The Shop on Blossom Street (27 page)

ALIX TOWNSEND

A
lix woke to the sound of smothered groans. Leaning up on one elbow, she stared into the darkness, listening intently. Oddly enough, the muffled agony seemed to be coming from the living room. As her eyes adjusted to the dark she noticed something else out of the ordinary. Laurel’s bed, which was across the room from her own, was empty.

Her roommate had been a real jerk lately. After that one brief episode of friendliness, Laurel had started ignoring her again. They were barely speaking but that was Laurel’s doing, not Alix’s. She’d done her best, tried to maintain a civil relationship. If Laurel said anything to her at all, it was rude or sarcastic.

Alix hadn’t had any news lately about the fate of the apartment complex, but she suspected they’d be losing their place soon. Well, Alix had a plan. Once she had the means, she’d ditch her so-called friend and find a new
roommate. The bogus drug bust last spring had been because of Laurel’s stash, not hers. Nevertheless, Alix had paid the price.

In the beginning, Laurel had been apologetic and supportive, looking for ways to make it up to her. That had all changed. Most days she avoided Alix and even when she was around, all she did was sit in front of the television and eat. She hadn’t even gone to her job at the drycleaner’s all week.

Lying down again, Alix tugged the sheet up over her shoulders and closed her eyes, determined to go back to sleep. If Laurel was sick, then it was from all the ice cream she’d been eating. She must’ve gained fifty pounds in the last six months. None of her jeans zipped up and she looked grotesquely fat. Their relationship hadn’t been helped by Laurel making a play for Jordan, either. Alix trusted Jordan, but she wasn’t so sure about Laurel. She’d obviously gone to him hoping for sympathy—and who knew what else?

Alix never did learn what that was all about. Jordan hadn’t volunteered and she hadn’t asked. When she’d confronted Laurel, her roommate told her to mind her own freakin’ business.

Alix was determined to blot out the muffled sounds coming from the other room. If Laurel needed her, then she could come and get her. Alix wasn’t about to offer her help.

Just when Alix was drifting back to sleep, she heard a loud moan, as if Laurel was in horrible pain. Although she wasn’t happy about it, Alix tossed aside her sheet and climbed out of bed.

The living room was dark, and it took her a minute to locate Laurel, who was prone on the sofa with her head braced against the arm. Her knees were bent and she’d draped a blanket over her legs.

“What’s wrong?” Alix asked. She wanted it understood that she was none too pleased about having her sleep disturbed.

“Nothing. Go back to bed.”

Alix hesitated, and then decided what the hell. Laurel wasn’t willing to ask her for help. Fine, if that was how she wanted it.

“Whatever.” Alix was two steps into the bedroom when for some reason she stopped. Faintly she heard Laurel whimper what sounded like:
oh God, oh God, oh God.

Walking into the room again, Alix decisively flipped on the light. She stood with her hands on her hips, feet apart. “You’re
not
all right. What’s wrong?”

Laurel flung her head back and forth and refused to answer. Eyes shut against the light, she bit down on her lower lip and blood oozed from the sides of her mouth. Alix stared at her aghast.

“Laurel,” she whispered.

Her roommate urgently stretched out her arm and when Alix took her hand, Laurel held it in a death grip. “Help me,” she cried. “I can’t do this…I thought…oh God, it hurts so much.”

Alix fell to her knees beside the sofa. All at once, everything added up, and what should’ve been obvious suddenly exploded into her awareness. “You’re in labor?”

Laurel nodded. “I couldn’t tell you…I couldn’t tell anyone.”

“Does John know?”

Tears filled Laurel’s eyes. “Why do you think he dumped me? He said he didn’t want the baby. Or me. He promised he’d pay for an abortion, but he didn’t show up with the money and I couldn’t afford it.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“How could I?”

“We’re friends.”
Some friends.
Laurel had let her get arrested and yet she didn’t trust Alix with the fact that she was pregnant.

Laurel closed her eyes and arched her back, moaning again.

Alix would figure it out later. Right now, she needed to get Laurel to a hospital. “I’ll go out and find a phone, call for help.”

“No!” Laurel screamed. Her hand crushed Alix’s fingers. “Don’t leave me. It won’t be long now…it can’t be. I can’t take the pain. I can’t deal with this by myself.”

“What should I do?” Alix had never been with anyone in labor before and had no idea how to help.

“I don’t know,” Laurel gasped, panting and writhing with pain. “I think the baby might be coming,” she cried, all-out panic in her voice. “What should I do? Oh God, what should I do?”

“Stay calm,” Alix said, forcing confidence into her own voice, although her heart was galloping at frightening speed. She peeled back the blanket and saw that Laurel had placed a stack of towels beneath her hips. “I’m going to go and wash my hands.”

“No… Don’t leave me.”

“I’ll just be a minute.”

“All right, all right.” Laurel was rolling her head from side to side once more, her face shiny with sweat.

Alix berated herself for not guessing the truth earlier. But Laurel was overweight, so her pregnancy hadn’t been immediately obvious. She still wore her jeans every day and they seemed to be splitting at the seams, but Alix had assumed the weight gain was from depression and her constant eating.

Alix was only away from Laurel for a moment, but her roommate grabbed her hand the instant she was
back. Studying Laurel’s face, Alix saw that she was in terrible pain.

“Look and see,” Laurel implored. “Is it ready to come out yet?”

Alix felt completely inadequate to deliver this child. “Do you have anything for the baby?”

Laurel shook her head. “I don’t want it.”

“Laurel,” she pleaded. “What were you going to do with the baby?” Talk about living in a dream world! Laurel had to know the infant would need clothes and blankets and bottles.

Her friend sobbed. “At first I planned to kill it.”

Alix gasped. “You can’t do that!”

“I don’t want this baby.” Laurel screamed and arched her back again when the pain overtook her. Her fingers dug into the fabric of the sofa as she slammed her eyes shut and panted. She took in deep gulps of air, her shoulders heaving with the effort.

Sitting on the edge of the sofa, Alix saw that the crown of the baby’s head had appeared, thick with matted blond hair. With the next contraction, Alix carefully placed her hands beneath the tiny skull. Laurel drew in a deep breath and tried to look down at the baby but couldn’t.

“It won’t be much longer now,” Alix promised. She felt frightened and helpless and she hoped she was telling the truth.

No more than a minute later, Laurel grunted and started panting again. Suddenly, the infant slipped free. He seemed to glide directly into Alix’s hands. With him came a gush of water and blood.

Tears filled Alix’s eyes. “It’s a boy,” she told Laurel. He didn’t cry right away and Alix’s heart leapt in panic. Acting on instinct, she placed her finger inside his mouth, swabbing it clean. Then she turned him over on
his belly and patted his back. Instantly he let out a fierce, belligerent cry. Joy surged through Alix and she stared up at her friend. “He’s beautiful,” she said, awed by the wonder of this moment. A new life had just entered the world.

Laurel refused to look at him and turned her face away. “Cut the cord,” she instructed without emotion.

“I…I don’t think I should…”

“Do it,” Laurel demanded. “Or I’ll do it myself.”

“All right, all right.” Alix found a knife in the kitchen and, afraid she might infect either her friend or the baby, put it in a pan full of water, which she set on the stove to boil. She dashed back into the living room just in time to deliver the afterbirth.

As soon as she’d cut the cord, Alix took the baby into the bathroom and cleaned him off. Then she wrapped him in the blanket she’d knit in class. Certain Laurel would have a change of heart now that the birth was over, Alix carried the newborn into the living room, hoping to coax her roommate into at least glancing at her son.

“Just look at him once,” Alix pleaded. “He’s perfect, Laurel.”

Laurel refused again with a shake of her head. “Get rid of it.”

Alix couldn’t believe anyone could be so coldhearted. “I can’t do that.”

“Then give it to me and I will.”

“Will…what will you do?” Alix protectively cradled the infant.

“I’ll take it to some Dumpster and leave it there.”

Laurel didn’t even seem to consider this infant a child. She referred to him as “it.”

“You really mean that, don’t you?” she said in a horrified voice. “You don’t want this baby.”

“How many times do I have to say it?” Laurel shouted. “Get rid of that thing.”

With one arm around the newborn, Alix controlled her racing thoughts. If Laurel didn’t want this baby, she knew someone who did. “Sign something.”

“What?” Laurel stared up at her blankly.

“I need a statement from you that says you’re giving up this baby of your own free will.”

Laurel frowned. “Who am I giving this baby to?”

“To a couple for adoption.” Alix took a deep breath. “I know someone who desperately wants and needs a child. I want her and her husband to raise this baby boy. You might not love him, but I know Carol will. I brought him into this world. I feel personally responsible for him now. Like you said, you want me to get rid of him.”

“Do whatever you want. I don’t care.”

“You aren’t going to change your mind?”

“No.” Then as if to prove her point, she grabbed the knife and raised her arm as if she meant to kill the infant on the spot. “I want it dead or out of my life, understand? What more do I have to say to prove it? Just get rid of it! I don’t care what you do as long as you get it out of here.”

As she held the screaming infant in her arms, Alix grabbed a sheet of paper and a pen, then handed them to her friend. “Write it down.”

Sitting up, Laurel quickly scribbled a few lines and signed her name. Alix read them over, then returned to the bedroom. She set the baby on her bed and jerked on clothes as fast as her shaking hands would allow. The infant gazed up at her and Alix bent down and kissed his forehead.

“I wish you’d had a warmer welcome to the world, little boy,” she whispered. “But I know someone who’ll love you.”

Without another word to Laurel, Alix threw her purse over her shoulder and walked out of the apartment. It was early Friday morning and the streets were dark and eerie. Moving as fast as she could with the baby held against her chest, Alix stepped into the foyer of Annie’s Café where there was a pay phone. She searched for fifty cents and then pulled out the piece of paper Jordan had given her with his phone number.

She inserted the coins and pressed the receiver to her ear as she punched in the numbers. “Oh please, be there,” she whispered. “Please.”

Jordan didn’t answer until the fifth ring, just when Alix was about to hang up in frustration and despair.

“This better be good,” he muttered into the phone.

“Jordan, it’s me.” She was so glad to hear his voice she nearly wept for joy. “Remember you said I could phone if I ever needed you?”

“Are you in trouble?”

She wasn’t sure how to answer him. “I’m at Annie’s Café…. Can you come and get me?”

“Now?”

“Yes, and please hurry.”

“I’ll be there in ten minutes.” He didn’t hesitate, didn’t so much as pause. If ever Alix had doubted her feelings for him, she didn’t anymore. She knew with certainty that there was one person in her life she could turn to anytime, night or day, and that was Jordan.

Alix bounced the baby gently in her arms. She cooed and comforted him as she waited inside the lighted foyer of Annie’s Café for Jordan’s car. When she saw him turn the corner, she pushed through the glass door and walked to the curb.

Jordan eased to a stop and leaned over to throw open the passenger door.

He stared at her. “Is that…a baby?” His voice was hoarse with sleep and shock.

“It’s Laurel’s and that creep John’s…. I just delivered him.”

“So that’s…” He broke off for a moment. “She talked to me not long ago, said she was in some kind of trouble, but wouldn’t tell me what.”

Alix nodded. She understood it all now.

“Do you need me to take the baby to the hospital?” he asked.

“No.” Because her heart was full and because she knew what had to be done, she bent to kiss him.

“Alix…you can’t keep this baby.”

“I delivered him. I’ll be the one to find him a home.”

Jordan’s eyes widened. “What are you thinking?”

“I know someone who needs this baby.”

“Who?”

“It doesn’t matter who. Now, either you drive or I’ll catch a cab.”

“But it isn’t legal—”

“I have a signed statement from Laurel. She doesn’t want the baby and there’s no damn way I’m turning him over to the state. Is that clear?”

His eyebrows shot up, and a slow grin followed. “Remind me never to cross you.”

“Don’t worry. I have a feeling you’re going to get plenty of reminders over the years.”

“Years?”

“We’ll discuss that later.”

“Does your friend know you’re coming?”

“Not yet.”

“What about Laurel?”

“I’ll need you to go back and take her to the hospital.” That would mean involving the authorities, but she’d let
Carol and her husband deal with it. “Take her to Swedish, okay?”

“I’m at your command, Lady Alix, dragon slayer and deliverer of baby boys.”

That had a nice sound to it, Alix decided.

CAROL GIRARD

T
he piercing ring of the phone woke Carol out of a deep sleep. Doug rolled over and glanced at the clock, and Carol saw that it was barely past four. She didn’t know anyone who’d be calling this early unless it was an emergency. Her mind went numb with the possibilities.

On the third ring, her husband reached for the receiver. “Hello,” he said groggily.

Carol could hear only one end of the conversation and at first she assumed it was a wrong number. To her surprise, Doug said, “Yes, she’s here. Who did you say this is?”

A moment later he placed his hand over the mouthpiece. “Do you know a girl by the name of Alix Townsend?”

Carol nodded. “Did she say what she wants?”

“No. Only that she has to see you right away.”

Carol hesitated.

“Should I buzz her up?” Doug asked.

If Alix had come to her in the middle of the night, there had to be a good reason. “Yes,” she told her husband. “Let her come up.”

“You’re sure?”

“She probably wants to talk,” Carol said.

“At this time of the morning?”

Carol kissed his temple. “Yes, darling.”

Throwing aside the blankets, Carol reached for her robe at the foot of the bed. “You don’t need to get up.” She supposed that Alix had come to her as one friend to another, presumably to ask for advice about some urgent crisis in her life. In her current frame of mind, Carol wasn’t convinced she’d be much help. Then again, maybe she would….

As she walked out of the bedroom, Carol passed the nursery across the hallway. Bon-Macy’s was coming that very morning to pick up the furniture. With the crib, changer and chest of drawers would go her dreams of a family. After everything she’d endured, after the frustration and disappointment and heartache, Carol thought it should’ve been easier to let go. This futile quest for a child was killing their marriage, and Doug was right—this had to end. Still it hurt and the pain would linger.

There was a knock at the door. Barefoot, Carol crossed the tiled entry to unfasten the security lock. She opened the door and gasped when she saw Alix standing there, cradling a baby in her arms.

“Here,” she said, holding the infant out to Carol. “This baby boy needs a mother.”

Carol stared down at the newborn thrust into her arms. Speechless, she raised her eyes to meet Alix’s, unsure what to think. What to say was even more of a puzzle.

“I delivered him,” Alix explained.

“Whose…?” She did manage to get out the one word.

“My roommate told me to get rid of him. She said she planned to throw him in a Dumpster if I didn’t take him. He needs a mother and a father—he needs someone who’ll love him.”

This didn’t seem real, didn’t seem possible. The only thing Carol could think to do was cry out for her husband, but her voice was hardly a croak. Although she thought he couldn’t have heard her, Doug came roaring out of the bedroom, bare-chested, wearing only his pajama bottoms.

“Hi,” Alix said, sounding so unlike herself that Carol glanced at her. “I’m Alix. You let me up.”

“Alix brought us a baby,” Carol said, tears glistening in her eyes.

Doug looked from one to the other. Like her, he didn’t seem to know how to react. But thankfully, he gathered his wits in record time. “I think we’d better all sit down and talk about this.”

“It’s legal,” Alix assured them. “I got Laurel to write everything out on a piece of paper.” She dug into her pocket and passed the folded sheet to Doug. “Laurel needs to go to the hospital and once she does the police will be notified, but I figured you could deal with that. Possession is nine-tenths of the law, isn’t it? And you’ve got the baby now.”

“Maybe we should put on a pot of coffee,” Carol suggested. Her mind was spinning and it was difficult to grasp what was going on. All she knew was that she was standing here holding a newborn baby.

“I’ll start the coffee,” Doug said. Carol nodded gratefully. She looked down at the sleeping infant and her heart contracted painfully. To think that his mother had been willing to toss him in a Dumpster like a piece of gar
bage! How anyone could even imagine such a thing was beyond her comprehension.

“He doesn’t have any clothes,” Alix said. “I washed him off and wrapped him in the blanket but I didn’t have a diaper.”

“I’ll dress him,” Carol said. This seemed more like a dream than reality. She carried him into the nursery, placing him on the dresser and carefully removing the blanket. With one hand on the infant, she reached down for a disposable diaper.

That very morning, in just a few hours, she was supposed to empty these drawers so the department store could take everything away. Thank God that hadn’t happened yet! She gently cleaned his bottom and secured the diaper. The tiny T-shirt came next. When she’d finished, she bundled him in the thick, soft folds of a flannel receiving blanket.

He made a small mewling sound and she picked up a baby bottle, clean and sterilized, ready for formula. She dared not allow herself to think this was her child, her son. Alix had come to her for help and Carol was the logical person to contact.

“Exactly how old is he?” she asked when she returned to the living room.

Alix glanced at her wrist, but apparently hadn’t remembered to put on her watch. “About an hour.”

“How’d you get here?”

“Jordan. He dropped me off, and now he’s on his way back to the apartment to take Laurel to the hospital.”

With Alix following her, Carol joined Doug in the kitchen, and they waited for the coffee to drip into the pot. “He needs to be fed,” Carol announced as though she were an authority on the subject of newborns. Without asking, she handed the baby to Doug, then found a can of formula in one of the cupboards.

She filled the four-ounce bottle and set it inside the microwave just long enough to warm it. After shaking the formula on her wrist to test the temperature, she picked up the baby. He took immediately to the nipple, nestling in her arms as if…as if she was his mother.

“Okay. Time to talk,” Doug said. He gestured Carol and Alix into the living room and carried in the coffee tray. Carol sat in the recliner, touching the baby’s tiny wisps of hair. She almost burst into tears when the infant wrapped his hand around her little finger.
He’s mine,
she wanted to cry out. She felt both a profound, soul-deep satisfaction—and greater fear than she’d ever experienced.

“I brought him into the world,” Alix said proudly. “Laurel doesn’t want him and I told her I knew someone who’d love him.” She paused, clearly waiting for Carol to respond.

“This
can’t
be legal,” Doug said, answering for her, sounding uncertain and confused. “I’ve never heard of anything like this….”

“You have the baby, don’t you?” Alix said. “He’s yours now.”

“I know, but…”

“She signed a paper saying she didn’t want him.” For the first time, Alix looked unsure of what she’d done. “I thought
you’d
want him.”

“I do,” Carol cried. Doug had concerns and so did she, but this baby filled her arms, filled the emptiness inside her. God help her, she wasn’t letting him go! She refused to give in to the fear that she might lose this child, too. “Doug?” She turned to her husband, her eyes entreating him to do whatever was necessary.

Doug leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and his chin on his hands.

“Do you want this baby or not?” Carol demanded. “Because I do. I’ll take him, no questions asked. I’ll love him, I’ll raise him, but I need to know that you will, too.”

Her husband met her eyes, and Carol saw his apprehension. “I don’t know if we’ll be able to keep him, Carol. Like I said, this
can’t
be legal. A woman can’t just give her baby to complete strangers.”

Carol didn’t care what it cost, what sacrifices were required, she was willing to fight to make this child her own. Just when she’d given up all hope, a miracle had happened. She was going to accept that miracle, whatever it took.

“First thing we do is talk to an attorney.” It was clear that Doug had reached a decision. “As Alix said, with Laurel in the hospital, the police will be notified. We have to make it look like she intended for us to adopt him from the very beginning.”

Carol saw in him a resolve that made her want to weep with joy. “We have a son,” she whispered through her tears.

“Not yet, we don’t,” Doug said, “but we will soon enough.” Taking charge now, he stood. “Give me a few minutes to dress and make a couple of phone calls. Then, Alix, you’re coming with me.”

He disappeared into the bedroom.

Carol put the baby bottle aside and held the infant against her shoulder. “How can I thank you?” she said as she patted his back.

Alix pointed at the tray, which held the coffeepot and three mugs. “I could really use a cup of that coffee. Do you mind if I help myself?”

“Of course…sorry.”

“Do you want one?”

Carol shook her head as Alix poured a mug of coffee
and added cream. “I can’t believe I didn’t know,” she murmured. She took a sip of her coffee. “About Laurel,” she said, obviously caught up in her own thoughts. “It just never occurred to me that she could be pregnant.”

Carol’s hand rubbed the infant’s back protectively. With her he would be secure and loved and very much wanted.

“Laurel was overweight before, and then she just seemed to be getting fatter.”

“What about the father?”

“A used-car salesman. He rented XXX-rated videos. I was never keen on him, but he was kind of good-looking, I guess.”

“And Laurel?”

Alix shrugged. “She’s all right, I guess. Just mixed up and angry at the world. I thought that once the baby was born she’d change her mind, but she didn’t.”

Doug appeared then. “To which hospital did your friend take the mother?”

“Swedish,” Alix told him. “Do you still want me to come with you?”

Doug nodded. “I called Larry,” he said, mentioning the name of a good family friend. Larry was an attorney who worked for the insurance company that employed Doug. “He said I should go to the mother and call him from the hospital.”

“What should I do?” Carol wanted to know.

“For now, stay here. Look after the baby. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“All right.” Carol didn’t know how long she’d have the opportunity to nurture and guard this child, but she intended to treasure each moment.

Minutes later, Doug and Alix hurried out the door. Carol moved into the nursery, this room she’d decorated with such anticipation and care. Each item, each piece
of furniture, had been an affirmation of hope and joy…and had become a symbol of her pain.

Sinking down in the cushioned rocker, she cradled the sleeping infant and sang him a lullaby. His entry into the world had been abrupt and frightening, but he was safe now. And he’d always be safe if she and Doug could possibly arrange it.

Carol lost all track of time as she cradled the baby, rocking gently back and forth. She might’ve been there an hour, possibly two. It didn’t matter. The happiness that stole over her was complete.

The baby woke, cried huskily and after Carol had changed his diaper, she fed him a second bottle. He returned to sleep and she settled him in the crib, then stood over him, one hand pressed to his tiny back.

Doug came home shortly after eight but without Alix. When he found Carol in the nursery—the first place he looked—he stood beside her, his gaze on the sleeping baby. Then he drew Carol into his arms, and hugged her so close she could hardly breathe.

“What happened?” she asked.

His eyes were bright with unshed tears and his voice trembled. “We have to take him to the hospital and have him checked out, but it looks like we have a son. Laurel was more than agreeable to letting us adopt him. She insisted to the authorities that it’d been her plan all along.”

Tears flooded her eyes as they clung to each other, weeping with happiness.
A baby
. A miracle of life, a gift that had come from the most unlikely of places at the most unbelievable of times.

She’d known from the first day she’d walked into the yarn store. The fact that they were knitting baby blankets had been a sign from God—and He had kept His promise.