problem.” He plucked up the items and followed her out the front door. “I owe you big-time for this,” he told her solemnly, falling into step beside her.
“Yes,” Michelle agreed. “You do.”
WHERE TO START? Michelle wondered as soon as the door shut behind Thad, and she and William were alone. She supposed it best to change William’s diaper.
She slung the diaper bag over her shoulder and carried him upstairs to her bedroom. His eyes were open again as she laid him gently down on the soft cotton quilt on her bed. “You know, we hear about things like this all the time,” she told him as she pulled a diaper and a packet of wipes from the bag. “Babies being left in the strangest places. I just want you to know that you shouldn’t take it personally. Candace was only doing what she thought best, taking you to your uncle Thad’s house.”
Although why Candace had simply left him in the Moses basket on the front porch was anyone’s guess. “But I don’t want you to worry,” Michelle continued reassuringly. “Because we are going to find your parents and get this all straightened out.”
One way or another, they would find a great home for William. Even if it meant calling the police and social services.
“In the meantime, I’m going to take care of you today, and then your uncle Thad is going to look after you. And before you know it, this little blip in your existence will be over. And it’ll all be good.”
All she had to do, Michelle thought as she went about getting everything she needed out of the diaper bag, was not get emotionally involved in a situation that was ultimately a win-lose proposition for her.
Winning, because she got to spend time with the most adorable baby she had ever seen.
And losing, because she was going to have to let him go.
Just as she’d had to let Jared and his son, Jimmy, go.
And that was as painful an event as ever, Michelle mused, unsnapping the legs of William’s designer duds.
Before she could get the diaper off, her phone rang.
Seeing Thad Garner’s name flash on the caller-ID screen, she grabbed the portable off the bedside table.
“How are things going?” he asked.
It was ridiculous how glad she was to hear his voice. She hit the speaker button on the receiver and set it on the bed. Doing her best to play it cool, she said, “You just left him five minutes ago!”
“More like seven.” Thad paused. “It sounds quiet.”
Talk about overprotective! “He seems happy enough,” Michelle allowed.
“He’s awake?”
“Yes. I’m in the process of changing his diaper.”
“While we talk?”
“Believe it or not, I can multitask.” She used a baby wipe on William.
“How does the diaper area look? Everything okay?”
William turned his head slightly toward the sound of Thad’s voice.
Michelle smiled. “As far as I can tell. It looks like he had a circumcision.”
“Did they leave any antibiotic ointment for the stitches?”
“Yes.” Figuring he would know, she asked, “How often are you supposed to apply it?”
“A very thin layer three times a day.”
Michelle made a note of that. “Since we don’t know when it was done last, should I go ahead and do that now? Or wait till later?”
“Go ahead and put some on now just to be on the safe side.”
Michelle did as directed.
Thad paused. “Is there a pharmacy label on the ointment?”
Once again, they were of one mind. Had there been a label, there would have been a patient last name and a prescribing physician and hospital or pharmacy name, as well. “No. It may have been on the box the ointment came in—but that’s not with his belongings.” She confirmed this with a second look through the bag.
“Too bad. It would have helped to have more to go on than first names.”
Michelle agreed wholeheartedly. Right now, of the four people ostensibly involved in this fiasco, they only knew how to contact one, and he might be out of the country! “Did you hear from your brother?” she asked, hoping that might have been the real reason for the call.
“Not yet.” Thad sighed his frustration.
As long as she had “the doctor” on the line, Michelle asked, “Would it be okay if I gave William a sponge bath? He smells a little like spit-up.”
“How’s his umbilical cord?”
She checked it out. “Kind of, um, brown. Still hanging on.”
“Not infected?”
“No.”
“I think a sponge bath would be okay,” Thad said in that thoughtful voice doctors used when tending to patients. “Just make sure the water temperature is lukewarm. And don’t get the cord wet—keep that area dry.”
Michelle resnapped the onesie and tucked the blanket in around William to keep him warm. “I’ll go to Dr. Greene’s Web site on the Internet and read up on the proper procedure before I start, just to make sure I do everything correctly.”
Another pause. “You know about that?”
Michelle tried not to take offense at the surprise in Thad’s voice. “All my friends back in Dallas have babies. All of them use that Web site as their primary reference.”
“No wonder you seem so at ease with a newborn,” he said.
That wasn’t why.
But Michelle didn’t want to tell him about the year she had spent taking care of another infant, only to lose him—and his father—in the end.
“Anything else you need?” Thad asked helpfully.
Michelle studied the contents of the diaper bag. “As far as I can tell, there appear to be enough diapers, clothing and formula to last a couple of days.” She wondered if Thad would even have the baby that long. She knew better than anyone that the situation could change in an instant, that Brice and Beatrix or Candace or even Russell could show up to claim the baby. Which again was why she needed not to become too attached or overly involved in this situation.
Oblivious to her concerns, Thad continued, “If you need anything else, let me know. I’ll pick it up on the way back.”
This was suddenly getting way too cozy for comfort.
Reminded of the last time she’d had her heart broken, Michelle
