His Baby Surprise

“Lexi, are you all right?” Freddie asked when she opened the car door and peered into the back seat. “You look like you stuck your finger in a light socket.”

Dazed, Lexi looked around. They’d driven up the narrow, winding road to her cabin and parked without her even noticing.

The leaves on the maple and oak trees continued their daily transformation from green to shades of rust and gold. The marigolds she’d planted at the beginning of summer still bloomed heartily despite the crispness of the early fall nights. Birds still sang with the sweet purity of freedom. The chipmunk living under her front porch still scurried about, gathering acorns for the upcoming winter.

When so much in her life had changed, how could everything look just as it had only two days before?

“Oh, Freddie, nothing is ever going to be the same,” Lexi said helplessly.

“Of course it won’t,” Freddie agreed. She unbuckled the seat belt holding the baby’s car seat and lifted it from the back seat. “But don’t worry. I’m sure every first-time mother feels a little overwhelmed at the thought of taking care of her baby.”

Lexi glanced down at the birth certificate she still held. “I wish that was my only worry.”

“You know Jeff and I will help.” When Lexi made no move to get out of the car, Freddie gave her an exasperated look. “What’s gotten into you, Lexi? You couldn’t wait to get away from the clinic. Now you act like you don’t want to go inside the house.”

Sliding the parchment back into the envelope, Lexi slowly got out of the car. She’d fully prepared herself to shoulder the responsibility of being a single mother, had completely accepted how things had to be.

But the rules of the game had changed radically with Ty’s unexpected reappearance in her life. By listing himself as the baby’s father, did he expect to help her raise their son? Would he try to obtain custody of Matthew?

The thought sent a chill all the way to her soul. She needed someone to confide in. Someone who would listen and at least try to understand.

Lexi stared at Freddie for several seconds as Grandma Hatfield’s sage words whispered through her mind. “A burden is sometimes easier to carry if you share it with someone you trust.”

She had a burden, all right, and it weighed a ton.

Taking the handle of the baby carrier in her right hand, she hooked her left arm through Freddie’s. When she spoke, her voice sounded surprisingly steady, considering her insides quivered like a bowl of gelatin in an off-the-scale earthquake. “Let’s go inside, Freddie. There’s something I need to tell you.”

It wasn’t as difficult as Lexi had thought it would be, and by the time they walked into the living room, Freddie was gaping at her.

“He’s what?”

“You heard me,” Lexi said calmly. “Tyler Braden is Matthew’s father.”

Freddie collapsed on the couch, her eyes wide. “But when did you two—I mean, where—”

Lexi placed the baby in the antique cradle that had held four generations of Hatfield infants. “When? Nine months, two weeks, and four days ago. Where? Chicago.” She turned to give her sister-in-law a sardonic smile. “And before you ask how—the usual way.”

Her sister-in-law shook her head as if to clear it. “You mean to tell me he’s a doctor and he didn’t recognize the symptoms of pregnancy?”

“We…” Lexi hesitated. No matter how she said it, it was going to sound bad. “We only spent one night together.” She tiredly lowered herself into the rocking chair beside the cradle. She felt as if the weight of the world rested squarely on her shoulders. “It was the night before I left to come back home.”

“But what about birth control?” Freddie asked. “I mean, him bein’ a doctor and all, you’d think—”

“We did use something,” Lexi interrupted. She shrugged helplessly. “But there isn’t any method that’s one hundred percent effective.”

“Except abstinence,” Freddie corrected. “And if you’d picked that method—”

“We wouldn’t be having this conversation,” Lexi finished.

Freddie rose from the couch and began to pace the length of the room. “Does he realize Matthew is his?”

“Yes.”

When Freddie whirled around, her long, blonde ponytail slapped the side of her face. “I thought you told me he didn’t know about the pregnancy.” Her eyes narrowed and she propped her fists on her hips. “That woodpecker knew and waited all this time—”

“No,” Lexi interrupted. “I haven’t said anything to Ty.”

“Then, how are you sure he knows?”

Lexi handed Freddie the birth certificate. “He must have figured it out, because he listed himself as the baby’s father and Matthew’s last name as Braden.”

Freddie scanned the document, an incredulous expression crossing her delicate features. “Granny’s garters! What do you think he’ll do now?”

“I wish I knew.” Lexi closed her eyes and rested her head against the high back of the rocking chair. “But that’s not all.”

“There’s more?” Freddie looked at Lexi as if she’d sprouted horns and a tail.

Lexi nodded. Any other time, they’d find humor in Ty’s assumption about her marital status. But at the moment, Lexi couldn’t find anything even remotely funny about the situation.

When Lexi remained silent, Freddie frowned. “I’m not going to like this, am I?”

“Probably not.” Lexi grimaced as she struggled for the courage to meet Freddie’s suspicious gaze. “He thinks I’m married to you.”

Freddie looked as if she’d been pinched. “Grandpa’s long johns! Where did he get a goofy idea like that?”

“Ty heard Martha and me talking about you,” Lexi explained. “I guess he assumed by the name that ‘Freddie’ was a man and my husband.”

“And you didn’t set him straight.” It was more an accusation than a question.

Lexi shook her head and stared down at her tightly laced fingers. “No.”

Clearly confused, Freddie plopped back down on the couch. “Why not?”

Biting her lower lip, Lexi tried to keep a sob from escaping. When she finally gained control of her emotions, her voice quavered. “I guess I was trying to buy some time…until I could figure out what to do.” Tears filled her eyes as she met her sister-in-law’s disbelieving gaze. “Oh, Freddie, how could I have made such a mess of things? And why couldn’t he have stayed in Chicago where he belongs?”

Freddie left the couch, knelt beside the rocking chair and put her arms around Lexi. “Do you love him?” she asked gently.

“To tell the truth, I’d have to say I don’t even know him,” Lexi sobbed.

“Oh, holy cow! This just gets more and more bizarre every time you open your mouth.”

Tears spilled down Lexi’s cheeks, and she tried to swipe them away with the back of her hand. “Ty and I were neighbors. He lived down the hall and we rarely ever saw each other. We’d pass in the hall and speak, or say ‘hello’ as we got on or off the elevator. But that was it. Until…the night I quit the radio station.”

“What made that night different?” Freddie asked.

Lexi took a deep breath. She’d started explaining things. She might as well finish. Besides, keeping secrets was precisely what got her into this mess to begin with.

“After a meeting with the corporate wonder boy in charge of restructuring the radio station, I decided there was no way I’d move my show to L.A. I didn’t want to move that far from home, so I turned in my resignation—effective immediately—and cleared out my office. Everything I’d worked to build in the last five years had just disintegrated in less than thirty minutes, and I doubt I could have felt any lower.” She sniffed back a sob. “When I went back to my apartment to pack, Ty had just gotten off duty at the hospital. He looked even worse than I felt.”