“What?” she asked.
Martine and Kurt leaned in closer, fear of contagion of Dr. Tad’s illness be damned.
“Granddaughter? How can that be?” Kurt asked. “Oh my God. Did you raise Gloria’s little girl and then impregnate her?”
Kurt lunged forward and grabbed Tad by his gown. He lifted him forward and snarled in his face. “Tell me you didn’t use her baby as some kind of surrogate. If you value your life, you’d better tell me that.”
“I don’t value my life anymore,” Tad said, barely above a whisper. “I’ve failed as a human and caused irreparable harm to so many. But to answer you, no, I would never do that to a child.”
Kurt set him down and backed off.
“It’s the only thing that makes sense,” Gloria said. “I don’t have any other children. Thanks to you.”
“Your daughter was never born. She was never more than a fetus. Mick got a hold of a man from Israel who told us about a way to solve the infertility crisis. A cheaper way to provide infertile women with eggs. That was the intent at least.”
“What do you mean?”
“All females are born with all the eggs they’ll ever have. All immature follicles are there from the time they’re born. But actually, the follicles are there before they’re born. We took your unborn daughter out of you and harvested her egg follicles. Thousands and thousands of them. And many, too many, I’m afraid, became viable eggs. We used the Puglisi family money and some from investors. Then we opened this place, implanted the eggs with donor sperm from a bank and voila. A compound full of clean healthy virgins giving birth to your grandchildren.”
“Oh my God.” Gloria didn’t know what else to say. They had taken her fetus. Slaughtered her and used her for parts. And then turned those parts into children to sell out. Like pedigree dogs, the cabbie had said, and he wasn’t far off.
My grandchildren. All over the United States. Alison Gander was—is—my granddaughter.
As sick as this was, the thought of life brought from a child she thought so long dead was somehow strangely comforting. So many children out there were related to her. It hadn’t been a wasted life, even if it was taken too soon.
“How could you?” she asked, leaning back against Kurt for strength.
Tad leaned into his pillow to absorb another wave of pain. “It was a good thing. Hundreds and hundreds of babies from one death.”
“But it was my daughter. My daughter’s death.”
“I’m sorry. I knew it was wrong but I was young and stupid. I’ve wanted to walk away for years but I couldn’t. You don’t know how the Puglisis are. You don’t know the power they wield over life and death.”
“I don’t care. You have to stop this and you have to give all the records to the authorities. The parents have to be contacted. They have to know the adoptive parents on their records don’t exist.”
“No.”
“What?” Gloria asked.
“I will stop it. All the existing embryos from your line are in the back in a tank. Destroy that and it will be the end. But I can’t turn over the records.”
“You have to tell the families.”
“How would you feel if a loving family adopted you and when you turned eighteen you sought out your birth mother? You’d spent your life dreaming of how she’d be, what she’d look like. And then you find out that your mother was never born at all, but scraped in pieces out of your grandmother. Do you have any idea what that kind of knowledge could do to a child?”
“But they deserve the truth.”
“No one deserves that kind of sick truth. For their sakes, just destroy the eggs and let it go. Live your life. Let the children and the people who adopted them live with their fantasies.”
Tad winced and then sunk into his pillow. His eyes closed.
“Is he dead?” Kurt asked.
Martine shook her head. “He fainted from the pain. Or else he is tired. I do not know. I need to clean his arm. I do not know if it will help but I have to try something.” She shot something into his IV. “I am sorry. I did not know where the babies came from or that they had to kill your daughter to get them. I do not know where the babies go when they leave here but I pray they go to people who love them.”
“They do. I’ve seen some of them. They’re healthy happy children with good parents,” Gloria explained in monotone, too shocked to speak normally but wanted to give Martine some solace. Knowing the truth repulsed her but she could see Martine was a victim as well, and cared for the lives of the children she carried.
“Well that is some relief,” Martine said.
“Not much,” Gloria replied.
“The Doctor Tad who took your daughter and the one you see here, they are not the same. He is a kind man. He was going to marry me and run away from Maison D’Espoir. We were going to start a new life and he was going to tell the girls they could keep all the babies inside of them and take whatever they wanted from the compound.”
“He’s the same man,” Kurt said, his hand firmly holding Gloria’s shoulder. “He was weak then and he’s weak now. A strong man could have said no to Mick’s sick-ass plans. A strong man, any decent man, wouldn’t keep implanting a woman he says he loves with someone else’s babies and then sell them out from under her.”
“Dr. Tad only stayed to protect me.” Martine told them of the awful threats Mick Puglisi made against the girls, and his murder of Boni and her child. “He left for them for the boars to eat.”
Kurt and Gloria were stunned and speechless.
She continued with, “Dr. Tad could do nothing against a man like that. A monster.” She wiped tears from her eyes. “Dr. Tad was going to take me away. We were leaving all this. But he cut his hand on the gate and now he is dying. It is a cruel trick God has played.”
“Why didn’t you take him to a real hospital?” Gloria asked.
“Because Anni needs to deliver her baby. Once she has it we will go. Boris will drive us to the airport and we will fly to Belize. Mr. Puglisi will not find us there and they will have a good hospital.”
Gloria pitied the girl in her belief of the plan. Martine knew as well as Gloria that Tad wasn’t going to last another couple of hours much less a long car ride and a flight to Belize with whatever connections they’d have to make. She tried to convince them so she could convince herself, but they all knew he wasn’t going to make it.
Anni moaned loudly from the other bed.
“I think we have waited long enough. It is time for the baby to come. There is a sink to wash yourselves over there, and scrubs are in that closet.”
Gloria stood up and looked to Kurt.
He bit his lip. “Are you okay? I mean, after what Tad just told you?” he asked.
“My feelings don’t matter right now. That girl is going to give birth to my grandchild, as hard as that is to accept. That baby has my blood flowing through it. I don’t care if I have to cut it out of her, I’m delivering that baby. Come on, let’s wash up.”
2.
Tropical backroads of Haiti, predawn
“Angie?”
“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, Mickey. Where the hell are you?”
“I’m sorry. Are the kids okay?”
“Of course they’re okay. Whataya think? They’re with their Auntie. I’ve got Luke sound asleep next to me and Donnie in the bassinet next to the bed.”
“He needs to sleep in his crib.”
“No. He’s sleeping in here with us. If I wasn’t afraid I’d crush him I’d bring him in bed with me.”
“Angie, once you let the kids sleep in bed they’ll never want to go back to their rooms.”
“So what. I just love them to pieces. When Auntie Angie sleeps over we snuggle. If you don’t like it, too bad.”
“Whatever. Give them kisses for me.”
“So where are you? Your nanny called me freaking out. Said she had a date tonight and you never came home. Bad enough to skip out of work but—”
“I’m in Haiti.”
&nbs
p; “Was that on the plan? I thought we weren’t getting any more babies for a while.”
“No it wasn’t. It was a last minute thing. I had to get down here in a hurry and take care of some problems.”
“You don’t sound so good. Are you okay? Tell me what’s going on.”
“You know I don’t like to get you too involved in the business, Angie.”
“Mickey, you’ve got two kids here who need you. If their father gets killed tonight on some crazy Rambo stunt, I need to tell them why you were there.”
Mick pulled back from the phone. What was she talking about? “Why would I get killed?”
“Um, you’re in Haiti, it’s the middle of the night. You’re probably out there to kill someone . . .”
“Don’t say that on the phone. Are you nuts?”
“Are you? Think about it Mickey. Look where you are. Are you so stupid you think you’re safe out there? What do you have a magic cape or something?”
Mick gulped. He wasn’t safe was he? Why hadn’t it occurred to him to be frightened? Why did he always feel invincible?
“I’m not stupid,” he assured her.
“So what do I tell the kids? If you die out there because you can’t ever admit defeat what happens to the boys?”
“I won’t die. And it’s not just a matter of pride, Angie. It’s not about admitting defeat. I’m trying to hold the business together. Hold our family together.”
“You want to hold the family together then you should be home asleep with your sons. You’re just like Daddy.”
“No I’m not.”
“Yes you are. Business comes before everything.”
“Yeah well, Daddy’s still alive isn’t he?”
“Too bad for me. Jerk.”
“Angie, don’t disrespect our father.”
“Fuck you, Mickey Mouse. He doesn’t deserve respect.”
Mick leaned against the seat as he squinted in the darkness. The headlights weren’t bright enough. He used to think he could make the drive from Port Au Prince to Maison D’Espoir in his sleep, but he had no idea it could be so dark. Where the hell had the moon gone to?
“You there?”
“I’m here,” he said. Daddy did deserve respect. He had done everything he could to keep things together. Sacrificed so much. Done a lot of things he didn’t want to do. No one understood that better than Mick. Of course he’d rather be home asleep with Luke, his blind stuffed animals, and the baby, but there was work to be done. Killing to be performed, to save Maison D’Espoir. Angie, God bless her, would never understand.
“I won’t die. But if do, my will says you should take the boys. I’ve made provisions for both of them. I updated the will when I adopted Donnie.”
Silence. Shit. The phone had cut out.
“Angie!”
“Daddy?” Luke’s voice came on the line.
“Luke, what are you doing up?” A lump lodged in his throat.
“Auntie Angie is sad. She crying. You make her cry.”
Mick shuddered. What the hell was he doing out here so far from home? Angie was right. Mick had turned into his father and up until two minutes ago thought that was the best thing in the world. Now he couldn’t be more ashamed.
“I’m sorry, Luke. I love you.”
“Wuv you too, Daddy.”
The phone was silent again and Mick waited. But this time it really did cut out. No signal. Of course there was no signal. He was in the middle of freaking nowhere. Hot hellhole Haiti.
“Shit!” Mick banged the steering wheel.
As he pressed the pedal hard and picked up speed, he decided that after this mass slaughter, he vowed to be home more and to stop killing people. There were plenty of underlings who could do that for him. No reason to risk his life. His father had been lucky but what if Mick’s luck ran out?
3.
Maison D’Espoir, Haiti, predawn-Gloria
Gloria sat on the stool in the delivery room, in awe of the little girl she held, swaddled in a pink blanket. The baby weighed in at seven pounds and was twenty and a half inches long. Her eyes were closed and she was caked in dried blood and amniotic fluid, but she was beautiful. “My little miracle,” she said.
Across the room, Martine covered Anni’s head with a fresh white sheet. She and Kurt wheeled her from the room. Gloria watched as the dead girl was wheeled away. Who would take the baby now?
Dr. Tad had talked Martine and Gloria through the emergency C-section as best he could. He wanted to help but was too weak to sit up much less do what needed to be done. Martine had made the incision, and had done the job perfectly, thank God. But Anni had already been well on her way to death. By the time Gloria helped Martine lift the child from the mass of red wet tissue, Anni was gone. Kurt rushed over and cut the cord and Martine got the baby breathing.
Now it was an hour later. Dr. Tad was in and out of sleep, in and out of lucidity. And Gloria had been unable to do anything but hold the baby and stare at her in wonder.
“Gloria, tell Martine to bring me the papers. I’ll list you as the birth mother, say you delivered her here,” Dr. Tad said from his bed.
“You can’t do that.” Why, am I protesting? I know this baby is meant for me.
“Yes, I can a-arrange it. It’s the least I can do. She’s your granddaughter but no one will ever have to know. When she’s older you can just tell her that you were vacationing here and went into early labor.”
“And I could bring her home. Just like that?”
“You’ll want to take her to the hospital in Port Au Prince to get her checked out but you can give them the papers. She’ll be your daughter. You have every right to bring her home.”
Kurt walked back into the room at that moment, prompting Tad to ask, “Should I list him as the father?” Tad asked.
Kurt flinched and Gloria assumed she had her answer. Maybe they would be a couple after this, but maybe they wouldn’t. Maybe his lack of an explainable past would make it an impossibility to commit even if he wanted to. And did he want to really?
“Yes,” Kurt said, breaking her from her thoughts. He walked to Gloria and kissed the top of her head.
“But what if—” she started to ask.
“What if? Anyway, this kid deserves to at least know I was in the picture when she was born. I cut the cord. I feel like I gave her life even if it wasn’t in the conventional sense.”
Martine next walked in, a mixture of happiness for the baby and grief for Dr. Tad fighting for prominence on her face. “Can you get me the birth forms?” Tad asked to her, his voice growing more weak by the minute.
“How will Gloria get the baby home? The forms say Hope House in Florida and she doesn’t have the special plane Mr. Puglisi uses to smuggle them over or the friends in Customs.”
Gloria now had another piece of the puzzle, how Mick got the babies to the U.S. without all the red tape of foreign adoptions.
“There are some real Maison D’Espoir forms. I used one for Boni’s baby. They’re behind the other ones, in the back of that drawer.”
Dr. Tad stiffened up and dug his heels into the bed. New rivulets of sweat broke out all over him. The darkness had spread to his collar bone and Gloria could see it under his johnny. He didn’t have much time left.
“Hurry,” he said through gritted teeth.
Martine ran out.
“I am so sorry, Gloria. You will never know how sorry I am,” he said.
“I forgive you.” She turned from him and looked into the baby’s big eyes, which stared up at her. Little blond lashes and tufts of light hair. “It’s all right now.”
Martine came back in and handed him a form on a clipboard to sign. “I will fill the rest out for you,” she said. “You just sign here.”
“You know how?”
“I have seen you do it many times. Gloria can help me with the words if I don’t know them.”
He signed the form then gave it back.
“Martine please give me some more Morphine
now.”
“I just gave you some. If you get too much you could die.”
He stared at her sadly. “I know. And I’m sorry for that too.”
“But what about Belize?”
“I’m not going to make it. You’ll have to go without me. I’ve given you all the paperwork. You go yourself. Take the money from the account. I put it in your name too.”
Gloria had a glimmer of respect for this man. He was at least dying with some dignity. Leaving all his money to a Haitian surrogate showed on some level he had good character, even if he had caused so much heartbreak.
“I do not want your money. I want you to live.”
“I’m not going to live. I’m sorry but I’m not. I’ve always had a weak heart and never told you, but this infection has weakened it further. Even if I got treatment for the arm immediately, it’d be too late. Please, Martine. You have to be strong. I have to know you’re going to go to Belize and get that money and have a nice life.”
She walked to the cabinet and retrieved a vial. “I will go to Belize. I do not want to give you this medicine, but do not want you to suffer. I love you, Doctor Tad.”
“I love you too, Martine. And I’m sorry that we can’t be together.”
She nodded. “I am sorry too.”
Tears rolled down the girl’s face and she inserted the needle into the IV.
“Gloria come closer. Please,” he said. She handed the baby to Kurt and went to Tad’s side.
“Martine will give you my journal. Keep it or destroy it but please don’t ever show anyone. Promise me you’ll never try to track down those children and will never tell what went on here.”
“But—”
“No. You can’t. No one must know. It will ruin all those lives. It’s your secret.”
“What about all the other eggs?” Kurt asked.
“I can show you,” Martine said. “They are stored in barrels dipped in fog.”
“Liquid nitrogen,” Tad said, fading away.
“You will set them all free?” Martine asked. “Dump them from the barrels and into the river so they can swim away?”
Gloria was touched by Martine’s innocence. Out of the mouths of babes. “Yes, we will set them free.”
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