Prologue #2
the birth. Helena knew the rules all too well. She needed to sit, but there was no place. Owen practically had to hold her
up.
“Can I speak to Elle?” asked Helena.
“I don’t think that would be a good idea,” said Serena.
“Are you in agreement with this decision?” asked Owen.
Serena breathed in and out. “Honestly, no. I still think the best thing for everyone is for this adoption to happen.”
“Is there anything you can do?” asked Helena.
Serena sighed again. “I’ll talk to her. Let’s see what it would take for Elle to change her mind back. Maybe we can work something
out.”
“Thank you,” said Helena, her voice quaking. “Thank you so much.”
Serena turned and headed down the hallway, toward the birthing suites.
“I can’t believe this is happening again,” said Helena.
“It hasn’t happened yet.”
“Her mother just told us she’s changed her mind.”
“She’s a confused teenager who gave birth less than an hour ago.
Elle heard the baby cry, watched the nurses clean him up, maybe even looked into his eyes.
I don’t mean to sound harsh, but maybe she’ll come back around after some separation time, once the baby’s no longer in the room with her.
They probably just took him to the nursery. ”
“Let’s go there,” said Helena. “We can see him through the glass.”
“That’s probably not a good idea,” said Owen, but Helena was off before he could finish his sentence.
Helena followed the directional signs around the nursing station to another hallway. On the other side of the window, in two
rows of bassinets, lay a baker’s dozen of earth’s newest arrivals wrapped in the familiar striped blanket that every maternity
hospital in America seemed to use. A handful of new fathers were standing at the window, recording video on their smartphones.
“That’s him,” Helena said, indicating.
“How can you tell?” asked Owen.
Each bassinet had a name card, but they were too far away to read them. “I just know,” said Helena.
Serena was suddenly standing right behind them. “Good news, all.”
Helena turned. “Please tell me she changed her mind.”
“Elle is willing to go through with the adoption on one condition.”
Helena brought a hand to her mouth to keep from shrieking. “Name it.”
“It seems so silly, I’m almost embarrassed to say.”
“I’m sure it’s fine,” said Helena. “Whatever it is, we’ll do it.”
“So, Elle has only one worldly possession of any value. It means a lot to her. And she wants the baby to have it.”
“What?”
“Her gold toe ring.”
Helena started to laugh, then caught herself. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to laugh. I’m just so relieved. We’ll happily keep
it with all the baby’s keepsakes.”
“Well, like I said, that ring is the only thing of value Elle owns. I was hoping that, in fairness, you might consider . . .”
The pause was curious.
“Consider what?” asked Helena.
“Buying it from her.”
“Buying it?” asked Owen.
Helena heard his skepticism, and she was quick to shut it down. “Of course we’ll buy it. How much?”
“It’s very valuable.”
“How much?” asked Helena.
“Two hundred fifty thousand dollars should do it.”
Helena’s response caught in her throat.
“You’re a fucking thief!” said Owen.
“Mr. Pollard, please!” she said with a heavy dose of indignation. “You’re dropping f-bombs in a maternity ward? Right in front
of my grandson? My biological grandson over whom you have no legal rights?”
Helena interceded, trying a more conciliatory tone with the woman holding all the cards. “Serena, could you give me a moment
with my husband, please?”
Serena was locked in a stare-down with Owen, which added to the tension between them.
“I’ll check on my daughter. But I’ll need an answer when I come back.” Serena turned and left them alone at the window.
Helena spoke in a harsh whisper. “Can you please get control of yourself, Owen? You’re going to blow up this whole thing.”
“I’m blowing it up?” he asked, incredulous. “This woman is crazy. We’ve covered Elle’s living expenses, her medical bills, and
the costs of adoption. Legally, that’s all the adoptive parents can do. Buying a baby is a felony.”
“No one is asking us to buy a baby. They’re selling us a toe ring.”
“That’s total bullshit, and you know it. Any prosecutor with half a brain would call this what it is: two hundred fifty thousand
dollars for Elle’s baby.”
“Think of how much we’ve already spent trying to get pregnant. Where has it gotten us? I’m thirty-eight years old, Owen. The
odds just keep getting worse.”
“I’m an FBI agent. I should be arresting this woman, not paying her money.”
“Well, if you’re going to arrest her, you need to cuff me too.”
“What are you talking about?”
Helena breathed out. “This is the second time she’s pulled this stunt about Elle changing her mind. I paid her ten thousand
dollars two months ago.”
“Damn it, Helena. No wonder she’s so brazen. She’s got us now. You already committed a felony.”
“People pay six figures for a gestational carrier. What makes them right and us criminals?”
“That’s not at all the same thing. Stop rationalizing. You’re not thinking clearly.”
Helena peered into the nursery through the glass, her gaze drifting across the newborns in their bassinets until, finally,
she locked on to the one.
“This is the closest we’ve come to a family,” she said in a distant voice. “The closest we’ll ever come.”
Owen didn’t answer right away. “Let’s put aside for the moment that it’s a crime. How do you expect me to come up with a quarter
million dollars, just like that?”
Helena looked him in the eye. “I’m not leaving this hospital without our baby.”
“That’s the second time you’ve said those words since we arrived at the hospital.”
“Thank you, Owen.”
“For what?”
She kissed him. “Paying attention.”