That was why she couldn’t see a night-light. This was the living room couch and not her bed. Brian lay on his side facing her, an arm pinning her to the back cushions. She ached from lying the same position all night. Well, that was only part of the reason she ached, Faith thought with a blush and a smile as she eased out from beneath Brian’s arm.
An insistent noise—-crying-penetrated Brian’s sleep-fogged brain. He lifted his head and squinted at his watch. Four-thirty according to the night dial. He didn’t stop to wonder why he was naked except for his watch. His mind only grasped the fact that the twins had slept for a good long stretch. Brian eased oddly tight muscles. That was when it began to dawn--is limbs were tangled with another pair. Smooth, cool legs and a soft warm body. “Chloe?” he murmured, far from being fully awake.
The body beside him had been stirring, too. Slipping away from him. Suddenly it stilled, and a light snapped on, blinding Brian. Behind the harsh glare, a voice filled with pain, answered him. “Faith. Not Chloe. How could you, Brian? How could you?”
His bed partner scrambled over top of him. Brian watched her grab clothes off the coffee table and the floor, stirring a cool breeze across his backside.
Emitting the cry of an injured animal, Faith exited the room in a flash of bare legs.
Recollection of the night flooded back. An incredible night. It had come on the heels of their latest custody hearing, followed by an infuriating visit from Carter, the arrogant bastard.
Brian struggled to sit up. It had been weeks-months, maybe—-since he’d slept so soundly. More awake now, his question from minutes before kicked him in the heart like a mule. God, yes, he was awake. Brian groaned and scrambled to find his pants. Faith’s unhappiness as she fled the room flowed over him and hammered in his blood. How could he, was right. How could he call her by another woman’s name after the wonderful, welcoming way she’d acted last night?
“Littrell, you ought to be shot,” he murmured as he stumbled out to find Faith. He hadn’t dreamed of Chloe in months. Not even in the unsettled days after they’d divorced. Not even after her death. So what possessed him to say her name and ruin the fragile trust he’d finally won from Faith?
“Faith?” She didn’t answer, but Brian saw her rocking the babies in the nursery rocking chair. The light of the moon silvered noiseless tears that coursed down her cheeks. Both babies sucked on their fingers. Brian knew they needed bottles. He’d get them, but not until he made an effort to explain to Faith something he didn’t understand himself.
“You’re not a substitute for Chloe, if that’s what’s running through your mind.” He said urgently. “You’re the only woman I’ve been with since my divorce, Faith.” His voice pulsed with emotion as he spoke.
The rocking never slowed, nor did Faith look at him or acknowledge him in any other way.
“I was half-asleep, Faith! What more do you want from me?”
She buried her head in one of the babies’ necks. Elyse’s, Brian thought. “I already explained that my relationship with Chloe was going down the tubes before we split up.” Brian knew she had to be taking this in. Stepping closer, he emphasized his appeal with outstretched hands. “Getting Chloe pregnant was a fluke...we hadn’t slept in the same bed for three months, I swear. Dammit, Faith, look at me. It’s important that you believe me.”
He gave up when both twins started to wail. Time. She needed time to work this through. Once she did she’d be fair. That was just one of the many things he loved about Faith. She didn’t harbor grudges.
Faith heard Brian rattling around the kitchen and assumed he was preparing bottles for the twins. She didn’t know why she was acting so...childish. Brian had never said he loved her. His marriage proposal had been more of a business deal, along the lines of the plan presented by Nick Carter. Now that she thought about it, she recalled Brian’s saying, after Nick had left, that he had his own plan to win the custody suit.
Kissing the babies, Faith rocked harder. Brian had never promised her love. At the most, he candidly pointed out a shared attraction. A new trickle of tears squeezed from beneath her closed eyelids. It was her own silly dream that made her want more. She loved these babies and she loved Brian. She wanted them to be a real family.
Brian walked back into the nursery carrying two bottles. Faith wished he’d taken time to put a shirt on. If they were going to make a success of this business proposal, she had to keep a level head.
“Do you want to feed Ellie or Evan?” she asked.
These were her first words after shedding copious tears and her voice was hoarse.
“It doesn’t matter which. You do know that, don’t you, Faith? I don’t love Evan more than Elyse because he shares my blood.”
So, the word “love” was in Brian’s vocabulary. He wasn’t like some men who could never utter the word. She handed him Evan anyway and busied herself settling Elyse in the crook of her arm. “I saw something in your face the first day you held them at the hospital, Brian,” she said quietly. “I knew then that they’d found a home in your heart...”
“They did.” He sat on the carpeted floor and leaned against one of the dressers. After testing the bottle on the inside of his wrist, he offered it to Evan.
Dawn began to spill first light into the colorful room. The primary colors were soothing to Brian, as was listening to the rhythmic sucking of the babies. His babies. He thought about the night he’d spent making love to the woman he envisioned spending the next fifty years with. That filled his heart with a sense of peace. It came to him, then, that he’d been walking a precarious tightrope between his marriage to Chloe and his work for a lot longer than he’d realized. His life had lacked balance. Whatever had been the cause—-his fast climb to the top of the prominent community of specialists or Chloe’s growing dissatisfaction with his involvement in his work—-Brian didn’t intend to repeat his mistakes. He’d find more hours to spend with Faith. It was time to make changes in his life. He didn’t want to miss these all-too-fleeting moments with his family.
His family. A term that held no meaning without Faith. Alarm edged out the feeling of peace. Did Faith seem mellower? Maybe he ought to give her more time, but something inside warned Brian to act now. “My timing probably stinks, Faith. But you didn’t answer my question last night.”
Her eyes met Brian’s and skittered away quickly. “We should have done more talking.”
“I’m not complaining.” There was a smile in his voice.
Faith sighed. “Nor am I, Brian. Let’s start over.”
Her statement started the blood pumping through his veins again. “Will you marry me?”
Faith rocked forward and back and forward again. The only other movement she made was to stroke Elyse's ear and cheek and silky hair. “On paper, Brian. I’ll marry you on paper.”
“On paper?” Brian scowled. “What the hell does that mean?”
“It means I’ll fill out the forms at a justice of the peace. In the eyes of the court, we’ll be legally husband and wife. That’s all.”
Maybe he hadn’t slept as well as he thought. Brian had trouble understanding Faith’s terse little speech. Or...maybe not. He was afraid he knew exactly what she was saying. “I want more.” He said softly. Gruffly. “I want our marriage to be real.”
Oh, so do I, Faith thought, her lips trembling. Her hands shook and her heart cracked and bled into a chest already filled with pain. “Those are my terms. If we don’t win custody we’ll have an annulment. In the interim, there’ll be no repeat of last night.”
“Last night was good.” He said lamely. He had to fight the pressure of tears at the backs of his eyes.
“Evan's finished his bottle,” Faith chided. “You’re letting him suck air.”
Brian tipped the bottle up fast. As he hoisted his son to his shoulder, he noticed the sheen reflecting off Faith’s eyes. He’d won his point for now. Any fool could see she hadn’t recovered from the blow he’d dealt her in accidentally calling her by her sister’s name. He’d make it up to her if he had to work at it a lifetime. Which he had every intention of doing.
He would have started his quest then and there had his cell phone not bleated unceasingly until he extracted the instrument from the diaper bag and flipped it open.
“Lucas?” Brian fumbled the phone and the baby, whose back arched as Evan burped and urinated at the same time. “Hold on a minute, Luke.” Brian climbed to his feet, trying to shuffle the phone to the hollow of one shoulder.
Taking pity on him, Faith rose gracefully and took the baby from his arms. “I’ll change him. Talk to your partner.”
Brian did, but he watched how deftly Faith dispatched diapers. “All right, Lucas, calm down. Admit Cynthia to ICU. Put her on the usual monitors. If you think she’s rejecting the heart, she probably is. I can be there in two hours. You know the routine—-bump her to the top of the emergency list. I left my medical bag at the apartment. If you’ll go by and pick it up, I’ll tell my housekeeper to have it ready. See you at Mercy General. Tell Cyn I’m on my way.” He clicked off and turned to Faith.
“I heard, you have an emergency. Go. I’ll be fine.”
“Who’ll help with the babies?”
“I’m quite recovered, Brian. I really can do this without help. It’s what I intended before you moved in next door.”
“But...” the ravages of indecision accentuated the deep creases bracketing his mouth.
Faith waved him away. Bending, she blew a kiss on Evan's exposed tummy. The baby laughed out loud, galvanizing Faith and Brian with the thrilling sound.
“Oh-oh,” Faith exclaimed delightedly. “I’ll have to log that in his baby book. He’s giggled some, but I think this is his first real laugh.”
Brian held out a hand to the babies. They not only followed his movement with their eyes, each latched on to one of his fingers. “I’ll call you tonight,” he promised Faith. He didn’t want to leave them. Not any of them, but most especially Faith. “Cynthia Fitzhugh was my first dual-organ transplant after I set up practice in New York. It was a near-perfect match. She shouldn’t be rejecting.”
“So go find out why she is.” Faith said gently. “That’s your job and you’re good at it, Doctor.”
He pulled his fingers away from the babies and leaned down to kiss Faith goodbye. She saw his intentions and turned, so his lips barely skimmed her jaw. He knew then that he had a long way to go to dig himself out of the hole he’d fallen into this morning. From experience, he knew how difficult that was to do long-distance.
Still, he had no choice. “I will call.” He said again as he strode out of the nursery. Within minutes he was gone, leaving nothing behind but the faint scent of cologne that Faith always associated with Brian.
By nightfall, even that small trace was gone. He didn’t call, even though Faith had plugged in the phone again and suffered through too many calls from obnoxious reporters. What had she expected? That Brian would somehow be different from other doctors who buried themselves in their work to the exclusion of all else? That he would change his life for her when he hadn’t done so for Chloe?
As midnight came and went, Faith sat alone and lonely, staring out the window at a dark, rain-soaked landscape. She’d had her first taste of how Chloe must have felt the many nights she called just to talk. To connect with another voice, she’d said.
Unlike her sister, Faith wasn’t one to wallow in self-pity.
Next day, the storm had passed. She bundled the babies, put them in their stroller and headed for the library. She’d no sooner set foot out of the door than reporters climbed from two different vehicles and boxed her neatly between them.
“We knew you’d surface one of these days,” the younger of the two men announced.
“I’m not making any comment with regard to the case,” Faith told them both.
“Did you read the story in the morning paper?” The older man flipped open his notebook and read to Faith from notes he’d obviously jotted down. “According to a news flash out of New York, Nick Carter’s lawyer declared his client and Dr. Littrell have joined forces against you.”
“That’s not true,” Faith exclaimed. As soon as she’d spoken, she wished she could take back her words. Especially when both men turned to clean pages on their pads, overt interest in their eyes. “I’m not saying anything else. If you want to know my position, talk to my attorney, David Reed.”
“We’ve talked to the lawyers. Schlegel, Schlegel and Matz went over Judge Brown’s head yesterday and got her visitation edict changed. Superior Court Judge Rueben Kline overturned Brown’s decisions. Kline ordered you to travel to New York with the babies once a week. Littrell’s attorney said they couldn’t be happier, since the doctor has now returned to his practice. I suppose Reed plans to counter?”
Faith’s head spun. Was Brian aware of this? Was that why he hadn’t called? If all along he’d planned to side with Nick, she had certainly played the fool. It was plain what Maxwell could do, if Brian revealed how easily she’d fallen into bed with him.
Her breakfast of toast and coffee threatened to come up. David had once said that Bob Schlegel could neutralize her position by discrediting Chloe. What stopped them from applying the same “loose woman” label to her?
Even if she countered and insisted that Brian had proposed marriage, it’d be her word against his. The sick feeling returned.
“Hey!” the young reporter called as Faith whirled around and walked quickly back to her apartment building. “So far all of you are letting the lawyers run this case. John Q. Public cares about what happens to those kids. They’re calling our offices in droves. If you play your cards right, Ms. Hyatt, you could probably come up with a book or movie deal. This is the hottest news on the Eastern Seaboard.”
“No comment.” She muttered, grateful the door opened without a hitch today. Some days, especially following rain, the door tended to stick.
Upstairs again, she peeled the twins out of their jackets and placed them in the playpen. She picked up the receiver, but the phone rang before she could dial out. It was David calling her.
“What’s going on over there, Faith? I couldn’t get through to you all morning.”
“I unplugged the phone. I’ve been plagued by reporters. But you’re the person I was about to call. Why do I need to travel to New York with the twins every week?”
“So you read today’s newspaper? Dammit, Faith, I might have seen it coming and thrown up a roadblock if you’d told me Littrell went back to New York.”
“He only left yesterday. His partner at the clinic called with an emergency. One of Brian’s patients.”
“Huh, probably a lie he and Maxwell concocted to get the ball back in their court.”
“What do you mean?” Faith had to sit, her knees buckled.
“I mean they’re making you haul the babies into their territory because it gives them an advantage, a chance to work a deal. Next they’ll say that two of the three principals reside in New York so the hearings should be moved there. If that happens, it cuts our chances of winning.”
Faith’s pulse thundered in her ears. “What do you foresee happening?”
“The truth? My guess is Dr. Littrell gets the boy and Carter the girl.”
“Evan and Elyse,” Faith snapped. “They have names, David.” She said, sniffling and blinking furiously.
“Yeah, well, that could change, too. Everything could go topsy-turvy. Nick’s father wants the DNA repeated. That man’s ruthless. Brian’s a fool to climb into bed with them. Those old Wall Street types have no scruples. Money greases any wheel, if you get my drift. Next thing you know, the first DNA test will be declared invalid, and Carter has himself a grandchild.”
The more Faith listened to David, the more certain she was some mistake had occurred. “You aren’t giving Brian credit. He’d never allow that. He agrees with me that it’d be horrible to separate the twins. Hasn’t Mr. Carter seen the studies? Even as adults, most of the twins who have been separated as babies say they feel a piece of themselves missing.”
“The man wants his own flesh and blood, regardless. You have to stop being so gullible, Faith. Littrell has is own agenda. I’ll admit those twin studies may be our best defense. If we can keep the case in Boston Family Court, odds are we’ll get a fair hearing. But I’ve got to tell you, the way things have gone in the past two days doesn’t bode well.”
Faith hardened her heart. “I’m not paying for gloom and doom, David. We have right on our side. Now, when do I have to transport the babies to New York? And where do I go after I get there?”
“The first visitation is tomorrow.” He gave her the address of the Carter estate. “I believe you know where Littrell lives. Their attorneys have requested the babies spend a full hour at each residence. I’m sorry, Faith, but you’ll need to fulfill your obligation this one time, anyway. I’ve filed a counter that, in essence, says with fall weather turning to winter soon, the new order places an undue hardship on the infants.”
“What about the hardship it places on me? I have to take the train because I don’t have a car.”
“I tried to play down that aspect. We don’t want Schlegel or Maxwell challenging your position as temporary custodian. Frankly, the longer the babies remain in your care, the more pressure a judge will feel to leave them be. I’m drafting something now that says the kids are getting used to their surroundings, et cetera.”
“I hope it works.” Faith couldn’t help feeling anxious, given present circumstances.
“I’ll call tomorrow night and let you know how my appeal’s been received. Kline is a tough judge. But I happen to know he has five grandchildren he dotes on. I’m not above making a few comparisons to tug at his heartstrings.”
“All right, David. I’ll be waiting to hear. I’m not exactly sure of the train schedules, but I’ll go early and try to be home before dark. I’ll call you, okay? Remember I have my phone unplugged. Because of the reporters.”
“Nothing like a good court bloodbath involving kids to stir a media frenzy. Plus, half of the world knows this could be a trend-setting case. That’s why all the lawyers have been interviewed on CNN. We’re all in negotiations to appear on some shows. It’s a good thing you aren’t answering your phone. They’ll be after you, Nick and Brian, too. But you should refuse.”
“Why would you appear? The media only wants to exploit innocent babies.”
“Remember at the beginning I told you we had a hot case? Those DNA results upped the temperature. Whichever lawyer or legal team wins-—hey, he’ll be writing his own ticket. Ours isn’t the first case of its kind, but it has unique features.”
“I had no idea there were any similar situations.”
“Yes, well, this quite possibly is the first twins-with-different-dads battle where the biological mother doesn’t factor in.”
“If Chloe had lived, the court wouldn’t be so eager to split the twins up, I’ll bet.” Faith murmured, unable to hide the sad tremor in her voice.
“At least she had the foresight to appoint you her surrogate stand-in. Which has given me an idea for another angle. I’ll do my best to see Judge Kline tomorrow.” He paused. “We should conduct our next strategy session in person. Leave my name with your building manager. I’ll drop by around seven or eight. Good luck in New York, Faith. Don’t let the men intimidate you.”
“No, I won’t.” she muttered. But David had already hung up. Leaving the receiver off the hook, she sat for some time watching the babies kick and coo. Evan tried several times to turn over. Faith didn’t expect him to succeed, and when he did, she grinned and clapped spontaneously. She sobered as she realized she’d been wishing Brian were here to see Evan's big accomplishment.
“Oh, Brian...” she sobbed, covering her face with her hands “Brian...I know you don’t care for me the way I care for you. But I believed you when you said you loved the twins equally. I really thought they were hearts and souls to you, not biological oddities or...or some stupid test case.”
In spite of a sleepless night, Faith was determined to look her best and brightest when presenting herself in New York. Unfortunately, the logistics of her transporting two babies for two hours by train had her rethinking her plan to wear a dress. In the end, she changed into comfortable drawstring pants, a t-shirt, jean jacket and sneakers. Instead of taking the stroller, she placed Elyse in the front pack and Evan in the backpack she’d been given at her shower. That left her hands free to carry the monster diaper bag. Faith also dispensed with a purse. She tucked her ID and money into one of the bag’s pockets and had to smile. No mugger would steal a lumpy diaper bag.
The train ride was actually quite pleasant. A baby always managed to coax good humor from the grumpiest of the grumpy. Two babies who’d just discovered their own ability to smile and flirt garnered much more than twice the interest. She was careful to conceal the children’s identity, though. It had taken a bit of ingenuity to sneak out of the apartment house and bypass the reporters who hung around the front entrance. There were even more of them today than yesterday. It still shocked her that so many people found their case riveting. But then, when it came to this case, Faith was thrown off balance a lot.
She allowed herself the luxury of taking a cab to the Carter address. It was awkward traveling by car without the infant carriers. She buckled in securely, sitting well forward in the seat, and left the babies in their respective packs. Both were fussy. They needed a changing and it was time to eat. Faith hated the fact that Nick and Shelby wouldn’t be seeing the twins at their best. On the other hand, maybe if they discovered the babies weren’t always perfect, they might have second thoughts about their vigorous pursuit.
Faith’s cab pulled into the massive circular driveway at the same time Shelby Carter slipped behind the wheel of a sleek Jaguar parked in front of the three-story brick home. The woman saw Faith, frowned and climbed out of the Jag again and drummed her fingers on the roof of the car.
“What are you doing here?” Shelby demanded, when it appeared obvious that Faith had paid her driver and was set to dismiss the cab.
Jiggling the now loudly crying babies, Faith wasn’t inclined to be generous. “As if you didn’t know your lawyers and Brian’s overturned Judge Brown’s visitation ruling! I’m complying with the latest court order-—making the requisite weekly visit to your home.”
Shelby paled underneath her layer of carefully applied make-up. “You must be mistaken. Nick left yesterday for a race in Antigua. He’ll be gone a week and a half.” She inspected a diamond-encrusted watch and exclaimed, “If I don’t leave this minute, I’ll be late for my final evaluation at the fertility clinic.”
“Fertility...” Faith hurried around the front of the Jag and backed Shelby against the car. “I’ve ridden two-plus hours with two restless babies. One of whom was fathered by your husband. If this is some kind of passive-aggressive game you and he are playing, I’d appreciate being dealt out of it.”
Color flared across Shelby’s narrow cheekbones. “Nick wouldn’t have set something like this up and expected me to handle it. He wouldn’t.” In jerky movements, she extracted a cell phone from her purse and punched in a series of numbers.
Meanwhile, Faith did her best to quiet the babies, who’d joined in a crying chorus.
Shelby tapped the tow of the strappy heels that matched her purse. “This is Shelby Carter.” She said haughtily in a tone suggesting she was someone special. “Put me through to Bob Schlegel immediately.”
Faith patted Ellie’s back and made soothing sounds over her shoulder at Evan.
“Bob, thank Heavens, I caught you.” Shelby exclaimed, sounding for all the world as if she meant it.
“The Hyatt woman is here at my home with the twins. Nick’s out of town.” She paused in the middle of her hysterical outburst and listened to the masculine drone on the other end of the line.
“You mean to tell me Nick isn’t aware of you overturning the original visitation order? No. That’s impossible, Bob. I have an appointment. In fact, I’m late. I can’t cancel and entertain her for an hour. All right. All right. I’ll give her a lift to Dr. Littrell’s apartment. Yes,” she said in meeker tones. “I understand Nick is paying you a lot of money to do a job for him. But you can’t expect us to comply with a decree we didn’t know about.”
The scowl she wore when she clicked off soon blossomed into a placating smile. “There’s been a mix-up on our side. Bob thought Keith had informed Nick and me of the change. The news fell through he cracks, I’m afraid. Today the twins will be visiting only Dr. Littrell. Hop in. I’ll run you by his place.”
Faith knew that if she said what she felt like saying, she’d be the one who ended up looking bad. She held her tongue for the short ride to Brian’s building, even though buckling her and the bulky baby-packs into the sports car proved to be harder than in the cab. Plus, not even the car’s movement appeased the wet and hungry infants.
Shelby swung close to the curb outside Brian’s luxury complex. She didn’t cut the engine, but tapped shell-pink fingernails restlessly on the steering wheel.
“Did Mr. Schlegel know for certain that Dr. Littrell’s home?” Faith craned her neck and eyed the upper windows, all of which looked dark. Brian could be in his den. Faith knew from past experiences that it faced the opposite street. “Could you wait while I ask the doorman if he’s home?” she murmured, leaning back inside the car to haul out the diaper bag she’d wedged by her feet.
“I went out of my way to bring you here. I’m going to learn the results of my lab procedure, and I’m already late. Look, I’m sorry, I really must go.”
Faith slammed the door and jumped back from the curb to avoid the backdraft of the car’s muffler. “Thanks for nothing.” She muttered, hunching to hoist Evan higher on her back as the Jag roared out of sight.
The doorman wasn’t one Faith had ever met. Of course, it’d been more than a year since she’d been to the Littrell suite.
“Dr. Littrell did not leave word to expect a person with two babies,” the man said. The nasal way he said “person” made Faith feel as if she was in the same category as the garbage collector. Or perhaps the garbage itself.
“Will you ring his apartment, please? The babies need attention. Even if Brian isn’t home, I’m sure Mrs. Parker will authorize a visit. Tell her it’s Faith Hyatt, Chloe Littrell’s sister.”
“The doctor is at the hospital,” the man said after a brief conversation he’d taken pains not to let Faith hear.
“Mrs. Parker received no instructions to allow you in. She reminded me that Dr. Littrell and his wife divorced earlier this year. You’ll have to have Dr. Littrell get in touch with one of us, I’m afraid.”
“Would you explain to Mrs. Parker that I have Dr. Littrell’s son with me?”
“Are you going to leave peacefully, Miss, or shall I phone the cops? Mr. Littrell doesn’t have a kid.” The attendant reached for the phone inside his work station.
“Good grief.” Faith started to say something smart-alecky in return, but decided there was no use. Media frenzy or not, it figured she’d run into the one person in New York who apparently didn’t read the paper, gossip or watch headline news on TV. “Look, I’m sort of stranded. I promise I won’t trouble you if you’ll get me a cab.”
“Sure thing.” The man still didn’t seem to trust her. He didn’t invite her to stand inside the foyer, and he kept her in sight until the cab pulled up.
The cabbie showed greater sympathy. “Twins. You’ve got your hands full, ma’am. Me and my wife had our flock one at a time.” He shook his head. “Where to?”
Faith named the hospital where Brian practiced. At least, she hoped that was where she’d find him. Prominent as he was, he’d have privileges at many hospitals in the city. For just a minute, her resolve faltered. She reminded herself that even if he didn’t want to see her, he’d never turn his back on the twins.
Faith’s head ached from the babies’ constant crying. They were hungry and she was tired. She was angry, too. Who wouldn’t be? She’d complied with a court mandate, only to be turned away at the two homes she’d been ordered to visit.
“Hope the little ones get better.” The cabbie told Faith as she paid her bill. “I don’t have another fare, so I don’t mind lending a hand to help you get them into the emergency room.”
Faith almost cried. Kind words right now had that effect on her. What did it say for her situation that a New York cabdriver-—one of a clan reputed to be consistently rude—-had been nicer to her than the people who might one day have a hand in raising the babies? “Thank you, but we’ll be fine.” She sniffled.
Inside, Faith made a beeline for the main desk. Instead of asking for the ladies’ lounge where she could change the babies, she asked to have Brian paged. She did so with authority. Let him see what these games he was playing through their attorneys had done to the babies he professed to love.
She rained kisses down on Ellie’s red face and paced the lobby, bouncing the heavy carrier on her back to try and quiet Evan. Suddenly, Brian loomed in front of her, looking wonderful to Faith even though he appeared to be a bit bleary-eyed himself.
“Faith, what’s wrong? Are the babies sick again? Are you?” Brian’s questions ran together as he pried Evan out of the backpack and helped her remove Elyse from the sweaty front carrier. When, surprisingly, Brian leaned over and kissed Faith soundly on the lips, tears threatened to spill from her eyes for the second time in only minutes. Yet, she was determined to stay mad at Brian. After all, he’d had a hand in sending her on this wild goose chase.
“What did you all think,” she asked, clenching her fists. “What I’d ignore Judge Kline’s orders to bring the babies to New York so they could spend time with you and Nick? You ought to know me better than that.”
“Who’s Judge Kline?” Brian seemed genuinely baffled, “These babies are soaking wet, not wonder they’re crying.”
Brian strode to a bank of elevators. There was nothing for Faith to do but follow him. “Judge Kline is the Superior Court Judge who overruled Judge Brown’s visitation decree. Oh, why am I explaining this? I’m sure you already know it. David said the Schlegels and Maxwell filed a joint appeal.”
Herding Faith into an empty elevator, Brian rode up two floors, then motioned her off into a quiet room where there were two soft leather couches. The scent of fresh-perked coffee permeated the air
Faith shook her head. The straps had cut off circulation to her arms, and her fingers had trouble undoing the buckles. Why was Brian being so nice?
As if he’d read her mind, he glanced up from pulling diapers and changes of clothing out of the diaper bag, “I really don’t know what you’re talking about, Faith. I haven’t left the hospital since I got here. We couldn’t get a heart for Mrs. Fitzhugh. Last night I decided to try repairing hers. We’ve never tried a five bypass on a transplanted heart before. It’s been touch and go all day. An hour ago we saw the first sign of improvement.”
“I’m glad,” Faith said sincerely. “Wait a minute.” She turned from the sink where she was running hot water over the two bottles of formula. “Nick’s out of town and Shelby Carter claimed she had no clue Bob Schlegel had filed an appeal. Now you’re denying you asked Maxwell to act on your behalf? Have the lawyers gone berserk?”
“I don’t know, but when we’re done here, I’ll find out.” Brian muttered. He accepted a bottle from Faith and stuck it in Elyse's mouth. “Shhh, shhh, it’s ok, baby. God, I’ve missed you guys.” He said with feeling, staring at Faith as she sat down next to him to feed Evan.
Still smarting from being rebuffed twice-—by Shelby Carter and also at Brian’s home—-Faith wasn’t ready to forgive him. “Apparently you didn’t miss us enough to have one of your staff phone.”
He looked abashed at that. “You know how it is when a doctor has a patient at death’s door. I’d figured on doing a lot of things. Truth is, I haven’t had a minute to myself. I’d planned to go to Tiffany’s and choose your ring, too. Since you’re here, and as Cynthia is doing better, maybe we can go together.”
“Ring?” Faith felt the room recede. “I—I assumed you’d decided not to proceed down the marriage avenue. I mean, according to David, Nick’s legal team and yours are working to get the hearings moved to New York.”
“What’s that got to do with us getting married?”
More confused than ever, Faith automatically burped Evan. “So, we’re still working from plan A?”
He smiled and the tired lines that had dulled his face fell away. “The twins, you and I are going to be a family, Faith. There isn’t going to be any plan B. I promise.”
Faith’s heart battled her head. Her heart wanted to believe, but her head remembered all the things that had gone wrong already. Brian was back to his hospital routine. How long before he forgot her and the babies again? For the moment, however, his smile set the world right.
Faith wanted so much to believe that things would work out, exactly the way Brian had promised.
