the crying was getting worse. Vito had never cried this hard with him. Anyone hearing Riccardo would think something was terribly wrong.
Unable to stand it another minute, he scanned the list given him to find out if Riccardo had been nursed or drank formula. What he did see was the mention of formula. It was the same kind he’d given Vito.
Anxious to comfort him, he pulled out one of Vito’s bottles and tried to get his son to drink it, but the baby was too upset and fought him.
Frantic because nothing was working, he opened the door to take him for a walk, anything to help him stop crying. Once out in the hallway, he heard Vito, who was crying hysterically. The sound came from another room around the corner and a long way down the hall. That was where Giovanni headed because two screaming babies needed comfort, rules or no rules.
As he reached the closed door ready to knock, it opened unexpectedly.
“Oh—” The mother cried to see Giovanni standing right there.
“Mi scusi, signora. I was just coming to find you.”
“That’s what I was about to do.”
Despite the fact that both babies were crying at the top of their lungs, for a moment his gaze took in the angelic-looking woman. At first she seemed so familiar to Giovanni he couldn’t understand. Then it struck him that it was because the son he’d taken home from the hospital and adored was a tiny replica of her, down to her blond hair. Good heavens, what a gorgeous woman!
But he couldn’t go on staring at her when something needed to be done quickly to quiet the babies. “Let me take Vito.”
“Yes. He doesn’t want me,” her voice trembled.
Giovanni felt her pain and grasped him in his other arm while handing a tearful Riccardo back to her. Without hesitation the exchange took place in the hallway. He didn’t care if they weren’t supposed to meet. Apparently she didn’t care, either. It told him this terrible situation had nearly destroyed her, too. Already he felt a bond with her as she crushed Ric to her, yet never took her eyes off Vito.
After a few seconds their children quieted down and eventually blessed peace reigned. She looked up at him. Suddenly they both laughed in relief. In that instant he felt a tug on his emotions to discover this woman could find humor at such a precarious moment. She appealed to him in ways he couldn’t begin to explain.
“Thank you for coming to our rescue.” She sounded a little breathless as their eyes clung.
“I didn’t know what else to do.”
“I hear you. Where’s your wife?”
“I’m divorced. She gave up her mother’s rights.”
Her incredible sapphire-blue eyes clouded. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s past history. Is your husband here?”
She kissed his son—her son. “We never married. Our relationship ended a long time ago.”
At this historic moment he had too many questions, but the hall wasn’t the place for the kind of conversation they needed. “Why don’t I grab the diaper bag out of the room I was in and join you in here so we can talk.”
“Please hurry—”
That pleading in her eyes got to him. He understood the urgency and was gone and back in a flash. After closing the door, he dug inside the bag and handed her Vito’s bottle.
She did the same with her bag. “Here’s one for Ric.”
He liked the shortened version. In a minute both babies had settled down and were drinking, totally happy to be in familiar arms.
Signor Conti poked his head in the room, shocked to see the four of them together. “So this is where you went, signor. It seems your babies found you.”
“Our children don’t understand hospital rules,” Giovanni muttered. “But it wouldn’t have mattered how this was handled, the babies need time to adjust.”
He cleared his throat. “Under the circumstances, let me introduce you. Signorina Valentina Montanari, please meet Signor Giovanni Laurito.”
Giovanni’s body quickened. Such a prominent name in Italy’s business world made him wonder if she was any relation to Rinieri Montanari, the new head at Montanari’s. He was a hard man to do business with, forcing him to hold talks with Ernesto Bruno when he needed to meet with the CEO himself.
“I can see you two have a lot to talk about. This is a situation no one is prepared for. Since you’ve met, stay here as long as you need to. Remember we provide counseling if you feel that you need it.”
They thanked him. Giovanni closed the door behind the administrator and sat down with Vito slumped against his shoulder.
She sat in the other chair and kissed Ric with all the love of a doting mother. He admired her for going through this whole experience without a husband to help her.
“Ric’s hungry. I tried to nurse him, but I didn’t have enough milk so he’s been getting used to the formula.”
“It looks like both babies have been on the same brand sent home by the hospital.” He had dozens of questions but asked the first one on his mind. “How soon did you decide Ric wasn’t your son?”
She darted him a glance. “From the first moment I saw him, I was surprised he didn’t look at all like me. In the beginning I didn’t say anything to my family, but after two weeks everyone agreed he didn’t look like anyone on our side of the family. In the case of the baby’s father, I saw no resemblance to him, either.
“My oldest brother knew I was worried and suggested I get a DNA test done so I could be absolutely certain one way or the other. My fear turned into a nightmare when the results came back, letting me know he wasn’t my baby.”
Giovanni nodded. “Nightmare is the right word, but I was the last person to be contacted by the hospital, so I haven’t had as much time as you to be torn apart.”
She smiled sadly. “No matter the length of wait, it has been a hideous experience loving our children, yet knowing we would have to give them up.” Her gaze centered on him. “Now that I’ve met you, there’s no question Ric is your son. His hairline and coloring match yours.”
Giovanni was still trying to grasp the fact that their babies had been switched. “How much did he weigh?”
“The chart said eight pounds, four ounces. He was twenty-two inches long. He’ll be tall like you. My baby’s father was five foot ten. It explains why he’s a little lighter and smaller.”
His eyes lingered on her features. “Vito has so much of you in him, it’s uncanny. I thought it odd that he was born with blond hair, but I never considered that he wasn’t mine.”
“My brother told me it was my mother’s intuition.”
Giovanni nodded. “If my wife hadn’t refused to see him, she would probably have felt something wasn’t right.”
She expelled a deep
