The Baby Arrangement

When she’d tracked him down to tell him she was carrying his child, he’d asked her to marry him.

She’d laughed and turned him down. He’d quickly realized she had an agenda all her own, an agenda that didn’t include raising a child.

That’s when the lawyer in him had taken over. He’d drawn up an agreement, one he believed was in the child’s best interests, one stating she would give him full custody of the baby once it was born.

The reason he’d wanted to put everything in writing was to protect his son. That desire had stemmed from memories of his own childhood, a childhood spent being dragged around the country by his mother, a struggling actress, who’d been bent on chasing her own dream of stardom.

He’d grown to hate the life-style she’d subjected him to, the instability, the nomadic existence, and he’d been adamant no child of his would suffer as he had.

Paula had seemed relieved at his willingness to assume full responsibility for the child. She’d signed the papers without protest, assuring him acting was all she’d ever wanted to do, and that he needn’t worry about her changing her mind. Under the terms of the agreement, Paula had moved in to the guest room at his home in Oregon to await the birth of the baby.

She’d stuck rigidly to the high-protein diet and regular exercise the doctor had recommended, succeeding in keeping her weight gain to a minimum. But that hadn’t stopped her grumbling about her expanding waistline and complaining daily about how the pregnancy was ruining her figure.

She’d grown restless and impatient for the birth to be over, and as her due date drew near, Jared had awakened several times during the night to hear Paula talking on the phone. Everything had been going according to plan, and he’d convinced himself she was simply making arrangements for her return to L.A.

But two days before the baby’s due date, she’d suddenly and inexplicably disappeared, leaving him shaken, confused and very angry.

After hiring a private detective to find her, he’d called every hospital in Oregon and Washington in an attempt to locate her himself, to no avail.

The only explanation he could think of for her abrupt departure was she’d had a change of heart... and had decided to keep the baby after all.

While he longed to reject the notion out of hand, he found he couldn’t dismiss it altogether, not after watching the loving way she’d changed and fed the baby. Nor could he quite forget the hint of sadness he’d glimpsed in the shimmering depths of her green eyes...a sadness that puzzled him.

Jared frowned. If he didn’t know better, he would almost swear Paula had changed...that she was a different person altogether.

“How long will it take to get to...uh, Grace Harbor?” The question cut into Jared’s chaotic thoughts, and he turned to find Paula in the doorway.

“It depends on the traffic and how many stops we make for the baby. All being well, we should get home sometime late tonight,” he told her.

“Then I really think Nicky should be in a proper car seat.”

“Fine. If the store you mentioned does in fact exist, we’ll stop and buy one.”

“Thank you.” Faith said, relieved at his response. “The baby’s stroller and my knapsack are by the front door,” she told him, having already packed some clothes and her sketch pad, charcoal and pencils for the trip. “I still have to make up a few bottles and pack Nicky’s diaper bag.” Spinning away. she headed for the kitchen.

It was almost ten, and if Paula kept her promise, she would be calling very soon.

When Faith heard the front door being opened she sighed with relief. Peeking out of the kitchen window, she watched Nicky’s father carry the stroller and knapsack to his car.

Suddenly the silence was shattered by the telephone ringing. Faith quickly grabbed for the receiver, her pulse thundering loudly in her ears.

“Hello!”

“Faith? Hi! It’s me.”

“Paula! Oh...I’m so glad you called.”

“Is something wrong?”

“Nicky’s father’s here,” Faith said, her heart hammering wildly. “At least, he says he’s Nicky’s father. He arrived out of the blue this morning.” She stretched the phone cord to enable her to look outside.

“Jared’s there? You have to be joking!” Paula responded, shock in her voice.

“It’s no joke, believe me.”

“Yes...but, how—?” Paula broke off, then hurried on. “Describe him.”

“Describe him?” Faith threw a panicked glance at Jared standing at the trunk of his car. “He’s just like you said,” she replied, and then briefly described him.

“That’s Jared, all right,” Paula said, her voice echoing over the wire.

“He says he’s come to take Nicky home with him.” Faith hurried on, all the while keeping an eye on Jared. “He’s rude and arrogant, and he said something about you two having a deal. What kind of deal? What does he mean?”

“What did you tell him?” Paula asked, ignoring her question.

“I told him Nicky wasn’t going anywhere without me. He keeps calling me Paula. Doesn’t he know you have a twin sister?”

Paula was silent for a moment, and Faith could almost hear the wheels spinning in her sister’s head as she plotted out a strategy. “Are you saying he thinks you’re me?” Paula finally asked.

“Yes. I tried to set him straight, but he wouldn’t listen.” She watched as Jared closed the trunk and moved to the driver’s door. “Maybe you should talk to him, tell him I’m only looking after Nicky until you get back.”

“No...that’s not a good idea.”

“But surely you don’t want me to just hand Nicky over to him, do you?” she went on, at a loss to understand her sister’s lack of concern for her baby.

Her question was met with silence.

“Paula! Are you still there?”

“I’m still here.”

“What’s going on? There’s something you’re not telling me. Did you run away from this man? Was he physically abusing you?” she asked, as this possible explanation for her sister’s strange behavior jumped into her mind.

“No! No...it’s nothing like that,” Paula assured her. “But he is very controlling. He told me I’d better forget about my acting career, and if I insisted on pursuing it, he’d fight me for sole custody of the baby, and do everything in his power to stop me from ever seeing Nicky again.”

Faith drew a startled breath. “Oh, how awful!” she responded, angered by Jared’s arrogance and his dictatorial attitude. “What do you want me to do?”

“It would really help if I knew you were looking after Nicky. Will you do that for me?”

“I’ll stay with him, I promise.”

“And if you could play along with Jared—”

“Play along? But why?”

“If you tell him who you are, chances are he’ll throw you out. Couldn’t you just do it for a little while? For Nicky’s sake. Just until I can talk to a lawyer and get some advice on how I should proceed,” Paula pleaded.

“Oh...all right,” Faith reluctantly agreed.