The Lawman's Yuletide Baby

She followed the direction of his hand. Her mouth dropped open in a perfect circle. “It’s a baby.”

“Yup.”

“Whose?”

He shook his head. “I have no idea.”

“What?” Disbelief formed a W between her eyes. “That’s impossible.”

“It’s quite possible, actually. I came down from upstairs and there she was, on the front porch stoop, sound asleep.”

“No note?”

He crossed to the bag and rummaged around. “I didn’t look. I was too surprised by the baby.”

“A little girl.” Corinne whispered the words and sounded absolutely joyful as she did. “Oh, Gabe, she is beautiful.”

“Except no one in their right mind abandons a beautiful baby.”

“A mother needing sanctuary for her child, maybe? You are a cop and you work in a sanctuary building.”

“Except this is my home. Not the troop house.” He pulled a zippered pocket of the bag open and found a thick envelope inside. It wasn’t sealed and he yanked out a sheaf of papers quickly. The first sheet was a letter, to him, and it was signed by his late cousin, Adrianna.

Gabe,

If you’re reading this, it’s because I’m gone. My friend Nita and I had this all worked out, and I was going to bring Jess to you, but I’m not sure what will happen now. These guys, the guys I’m working with, well...they don’t care. Not about themselves, not about their women, and they sure don’t care about innocent babies.

I stayed sober a long time, Gabe, but I’m not straight now and I can’t live with myself if something happens to her because I’m stupid and selfish. I tried to give her up to strangers, but I couldn’t do it. I just couldn’t.

You’re the best person I know. My parents disowned me and they want nothing to do with Jessie. They called her a child of sin. My sister has her hands full. Her husband left when he lost his job, and that’s a mess.

I have no one else, Gabe. I have you, and you always tried to see the good in me.

That good is gone, and I’m sorry about that. So sorry. But I was sober until after Jessie was born, so she won’t have any problems from her foolish mother.

I wish I listened when I was younger, Gabe. You tried to help. So did your mom, but I couldn’t be bothered.

We’re going on a run tonight. I don’t know how it will end, but Nita promised to bring Jessie to you.

I got these forms online. They give you custody and permission to adopt Jessie, and the free lawyer at the center told me I’d done all the right things. You would be good for her. And I think she would be good for you.

Sister Martha at the mission helped me get some things together that Jessie might need, enough to tide you over for a couple of days.

Please pray for me. This isn’t how life was supposed to be, but I’ve got only myself to blame. And if you can’t find it within yourself to raise her, will you find someone who is really nice to do it? I want her surrounded by goodness, and that’s not going to happen if she stays with me or my family.

I love you.

Adrianna.

Attached to the two-page letter were official-looking legal documents signed by his cousin Adrianna and witnessed by two people. The stamp of a notary public from Schoharie County indicated that Adrianna had followed the directions of the legal website and the attorney.

“Oh, Gabe.” Sympathy deepened Corinne’s features. “She sounds like she’s in a bad way.”

“She’s gone, Corinne.” He scrubbed a hand to his face, then his neck as the baby slept. “I went to her memorial service two weeks ago, and there were only a handful of us there. Adrianna died while she and her crooked friends were robbing a Thruway exit convenience store. And my mother never said anything about a baby. I can’t believe she wouldn’t have told me during one of our phone calls.”

“Did your mother live near her?” she asked.

“My family is in Saratoga County, on the upper side of Albany. Adrianna got herself mixed up with a bunch of gang members after she dropped out of high school. A wild crowd, according to Mom. She’s done time, twice. And now this.”

The baby squirmed, stretched and blinked.

“Is there a bottle in there?”

Gabe searched the bag. “No. But there is a can of formula.”

“Try the insulated pocket on the side.”

He did and withdrew a cool bottle. “How’d you know that was there?”

“Between my two sisters-in-law, I am surrounded by babies. I think all diaper bags have insulated pockets now, but not when I was dragging things around for Tee and Callan.”

“Right.” He didn’t remember that with Gracie’s diaper bag, either.

“You might want to heat that quickly, because when she decides she’s hungry, she’s going to let us know in no uncertain terms.”

He remembered that, too, but there was no way Corinne would know he had actual experience because he didn’t talk about it. To anyone. Ever.

He hurried to the kitchen, set the bottle in a large coffee mug and filled it with really warm water as he hit Mack’s number in his cell phone. He and Susie not only knew Gabe’s background, they were familiar with the rough family dynamics. They’d give honest advice. Then he hit 9-1-1, reported what happened and brought the warmed bottle into the living room just as the darkened sky painted an end to their Indian summer day. The wind picked up.

He handed Corinne the bottle because the last thing he was about to do was sit and feed a baby. “I’ve got to shut the door against that wind.”

“I’ve got this.” She lifted Jessie from the carrier as if she did it every day, then snugged her into the crook of her left arm once she settled into his big, broad recliner. She leaned back and stroked the baby’s cheek with one slim finger.

The baby turned eagerly. When she found the soft tip of the bottle, she latched on as if it might be her last meal.

“Isn’t it amazing, Gabe?”

“Finding an abandoned baby on your doorstep?” Talk about an understatement. “Yes.”

“Well, that.” She looked at the baby with a smile so sweet and warm that her cool and careful image dissolved before his eyes. “How instinctive we are for survival. God’s plan, to nourish us and nurture us. She knows she needs food, she demands it unequivocally, and when she gets full, I bet she smiles up at me to say thank you.”

He recalled that oft-played scenario. Gracie’s smile. Her first tear. The way she gripped his finger in the hospital nursery...

He remembered every single moment, which was exactly why there was no way he could ever do it again.

Three cars pulled into his driveway minutes later. Mack and Susie climbed out of the unmarked car and hurried to the door.

Chief of Police Drew Slade and a uniformed officer followed from their respective vehicles.