LITMIR.BIZ

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orderly arrived to take David to a higher floor for more tests. As he wheeled him away, David said, “I’ll call you later.”

      “Don’t worry about us. We’ll be just fine.”

      How could she not be? She was holding in her arms the one thing she wanted most in the world.

       Chapter Three

       “I t looks like we are a family. At least for tonight,” Jessie said as she stored the personal items she’d picked up at her home in her father’s car and headed to David’s house. Her father, who’d taken a cab home, had arranged for her car and David’s to be towed to the garage, and a nurse had loaned her a car seat for Isabel.

      “We’re doing great,” she said to the sleeping toddler. “We’re doing just fine. This is going to be a piece of cake.”

      Then she hit a pothole she hadn’t seen in the dark, and the unexpected jolt woke Isabel, whose pout quickly escalated into a full-blown cry.

      Jessie tried to soothe the child with songs and soft-spoken promises, but nothing quieted her. And then Jessie made the big mistake—she told Isabel that before she knew it, her Daddy would be home from the hospital. The mention of David’s name upped Isabel’s cries by yet another decibel and started her begging for her “Dada.”

      Unnerved by the desperate sobs, Jessie made two wrong turns before she pulled into David’s driveway. As she parked the car in the garage, she momentarily rested her forehead against the steering wheel and wondered if she’d agreed to more than she could handle.

      Her prayer was quick and to the point. Lord, please help me comfort this child. If I can survive a tornado, surely I can survive Isabel’s bedtime.

      As soon as Jessie carried Isabel through the doorway, the child stopped crying. It was almost as if she knew she was home, and just for a second, Jessie felt the same peaceful familiarity.

      But that was silly, she thought. She’d never been in David’s home before. She had her own home, less than a half-mile away, that she loved.

      Having no time to waste on trivial thoughts, Jessie went straight to the kitchen, where she prepared a small bottle of milk for Isabel, just as she’d seen her sister Maria fix on many nights for her nephew. In the nursery, the milk quieted Isabel, and the child slipped off to sleep as Jessie gently rocked her.

      When she was certain Isabel slept soundly, she placed the child in the crib. Please, Lord, keep Isabel safe through the night.

      Leaving the nursery door slightly ajar, Jessie shuffled down the hallway. With everything under control, she took a quick shower. After changing into a nightshirt, she collapsed on the living room sofa and, too tired to find a bed, instantly fell asleep.

      Less than a half-hour later, Isabel’s cries woke her. Too softhearted to let the toddler cry herself to sleep, Jessie took her from the crib and cradled her in her arms. Entering the nearest bedroom, which she assumed was David’s, she and Isabel crawled into the king-size bed and cuddled beneath the comforter.

      As Isabel slowly calmed down, Jessie loosened her embrace and allowed her own thoughts to roam. Inching down the bed, she rolled onto her side so she could study Isabel in the moonlight. She pressed the toddler’s tiny hand against her own, marveling at the beauty of her delicate fingers. As she listened to the child’s peaceful inhale and exhale, she decided she’d never heard anything so magical.

      Swallowing hard, Jessie prevented the old dream from surfacing. She would never give birth to a child of her own. She would never know a moment like this. So in the silent house, she decided to accept this special gift.

      When the telephone rang, she almost didn’t answer it. But then it occurred to her that her parents or David might need to contact her.

      “Hello,” David said. “I know it’s late—”

      Though the telephone had awakened Isabel, she didn’t cry. “I’m glad you called. Isabel and I are lying in bed,” she said. Then, thinking he might prefer his daughter to be in her own bed, she quickly added, “But if you would like, I’ll put her back in the crib.”

      “If she’s happy where she’s at, leave her. I hate to admit it but I’ve spoiled my girl. She loves napping in my bed.”

      Jessie felt the heat of her blush and was thankful David couldn’t see her. Lying in his bed while talking to him on the telephone suddenly seemed intimate. She shook the thoughts from her head and instead asked him how he was doing.

      He sighed. “I hope to come home tomorrow. I tried to tell the doctors there’s nothing wrong with me. I’m just a little sore.”

      Sensing he’d told her all he wanted to, Jessie didn’t press him for more specific answers. Having just met, he didn’t owe her a detailed diagnosis.

      Isabel reached for the telephone with both hands, and Jessie said, “I think your daughter would like to speak to you.”

      “Please, put her on.”

      His loving tone warmed Jessie. Placing the telephone against Isabel’s ear, she smiled, as Isabel jabbered and slobbered over the mouthpiece. Lowering her head, Jessie shared the telephone with Isabel, listening as David sang a familiar lullaby to his daughter.

      “She’s sound asleep,” Jessie whispered, as he started a new verse.

      “That’s a relief,” David said.

      Jessie silently agreed, unwilling to let David know she found temporary motherhood a little more taxing than she’d anticipated. Taking care of her eighteen-month-old nephew for a few hours at a time while he napped or played was a totally different experience from being in charge of a child’s needs around the clock. The magnitude of the responsibility she’d taken on had begun to sink in.

      “If you feel up to it, maybe you could tell me about Isabel’s morning routine,” Jessie suggested.

      “She generally wakes up around seven, and she’ll need to be fed and changed. And you’ll want to give her a bath and brush her teeth. You’ll find her play clothes in the third drawer of the dresser, diapers in the closet, and she likes hot cereal with bananas and milk for breakfast. But I should warn you, she wears as much oatmeal as she eats.”

      Feeling overwhelmed, yet determined to conquer the morning routine, Jessie switched on the bedside lamp, grabbed a pen and paper and began scribbling notes.

      “Just give her a sponge bath in the morning. There’s a small plastic tub and sponge on the bottom shelf of the changing table.”

      “I can give her a bath,” Jessie insisted, lest David think he’d made a mistake trusting his daughter’s care to her. Besides, how difficult could it be to give a toddler a bath?

      “Elaine will be there at nine, so as soon as she arrives—”

      “Elaine?”

      “Elaine Marshall. Isabel’s nanny. I’m sorry, in all the confusion I didn’t realize I never mentioned her. She’s been out of town visiting her sister. She lives in an apartment over the garage.”

      Of course, Isabel had a nanny. Jessie had seen the stairway in the attached garage earlier in the evening, but she hadn’t given it any thought. It also explained why David hadn’t been eager to ask either his sisters or his parents for help.

      “Well, that’s great. As soon as Elaine gets here, I’ll leave for the hospital.”

      David paused. “Listen, Jessie, I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but there’s no reason for you to come to the hospital. You’ve already gone beyond the call of duty. And believe me, you can’t know how much I appreciate your help. You give the words Good Samaritan a whole new meaning.”

      Though she thought the comparison was exaggerated, Jessie appreciated David’s sentiment. “I have to come to the hospital, anyway,” she said. Then she explained about the borrowed car seat and that

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