Hannah Bernard - Their Accidental Baby

“This is a tiny baby, just a few months old. He needs care. He needs bonding. Do you know what happens to infants who don’t bond with a caretaker in the first few months? They may never recover.”

“He’ll get good care. He’ll get better care, better bonding, with someone who knows what they’re doing.” She gestured at the two of them. “And neither of us does. Neither of us has even the time to look after a baby.”

“We’re capable. I’ve got the time, and I want to help.”

“So you just want to take this baby?”

Justin’s sigh suggested she was being extremely difficult. “I’m not suggesting we steal him, Laura. Just that we look after him while we try to track down his parents. There has to be a reason he was left here. We’ll figure it out and find his parents.”

“And then what? We give him back to people who left him alone on a strange doorstep?”

“I don’t know. We don’t know the circumstances. We’ll deal with that when the time comes.”

She shook her head. “Justin, you’re not thinking clearly. The only logical thing to do is to turn this over to the police and Social Services. They know what to do.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. There are good people there, of course there are. Probably the majority. But there are no guarantees. He might also be neglected. He might be shuffled between places. He won’t know the security of one caretaker, one home, while he’s away from his folks. He’ll be much better off with us until we can find his mother.”

“I don’t know. I could really get in trouble. We could get in a lot of trouble.” Laura groaned. Calling the police, Social Services, anyone who would deal with the situation was suddenly imperative.

“Obviously this is someone you know, Laura. Probably an old friend. And she said she’d be in touch. She’ll probably call in a day or two, explain everything. Or come by and pick up the baby.”

“A day or two?” Frustrated, Laura bit her lip hard. “Do you have any idea how many diapers I’d have to change in a day or two?”

“No.”

“Me neither! I don’t know anything about babies. It’s for the best if we call the police. He’ll be safe then.”

“Look.” Justin looked grim and determined. “I’ll help, okay? Between the two of us we should be fine.”

“But what if this baby has been kidnapped? We’d be accomplices to a felony. His mother could be searching for him right this minute.”

“We’d have heard on the news if there was a baby missing.”

“Not necessarily. Maybe he was kidnapped and the parents warned not to call the police.”

“And the kidnappers just randomly choose an apartment, one apartment in this complex, to keep him safe meanwhile? So in a few days they’ll be knocking on your door asking you to return him so they can claim their ransom?”

She gritted her teeth. “Or, they are counting on us to return him through the police. So they won’t get caught when returning him.”

“Isn’t that a rather far-fetched idea?”

Why did he have to sound so reasonable and she so hysterical? Those were stereotypical roles she did not approve of, and besides, she was making sense and he wasn’t.

“It’s not a big deal, Laura. If nobody is in touch in a day or two, then we’ll go to the police, okay?”

There was a noise from the bedroom. Laura and Justin were at the door instantly. In the bed, the baby stirred. Laura held her breath and noticed Justin did the same, as the baby’s eyes fluttered open, revealing dark blue eyes. The child looked at them, surprise widening his eyes. Any time now, Laura thought in resignation. He would open that rosebud mouth and start screaming for his mother.

The baby opened his mouth and laughed. He had two tiny teeth in his lower gum and used both of them to hack at Laura’s heart.

Maybe he would be better off here with them after all. Just while they sorted out this mess with his parents.

“Looks like he’s quite happy to be here,” Justin said.

“We need diapers for him,” Laura said, giving in, just for the time being. “That first diaper change will not be the old-fashioned way, rain forests or not.”

“No argument from me.”

“And then once we have some diapers, we actually have to change his diaper.”

“We?” Justin stepped back. “Oh, no. I have to help with the diapers, too?”

Laura stared at him and sputtered. “This was your idea! You’re expecting me to handle the dirty stuff? Are you nuts? If I had my way, that kid would already be in the hands of professional diaper changers. Either you’re in, or I turn the kid in.”

Justin’s eyes narrowed at her tone. “Is this a joke to you?”

“Not even close. And we still have that diaper to change.”

“I don’t think I know how to.”

“Well, not to worry. We’re two fully competent professional adults. We can change a diaper. First things first: we need to buy some diapers.”

“That’s right.” Justin looked relieved. “We need some diapers.”

They were both at the front door when they noticed the other one was there, too.

“I’m going to buy the diapers,” Laura stated firmly.

“No, I am. You’re exhausted. Even if you make it to the store, you’re in no shape to make it back up the stairs. You can stay here and rest with the baby.”

Hah! Nice try. She could see the panic in his eyes. It wasn’t concern for her that made him want to be the one to escape for half an hour. No. He was just as terrified at the thought of being left alone with the child as she was.

“I’m not staying here alone with him. I don’t have a clue when it comes to infants. That wasn’t covered in law school.”

“How hard can it be? Just watch him, make sure he doesn’t…do whatever it is babies can do to harm themselves.”

Laura took a step forward, but he did, too, wedging them stuck in the open doorway.

Stalemate.

Laura gave up. “We’ll both go and take him with us, okay?”

Laura had never before realized what a huge section of the supermarket was dedicated to babies and all their paraphernalia. Just the diaper racks seemed to stretch for miles. The selection was daunting. She’d never imagined all the factors that needed to be taken into account.

“How much does he weigh?” She peered at a diaper package. “More or less than six pounds, do you think?”

“More. Definitely more,” Justin said darkly, adjusting the baby on his shoulder. He was still behaving, gurgling and smiling, and hadn’t screamed once. It couldn’t last. It was just a matter of time before he realized that there was something very wrong with the world. If he didn’t realize it sooner, he most definitely would in a while, when he had two novices trying to change his diaper.

“Okay. More or less than fifteen pounds?”

Justin lifted the child up and hefted him experimentally. “Hmm…fifteen pounds sounds about right.”

“That doesn’t help. One package is for babies who weigh ten to fifteen pounds, the other for babies weighing fifteen to twenty pounds. So which is it?”

Without looking at the markings, Justin grabbed one of the packages out of her arms and tossed it in the cart. “This one.”

Laura shrugged. “Fine.”

“What more? We need bottles, don’t we? And formula?”

“Definitely,” Laura chirped. “Unless you’re planning on breastfeeding him.”

Three kinds of formula landed in the cart and he didn’t even pretend to smile at her brilliant wit.

“What about baby food?” Justin asked, pointing at the opposite shelves. “That stuff in the jars? Do we need that?”

“I don’t know when they start eating baby food. And we don’t know how old he is.”