Megan willed her heart to stop its wild racing. For days she’d fluctuated back and forth from thinking Randy was her very own son to knowing he could never be. Things like that didn’t happen in real life. Never in a million years would an adoptive father bring his son to the same town where the child’s birth mother lived. And if by some chance he did, what were the odds he would meet that woman and pursue a relationship with her?
Megan shook her head. It couldn’t happen. Every ounce of logic within her cried against the possibility. Yet something was going on she didn’t understand. Not only was she drawn to Scott, she felt a strong maternal attraction for Randy. She could easily take him into her home and raise him as her own child without a moment’s hesitation. She’d never felt this way toward any other child either through her work in Scouts or at school.
Not understanding her emotions or the circumstances surrounding her, Megan slipped from bed and knelt on the floor as she poured out her hurts and desires to her Heavenly Father. She prayed for Scott and for Randy. She prayed for strength beyond her own. Mostly she prayed for her son that wherever he was, God would be with him and give him a life filled with love and happiness.
Afterward, Megan looked at her bedside clock and saw her alarm would not go off for another hour. She could never go back to sleep now. Might as well get up. She turned on her light and reached for her Bible. With the start of school and Scouts, she’d been busy and had neglected her regular time in the Word. Now would be a good time to resume reading.
Feeling the need for comfort, Megan turned to the Psalms and began to read. After a while, she stopped and read aloud the 4th and 6th verses of the 34th chapter. “I sought the Lord and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.”
If only the Lord would take all her troubles and fears away. She read a little further until she reached the eighteenth and nineteenth verses. “The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.”
Laying her Bible aside, Megan closed her eyes and let the words of truth soak into her soul. There was no doubt God cared for her. In all her hurt and confusion, He was with her and He cared. God knew Randy’s origin. God knew where her son was and if he was all right. Whether Randy was the baby she had borne and lost didn’t matter so much. What did matter was she loved Randy, and she loved Scott.
Megan closed her Bible and lay it aside. She needed to get ready for school.
~*~
In spite of her resolve, Megan’s dream continued to haunt her. Psychologists would say she needed closure. They’d probably be right. When her baby was taken, she hadn’t been allowed to hold him. All she wanted was to know he was all right. That he had a good home and was happy with parents who loved him. Surely if she had that assurance, the dreams would stop. This longing deep within would lesson. She could give up this impossible belief Randy was hers.
Since Megan couldn’t talk to Scott about her suspicions, she knew no way to determine if Randy was her son. Except one. His birthdate should be in the Scout records.
Cheered by her inspiration, Megan smiled at her class and focused on the reading discussion she’d assigned them.
When the dismissal bell rang, Megan released a sigh. Her students couldn’t be more eager to leave school tonight than she was so she could take a look at the Scout records. In the parking lot, Scott’s truck waited next to her car. He leaned against the truck while Randy and Derek played catch in the schoolyard not far away. As she drew near, the boys ran to meet her.
“We’re gonna go sell popcorn.” Derek called out before they were halfway across the yard.
“Great.” Megan smiled. “Am I your first customer?”
“Hey, neat.” Randy detoured toward the truck. “Dad, where’s my sheet?”
Scott laughed as he pushed away from the truck and retrieved two popcorn sales sheets, which he handed to each boy. They grabbed them and ran back to Megan.
Megan grinned. “With that much enthusiasm, you’ll both reach the one thousand dollar mark. And since I’m your first customer, you’ll have to take me out to eat with your prizes.”
Randy cocked his head. “What prizes?”
“A coupon from Rosey’s. Weren’t you listening?” Megan shook her head at the boys. “Not to mention a pocket knife and a bunch of other stuff like maybe a cash prize.”
“Oh, yeah.” Randy acted like he just remembered.
“Only, you aren’t their first customers.” Scott grinned at her. “I am.”
Megan looked at the order form in her hand. There in small, neat print was Scott’s name on the first line. He’d ordered almost one hundred dollars of chocolate and caramel covered popcorn divided evenly between the two boys.
She looked up at him. “What are you doing? Buying Christmas gifts early?”
“Sure, if I don’t eat it all up by then.” Scott’s grin widened. “Are you ready to go?”
Megan hesitated. She had planned to call Joe. She’d waited all day to find out Randy’s birthday and this would be another delay. She looked at Randy’s hopeful expression and caved. She’d talk to Joe tonight at Scouts.
“All right, but we’re taking my car.” She gave Scott her stern schoolmarm look. “Seatbelts for everyone.”
“Yes, Ma’am.” Scott’s grin stayed in place as he locked his truck and followed the boys to Megan’s car.
At the first house, Scott suggested they separate to cover more area. Megan and Derek took one side of the street, while Scott and Randy went down the other. By the time they reached the end of the first block, Derek had three sales and Randy had two.
“If we go on around the block, we’ll come back to the car and will have covered several houses in order. Should be able to keep track that way.” Scott’s eyebrow lifted.
“You don’t plan to cover every house in town, do you?” They stood at the edge of a twenty-year-old housing development.
Scott chuckled. “No, I rejected that idea once I thought about it.”
Megan shook her head, resisting the urge to roll her eyes.
“I want to go with Megan first. Can I, Dad?” Randy looked at Scott, his order sheet clutched in front of him.
Megan’s heart warmed at his declaration. She rested her hand on his shoulder to await Scott’s answer.
“That’s a good idea.” Scott looked down the first street. “We can trade off every block so the boys get a fair chance.”
Megan smiled. “Yes, we wouldn’t want Randy to get too far ahead just because he’s with me.”
“Those are fightin’ words, lady.” Scott’s grin belied his threat. “Come on, Derek. Let’s show your aunt who the real salesman here is.”
Scott and Derek crossed the street, leaving Megan and Randy to knock on the nearest door. Megan gave Randy a motherly pat on the shoulder. “I guess we’d better show him.”
“We will.” Randy’s grin lit his face.
By the time they reached the end of the second block and had switched partners again, Megan was getting entirely too good at playing pretend. She’d watched Shelly with Derek, but she’d never known what it felt like to be a mother until Randy walked into her life.
At one house, a middle-aged woman bought the most expensive item they offered, a three-way pack of flavored popcorn. When she signed her name, she told them, “It’s a gift for my son. I used to take him door-to-door, selling popcorn for the Scouts, but we didn’t have anything that fancy back then. I think he’ll get a kick out of getting some Boy Scout popcorn.”
She looked at Randy. “You should be thankful you have a good mother who will spend time with you.”
Randy grinned up at Megan with mischief twinkling in his eyes. “Yeah, she’s a pretty neat mom. I think my dad likes her, too.”
Megan laughed with the woman, but her heart still hadn’t settled down. H
ad the woman seen a resemblance between her and Randy?
“How’d you do?” Scott took Randy’s sheet and looked at it. “Hmmm, I’m not sure how to count this. We sold more items, but your sales are more expensive.”
“We’ll have to call it a tie.” Megan pulled the sheet from Scott and gave it to Randy. “Come on, Derek, let’s see if you can do even better this time.”
An hour later, they called it quits with the boys’ sales running close.
“Um, Megan.” Scott ducked his head before looking at her with a crooked smile. “I can’t be at Scouts tonight.”
“You what?” Megan frowned at him.
“Randy won’t be there, either.” Scott coughed into his hand. “I forgot to tell you we agreed to go with my friend, John, to a dinner he’s hosting.”
“And this is more important than Scouts?” Megan crossed her arms.
“Probably not.” Scott’s grin widened. He didn’t look the least bit sorry. “Did you know you’re cute even when you frown?”
The urge to laugh struck Megan, but she resisted. “No, and you’ll never convince me of that.”
She opened her car door and hopped in. “Since you have a dinner to go to and I have Scouts to handle alone tonight, we’d better be going.”
“Ok, but you’ll have to let me make it up to you.” Scott circled the car while the boys piled in the back seat.
He got in and closed the passenger door while Megan started the car. “We’ll go out on the town soon, I promise.”
Megan couldn’t stop the smile that pushed the corners of her mouth upward. She met his eyes and shook her head. “What am I going to do with you?”
He chuckled. “We’ll have to think on that one.”
She dropped Scott and Randy off at school where he’d left his truck then took Derek home. Their den meeting tonight would be lonely without the two males she’d come to count on as a major part of her life. She should know better. She went home to change for Scouts.
~*~
Derek ran out of the house as she pulled up to the curb to pick him up. “Hey, Aunt Megan, guess what?”
“What?”
“I sold some more popcorn. Grandma called a bunch of her friends and every one of them bought some.” Derek’s eyes shone with excitement. “Can we add it up when we get to the church? We didn’t have time tonight, but Grandma says she thinks it’s over two hundred dollars.”
“Wow!” Megan gave him a wide smile. “If you keep this up, you’ll have a thousand sold for sure.”
“Yeah, me and Randy are both going to sell a thousand dollars this year.” Derek declared. “We already decided.”
“Great, I hope you do.”
Megan and Derek went down the hall to the room they used for their den meetings. She glanced in the one where Joe’s den always met, but saw no one. Her heart sank. Tim, the Cubmaster, met her just outside her door. “Hi, how are you tonight?”
“Fine. Where’s Joe den?”
Tim glanced toward the dark room next to hers. “Joe said they were going on a field trip. I think he has a scientist friend who’s showing them his home lab tonight. He promised to let the boys perform some experiments.”
“How nice.” Megan smiled in an effort to hide her frustration. Now she’d decided to take action and get positive proof about Randy, she was again put off. Still, she needed a second adult in her room.
“Um, Tim, would you mind sitting in on my meeting? Scott won’t be here tonight.”
He shrugged. “Sure. Not a problem.”
Joe’s den still hadn’t returned by the time Scouts dismissed. Megan took Derek home then drove to her house determined to call Joe until she got an answer. He shouldn’t have her boys’ files, anyway. She’d always kept them along with an advancement record for each boy in her den before. Joe probably just wanted to be in charge. How long would Shelly, who was the oldest child and also used to being in control, put up with Joe’s domineering ways? Probably not long.
She settled on her couch and called Joe as Bagheera jumped onto her lap for a back rub.
“You are such a spoiled cat.” Megan complained as she massaged his neck. “I’d trade you for a little blond-haired boy any day of the week.”
“Hello?”
“Joe!” Megan started at his voice. Surely he hadn’t heard what she’d said. “I didn’t see your bunch at Scouts tonight. Tim said you went to a friend’s to do some scientific experiments.”
“Yeah, the boys thought it was a blast. They all earned their science pin, too.”
“Great. What I’m calling about is my den records. I don’t have them, but I need to know birthdates on the two new boys. You wouldn’t happen to have those handy, would you?”
“Why don’t you have records for your den?”
Megan clenched her jaw. “Because they were never given to me. I assumed you wanted to keep them.”
“Why would I do that?” Joe seemed to be thumbing through papers. She could hear the rustle as he flipped them. “Ah, here’s what you want. Do you need it right now, or could I just bring it all next Monday?”
“Sure, that will be fine. I can get the files next week, but would you mind looking up my two new boys. I wanted to recognize each boy’s birthday, and I don’t know Billy Harmon’s and Randy Landis’s.”
Megan held her breath.
“Yeah, I don’t mind.” After a short pause, Joe spoke. “Looks like Billy’s birthday is May fifteen, and Randy’s is in August. I can't read the date. Something has smeared the ink. Wait, it looks like a nine or maybe an eight. I guess it could be a seven. There's something in front of that, but I can't read it. Sorry, but you've got plenty of time before August to ask him, I guess.”
Megan thanked Joe and hung up with a trembling hand. Randy's birthday was in August. And the date ended in nine. She was sure of it. She didn't need to see the first number of the date because she knew without being told. Her vision blurred as she visualized the twenty-ninth of August nine years ago when the nurse walked away with her baby. No question remained in her mind. Randy Landis and the baby she had longed for all these years had to be one and the same.
~Thirteen~
After a restless night, Megan returned to school with her thoughts far from the lessons she needed to teach. No doubt about it. Randy surely was her son. But what could she do about her newfound information? She loved both Randy and Scott and didn’t want to lose either of them.
If she kept quiet, she would never have the satisfaction of truly being Randy’s mother. But how could she tell Scott what she’d discovered? The love she shared with Scott was still too new, too untried to be put to such a test. Scott would take Randy and run at the slightest indication Megan’s interest in him was solely to get to Randy. False as it might be, she knew that would be his first and possibly only thought.
By noon her head felt twice its normal size with an ache rivaling any migraine she’d ever had. In the cafeteria, Randy caught her gaze and waved, a huge grin covering his face.
Megan lifted her hand and tried to smile, but all she could think of was her son had returned and she couldn’t acknowledge him. Couldn’t tell him she was his mother.
For nine years she’d longed for her son. She would have gladly given up everything she owned for word of him, just to know his life was everything she wished it to be. Randy had no mother. None but her. Yet her hands were tied. She had no right to fill that void in her son’s life.
At four o’clock, Megan left school and headed toward Shelly’s.
Shelly greeted her. “Hi, I’m leaving for work in fifteen minutes. Come on back while I get ready.”
Megan followed her sister to their old bedroom Shelly had remodeled to suit her more adult taste. Megan sat on the full-sized bed and watched her sister freshen her make-up. “So how are things going with Joe?”
Shelly cast a quick glance over her shoulder and grinned. “Why do you want to know? Are you missing him?”
“No, of course not. I just
wondered.” Megan took a deep breath. “That isn’t why I stopped by.”
“I didn’t think so. What’s wrong? Trouble with Scott?”
“I found out last night. Randy is my son.”
“What?” Shelly swung around to face Megan. “What on earth are you talking about?”
“Randy. He’s my son.”
Shelly sat on the bed beside Megan. “No, honey, Randy isn’t your son. Randy is just a sweet, little boy we all have fallen in love with.”
“You don’t understand.” Megan fought the tears welling in her eyes. “Scott is close friends with John Waldon, the attorney who handled the adoption. Randy is adopted. He looks enough like me to be my son. He has the same interest in medicine Jason had. And his birthday is August twenty-nine. What more proof do I need?”
Shelly’s eyes widened. "How do you know his birthday is the twenty-ninth of August? Did you ask him?"
Megan shook her head. "No. Joe looked it up in the Scout records for me, although he didn't know why."
"Well, we can be thankful for that."
Megan ignored her sister's remark. "He said it was in August. The date was smeared, and he couldn't read it. Anything except the nine. But that doesn't matter. I don't need to know the exact day, Shelly. Randy is my son."
Shelly slipped her arm around Megan’s shoulders. “Oh, honey, when will you stop torturing yourself? Randy isn’t your son. How many thousands of baby boys were born on August twenty-ninth of that year do you suppose? He could have been born any day in August. Think how many more were born in the entire month. And how many of them were adopted? Scott didn’t even live in Missouri when Randy was born. Don’t you suppose Randy came from someplace else?”
“No, I don’t.” Megan pulled away and stood, looking down on her sister. “I don’t see that at all. I know Randy is my son. I feel it inside. I felt drawn to him from the first time I saw him. Don’t you think I know, down inside, my own son?”
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