The truth was, the sum total of his experience with infants was what had happened in the past week. For him, Izzie was it.
“I suppose I had it coming, though. I was the troublemaker in the family. Derek—your uncle—he was so serious, even as a kid. Never a step out of line for that guy. Me, I was the one climbing out the second-story window to jump from the roof into the big pile of leaves in the lawn.”
Thank God, he’d broken only one leg with that stunt. He’d nearly given his mother a heart attack.
He chuckled as he remembered how she’d yelled at him, shaking her fists, her face all red with anger. She could sure throw a fit, his mother could, back before the cancer had sapped all her strength and left her too weak to fight back.
To Izzie he said, “Your grandmother would have loved to have seen you.”
Instead, she hadn’t lived to see either of her own children even make it out of high school.
And because she seemed to be listening, he told Izzie about his mom and all the things she’d missed in his life.
About how she’d died when he was only ten. How she’d married a poor, ornery geologist who’d believed there were diamonds to be mined in the Northwest Territories of Canada when everyone else thought he was crazy. How she’d died without ever losing faith in her husband, even though he wasn’t proved right until years later.
“That very first diamond Dad found, he had set in a ring for her, even though she’d never wear it. He always said she was the love of his life and there’d never be anyone to replace her.”
And there hadn’t been. Not in the nineteen long years from her death until his.
Dex leaned back, propped his feet against the coffee table and rested Izzie against his legs, where he could look at her. During one of the many diaper changes, he’d given up the pink jumper. Now she was dressed only in her diaper, leaving her cubby little belly exposed.
With a resolute nod, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the box from the jeweler he’d visited over lunch.
Holding Izzie with one hand, he flipped up the top of the box to reveal the thin platinum chain and the simple diamond solitaire ring dangling from it.
Just before his father’s death, he’d given the ring to Dex, extracting the promise that someday he’d give it to the love of his life. Today, Dex had had a jeweler attach the ring to a necklace for Isabella.
“You’re a little young for it, Izzie, but I figure…” He hesitated, choked back a surge of emotion and finished with, “Hell, it’s a family heirloom if nothing else.”
He held the box out to her and she reached one tiny finger toward the ring. He pulled the chain from the box and let it dangle from his hand. The ring spun back and forth, the diamond catching in the light. Izzie reached for it, smiling with delight when he pulled it from her grasp.
Something bloomed deep inside of him as he gazed at her toothless grin.
Once again he was struck with amazement. This child was his. This perfect little human being had come from him.
He’d spent all his adult life avoiding emotional commitments. Keeping everyone at arm’s length. It’s the way he’d wanted it.
But now? Now that Izzie was here, he wasn’t so sure anymore. Yeah, he could push her away like he had everyone else in his life, but would that be fair to her? Maybe it would be. After all, what did he know about being a father? Maybe Izzie’s childhood would be happier if he just bowed out now. Quietly walked away and let Lucy raise her.
Yet every cell in his body rebelled at the idea of never seeing her again.
Besides, wasn’t pawning her off on Lucy just taking the easy way out? He thought briefly of his own miserable childhood. How many times had he berated his parents for putting their own wants and needs before his. If he bailed on Izzie now, wouldn’t he be doing the same?
And that’s when it hit him. She wasn’t crying. He wasn’t stressed. They’d been alone for nearly three hours. He really could do this. He could be a father to Isabella.
Whatever else he needed to know, he could learn on the way.
As he swung the ring back and forth in front of Isabella, he felt a deep contentment settle over him.
His cell phone rang just as she grabbed the chain in her tiny fist. He let go of his end to reach into his pants pocket and dig the phone out.
He frowned when he spied the listing. Lucy.
“How’s it going?”
“Great,” he answered honestly, relieved she hadn’t called an hour ago when Izzie was screaming her head off.
“Really?”
“Yes, really.”
“She isn’t crying.”
He couldn’t tell if it was a question or if she was commenting on the lack of squalling in the background.
“No. She quieted down about an hour ago. We’re doing great.”
And that’s when he looked back at Izzie and didn’t see the chain in her hand.
“That’s…fantastic,” Lucy said unenthusiastically.
But her comment barely registered.
“Great. See ya soon,” he muttered and hung up without waiting for a reply.
Where was the necklace?
What in the world could she have done with it?
She gurgled contentedly, one tiny fist shoved entirely into her mouth. He stared at her for a long minute as dread built in his stomach.
“Oh…you didn’t. Tell me you didn’t put it in your mouth.”
She actually giggled in response. The little imp.
After gently prying her fist out, he ran his forefinger along the inside of her mouth. Nothing.
He held Isabella up in both hands, hoping the necklace would fall to the floor. It didn’t. He had to resist the urge to shake her lightly to see if it would drop out.
He dusted himself off. He dusted her off. He ran his hand across the cushions of the sofa. He even got down on his knees and ran his hand along the floor and under the sofa.
Then he rocked back on his knees, clutched her to his chest, and fought the urge to panic.
Damn it.
How could he have made such a rookie mistake?
And why did Isabella have to pay for his stupidity?
Standing, he grabbed his cell phone from the sofa and quickly scrolled through the numbers to the home number of Derek’s secretary. Thank God she’d just gotten back from Antwerp.
“Raina, this is Dex,” he said when she answered after six rings.
“Dex?” There was a sleepy note in her voice that vanished almost instantly. “What’s wrong? Has Derek been in an accident?”
“Derek? No. I’m here with the baby. I think she may have swallowed something. What do I do?”
“Okay.” There was a beleaguered sigh from the other end of the phone. “Well, first off, she’s not choking on it, is she?”
“I don’t think so. How would I know?”
“Is she turning blue? Not breathing? Any of those things?”
“No. She’s still breathing.”
“That’s good. But for the record, if she ever is choking, you don’t call me, you call 9-1-1, got it?”
“Got it. And Raina, I’m sorry about this.” And he truly was. Derek pulled this kind of crap with Raina all the time—using her like his personal slave, calling her in the middle of the night. “I didn’t know who else to call.”
Of course he could have called Lucy, but she’d been waiting for him to fail.
“No problem. Okay, as long as she’s not choking, don’t panic. But you should take her to the doctor. They’ll know what to do.” He heard the rap-tap-tap of computer keys in the background. “There’s a children’s hospital just down the tollway from your house. I’ll get you the address.”
He squeezed his eyes shut as he paced back and forth, holding Isabella in one hand and the phone in the other.
“But, Dex, you should know. They may make this difficult for you. If she has to be admitted to the hospital, they’ll need to see her birth certificate. When you can’t provide it, they’ll have to call CPS.”
He thanked Raina, hung up and began putting Isabella in her car seat. He would have to call Lucy after all. She could meet them at the hospital. She’d have the birth certificate if it came to that. But even if they did have to call CPS, that was okay, too. Nothing mattered but making sure Isabella was safe.
Eight
T he doctor was one of those gratingly jovial types destined to drive parents crazy in a time of crisis. However, the nurse more than made up for his attitude with her disapproving, scornful frowns.
“Well, well, well.” The doctor flashed them a broad grin and chucked Isabella under the chin. “Swallowed a necklace, did you?”The nurse looked at her clipboard, then glared at Lucy. “And a diamond ring, according to the chart. Who was watching the child when this happened?”
Lucy sensed Dex about to answer, but she didn’t let him. “What does it matter? Accidents like this happen.” She turned her attention to the doctor. “What can you do?”
“Well, first, we’ll have to take an X-ray. See how far down the intestinal tract the necklace has made it. Of course, our main concern will be the chain catching in her stomach or intestines. If the X-ray shows the necklace hasn’t progressed very far, we may just fish it out.”
Beside her, Dex paled, but nodded resolutely. Lucy squeezed his hand.
The doctor took Isabella from Dex’s arms. “Little lady, you sure are making your parents worry tonight.” The doctor wrinkled his nose. “And unless I’m mistaken, the first procedure you’re going to need is a diaper change.”
If possible, the nurse’s expression soured even more, as if this was the final insult. The ultimate proof they were unworthy parents.
Lucy felt her cheeks heat. In the anxiety of the moment, she hadn’t even thought to check Isabella’s diaper. She took the baby from the doctor. “I’ll do that.”
“I didn’t bring the diaper bag.” Dex’s expression was crestfallen. Apparently, he wasn’t invulnerable to the nurse’s disapproval, either.