Marion Lennox - Adopt-a-Dad

“Why?”

“Because he was dead,” she said flatly, and the bitterness was still there after all these long years. “So they took him. I don’t even know where they buried him. ‘Never mind, dear,’ they said, ‘there’ll be another.’ And I was expected to get on with it. My mother burned everything. Every single baby thing. Start again, she said. She told me I shouldn’t even think about him.”

Michael stared at her, then looked at Gary. No! His heart simply balked at the thought. How would he feel now if that happened to Gary? How would Jen bear it?

How must Gloria have felt?

Maybe the lady wasn’t quite as bad as she was painted, he thought, a sick feeling churning his gut. Maybe there were reasons she acted the way she did.

“So then you had Peter?”

“He was my replacement baby,” she said bitterly. “Everyone said that. Have another one to replace it. It! Like replacing a broken cup. So I did, but he didn’t-replace him, I mean. The pain…it never went away.”

No. It wouldn’t. Unaired and unacknowledged, it had simply festered, like a canker. Michael saw that as clearly as any psychologist would, and he saw why Peter could never have been satisfactory. Poor Peter!

“And now I have a grandson who looks like him.” Gloria’s voice was choked. “I can’t bear it.”

“What can’t you bear?”

She lifted her tear-drenched face to his. Her mascara had run, causing two black rivulets to stream down her wrinkled cheeks. She was looking older by the minute. “I can’t bear that I can’t have him,” she whispered.

“You can.”

She stared. “You’re saying you’ll give him to me?” An incredulous hope flared in the woman’s eyes, extinguished almost as soon as it was lit.

“Of course I won’t,” Michael said flatly. “You’re his grandma, not his mother. Jenny’s his mother, and to all intents and purposes, I’m his father. You’ll have to accept that as fact, and we can go from there.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“I mean you’re giving no middle ground,” Michael told her, his voice gentle again. “You want him all or not at all. But Jenny doesn’t want him to grow up without knowing you.”

The woman looked at the sleeping baby, and her face twisted in pain. “I can’t believe that.”

“After the way you’ve treated Jenny, neither can I,” Michael said frankly. “But this little boy has an English heritage. He needs to learn about it.”

“You only want my money!”

“There is no way Jenny or I will touch any money that has any connection with you,” Michael told her flatly. There was no joy to be gained in letting her think she had any control. “But if you want access…”

“You’d let me have him part-time?”

“You could visit him here,” Michael told her, “while Jenny and I are present. And if we were invited, then maybe we’d bring Gary over-stay awhile, so Gary could get to know what he’s in for. Maybe a month or so every year.”

“What, all of you?” The thought was clearly repulsive.

“It’s all or nothing,” Michael told her, and he stooped and lifted the white-wrapped bundle from her arms and held him close. “Jenny and Gary and I…we’re a family. You accept us all or you don’t accept any of us. That’s the deal. Take it or leave it, but that’s the way it has to be.”

“I don’t-”

“Think about it before answering,” he said urgently. “Think of what you’re losing if you refuse. Jen wants to do this-for Peter’s sake.” There was no point in saying he hadn’t mentioned this to Jenny. “Jenny’s staying here.” He handed her a card with Megan’s address on it. “If you want, go and see her and see if you can rebuild a few bridges before you lose everything. I’m sorry, but that’s all I have to say to you. Think about it. Garrett! Lana! Shelby! Let’s go.”

And he whistled up his siblings and marched them out of the hotel room before she could say a word.

“HOW’D IT GO?” Garrett asked curiously as the elevator doors closed behind them.

“Who knows?” Michael’s face was grim.

“We heard what you said.” Garrett grinned and shrugged. “There wasn’t a lot of tea-making going on in the kitchenette. There were five pairs of ears flapping so hard they’d almost have powered the kettle on their own. It’s true. She loses everything if she doesn’t agree.”

“The only catch to that,” Michael said grimly, “is so do I.”

“YOU HAVE A VISITOR.”

Jenny laid down her correspondence. Half the world seemed to have sent her cards and baby gifts. She looked up as Megan peeped into the room.

“You’re not asleep!” Megan exclaimed. “Heavens, child, you know those were doctor’s orders. Sleep, sleep and more sleep for the next few days.”

“I’m fit as a flea,” Jenny said soundly. “If I didn’t think Michael would fuss more than you, I’d be out of here in a minute.” She smiled to take any offence from her words, and Megan smiled back. But Megan knew enough to sense why Jenny had agreed to stay. This gave her a few more days of time out, away from Michael.

“So are you up to visitors? I said I thought you were asleep, so you have a ready-made excuse.”

“No, it’s fine. But who…”

“I think you might have to see for yourself,” Megan told her, and whisked herself out of question range.

Two minutes later, she ushered Gloria in and closed the door behind her.

THE LAST FEW TIMES Jenny had seen Gloria, all she’d felt was fear. As it was, her hands went down to clasp Gary, who was sleeping tucked into the bedclothes at her side. She lifted him and held him against her breast in the age-old gesture of a mother protecting her young. Gloria saw-and she winced.

“My dear…”

That was a change. Gloria had only ever addressed her with silky-smooth disdain or vindictive dislike. Jenny’s eyes widened, and she suspected a trap.

Gloria sighed. She didn’t attempt to approach the bed, just regally took a seat on the chair, carefully smoothing her tailored black skirt over her silk stockings.

“There’s no threat to you from me,” she said softly. “Your husband brought me here. He’s waiting outside to drive me back to my hotel, and tonight I’m returning to England.”

“Michael brought you here?”

“He did.” The older woman’s face creased into a tired smile. “He came to see me a few days back, to introduce my grandson. His son. He’s quite a young man, your husband.”

“I…yes.” There was no answer to that one. Jenny was poleaxed.

“I came to agree to his proposal and to ask that you accept mine,” she said.

“I don’t understand.” How on earth had she gotten her voice to work? It was beyond her.

“Michael told me you wouldn’t,” Gloria went on, and then paused. “I can see I need to explain.” For the first time her voice faltered. She took a long look at the baby in Jenny’s arms, then she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I intend to start at the beginning, if you’ll listen…”

So, while Jenny lay back in stunned silence, Gloria told her what she’d told Michael. She told her story calmly and rationally, without any of the pain Michael had heard, but there was no way Jenny could miss the suffering behind the words. And when she fell silent, there was a much different feeling in Jenny’s heart from the fear that had been her first reaction to this visit.

“Oh, ma’am.”

“No,” Gloria said strongly. “Not ma’am. I should never have made you use that. My name is Gloria. I know I’ve never let you use it, but I wish it now. If you will. What I’m saying…what I’m telling you is not an excuse for what I’ve done. I don’t have one. I was hurt, so I hurt everyone around me for such a long time. I’ve done much damage, and I can’t undo it. It wasn’t until I saw your baby that I realized. I’ve poisoned most things. All I’d like to do now is try to salvage something from the mess. For Peter’s memory. And for Richard’s.”

She paused, but then held out her hand to stop Jenny from interrupting. The gesture was imperious. Gloria might be sincerely sorry, but the noble blood in her family background had bred a haughtiness she probably wasn’t even aware of herself.

“I would very much like to keep in contact with you all,” she said firmly. “Not just with my grandson, but with you and with your husband, too, and with any children who might follow. With that in mind, I’d like to write. I’ll write once a week, and there’s no need for you to write back. Photographs will suffice. I’ll pay for any postage and processing. I’d also like very much to be present at Gary’s christening, but if that’s not acceptable, then I’ll understand.” She paused, and she finally took her eyes from the baby and looked at Jenny. The haughtiness faded.

“Your husband says he’ll pay for an extended holiday in Britain each year, but I’ll fight him on that one. I’ll do the paying.” She almost sounded humble. “It would be my honor-my absolute privilege-to have you all stay in my home. As you know, the estate is huge. It’s my sorrow and shame you were never invited there while you were married to Peter, but we have guest apartments to spare. Come, and bring as many friends as you want. Make it your home. Your…your home away from home.”

“And at the end of our stay?” Jenny asked, her voice hushed in shock at what she was hearing. “You’d let us go again?”

“If I can’t bear to let go, then I’ll lose you completely,” Gloria whispered, and it was as much as Jenny could do to hear her. “I don’t think I could bear that. I’ve been so stupid. I’ve lost so much already.”

MICHAEL didn’t come near her after that. He must have waited outside, taken Gloria to her hotel and then returned to Maitland Maternity. For the next couple of hours Jenny lay in baffled bewilderment, going over the events of the last few hours in her mind.

Michael had gone to see Gloria. Michael had taken Gary to see her.