Stephanie Dees - A Baby For The Doctor

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When Jordan got home, Levi’s caseworker was sitting on the porch steps with a file spread around her and a pencil between her teeth. Jordan had just spent three hours in the WIC office with a toddler who refused—understandably—to be strapped into a stroller. She was absolutely exhausted, and unlike her small charge, she couldn’t take a nap on the drive home.

Bartlet nickered at her over the fence. The horses were waiting for her. And so, apparently, was Reesa. Jordan hitched Levi higher on her hip and took a deep breath. “Hey, I didn’t know you were coming this afternoon.”

Reesa gathered the papers and pulled them into a stack. “I had to visit with the twins, Jamie and John, and Claire today, so I thought I’d drop in to see Levi, too. Save me a trip another day. How’s he doing?”

Pushing open the door to the cottage, Jordan let the dog out and tried to remember if she’d left anything embarrassing on the floor. “Come on in.”

She placed sleeping Levi on the crib mattress on the floor and went to the kitchen to pour two glasses of sweet tea, kicking a loose pair of socks under the couch as she went. “He hates the crib. We’re working on it.”

Reesa, in one of the chairs, waved a hand, dismissing it. “No worries. It takes time, sometimes more than you’d think, for them to adjust.”

“Are we going to have a lot of time? Wait. Don’t answer that. I know you don’t have any way to really know.” She held one of the glasses out to Reesa, with a napkin.

Reesa stuck a pencil into the pile of riotous curls on top of her head and leaned forward to take the glass. “Neither Mom nor Dad bonded out, so they’re still in jail. I’m going to see them later this week to get some names of family from them. If they still won’t give us anyone, we’ll try to get the judge to compel them to, but we don’t have a whole lot to hold over their heads. They’re already facing significant time with the drug charges and the child endangerment.”

“So we’re probably looking at six months with Levi.”

Reesa nodded, the colorful curls on her head bouncing wildly. “At least. Levi will be classified medically fragile and I have no idea what we’ll find when we start looking at family.” She paused and, with her customary directness, added, “Do we need to find him another placement?”

“No.” Jordan didn’t hesitate. In just a couple of days, Levi’s journey had become inextricably entwined with hers and she had to see it through with him. “He’s just starting to trust me. I’m not going to do that to him. He has enough to deal with without me adding to it.”

“Okay, good. Obviously, I think you’re the perfect person for him since you can help him with any kind of physical or occupational therapy that he might need at home.” Reesa wrote something in her notes and looked up again. “Now, let’s talk about him. You said he hates the crib. He will sleep out here, though?”

“Yes. I think it’s the thing about being enclosed. He freaks out in the car seat and high chair, too.”

“Poor guy. How are his burns?”

“Better. I’ve been putting the cream on them and they look less angry.”

“If you can snap some pics and send them to me, that would be good. I have the ones from the hospital, but I’d like photos of his progress. Is he eating okay?”

“He won’t eat solid food. I had a huge fight with WIC today trying to get them to pay for formula for a three-year-old. I’m going to have to get some documentation from the pediatrician that it’s okay for Levi to take a bottle, at least for now.”

Reesa looked up. “That really cute pediatrician who came with you to the hospital?”

“He didn’t come with me.” Jordan scowled. “He met me there.”

“Mmm-hmm. And what’s going on with you two?”

“What? Nothing.” Oh, man, she hoped that it wasn’t that obvious that she was so unbelievably awkward around him. She twirled the end of one of her braids around her finger, let it go and then picked it up, wrapping it around her finger again. Then again, maybe she was just awkward in general. “Ash and I—we’re just friends. His brother is married to my sister, that’s all.”

“He’s really good-looking. Maybe you should start something.” Reesa raised one perfectly manicured, pierced eyebrow.

Jordan sputtered out a laugh. “That’s entirely inappropriate! And seriously, I’m not his type.”

“Okay, I hear you.” Reesa closed her notebook. “One last thing. I know Levi just got out of the hospital, but you’ll need to make an appointment and get his intake form filled out by the superhot, there’s-nothing-going-on-there Dr. Sheehan this week.”

Jordan dug deep to find some peace and took a cleansing breath. She would make it work with her schedule. Somehow. “Of course.”

“And now, I’m really sorry, but I have to see him awake while I’m here. Can you wake him up?”

“Yes. He’s been sleeping a lot. He’s healing, for one thing, but I’m not sure he had much restful sleep before. Let me get him a bottle before we wake him. He hasn’t had anything in a couple of hours.” In the kitchen, she got a bottle out of her new stash, quickly mixing six ounces of formula for Levi. “He’s not always happy to see me, so I’m just warning you.”

“You’re doing a great job with him, Jordan. He’s going to adjust. What are you going to do when you have to go back to work this week?”

“My hours are flexible and Claire has Mrs. Matthews, who’s agreed to keep him during the day when I have clients. Unfortunately, it will be another adjustment for him.” Jordan lifted Levi into her arms and tickled his foot to wake him up. He woke up scowling and opened his mouth to scream. She stuck the bottle in it.

Reesa laughed and gathered her stuff. “Good enough. You’re a natural, but I guess you’ve had some practice with all of Claire’s kids.”

“I have. Will you keep me posted if there are any changes?”

“I’ll do my best. And I’ll see you next month if not before.” Reesa let herself out the front door.

Jordan knew that Reesa meant well, but she also knew that information flowed slowly and usually in one direction in the system, from foster parent to caseworker, not the other way around. She looked into Levi’s big brown eyes, which were focused on hers. “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. But you don’t have to worry, buddy. We’ll figure it out.”

She hoped she was telling the truth. She prayed constantly for this sweet baby, who so did not deserve what had happened to him. God, do Your will for him. Make it unmistakable.

Her phone buzzed on the table beside her. A text from Reesa:

Don’t forget about the pediatrician.

As if she could.

Chapter Four

Ash stopped at the reception desk. His nurse, Marissa, slid a file to the bottom of the stack on the counter. A grandmotherly woman with a heart of gold, she was the organizational glue that held his practice together. “We have a new patient. Levi Wheeler, three years old.”

He glanced through the window into the waiting area and saw Jordan with Levi in her arms. He smiled. The other moms were dressed to the nines, having been taught from the cradle—according to his mother—not to leave the house without hair done and lipstick in place. Jordan was herself, boots and flannel, hair tied back, rebellious red curls framing her face. Levi had his head buried in her armpit. “Go ahead and put them in the red room.”

“But—”

They were overbooked. They were always overbooked because who could turn away a sick kid? So they went in order of arrival. Sometimes, though, you had to break the rules. “Marissa, take a look at him.”

His sweet nurse peeked over the counter and sighed. “Poor little one. He looks terrified.”