to speed about her family. “They’ve both been called, by the way.”
“What?” Her expression incredulous and upset, Kate rose halfway off her hospital bed.
“When you registered for the birth, you listed both your parents as next of kin, but there were two phone numbers, your father’s law office and your mother’s home. The emergency room nurse asked me who she should call. I didn’t know, so the clerk called both.”
“Oh, no.” Kate covered her face with her hand. “Did they reach both my parents?” She looked at him from between spread fingers.
Michael nodded, wondering what the big deal was. “They’re on the way to the hospital as we speak.”
“Oh, no,” Kate moaned again, looking even more distressed.
“Something wrong?”
Kate nodded vigorously. “The two of them can’t be in the same room together.”
Kate’s sister, Lindy, who had been called to come to the hospital, walked in. Kate looked at her, distressed, and swiftly explained. “You have to do something.”
Evidently agreeing with Kate’s assessment of the situation completely, Lindy sprang into action. “I’ll head off Dad downstairs in the lobby. Meanwhile, when Mother gets here, you do your best to make her visit as snappy as possible. And then I’ll bring Dad up when the coast is clear.”
“What’s going on?” Michael asked curiously, figuring if he was going to land in the middle of some familial calamity, he should know the reason for it.
“My parents separated last summer, at my mother’s insistence, shortly after I told them I was pregnant with Timmy. My mother said she just needed some time and space to herself, but that doesn’t make any sense.” Kate shook her head and sighed. “I never thought either of my parents would have a mid-life crisis, and that goes double for my mom, who made the family her whole career.”
“Any chance she’s suffering from the empty nest syndrome now that you’re having a child of your own and your younger sister’s about ready to graduate?” Michael asked kindly. He’d seen it in other families.
Kate looked perplexed. “My dad and Lindy think so, but I’m not sure it’s quite that simple. Unlike my dad and me, my mother has always been ruled by her emotions. And right now her emotions are running at an all-time high. Add to that the fact my dad’s protesting her petition for divorce and feeling pretty hurt and angry. My mom is being really stubborn and closemouthed about whatever it is that is going on with her and—well, you can just imagine how awkward it is when they do see each other. Right now, it’s stretching it for them to say a civil word to each other. Suffice it to say—” Kate paused to draw a ragged breath “—I don’t want them up here together.”
“Too late,” a pale but elegant-looking blonde in a tailored suit said as she swept into the room, a well-dressed man in a business suit and Kate’s sister, Lindy, fast on their heels.
“Mom—Dad.” Kate flushed scarlet as Michael looked at Kate’s parents and took in the unmistakably stiff body language of a couple at war.
Kate’s younger sister lifted her hands in a helpless gesture. “I tried, but neither was willing to let the other go first.”
“There are some things parents should do together,” Kate’s mother said.
“This is still one of them,” her father agreed.
“Hello, Kate.” Kate’s mother bent to kiss her, her deep and abiding affection for her daughter evident. “Congratulations, darling.”
“Thanks, Mom.” Kate’s voice was muffled against her mother’s silvery blond coif.
She headed for the bassinet to look at her new grandson. “He is so darling,” she murmured proudly.
Kate’s father hugged Kate, too, then approached the bassinet from the other side. He regarded his new grandson with affection, finally murmuring, “He looks a lot like you did at that age, Kate.”
Kate beamed. “You think so?”
Her father nodded. “Absolutely.” Straightening, her father turned to Michael. He extended his hand. “I’m Ted Montgomery. This is my wi—this is Kate’s mother, Carolyn Montgomery, her sister, Lindy. And you must be Michael Sloane—the doctor who helped deliver Kate’s baby.”
“Right.” Michael shook her father’s hand, not sure this was the time to get into the details.
Ted gave him a look of sincere gratitude. “We’re very lucky you came along when you did.”
“I’m not so sure about that, if everything I just heard from the head nurse is true,” Carolyn said. She looked at Kate, then Michael. Her gaze zeroing in on him suspiciously, she asked in a low tone, “Is it true? Are you the father of Kate’s child?”
SILENCE REBOUNDED in the room. Even Lindy looked completely, thoroughly shocked. “I can explain,” Kate said, flushing.
“I think you’d better.” Kate’s father sat on the window ledge while her mother continued to pace, her high heels making a staccato sound on the polished linoleum floor while Kate filled them in on the mix-up at the lab.
“I just found out about it myself,” Michael told them.
“And he told me,” Kate added.
“I see.” Kate’s father looked grim.
No doubt he was thinking about all the legal and familial complications. Her mother looked upset, too. Whereas her matchmaking sister looked intrigued. “Michael and I have already talked about it. Everything’s going to be fine,” Kate hastened to reassure them.
Again, her parents exchanged uneasy glances that needed no verbal delineation, then her dad looked at Michael. It was obvious, divorce or no, he was speaking for both of them. “I assume that means you’re going to be reasonable about this.”
Michael nodded gallantly. “I wouldn’t think of behaving any other way. I’m not here to make trouble for Kate or little Timmy.”
Kate’s dad regarded Michael gravely. “I’m glad to hear that.”
Knowing her dad was just getting warmed up, Kate said quickly, “I’m pretty tired.” She looked at her parents, knowing at a time like this they were hard-pressed to deny her anything. “Maybe you could come back tomorrow. One of you in the afternoon and one of you in the evening?”
Her parents looked at each other, the tension that had been there earlier resurfacing. “I’ll take the afternoon,” her mother volunteered.
“I’ll take the evening,” her father said.
“In the meantime is there anything you need for me to bring you?” Kate’s mother asked.
Kate shook her head and fought the sadness that threatened to overwhelm her. She wished her parents would drop this foolishness and get back together. “No, I’m fine. Thanks.”
“How about your suitcase, with your nightgown and
