Forever My Baby

Five minutes later Ryker pulled up in front of the Cobblestone Day School, considered the best school and day care in Charleston. Angela had chosen it when she was pregnant. They had toured the school together.

“Isn’t this perfect?” she had asked him, her eyes sparkling with pleasure.

In that moment, Ryker glimpsed a vision of the little girl who had become the center of his life—the little girl with the same joy as her mommy. She was happy and filled with giggles. Pain stabbed at him, prompting Ryker to rub his chest. He had never once considered any other day care for Kai. He had vowed to raise their daughter as Angela would have wanted.

Ryker rushed into the building and walked briskly to his daughter’s classroom. As soon as he entered, Kai erupted to her feet and into his arms.

“Dayee.”

“I’m here, baby. Daddy’s here.”

“Wanna go home,” she mumbled against his shoulder.

He kissed her cheek. “We’re going home right now.”

Ryker spoke with her teacher, inquiring about Kai’s day. “I see she had an accident,” he said, noticing that she was not wearing the same outfit he had dressed her in that morning.

“She did, but she’s doing much better about letting us know when she needs to potty. This happened when she was on the playground. She was playing and waited too late.”

“Wanna go home,” Kai repeated.

Her teacher patted her gently on the back. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Kai.”

“Morrow.”

They settled into his car, and Ryker was grateful for the distraction of merging traffic. The weather had been clear upon his arrival to the school, but it was now misting rain.

Minutes later, there was a steady drizzle and the swishing sound of the windshield wipers filled the vehicle.

Ryker thought back on his relief that Kai no longer held on to him and screamed when he dropped her off in the mornings. He had felt like the worst parent in the world when her teacher had to pry his daughter’s fingers off him.

That vision haunted him now. Would Garland do the same thing—pry Kai’s fingers and haul her away, leaving him with the image of his daughter’s tear-streaked face, her eyes desperate and pleading, leaving him only with a memory that would haunt him for the rest of his days?

He could not let that happen. He would not let it happen, Ryker vowed.

Ryker drove straight into the garage. Kai did not stir when he turned off the engine and opened the door to get out. She had fallen asleep during the short ride home, apparently worn out by her eight-hour day at the school. Stomach knotted with tension, he bolted out of the car and rounded the SUV to get his daughter out of her car seat.

He carried his sleepy daughter into the house and placed her on the sofa. Ryker tickled her to try waking her up.

“Top it,” Kai moaned.

A look of tenderness leaped into his eyes and his chest clenched tight around his heart as he looked at her.

Outside, the skies opened up and began to release a load of rain. Ryker was grateful to have made it home before the storm.

He attempted once more to wake Kai up.

“Nooo,” she complained.

“Honey, don’t you want to eat dinner?”

Kai rewarded him with a nod.

“How about spaghetti?” Ryker suggested.

“Ghetti,” she whispered.

He picked her up and carried her to the bathroom to wash her face. “Let’s get you freshened up for dinner.”

Kai looked up at him and smiled. “Dayee...”

He planted a kiss on her forehead.

Ryker recalled the day Kai was born. The truth was that he had not even looked at her after she was delivered via emergency C-section. He had been holding Angela’s hand, pleading with her not to leave him, willing her to live.

It had soon become evident that she needed to be hooked up to machines to sustain her life. Ryker had refused to leave her side. Angela had lain there in the hospital bed for two days, her beautiful eyes closed, breasts rising and falling with the hissing of the respirator. When doctors had offered no hope of her recovery, Ryker and his in-laws had agreed that she should be taken off the machines.

Kai had been a day old when he’d finally held her in his arms. He’d brought her in to meet her mother, although Angela had been unaware. They had decided on a name long before she had been born, so Ryker had honored his late wife’s request.

He recalled that the infant had showed no resemblance to her mother, much to his relief and disappointment. There were days when it was a blessing that he did not see his beloved Angela every time he looked at Kai. Then it hit Ryker—Garland’s little girl might possess Angela’s bright smile and big personality. He then released a low groan.

But nobody was going to take Kai from him. Not even Garland. Parker had entrusted him to look after his sister before he took his last breath, but Ryker was not going to let her take his daughter from him.

* * *

Ryker had no idea how long he’d been sitting in his car watching Garland. She was outside her shop talking to a customer. He could hardly take his eyes off her, especially the warm sienna color of her hair.

A chill snaked down his spine.

It was the same color as Kai’s curly tresses. The first time he and Garland had met, her hair had been shoulder-length and she’d worn it in its natural wavy state. Now, she wore it short in a pixie-style cut.

His late wife’s hair had been dark brown, whereas his own was black. It seemed strange, but he had never given much thought to the color of his daughter’s hair before now. Ryker shook off his suspicions. All this talk about a baby switch was beginning to get to him.

He got out of the car when it looked like Garland’s conversation was winding down.