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“Then what are you going to do, Riggs? Stop being a SEAL and raise a child?”
“Yes. I’m retiring. I’ll move back to the ranch, raise Robby and—”
“Robby?”
“That’s his name. Robert, like my granddad, but they called him Robby, so I’ll call him that. But he’ll be a Walker, and one day, I’ll tell him about his birth parents and how his mom only thought of him that day.”
She opened her mouth as if to stay more, but the noise of the approaching boat made further conversation impossible. Riggs wouldn’t release the baby to anyone but Georgie, so he waited until they pulled her onboard, then let her have Robby.
Once onboard, he held out his hands to Georgie. She put the baby in his arms, and Riggs cuddled him up close so he could look into Robby’s eyes. Why was he so calm? Shouldn’t he be screaming? Was he in shock?
They had to get him checked out first, but they also had to do it at Mass General so Naomie could work her magic and not have people trying to take the baby away from him.
Robby looked at him, raised one tiny hand, and touched his face. When he smiled, Riggs felt tears scalding his eyes and didn’t care that they slid down his face. He was pretty sure God had just blessed him with something more precious than a foot.
He’d been given a son.
Chapter Thirteen
Thanks to Georgie's credentials and contacts, she, Riggs, and the baby were transported directly to Mass General. Once there, she took charge, called his team, and within minutes, he was being taken to his room where the team was waiting to check him over.
The moment they reached Riggs' room, his doctor ordered a nurse to take the baby.
"Not a chance," Riggs objected. "Robby stays with me. End of story."
"I'll take care of him." the nurse held out her arms. "We need to get him checked out."
"Then have a doctor come here." He looked at Georgie. "Have a doctor come here."
Georgie intervened. "Look, as you can clearly see, Riggs is fine, and the baby appears to be as well. However, I understand you need to examine the child, but this is an unusual circumstance. The child has no living parents, and his mother exacted a commitment from Riggs before she died to care for this baby. Not give him away, not find him a home, but to take care of him personally. He's a man of honor, so he needs to honor his promise. Do me a favor and work with us here, please?"
To Riggs' relief, her plea was successful. He never let go of Robby until a nurse showed up with a pediatrician. The police showed up and took a statement from both of them. They were informed of the identity of the parents. Neither of them had family. Oddly, they were both only children with no living parents or grandparents. Which means baby Robby would be headed for the foster system.
"Do you know how old he is?" Riggs asked.
One of the officers read the date of birth to Riggs, and a shock ran through him. "Is there a time of birth?"
One of the officers checked. "Strange question, but...yes." He read the time of birth.
"Thank you, sir," Riggs responded.
"Thank you," the same officer saluted and gave his rank and the time he'd served in the Navy. Riggs felt grateful the officer was a veteran and thanked him and his partner again when they gave his and Georgie's belongings from Georgie's abandoned car. Riggs' phone was in his pocket when he jumped, and chances were it was at the bottom of the river.
Georgie thanked the officer when he handed her purse to her, and she pulled out the phone.
"Will you get up with Naomie and Dad?" Riggs asked.
"Of course," she immediately stepped outside the room and called Naomie.
"What's up, girl?" Naomie answered.
"We need some help."
She wished she'd said it differently because Naomie's tone revealed her upset. "What's happened? Is Riggs—"
"Riggs is fine. We… Okay, short version. I took Riggs out for a drive. A truck jackknifed on the Longfellow Bridge, wiped out a bunch of cars, and sent one bouncing across the tops of traffic, into and through the railing.
"I didn't see it, but Riggs said he saw and heard a woman in the passenger seat screaming for someone to save her baby. So, he got out of the car and …". She had to stop. How do you tell someone that a man missing a foot, still technically a patient in a hospital, jumped off a bridge?"
