Not Quite Mine (Not Quite #2)(4)
Author: Catherine Bybee

“Oh, my God.” Monica voiced Katie’s exact thoughts.

Chapter Two

Monica lifted the car seat and brought the baby into the penthouse.

Katie’s hands trembled as she flipped over the envelope.

“Get that,” Monica told her while pointing outside the door.

Sitting on the hallway floor was a large plush diaper bag with sheep printed all over the exterior.

Grabbing it, Katie shut the door behind her and stood next to Monica. Both of them stared down at the baby as if neither of them knew what it was.

“Who would leave their child on your doorstep?”

She had no idea. “I’ll call down to the doorman and ask if anyone has entered or left the building with a kid.”

“Good idea.” Monica sat beside the baby, careful not to wake her while Katelyn crossed to the phone and called downstairs.

“Good evening, Miss Morrison.” The cheerful voice of the graveyard shift doorman didn’t sound alarmed. In contrast, her heart was pounding in her chest and her voice was anything but calm.

“Hey, Alex. By chance has anyone come up in the last ten minutes or so?”

“Only you and Miss Mann. Why? Is everything OK?”

No, everything was definitely not OK. “Are you sure there hasn’t been anyone you didn’t recognize come in tonight? Anyone with kids?”

Alex’s tone turned tight. “No one that wasn’t expected. You sound a little worried, Miss Morrison. Would you like me to send up security?”

“No. No, we’re fine. I thought maybe…” Oh, boy, what could she say? “Good night, Alex.”

“G’night, ma’am.”

“He didn’t see anything?” Monica had listened to the conversation.

“Nothing.”

“How can that be? They practically asked for my firstborn when I came…” Monica glanced at the infant. “Oh, bad joke. They seem so on top of things here.”

“It’s not the first time someone has gotten past security.”

Katie pushed aside the magazines sitting on her coffee table so she could sit and stare at the child. The porcelain, perfect skin and fluff of pale hair on the top of her head were so beautiful. Unable to stop herself, Katie reached out and ran her finger along a tiny cheek. The smooth texture sent a zing up her arm and added to the rapid beat of her heart.

“We need to call the police.”

Alarm spiked inside Katie’s head. “Why?”

“Katie, someone abandoned their infant on your doorstep. We need to notify the authorities.”

When mothers abandoned their infants, they did it on church steps or hospitals…or worse, garbage cans or public bathrooms. Katie’s eyes inched away from Monica and glanced at the envelope clutched in her hand. She’d almost forgotten about it.

She ripped it open and removed two pieces of paper. One looked official, while the other was a handwritten note.

Dearest Katelyn,

Please read this letter before giving my child to complete strangers to raise within a broken system. I’m not a star-crazed kid pushing her unwanted baggage on someone with money, or a nut who will come back into your life screaming foul play. I am a mother whose heart is breaking as she writes you this letter in a desperate attempt to make you understand.

I am unable to raise my daughter, to love her, to guide her in life. No one is more sorry about that than I am. You can do what I can’t, Katelyn. I’ve seen to it that no one will question who her mother is. All you have to do is take her.

Savannah was conceived with love, albeit one sided, and deserves a mother who can give her everything. I know things about you that I probably shouldn’t. I know how much you want a child of your own, how impossible it is for you to do so. If you open your heart to my tiny miracle, she’ll win you over before dawn. Her father isn’t ready for her, but if my instincts are right, he will be one day. And when he is, the two of you will give Savannah the loving home she needs.

I’ve arranged everything. No one will question the parentage of Savannah, and even if they did, I believe you’ll find a way to keep her.

Please…I beg you.

Love her, Katelyn. If the day ever comes, tell her I loved her, too.

There wasn’t a signature. No name to give to the woman who had written the letter.

Katie glanced at the second paper, which was a birth certificate. Her back teeth ground tight and her head started to pound.

The words “Closed Adoption” stood out in bold print. Under “Child’s Name” was “Savannah Morrison, no middle name.” Under “Mother” was “Katelyn Marie Morrison.” Katie shifted her eyes to the space for the father’s name and found it blank.

She blew out a long, shaky breath.

“What does it say?” Monica sat anxiously waiting.

There would be no need to hide anything from her new sister-in-law so she handed over the papers. As Monica took in all that the letter said, Katie stared down at Savannah and allowed her heart to open a tiny crack. Who was Savannah’s mother, and how did she know Katie’s deepest secret?

“Holy shit.”

Understatement of the year.

“Do you have any idea who the mom is?”

“None.”

“What about the dad? Sounds like the mom thinks you know him.”

Katie rubbed the back of her neck and tried to stop the nagging feeling of dread. “I know a lot of guys who aren’t ready to be a father.” No reason to tell Monica everything. Until Katie knew more about the mother and the reason for Savannah ending up on her doorstep, she’d keep quiet.

“How can someone do this?” Monica repeated the question a few more times as she stood and paced the room. “And what did she mean when she said that it’s impossible for you to have your own kids?”

Savannah puffed out her tiny lips in her sleep as if she were sucking on something. Monica’s question registered. “I can’t have children.” Saying the words aloud always hurt, which was why Katie never did.

“Are you sure?”

Karma had a way of slapping her in the face. “I’m sure.” Since her own mother couldn’t be a good mom, life decided to take the option away from her, too.

Monica sat beside her on the coffee table and grasped her hand. “I’m so sorry.”

“Me, too.” And she was. More than Monica could ever imagine.

Both of them turned to face Savannah and stared. The thought of putting her into the arms of a police officer, who would then place her into a home where people took in unwanted children for a price, raced through Katie’s mind.