Found: One Baby

Candace lifted her hands in helpless frustration. “Beatrix said a lot of things, but none of it made any sense, she was crying so hard. All I got out of her was that she couldn’t do this right now…and maybe not ever…and that because I was his mom I had to take care of baby William…there was no one else. By then he was crying, too. Beatrix really started sobbing.” Candace sighed and shoved a hand through her hair. “Beatrix mumbled something about her husband needing her, then she ran back to the car, jumped in and drove off, still crying her eyes out. I didn’t know what was going on, so I called the lady lawyer who handled the legal stuff for the surrogate arrangement—”

“Do you have her card?”

Candace nodded and went to retrieve it. “She sounded as stunned as I was when I told her what had just happened, but she wouldn’t do anything, or even talk about the situation with me.”

“She really couldn’t until she had spoken to her clients,” Michelle explained.

“That doesn’t make sense!” Candace complained.

“It’s complicated,” Michelle admitted. “But her first duty, as the Johnsons’ legal counsel, is to them. Whatever is said to her is privileged and can’t be shared with anyone else without their express permission. Otherwise, she could be disbarred.”

“Whatever!” Candace scowled. “Anyway, she said she’d have to investigate and get back to me. I asked her to come and get the baby. She said not until she spoke to her clients. And then she asked me to sit tight and take care of the baby until other arrangements could be made.” The young woman threw up her hands in exasperation. “I’ve got a showing in Houston next month. I’m already way behind in what I need to have ready, and I don’t have time for this! So then I remembered that Russell had said he had a brother who was a doctor in Summit, Texas. I looked you up on the Internet, got your address and dropped William off and ran before you could tell me you didn’t want the responsibility for him, either. Not that any of this was supposed to be my problem, anyway. I only agreed to be a surrogate so I could afford to stay home for a year and concentrate on my art! I never wanted to become a parent. I still