Kipp hammered his point home. “I’m offering you an out here, Faith. Shelby and I have a six-bedroom home. It sits on three acres. She’s able to devote all her time to motherhood. I made some inquiries this morning. I know how much you earn. And I know you work some oddball shifts. I sincerely doubt anyone would think you derelict of duty if you signed Lacy’s babies over to their natural father.”
“You’re claiming that role, huh, Fielding?” Michael slapped a hand on the glass table. “We have a difference of opinion on that score. The twins are mine.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Kipp’s chest expanded a few inches. “I hate bringing this up with a lady present, old man. Your ex-wife was pretty outspoken about the infrequency of your lovemaking.”
Michael’s face went suddenly florid. “It so happens, pal, we were intimate the day I left for Norway. January fourth. You’re welcome to calculate that out.”
Kipp seemed shaken by Michael’s announcement. “I—I…that’s the day before we, ah, that is…when Lacy and I first slept together. I think you’re lying, Cameron. Lacy said she had to schedule an appointment with you to make love.”
“Think what you want. Lacy’s forte was high drama. I guess I always knew she was impulsive. I’m only just realizing how impulsive.”
Faith slumped down hard in her chair. She blinked up at them, stomach roiling. “So what you’re, uh, both saying is that it’s a mystery as to who fathered the twins?”
Neither man acknowledged Faith’s conclusion.
Kipp checked his watch for about the third time in five minutes. “I have to get back to New York. I don’t have any more time to argue. Here’s the bottom line. There’s a boy upstairs in the nursery with Fielding genes. Because of that, he’s entitled to a legacy. I won’t go into everything that entails. Suffice it to say he’ll be well taken care of. You two will be hearing from my attorney. That’s a promise.”
Faith and Michael watched in silence as he stalked out.
“Two can play his game,” Michael said, his expression thunderous. “I don’t care how many damned Roman numerals he has after his name. Fielding will be hearing from my lawyer, too. Meanwhile, I’m going up to visit the babies. I don’t advise trying to stop me, Faith.” Giving her only seconds to respond, he, too, stormed out.
Faith’s shoulders slumped. “Oh, Lacy,” she murmured. “What kind of mess have you left me with this time?”
Sighing, she regained enough composure to pick up the phone and call the duty nurse in charge of the premie ward. “My sister’s ex-husband has asked to visit the twins, Eileen. I’m willing to extend him that courtesy today, but make sure everyone on the duty roster knows Lacy left custody papers on file. If Michael or anyone else wants to see the babies from here on out, staff will have to call me for authorization. Is that clear?” When she was certain the charge nurse understood, Faith rang off.
Stopping at the reception area, she thanked Dr. Peterson’s secretary for the use of his office. After that, she went upstairs to her own ward, post-surgical. Faith wanted to see the babies again after Michael left. Somehow, she couldn’t shake the feeling that he presented a threat.
Her mind not on work, she nevertheless emptied her mailbox. It was full. Among the usual junk was a notice to stop at the finance office and discuss Lacy’s hospital bill. Faith stared at the statement. She had a tidy savings account. She’d expected to use it to stock a nursery; she’d also figured it would allow her to take six months or so off work. Last night when she couldn’t sleep, she made lists of what the babies would need. Planning for two of everything ate up money fast. To say nothing of the fact that the cost of funerals had skyrocketed since she’d arranged her mother’s.
Closing her eyes, Faith rubbed her forehead. It hadn’t entered her mind that she’d owe for Lacy’s care. But then, what company would insure her sister? Even if she had a policy, it probably excluded her preexisting condition. Faith placed this new worry at the bottom of her stack. The next envelope she opened was almost as distressing. The babies needed names before the state could issue birth certificates.
Faith picked up a pen. Abigail was easy. That had been Lacy’s wish. Abigail Dawn. It was a middle name denoting hope, and the two went well together, Faith thought. Hyatt. She wrote the last name in block letters. Writing it felt good. Like thumbing her nose at Kipp Fielding III and his father.
The form for Lacy’s son remained mockingly blank. Faith made a list of names she thought sounded strong. Nicholas kept floating to the top. “Nicholas it shall be,” she murmured, then chewed on the eraser while she searched her list for an acceptable middle name. John. A solid biblical name. Also, it’d been Faith and Lacy’s grandfather’s. Faith remembered him as a soft-spoken man with twinkling eyes.
Once that chore was complete, she dispatched her remaining mail quickly. A glance at her watch suggested she’d wasted enough time; Michael should be long gone from the nursery. She dropped off the birth certificate forms in the outgoing mail on her way to visit the twins.
By now she knew the routine and proceeded to don sterile gear before she entered the nursery. Tying the last set of strings on her mask, Faith pushed open the door to the premie ward. And froze. A fully gowned and masked Michael Cameron sat in Faith’s usual chair. He had a baby lying along each of his forearms, their little heads cradled in the palms of his big hands. Both pairs of baby eyes were wide-open. Faith was near enough to see their mouths working. Oh, they looked like perfect little dolls.
Fuzzy dark hair spilled from beneath Nicholas’s blue stocking cap. Abigail’s wispy curls glinted pale gold in the artificial light.
Faith’s gaze shifted to Michael’s face. Her stomach knotted and her knees felt watery. There was no mistaking the tears that tracked down his cheeks. An involuntary protest rose in Faith’s throat, blocking the breath she tried desperately to suck into her lungs. She didn’t want to empathize with Lacy’s ex. Throwing out a hand, she clutched the privacy screen to keep from falling.
Michael heard the sound. His rapt gaze left the twins. “Faith.” He said her name softly. “I know I’ve been here beyond the time you set, but…but they’re incredible. I’ve never been so humbled. Since Lacy risked everything for them I really hope that somehow she knows how perfect they are.”
Faith watched him transfer his attention to a tiny hand that had worked free of its gown and felt the blood drain from her face.
With one gloved finger, he captured the baby’s waving fist. “Fielding said they’re labeled Babies A and B Hyatt. I stopped in finance to pay Lacy’s bill and discovered she’d never legally changed her name after the divorce. Officially the babies are Camerons. As they should be,” he said sternly, his eyes lifting in time to witness Faith’s retreat. Michael called her to come back, to no avail.
Hands over her ears, Faith stumbled into the hall. She needed to get home and call Lacy’s lawyer. Maybe the custody papers, which plainly stated Lacy wanted the babies to go by the name of Hyatt, were flawed. She took the time, however, to detour by the nursing station to retrieve the birth certificate forms she’d filled out incorrectly.
What was in a name, anyway? Michael had admitted the divorce was final. And she certainly hadn’t asked him to pay Lacy’s hospital bill. Maybe he was being thoughtful. Then again, he might have an ulterior motive. At any rate, Faith felt disloyal to Lacy as she crossed out Hyatt on the forms and wrote Cameron. As she dropped her gown, mask and bootees in the laundry, she mentally rearranged her budget to include
