’s not true. You’re raising Annie. Very well, in my opinion.”

  She pressed the chart in her hand against her chest. “I’m not talking about Annie. When I was fifteen I got pregnant and had a baby boy. My mother gave me a choice—give the baby up for adoption or leave. I tried leaving but the streets are no place to raise a baby and I figured he’d be better off with two parents, somewhere to live and food. Call me crazy.”

  “Hardly.” His expression was sympathetic. “Do you regret giving your baby up?”

  She thought about how to answer. “No. I regret not being in a position to give him the life he deserved. So I stepped aside and let the parents he deserved give him that life. He’d be twelve now, on the verge of being a man and I regret not being able to see him and know that everything is okay.” She regretted that the confession made Cal think less of her than he already had, but that wasn’t something she’d share with his father. Despite the thought, she met the man’s gaze directly. “Under the same circumstances I would do the same thing again.”

  “But you don’t want that to happen to the teens you’re mentoring.”

  It wasn’t a question and she appreciated that. “I want them to have more than one choice about what to do if an unplanned pregnancy happens.”

  Ken nodded. “Then I’m sure you’ll help Patty through this difficult time.”

  “Maybe I’m not the right person to counsel her. After all, I did the same thing.”

  “Not exactly.” He folded his arms over his chest. “The pregnancy with Annie might have been unplanned, but you were in a position to care for her.”

  Wow. He was defending her to herself. This man should have nothing but resentment and yet he didn’t. Like father, like son? Not so much.

  “Cal told me about his past.”

  He frowned and a muscle in his jaw jerked. “I remember when he came to Carol and me with the news that Lori was pregnant. We both advised him to move forward with his plans for school and we’d help Lori with the pregnancy, etcetera. But Cal insisted on getting married. What a disaster.”

  “He’s an incredibly good and decent and special man.”

  Ken studied her. “I don’t think I ever realized before that when you talk about him your face lights up.”

  “Oh?” Apparently she was going to have to work harder on hiding her feelings.

  “I’m Cal’s father and certainly his most enthusiastic supporter. But he doesn’t walk on water, Emily. In fact, after things didn’t work out between the two of you, he was quite the—How should I put this?” He thought for a moment. “Difficult to live with is the most delicate way to phrase it. He takes such pride in being the one to walk away.”

  “The winner,” she said softly. “He hates to lose.”

  “Exactly.”

  So she’d hurt his pride, Em thought. That and two dollars would buy her a cup of coffee in the land of lost opportunities. Em knew he’d cared for her once, but she burned that bridge. There was no going back.

  “I’m sorry to dump on you,” she said. “It’s just that the girls I’m trying to help are my family. A shrink would have a field day with me, trying to make a difference because of the one child I desperately wanted and couldn’t keep.”

  “Don’t be so hard on yourself, Emily. Everyone makes mistakes. Character is defined by how we deal with the messes we make.” He frowned. “I’m quite sure that was something Cal heard growing up and possibly factored into his decision to marry that deceitful witch.”

  “Don’t be so hard on yourself, Ken,” she echoed. “How could you know anyone would be so manipulative?”

  “Certainly Carol and I had no clue. And Cal stayed with her way past the time when he should have left. It left a mark on him.” He shook his head. “Unfortunately that’s making him unwilling to take another chance. As you said, he hates to lose. That makes him a good doctor, but I’m afraid his personal life will suffer because of it.”

  “Yeah—”

  He glanced down when the pager on his belt vibrated. After looking at the display, he said, “I have to go.”

  “Of course. I didn’t mean to keep you.”

  “Not at all.” He gave her a quick hug. “Hang in there.”

  What other choice did she have? she thought, watching him hurry away. He’d raised Cal to be the good man he was, the man she fell in love with, created a child with and fell in love with all over again as she watched him do the right thing by his daughter.

  The future stretched in front of her holding nothing but pain because of interacting with him to share Annie. She’d made a mess of her life and standing on the outside looking in was her punishment. She couldn’t even say she didn’t deserve it.

  Chapter Fourteen


  Cal sat on the short end of the leather corner group in his family room with Annie in his arms while she drank from her sippy cup. His father had dropped by for a chat and was watching from the other end of the sofa as his relaxed granddaughter looked around with sleepy blue eyes and absently grabbed a bare foot.

  There were times when love for his little girl hit Cal like a tsunami, overwhelming him with its power. This was one of those times and it seemed fitting that his dad was here.

  “It’s not like you to stop by without calling, Dad. I’m glad I was here.”

  “It wasn’t a whim. I ran into Emily at Mercy Medical Center. She said you were watching Annie. For the record it’s not you I’m here to visit.”

  “Wow. I feel cherished.” Cal grinned when his father rolled his eyes. “How’s Mom?”

  “Fine. Shopping for our trip to Alaska.”

  “When are you guys going?”

  “A few weeks.” He shrugged. “Your mother could probably tell you when down to the hour and second.”

  “She’s looking forward to it?”

  “Yes. And that’s a gross understatement.”

  “But you’re not?” Cal asked.

  “I’m anticipating having your mother all to myself for ten days and—”

  Cal held up a hand. “Too much information, Dad.”

  His father grinned. “It’s far too easy to mess with you. Not even a challenge.”

  Cal figured the bigger challenge was being married for so long. He’d always wanted what his parents had. They got it right with each other. He’d gone into his marriage to do the right thing, and instead turned into the biggest chump on the planet, suckered by the oldest con in the world—I’m pregnant with your child. Em was pregnant with his child and took him at his word when he’d adamantly declared ties and responsibilities were off limits for him. He smiled down at his daughter who was making a valiant effort not to fall asleep and figured he was eating those words now.

  And not just because of Annie. He’d never gotten Emily out of his system even when they’d stopped seeing each other. The need for her lived inside him and had right from the beginning. It was more acute now than ever, but if he let her in knowing what she was capable of, he’d be worse than a chump.