Wanted: Father for Her Baby: Keeping Baby Secret / Five Brothers and a Baby / Expecting Brand's Baby

“Nothing in particular. I believe it was the only way he could cope with what had happened. He loved her as much as I did. We just coped with her loss in different ways.” Kate set the mug on the table and laid her hands flat against the wooden surface on either side of the mug. “We argued about it day and night. I told him he was wrong to give up hope and he told me I was living in a fantasy world if I thought we’d ever find Mary Kate, that she was dead.”

“It’s apparent that you never changed your mind, that you still believe your child is alive. Did your exhusband ever come around to your way of thinking?”

“No. And that, along with his family’s interference and Trent’s feelings of guilt and my feelings of guilt…and the endless arguments, destroyed our marriage. We’ve been divorced ten years now. And I haven’t seen him since the divorce became final.”

“But you still love him, don’t you?”

Kate laughed, the sound mirthless, stilted. “Now who’s the romantic?”

“You’ve never remarried, have you? That means something.”

“It means I’m afraid of being hurt,” Kate admitted. “Besides, most men want children and I know that I could never have another child and risk losing her or him. The pain is too great.” Kate gasped. “Oh, God, Leenie, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have—”

Leenie reached across the table and grasped Kate’s hand in hers. “We haven’t lost Andrew. Just as you have somehow managed to keep the faith for eleven years, I’m not giving up hope. Not now, after only a few days. And not ever. If I keep telling myself over and over again that one of those babies the abduction ring is putting up for sale is Andrew, then it will be. It has to be!”

Kate squeezed Leenie’s hand. “Yes, it will be.”

“And someday you’ll find your daughter.”

“I believe Mary Kate is alive. If she weren’t, I’d know it, wouldn’t I? In my mother’s heart. Wouldn’t you know if—Oh, damn, I keep saying all the wrong things.”

“No, you don’t,” Leenie assured her. “I understand what you mean. But I honestly don’t know if my believing Andrew is alive is because I’d know in my heart if he wasn’t, or if it’s because I simply cannot accept the possibility that…” Leenie paused, her emotions so raw she feared bursting into tears. “I can’t even say it.”

“Then don’t say it. Don’t even think it.”

“I wouldn’t want to live in a world without Andrew.” Leenie clenched her teeth tightly, determined not to cry.

Kate squeezed her hand again. They looked at each other, tears misting their eyes, their deepest, darkest fears kept just below the surface.

Frank paced the floor in the Memphis FBI office on Humphreys Blvd. He’d drunk the equivalent of three pots of coffee since he’d arrived this morning and he’d all but worn a hole in the floor. It was nearly three-thirty. Where the hell was Moran? The last word they’d had from the agents involved in the operation was around noon and Frank had been privy to the information only because Moran had personally okayed it. All Frank knew was that the two male infants had been taken into FBI custody and were being checked by a local pediatrician. From overhearing snippets of conversation that the office personnel didn’t share with him, Frank had figured out that arrests were being made, the ringleaders of the abduction ring gathered up, along with the lawyers involved in the illegal adoptions.

As much as Frank appreciated the importance of the bureau’s great victory in this case, what mattered most to him was finding out if one of those babies was his son. Leenie’s son. If only there was some way to find out, if only there was something he could do. But all he could do was wait. And hope. And pray. He’d done more praying these past few days than he’d done all his life. But he supposed when things seemed hopeless was the time a man was most likely to turn to prayer. Frank had known hopelessness before, but not helplessness.

He knew that the feds weren’t deliberately keeping any pertinent information about his son from him. During this case, Moran had shared more confidential info than was probably legal and Frank appreciated that fact. And he believed that Moran would let him know something about the babies just as soon as either could be identified as Andrew, or both could be ruled out as his and Leenie’s son. The federal agents had regulations and procedures they had to follow and even though Moran had bent a few rules lately, he couldn’t give Frank information he didn’t have. Not yet. But soon. It was only a matter of waiting on a definite ID for both baby boys.

A flurry of activity occurred outside Moran’s office where Frank had been waiting impatiently. Doors slammed, voices rose and suddenly Moran came barreling into his office, a wide smile on his face.

“We got ‘em,” Moran said. “Every slimy, fat-cat, freaking bastard. We took them down from the top. We arrested twenty people, including the four masterminds and three of their lawyers.” He slapped Frank on the back. “By God, it’s over. And now we’ve got ourselves one hell of a mess.”

“Where are the babies?” Frank asked. “Is one of them—”

“We’ve got nearly twelve years of adoption records. Confiscated. Records of children who were probably all abducted from their parents and sold to adoptive families. Do you have any idea what that means? Biological parents and adoptive parents and hundreds of children caught in the middle. It’s not only a legal nightmare, but a moral dilemma for everyone involved.”

Frank grabbed Moran’s shoulder. “Damn it, I’m interested in one child. My son. Where the hell are those babies? Is one of them Andrew?”

“Dr. Tomlin’s office hasn’t called?” Moran asked as he eased out from under Frank’s tenacious grasp.

“Who’s—is he the pediatrician in charge of the babies? If so, then no, he hasn’t called. Or if he has no one has bothered to tell me.”

“The agents who went into this morning’s meeting as adoptive parents weren’t able to positively ID either child they were shown, but one of the babies fit Andrew’s description to a tee.” Moran walked over to his desk and picked up the telephone. “I’ll make arrangements to take you to Dr. Tomlin’s office. Both babies are being kept there for the time being. If one of them is positively identified as Andrew, I’ll see to it that you can take him home to his mother this evening.”

“What the hell are you waiting for? Make the call. Now!”

The telephone rang. Kate and Leenie jumped simultaneously. They exchanged quick glances, then Kate shot up off the sofa and grabbed the receiver. Before she could even say hello, Frank spoke.

“I’ve got him,” Frank said. “All fourteen pounds of him. Can you hear him squalling. He’s not sure whether or not he likes his old man.”

Kate smiled. She’d never heard Frank Latimer enthusiastic about anything, never heard such pure joy in his voice. “Calm down and tell me what’s going on.”

“Is it Frank?” Leenie asked as she came toward Kate.

Kate nodded and mouthed the word yes.

“Look, I’ve got to change his diaper and I’m not sure I even know how. Just tell Leenie that I’m bringing Andrew home to her tonight. And tell her he’s fine.”

“Wait!” Kate barely had the word out of her mouth when the dial tone buzzed.

“Does he have Andrew?” Leenie asked.

“He said to tell you that he has Andrew and—”

“Oh, God!” Leenie grabbed Kate, who still held the telephone in her hand. “Thank you, God.”

Kate eased the phone back on the hook and wrapped her arms around Leenie. “Frank said that Andrew is fine. He’s bringing your son home to you tonight.”

“I wanted to talk to him, to ask him a dozen questions. Why did he hang up so quickly?”

“I believe Andrew needed an immediate diaper change and Frank was feeling a little overwhelmed by the daunting task. I don’t think he’s ever changed a diaper before.”

Leenie’s joyous laughter was contagious and within seconds she and Kate were giggling and hugging and dancing around the room like a couple of adolescents. And when they’d exhausted themselves, they fell onto the sofa, all smiles and giddiness.

“I’ll never ask for anything again as long as I live,” Leenie said. “All my prayers have been answered.”

“You’re very lucky,” Kate told her. “You’re getting your son back and I have a feeling it’s only a matter of time before Frank realizes that he wants to spend the rest of his life with you and Andrew. You should have heard him on the phone. The guy was delirious with fatherly pride.”

Leenie sighed. “Loving Andrew and loving me are two different things. I can’t expect Frank to want me on a permanent basis just because he wants to be a father to Andrew.”

“Ready for some more unsolicited advice?”

“Sure. Advise away.”

“Don’t put any pressure on Frank. Let him do things his way, in his own time. When he brings Andrew home, just enjoy the time y’all have together and don’t worry too much about the future.”

“Kate, I wish…well, I know you must be thinking about Mary Kate and wondering why I’m getting my son back so quickly and your little girl has been missing for eleven years.”

Kate shrugged. “Life’s a mystery. Why I haven’t found Mary Kate after over a decade of searching and why your Andrew is being returned to you only days after losing him is one of those mysteries.” Kate patted Leenie’s hand. “Somehow, someway, someday, I’ll find out what happened to my daughter. But for now, for tonight, you just concentrate on celebrating Andrew’s return.”

Frank hadn’t had a clue that he’d go ga-ga over a two-month-old kid. But the minute Dr. Tomlin’s nurse put Andrew in his arms, Frank had melted like ice in the July sun. His little boy had looked at him with Leenie’s big blue eyes and he’d been a goner on the spot.