Claiming The Captain's Baby

Giles handed her the sleeping infant and then the bag. “What are you going to do with her?”

“She needs to be changed, and then I’m going to give her a bottle before I put her to bed.”

A slight frown appeared between Giles’s eyes. “It’s lunchtime. Aren’t you going to give her food?” he asked. Mya had mentioned having to feed her.

Mya shook her head. “No. I’ll give her a snack after she wakes up. The bottle will hold her until then. Make yourself comfortable in the family room. I’ll be back and then we’ll talk about what’s best for Lily.”

Giles felt as if he had been summarily dismissed as he stared at Mya’s narrow hips in a pair of black tailored slacks. He walked over to a pale-pink-and-white-pinstriped sofa and folded his tall frame down.

Everything about the space was romantic and inviting, beckoning one to come and sit awhile. He admired the floor plan with its open rooms, high ceilings and columns that matched the porch posts. French doors and windows let in light and offered an unobstructed view of the outdoors. Wide mullions in the off-white kitchen cabinet doors were details repeated in the home’s many windows. The tongue-and-groove plank ceiling, off-white walls, kitchen cabinets, cooking island and breakfast bar reflected comfortable family living.

Family. The single word reminded him that he now had a family of his own. A hint of a smile tilted the corners of his mouth when he thought of his daughter. Then within seconds his smile vanished when he realized he had no legal claim to her. The lawyer had indicated Samantha was of sound mind and body when she drew up her will and then added the codicil, but Giles wondered if she actually had been in her right mind. It was obvious Samantha had died, and he wondered if she had known she was dying?

Giles knew he could challenge the will and authenticate his paternity. He had the resources to hire the best lawyers in the country to sue for sole or joint custody with Mya. Lily may be a Lawson, but she was also a Wainwright. And Giles wasn’t above using his family name and wealth to claim what belonged to him.

He rose to his feet when Mya reappeared. She had exchanged her slacks and man-tailored blouse for a pair of skinny jeans and an oversize University of Chicago T-shirt. Thick white socks covered her bare feet. She had brushed her hair off her face and secured it in a ponytail. Giles found that he couldn’t pull his gaze away from the small, round face with delicate doll-like features. He retook his seat after Mya sat opposite him on a chair.

“How old is Lily?” he asked; he decided he would be the one controlling the conversation.

“Seven months.” Her eyebrows lifted slightly. “How well did you know my sister?”

Giles was taken aback by Mya’s question. “What do you mean by how well?”

Mya crossed her arms under her breasts at the same time she crossed her outstretched legs at the ankles. “I know you were sleeping with her, but what else did you know about her?”

“Apparently not enough,” he countered flippantly. “Maybe I was mistaken, but I thought she told me she was from a small town in Virginia, not West Virginia.”

“You were mistaken because we’ve never lived in Virginia. What else do you know about her? Did she ever talk to you about her parents or her family?”

Giles cursed under his breath. He wanted to be the one to interrogate Mya, yet unwittingly she had turned the tables on him. “She told me her parents were dead, but nothing beyond that. Most times we talked about the places she had visited as a flight attendant, while I wasn’t very forthcoming about my time in the military because I did not want to relive some of what I’d seen or done.”

Mya’s expression softened as she angled her head. “Were you deployed?”

He nodded. “I managed to complete a couple of tours in Afghanistan.”

“Thank you for your service.”

Giles nodded again. Suddenly he was reflective. Now that he thought about it, there wasn’t that much he had known about Samantha Lawson, except that he enjoyed whatever time they had spent together whenever she had a layover in New York, which wasn’t that often.

“Samantha and I did not spend a lot of time together,” he admitted. “She would call me whenever she had a layover in New York and there were occasions when we’d just go out for dinner. She loved the theater, so if she had a few days to spare, I’d purchase tickets for whatever play she wanted to see.”

“But you did sleep with her.”

“Yes. And I always used protection.”

Mya lowered her arms. “Sammie told me you did. But we both know the only form of birth control that is one hundred percent foolproof is abstinence.”

A wry smile twisted Giles’s mouth. “I’m fully aware of that now.” He sobered. “You claim that you and Samantha are sisters, yet you don’t look anything like her.”

“That’s because we were both adopted. Our parents couldn’t have children, so they decided to adopt. They adopted me first, and then two years later they adopted Sammie. My sister spent all of her adult life searching for her birth mother and that’s probably the reason why she wanted me to adopt Lily, so I would be able to tell her everything she would need to know about her mother. When she found out she was having a girl, she selected the name Lily Hope, after her favorite flower and Sammie’s hope she would someday find her mother. My sister spent hours writing letters to her unborn baby and making recordings so Lily could hear her voice.”

Sadness swept through Giles as he attempted to deal with all that his former lover had planned for their daughter. “Please answer one question for me, Mya?”

“What is it?”

“Did Samantha know she was dying?”

Mya averted her head. “Yes. When she discovered she was pregnant, she was also diagnosed with Stage IV breast cancer. Chemotherapy couldn’t be given during throughout her pregnancy, so she had to wait until after the baby was born for radiation and hormonal therapy. However, during her second trimester she did undergo a mastectomy, but by the time she delivered Lily the cancer had spread to her liver and lymph nodes. Even though she never complained, I knew she was in pain. In the end, I hired a private duty nurse to take care of her because she refused to go to hospice. The nurse made certain to keep her comfortable, and several days after Lily turned six months old, Sammie passed away. And when she’s older, I’ll show Lily where her mother and grandparents are buried.”

Giles felt as if someone had reached into his chest and squeezed his heart, making it nearly impossible for him to draw a normal breath. He hadn’t found himself in love with Samantha, yet if he had known she was sick, he would have been there for her even if she wasn’t carrying his child. “I’m so sorry.”

Mya exhaled an audible sigh. “She’s at peace now.”

He leaned forward, hands sandwiched between his knees. There was something he had to know before he decided his next move and he hoped Mya didn’t construe it as heartless. “Was Samantha of sound mind and body when she drew up her will?”

“Are you thinking of challenging her will because you don’t believe she was in her right mind?”

“That’s not what I’m saying,” he argued softly.

“That’s exactly what you’re saying,” Mya said in rebuttal. “There was nothing remotely wrong with Sammie when she drew up her will. She refused to tell me who had fathered her child, and I didn’t understand her reasoning until Mr. McAvoy mentioned your name. Sammie did reveal that she was sleeping with a wealthy New York businessman, and when I finally heard the name Wainwright I understood her reluctance to tell me, because you probably would’ve talked her into having an abortion so as not to besmirch your family name when the word got out that you had a baby mama.”

Giles covered his face with his hand, unable to believe what Mya was saying. “Is that what you really think?” he asked through his fingers.

“It’s not what I think, but how Sammie felt. I know she withheld the fact that she had your child, but in the end she did redeem herself with the codicil. She didn’t want Lily to spend her life looking for her father as it had been with her and her birth mother.”

“What about you, Mya? Do you intend to raise Lily as your daughter?”

With wide eyes, she stared at him. “I will raise her as my daughter. I’m not only her legal guardian, but also her adoptive mother. I’m the only link between Lily’s past and her future, so if you’re thinking about suing me for custody, then I’m prepared to fight you tooth and nail for my daughter.”

Giles went completely still. He had underestimated Mya. There definitely was fire under her cool demeanor. “There’s no need to fight each other when we both want what’s best for Lily.”

“And that is?”

“For her to grow up loved and protected.”

“And you don’t think I’ll be able to love and protect her, Giles?” Mya asked.

He smiled. “I don’t doubt you will, but she needs to grow up knowing she has a father.”

“She will, because Sammie has granted you visitation.”

“How many times a year? And don’t forget a month in the summer.”

“Being facetious will definitely not endear you to me, Giles.”

“I don’t intend to be facetious. I’m just repeating the terms of the codicil.”

* * *