An older Filipino woman met them at the door and held it open for them. Mel, who had brought them over, greeted the woman warmly. “Hello, Fina. Kumusta ka na?”
“Mabuti namán akó. At kayó po?”
“I’m fine, too,” Mel said with a smile. She gestured to Than, Lindsay, and Barb, who had decided to join them at the last minute. “They’ve come to help with the children for a little while. This is Lindsay, Barb, and Than.”
“Welcome,” Fina said with a smile and a nod of her head. “Please come this way.”
Than followed the women into a large open area. It had big windows that allowed a breeze to float through the room. There were also a couple of oscillating fans as well as one on the ceiling that turned lazily. The room held several rocking chairs in addition to a bunch of toys spread across a large carpet in the middle of the room. There were two other Filipino women who looked up at their entrance. Than did a quick count and figured there were at least five children in the room.
Mel greeted the women and then turned to Lindsay and Barb. “There are currently six children in total here. Usually, we have more, but a few children have left recently.”
“Were they adopted?” Lindsay asked.
Mel shook her head. “In these cases, there were family members who stepped up to take them. And really, orphanage is a bit of a misnomer. Many of the children are here because their parents—often it’s just the mother—are unable to care for them. We try our best to place the children with family members or work with the mothers to reunite them, but when that doesn’t work, they are then available for adoption.”
Than turned at the distant sound of a wail. One of the women stood up and moved down a hallway. She returned very quickly with a baby in her arms. He couldn’t tell if it was a boy or a girl, but it had a headful of black hair and big brown eyes that regarded the group standing there with curiosity. Even as the woman laid the baby down to do a diaper change, the dark gaze stayed on them.
“So do we just play with them?” Barb asked as she bent to run her fingers through the hair of a toddler who had come up to her.
Mel nodded. “If it were closer to a mealtime, you could help feed them as well, but I think that’s over now.”
“Come.” One of the women motioned to Lindsay. She glanced at Than before going to where the woman stood.
“Here, you can sit and feed this one. She is due for her nap and likes a bottle first. Her name is Maya.”
Lindsay settled into the chair, her expression a little apprehensive. Than shoved his hands into his pockets as he watched the woman place a baby in her arms, then show her how to hold the bottle. When the woman stepped back, giving him a clear view of Lindsay, his heart clenched. Her head was bent close to the baby’s as she held her in the crook of her arm and slowly rocked.
“Here. One for you, too.” The woman who had greeted them at the door led him to a chair near Lindsay’s and motioned for him to sit. She handed him the baby who had just woken up from a nap and was now freshly changed.
“Boy or girl?” he asked the woman.
“Boy. His name is Benjie.”
Than looked down at the kid in his lap and smiled. “How ya doing, little man?”
The baby stared at him for a moment and then smiled. A big toothy grin that reached out and grabbed ahold of his heart. Ah, this wasn’t good. He had not anticipated that he might run into a situation that would require him to leave pieces of his heart in this country.
He put his hands under the arms of the baby and stood him on his thighs. The little guy seemed to really like that. He stomped his feet a couple times and then bounced up and down, gnawing on his chubby hand.
Such innocence, Than thought as he watched Benjie pull his fist from his mouth, a string of saliva still attached. The baby had no idea that he wasn’t being raised by his parents. Had no idea the uncertainty that lay ahead of him if he wasn’t adopted or returned to his family. Than couldn’t help pulling the little guy close to press a kiss to his forehead.
He thought of his brother’s kids and how fortunate they were to have been born where they were. In his years of traveling with BlackThorpe, he’d seen situations where conditions were less than ideal for the children in them, but it had just been in passing. This particular assignment was more like a humanitarian mission, and he was being pulled right into the middle of it in a way he hadn’t anticipated. For someone who’d always taken his job seriously, but not much else, Than was discovering that maybe it was time he took that approach to a few more areas of his life.
He looked over at Lindsay and found she was watching him. Or rather, she was watching the little guy he held. She lifted her gaze and met his. There was something there, but he couldn’t put a name on it. When she looked back down at the tiny girl in her arms, he figured that she’d found the sight of him holding a little one as peculiar as he’d found the sight of her cradling a baby close.
Peculiar and something else…something Than wasn’t all too keen to dwell on right then.
~*~*~
As soon as the woman had placed the baby in her arms, Lindsay had felt as if an emptiness she hadn’t even known about had been filled. The weight of the soft, warm body cuddled against her was like nothing she’d ever experienced before. She’d long told her mother to never expect grandchildren from her. But had that been more because she hadn’t met a man she could imagine having in her life in that way?
She hadn’t been able to imagine trusting a man enough to be there for her and any children they might have. Oh, her father had been there for them in the way he thought was most important. As long as he had provided them with the lifestyle he’d chosen for them, he thought he’d done his part. Lindsay was fairly certain that he’d never taken the time with his sons that Lucas had taken with Danny.
And never in a million years could she picture him sitting in a rocking chair with a baby on his lap. She glanced over in time to see Benjie grab at Than’s cheeks and press his open mouth to Than’s chin. Lindsay waited to see if Than would recoil from it, but instead he lifted the baby and rubbed his face against his plump tummy. Benjie gurgled with babyish delight that made Lindsay smile.
When the baby in her arms stirred, Lindsay looked back down in time to see Maya eject the bottle’s nipple from her mouth.
“Time to burp her.” Fina laid a cloth on her shoulder and showed Lindsay how to position her. “Pat like this.”
After seeing what Fina did, Lindsay followed her example and not too long after, little baby Maya let out a loud burp that seemed too big for her tiny body. Lindsay shot a look at Than and saw that he had a wide smile on his face.
“Well, that’s the way it should be done,” he said.
Lindsay smiled back and kept rubbing Maya’s back. She rested her cheek against the thick black curls on the baby’s head and rocked back and forth. Her eyes shut and her world narrowed to the little one in her arms and she found herself praying for her.
God, please let her grow up to know the love of a family. Let her know joy and happiness. Please keep her safe.
How could a mother hold a baby like this and then abandon her? But then her thoughts went to some of the neighborhoods they’d driven through. Mark had also shared some stories in the meetings leading up to the trip about the abject poverty in parts of the Philippines, particularly in Manila. Maybe it was a mother’s love to know that handing their baby over to a place like this meant the baby would get the food and shelter she might not be able to provide otherwise.
Knowing that any child she had wouldn’t face that should have brought comfort to Lindsay but instead it brought grief. She had so much—so very much—and yet there were women around the world who didn’t know where their child’s next meal would come from. Though she knew that she couldn’t solve all the world’s problems, Lindsay knew that things would be different when she returned from this trip.
When they stepped out of the orphanage a little while later, Lindsay stared at the dark clouds gathe
ring to the east of them. She looked up at Than and saw that his gaze was fixed on them as well.
She grasped his forearm and waited for him to look at her. “Is it coming this way?”
Her previous thoughts of the storm hadn’t been really fearful, but after having sat with a helpless baby in her arms, the damage a powerful storm could wreak filled her with dread.
“I’m going to go get my laptop and then check in with Mark. You stick with Barb and Mel.”
Remembering his instructions from the previous night, Lindsay nodded. While Than strode off, the women returned to the building where they had been painting earlier in the day.
Elliot, the missionary in charge of the center, was speaking as they approached. “We might be changing what we’re doing. It looks like we have a bit of a storm headed our way. We will need to start boarding up some windows just to be safe.”
Just to be safe? Recalling the expression on Than’s face, Lindsay had a feeling that these preparations were not just in case the storm hit but were necessary because the storm was headed in their direction.
“Roberto will help you wrap up things here and put the paint and supplies away for the time being. After that, we’ll meet in the dining room to update on the storm.”
Lindsay stayed with Barb and the group as Than had instructed. His words from earlier still echoed in her mind. I’m paid to make sure you are safe. For the duration of this trip, you will always be my first concern. On one hand, it kinda sucked to be reminded that his concern for her was tightly tied to his job, but it also was very reassuring.
~*~*~
Than bent over the table in the dining room to stare at the image on his screen. He frowned as the radar confirmed his suspicions. That storm had veered to the north and was rapidly climbing the classification scale. It had reached severe typhoon status already which meant it was sustaining winds of almost one hundred miles an hour. That was so not good. Even though they were located inland and there was every possibility it might weaken once it hit land, there was also every possibility that it wouldn’t.
Than wanted to kick himself for not having checked on the storm earlier. When he’d looked over the weather data that morning, it had gained strength but even though its trajectory had shifted slightly north, it had still been on track to hit closer to Manila than to where they were. Clearly it had continued to gain strength even as it had shifted further north through the day.
It should have been safe. The majority of typhoons occurred during June to November. Being that it was just April, one of this size shouldn’t have been likely. But he knew that when dealing with Mother Nature there were never any guarantees. It was time to switch his mindset. No longer was he hoping—praying—the storm would miss them or wondering why it was happening right then, he had to focus on what he needed to do to make sure Lindsay was safe. And Barb. And Benjie. Everyone….
“Looks like God’s decided to let us endure this storm.”
Than straightened and looked at Mark as he approached him. “Yes, it does appear that way. Do they have some sort of emergency preparedness plan in place?”
Mark shook his head. “Not really. Although all the buildings are fitted with storm shutters.”
Though this wasn’t exactly his forte, Than’s training allowed him to consider each building and evaluate its weaknesses and strengths. None of them was one hundred percent safe. Too many windows. Too many trees.
“How much time do you figure we have?” Mark asked.
Than shook his head. “I’m not sure, but it looks like it will be making land within the hour. And then we’re probably only about seventy or eighty miles from the coast. I’m most worried about the wind speeds and the fact that we’re up on a hill surrounded by lots of trees.”
“I suppose the upside to that is that we won’t have to worry about flooding.”
Than nodded. “That is probably a very big upside.” He glanced around the dining room as he noticed the rest of the team was beginning to file in. “Here are my pros and cons about the structures. The buildings on the outer edge are most likely to sustain damage from the trees if the wind blows them over. This place will be safer from that sort of damage but has no real protection from the wind which makes its roof more vulnerable.”
Mark held his gaze for a long moment without saying anything then asked, “Where would you put Lindsay?”
“Preferably a room with no windows, but I’m not sure there is such a place that would fit everyone.”
Elliot joined them then along with a couple of the other men who worked at the mission. “We have people working to close all the storm shutters on the buildings, but we need to choose the safest one to ride out the storm. We’ve never faced a storm of this magnitude headed directly for us.”
Than thought through everything he’d seen earlier. “I’ve been looking over the buildings and the surroundings, and I personally feel that the dorm would be the best place for us to be. My reasoning is this—the trees immediately behind the structure aren’t that much taller than the building. And given the denseness of the forest, I doubt that the wind will blow those trees over. In fact, the trees will give some protection. The roof will be the most vulnerable, but if we confine everyone to the main floor, I think that will be the best place.”
He saw Elliot and Mark exchange looks. Than hoped he wasn’t stepping on toes, but he had a job to do here that went beyond holding babies and painting walls. When both men nodded, he let out a sigh of relief.
“We need people to help move the babies and their supplies. We’ll need to get food and water.” Elliot rubbed his forehead. “And I suppose we need to allow people a few minutes to gather things for themselves. If the power from town goes out, we do have a generator, but in the meantime, I’ll have them bring the lanterns we’ve used during power outages before.”
When the three of them had all agreed, Elliot called for the attention of everyone there and explained the process. “We’ll have a group head over to the orphanage to organize what we need for the children. Mel and my wife will lead that group. We will have others here packing up food and taking it over to the dorm. We also need to get some supplies from the clinic. Once that’s all set up, those of you who live elsewhere on the center will have a few minutes to gather any items you want to have with you. We probably have less than an hour before the rain and winds really hit us, but they can start at any time now.”
Mark addressed the mission team and directed them where to go. Than and Lindsay were assigned to the orphanage group along with Barb and a few of the other women and their husbands.
“I’m going to run my laptop back to the dorm then I’ll meet you at the orphanage. Do not leave until I’m there.” Lindsay’s eyes were wide, and he could see the fear on her face. Reaching out, he took her hand and squeezed it. “It’s going to be fine. I’ll see you there.”
Within five minutes, he walked into the orphanage and found things in a state of organized chaos as supplies were gathered for the impending storm.
“We need to take the playpens. The babies will be able to sleep in them since we can’t move the cribs,” Mel said. “So guys, you take care of that and get them set up, if you can. Just pick one of the larger empty rooms on the main floor. Ladies, we need to gather up diapers, clothes, formula, and bottles. Fina and the other ladies will help you get that together. We need to move quickly, but we don’t want to forget anything. We’ll take the babies over as soon as we have the playpens put up.”
Than and the other guys collapsed the playpens with quick, efficient movements and then set them up again once they got to the dormitory. Next to Lindsay, keeping the babies safe was Than’s greatest concern.
When they got back to the orphanage, the women were just leaving, their arms filled with baby supplies. He spotted Lindsay and nodded to her as he went back inside to see what else needed to go.
“Here are more diapers and some clothes,” Mel said as she shoved a large bag into his arms.
&n
bsp; As Than stepped out of the building, rain drops splashed down, cooling his heated skin. It looked like the edge of the storm was just about at their doorstep. He jogged toward the dorm and handed off the bag to one of the ladies in the room. He glanced around for Lindsay and motioned her to come with him. They needed to get the babies over before the rain got any worse.
Once they left the dorm, Than reached for her hand and together they sprinted through the rain to the orphanage once again. Mel and the other women were standing in the large living room now empty of playpens with the babies ready to go.
“It’s raining,” Than told them as he let go of Lindsay’s hand. “Do you have something to cover them? Like a blanket or a towel?”
Fina nodded and gestured to a pile on a nearby chair. She handed him baby Benjie and then draped a blanket over the little boy. Next she gave Maya to Lindsay and covered her as well. The door opened as they were getting ready to head back out and Barb and one of the other women walked in.
“It looks like we have enough to carry the babies now,” Mel said. “I’ll have Roberto come back and shut everything down and lock it up.”
As they approached the door, Than looked at Lindsay. “Ready?”
At her nod, he pushed open the screen door and led the way back to the dorm, mindful of the baby he pressed tight to his chest. The rain pelted at them, and he hoped the blanket covering the baby would be sufficient. Someone was watching for them because as they approached the building, the door swung open.
Than dashed into the dorm with Lindsay right on his heels. Once inside, he peeled back the blanket and gazed down at the baby. Benjie looked at him, his brown eyes wide in his pudgy face. Then he gave him a toothless grin like he’d given him earlier.
“Hey there, buddy. Ready for an adventure?”
10
Than and Lindsay walked side by side down the hallway to the room where the babies would stay. It wasn’t long before the other women were there with the rest of the children. Though Than would have liked to hang around and hold Benjie, there were other things that needed his attention.
Guarding Her Heart: A Christian Romance (BlackThorpe Security Book 1) Page 11