by Tina Leonard
April didn’t answer, not certain how to reply. Clearly, Jackson had spun their relationship to the family as a love match. She offered Bri a shy smile and a nod before making an excuse and hurrying down to the nursery.
“Oh, you little sweethearts,” April murmured as she went to stand beside their isolettes. “You’ll never guess where I’ve just been. Soon, I hope you’ll be coming home with me. We’ll find your mother, and we’ll help her get started with you. And just you wait until you meet your temporary father. You’re going to like him, because he’s a special man.”
As she touched the delicate toes and baby skin she had come to love, April allowed herself to become lost in a hazy daydream. If only these were my babies, and yet, my heart so wishes for their real mother to return.
But still, I do love them as if they are my very own.
“Hi, April.”
Her head snapped up as the daydream was snatched away. “Hi, Madeline,” she said.
Madeline Sheppard smiled at her. “I wanted to come by and give my good friend my best wishes. Congratulations on your marriage.”
“Oh. Thank you.” April’s face warmed as she realized her “happy” news would have spread throughout the hospital, fairly shouted by her exuberant sister-in-law.
“Bri is ecstatic that you’re part of her family now.”
“I am, too.”
Madeline touched a few baby toes as she smiled wistfully. “My biological clock is ticking so loud it sounds like it might detonate any minute.”
Madeline was a fertility specialist, and maybe for that reason, April had never thought of her as lacking anything where babies were concerned. And yet, Madeline had to think about babies all day long as part of her job—it was only natural to want the same for herself that she tried to help other couples achieve.
“I’m approaching a ripe old thirty-five in a few weeks. If I had my way about it, I’d be married and expecting my own child by my next birthday. That’s what I’m going to wish for when I blow out the candles on this cake, anyway.”
April smiled at her. “I’ll cross my fingers for you, too. Your prince could always be closer than you think, maybe just a wish away.”
“Yours certainly appeared from out of the mists. I thought all you ever did was work. Of course, now we all know you found a little time for romance,” she teased.
April blushed. “Caleb kind of…swept me off my feet.”
“Well, you seem so happy. Congratulations. Oh, I wish I could stay and hear all about it, but I’ve got to get back to work.”
“Thanks for stopping by, Madeline.”
Madeline left the room, and once again April turned to consider the infants. It would be so wonderful to have children of her own. She wasn’t that different from Madeline. Actually similar, because she had no man with whom to become a partner in pregnancy. Caleb was temporary. No other man had suited her as either husband or father-to-her-children material.
It seemed almost too ironic to accept congratulations from Madeline when there was nothing to celebrate. “Oh, well,” she told the babies, “for now, I’ve got you to hold, and who knows, that prince might be just a wish away for me as well.”
JUST AS A MATTER OF COURSE, Caleb decided to leave no stone unturned when it came to idle conversation. Someone had talked to Jenny and had heard something they didn’t realize. The trick was finding out who had the information he needed.
He’d already tried the teen scene. Speaking with Mrs. Fox had been illuminating, but not necessarily the gold mine of clues he wanted. “Next stop, hospital staff,” he said under his breath.
He caught Madeline Sheppard in the hall as she was leaving the neonatal nursery. “I’m Caleb McCallum,” he said.
“Oh, the handsome groom who nabbed our sweet nurse. Bri can’t stop doing cartwheels over your marriage.”
“Bri’s a romantic, but thanks.” Caleb grinned, then got down to business. “Madeline, did you ever talk to Jenny, the mother of those quads in the nursery?”
“Once, maybe.” Madeline’s forehead creased. “I’m a fertility specialist, so I didn’t have much reason to talk to her. She’d already hit more of the jackpot than most people ever do in their lives. But I did stop in once to say congratulations.”
“So she never mentioned anything to you of a personal nature?”
Madeline smiled. “All she did was lie there. She could barely smile. When I saw Jenny, she was pretty exhausted from the delivery. I don’t think she said a word, as a matter of fact.”
Caleb nodded. “I can understand that.”
“You might try her obstetrician,” Madeline offered. “Zachary Beaumont delivered the quads.”
“Thanks. I will.”
“Congrats.” Madeline gave him a friendly smile and walked away.
April came out in the hall, her eyebrows raised. “I thought I heard your voice. Are you flirting with the single women on the staff?”
“No. I’m kissing married ones.” And he reached out and swiped her close to him, laying a big kiss on her lips.
She jumped out of his arms as if she’d been snapped. “Caleb!”
He laughed at her. “I can do that. We’re married.”
She visibly relaxed. “I forgot. I’m sorry.”
His expression turned serious, though it was clear he was teasing. “We have to keep up appearances, you know.”
“Of course. Well, goodbye.”
She scurried back into the nursery as fast as her little white shoes could take her. Caleb laughed under his breath. She was so cute when she was unsettled. It served her right for teasing him about flirting. He wasn’t a flirting kind of guy, and she knew it. That would be the last time she asked a question like that, because she knew what his answer would be.
A big smooch, where anybody could see.
He had really enjoyed that.
TEN MINUTES LATER, Zachary Beaumont gave Caleb a benign glance. “I really didn’t know Jenny Bar rows very long. She was here at the hospital for a couple of weeks because having quadruplets requires special care, of course. But two weeks isn’t long enough to know much about a patient.”
Caleb hated turning up big fat zeroes.
“She was a stellar patient, though. I’m surprised she left the way she did. The way she acted about those children, oohing and aahing over each of them as they were born, I thought she was more smitten than scared.”
“It was a lot of personal stuff, I think. Thanks, Doctor.”
“You’re welcome. If anything else comes to mind, I’ll let you know.”
“Thanks.” Caleb headed off, deciding he’d go by his father’s offices and talk with him. By now, he wondered why his father hadn’t called him for a full report.
Of course, he might be less anxious for a report on the case now that he and April were married and applying for temporary custody. Caleb snorted to himself. No doubt Jackson hoped Jenny would stay gone long enough for he and April to figure out that they actually liked sharing residential square footage. Liked being married.
Wouldn’t Jackson be surprised when he learned that Caleb and April maintained separate quarters and would continue to do so, at least until the babies went home with April?
JACKSON LOOKED at him from under beetled brows. “So the first round of paperwork at Social Services went fine?”
Caleb shrugged. “As far as we can tell. They keep their cards pretty close to the vest. Still, the babies may be able to go home soon. They’ll have to go somewhere, and April and I are a ready-made family who can give them the constant care they require.”
Jackson nodded. “How does it feel to be married?”
“Better than I thought it would.” Caleb sent his father a sheepish glance. “Maybe I feel okay about it because I know that there’s a timed release in it.”
His father shook his head. “Well, you seem to like that little gal. Don’t be in too big a hurry to push the destruct button. Great women are real tough to find.”
“Don
’t I know it.” Caleb rubbed a palm over his chin, ready to be off the subject. “I’m having no luck finding Jenny Barrows.”
“That’s unusual for you. Bloodhounds don’t do any better at tracking scent than you do at putting missing pieces together.”
Caleb frowned. “I know. I’m missing a huge piece, and it’s bugging me. Teenagers don’t disappear without a trace, especially when they have no money, no family and no resources. There had to have been someone she talked to.”
“I bet you stumble on it soon enough. You ate your black-eyed peas on New Year’s, didn’t you?”
“Don’t tell me that superstitious tale of eating peas for luck is going to help me find Jenny.”
“No. I’m just asking you in a roundabout way if you and April cooked, or if you went out after your honeymoon.”
“We actually went our separate ways. She went to the hospital and I went to chat with local teenagers.”
Jackson grunted. “I take it the honeymoon wasn’t a sufficient lure to keep you two together then.”
“Dad,” Caleb said, his tone no-nonsense. “Don’t try to make a romance where there isn’t going to be one.”
“All right.” Jackson sighed. “But damn, I like that little girl.”
“I know you do.” Caleb sighed. “But I gotta like being married. And she’s got to like it. Believe it or not, I’m not the only reluctant mule in the marriage.”
“Oh, I believe it, all right. That young lady’s full of sass. Say, did she ever ask you about the prenup?”
“No. It was just as you said. She’d made her point, knows we accepted it, and beyond that, I don’t guess the details interest her.”
“I sure do appreciate honesty and a good, hard working stubborn streak in a woman,” Jackson said wistfully. “April reminds me so much of—”
“Dad. I’m not going there.” He stood, clapping a strong hand on his father’s shoulder. “Thanks for everything you did to help us and to make things nice for the wedding. I’ve got to get back to work.”
“You do that. Thanks for stopping by.”
Caleb nodded, seeing the lines around his father’s eyes and the concerned fold to his lips. “It’s going to be fine, Dad,” he said soothingly. “Don’t worry.”
“I’m not so old that you need to start parenting me,” Jackson said, uncharacteristically petulant. “I’ve been around the track enough to know that everything eventually works itself out.”
Caleb laughed at his dad’s who-is-in-control-here tone. “That’s my dad. Bye.”
“Bye.” Jackson waved him away, watching as his son walked out the office doors. Great gravy, was that any way to start a marriage, staying apart from one another? What would it take to get these two stubborn kids in one place long enough that they had to begin to work within the boundaries of the marriage agreement they’d made? Life was way too short to be so damn mule-headed.
And yet, as much as he wanted to wave his hand like an all-powerful genie to cast the proper spell that would make April and Caleb want to be husband and wife, he knew that wasn’t the way marriage worked.
It took mutual craving.
There was no way to kickstart a craving.
He’d done his best, and he’d have to be satisfied with that. The rest was up to Caleb and April. Maggie and Adam. Bri and Hunter.
“You’d think, Emily,” he said to his deceased wife, “you’d think that any man who dedicated a wing of a hospital to multiple births would get tons of grandkids. Adam and Maggie, I just don’t know what to say about that except that I wish you were here to talk to your son and comfort his wife. Caleb’s so ornery you might as well forget about any bundles of joy coming from that son of yours. Bri’s coming along fine with her three, but it sure would be nice if her brothers would join in the fun and have a few kids of their own.” He sighed deeply, his soul lonely. “You’d know what to say to these kids of yours. I miss you, woman, I truly do.”
Chapter Twelve
After four weeks of interviews, visits to April’s home and countless questions of their family members and work associates, a miracle happened. April and Caleb were allowed to take the four babies home for temporary foster care.
The moment April learned the news, she shrieked with joy she never really thought she’d get to feel. After that, everything happened fast. All the things that had been bought for the babies by Bri were taken to April’s house. A minishower was given by Cherilyn, much like a shower for a woman expecting her very own child. Since this foster situation was temporary, there was a twist to the gifts. There was something small for use with the babies, like a set of washcloths with little ducks from each nurse—but then there was something for April from each friend as well. Lovely, breathtakingly sheer webs of lacy lingerie.
“You got married so quickly we didn’t get you wedding gifts,” Cherilyn explained. “And you won’t have the babies forever, so we didn’t buy any clothes for them past the six-month size. But your marriage to Caleb calls for something to keep that hunk right by your side,” she teased.
So April ended up opening up beautifully wrapped gift after gift of lingerie, tasteful and exquisite. Meant to make a man look. And touch.
Of course, her friends had no way of knowing that the marriage was meant to be more short-term than the foster care.
The party was given for her on the last day of her employment, as she was taking an unspecified leave of absence until the babies were no longer in her care. The nurses and some of the doctors threw confetti at her and Caleb as they left with the babies, followed in a car by Jackson and Bri, who were coming to help move them in.
It almost felt like a real homecoming day. It was more than April had begun to believe could happen.
She carried Matthew’s carrier inside her house, nearly trembling with excitement. Caleb carried in Craig, Bri brought in Melissa, and Jackson, who couldn’t bear to be left out, carried Chloe in as if she were a fragile piece of china.
“An instant family, that’s for certain,” Bri said as they all took a baby to diaper and get changed for bed. “You’ve decorated their rooms beautifully, April.”
Too distracted by all the excitement, April barely heard Bri’s compliment. But she was glad that her sister-in-law thought the nurseries were suitable for the babies. On the days when she’d been off, she had decided to paint bright yellow colors on the walls in both bedrooms. She’d found huge cutouts of the moon, the stars, and even a castle, decorations that she realized the infants couldn’t focus on yet, but during the waiting days, as she’d called them, the busywork kept her mind relaxed.
She’d even sewn tiny bumper rails. That had been a challenge, and after that project, decided she’d done enough and was just going to drive herself crazy.
She and Caleb hadn’t seen each other much. He came by every once in a while with a pizza or other food item, making sure she ate. He’d help her paint, or hang the big cutouts, change some lightbulbs or help her with drapery rods, but beyond that, they didn’t share affection. It was as if their wedding-night lovemaking had never occurred.
He seemed as content with that as she did. She couldn’t have asked for more in a partner, because he seemed to understand that she needed to throw every ounce of her energy into what she called nesting. In a way, she felt almost expectant herself, as if she was simply waiting for her own day of giving birth.
Of course it was a silly fancy, but he didn’t seem to think so. And once she’d shared that idea with him, he’d gone out and bought two sliding rockers, one for each room.
April had been delighted with the gifts. “You didn’t have to do that, Caleb. But thank you!”
“We’re going to need them for those all-night feedings. I figure the chances of four babies sleeping through the night is about nil.”
He’d grinned at her, his hair rumpled from carrying the rockers in with a cold breeze blowing out side. The chill had touched his cheeks with a healthy ruddiness, and his eyes glowed even brighter. She liked
him in jeans—too well—and the blue-and-black flannel shirt gave him a rugged appeal she couldn’t help admiring.
Their lovemaking flashed into her mind, and April felt need warm her body. Attraction like she’d never known sped into her.
But that was outside what they’d agreed upon, and a sure way to destroy a good friendship. Because after this time in their lives was over, and Jenny was found and reunited with her children, what would she and Caleb have together?
Nothing but an agreement to wed for the sake of four tiny babies who would no longer be in their care.
But for now, the babies were here, and she had to focus on the short time they might have them. “Thank you,” she said quietly to Caleb after he’d secured one baby in its crib. “You’ve been a wonderful partner.”
“It’s okay.” He tugged at a long curl of her hair. “I haven’t done anything I haven’t wanted to, babe.”
“This little baby wants something, and I can’t figure out what,” Jackson said gruffly, coming in from the other nursery room, carrying a squalling Chloe in his arms. “You’d think after three of my own, I’d know what I was doing.”
Bri laughed, coming to take the fitful baby from her father. “Not necessarily, Dad. Babies are puzzles sometimes. And crying is not always a bad thing. She may know she’s been moved from her secure environment and feeling out of sorts. Or she could just be tired.”
April smiled as Bri expertly checked Chloe over, trying a bottle and a fresh diaper. Then Bri placed the infant in a crib, and covered her with a warm blanket. Bri rubbed the baby’s arms and legs and back soothingly, and Chloe finally allowed herself to relax.