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Walking the two blocks to the embassy, Grace passed two-story houses and apartment buildings, all of them surrounded by iron gates and with grills on every window. Grace knew an impulse to pinch herself. How long had she been waiting for the opportunity to accomplish this last step in adopting Mateo?
Hefting him higher on her hip, she checked her watch. They would arrive at the embassy, visible behind the cement barriers up ahead, with plenty of time to spare. Assuming the process went off without a hitch, she would board the first flight out of El Dorado International the next day, bound directly for Norfolk International, where she’d left her car in long-term parking.
Her cell phone chimed. Grace paused on the quiet sidewalk and dug into her front pocket to pull her phone out. Guilt vied with concern as she discovered her twin had sent her a WhatsApp message. Honestly, she’d thought she would have heard from Faith days ago, not having expected Grayson to keep his aunt’s whereabouts a secret. Opening the message, she gasped as she read the words that accompanied the astonishing photo.
Hi, Grace. I had the baby early—on Friday when Grayson told me where you went. Fitz said he heard that you’re okay. I’m so relieved. Have a look at my beautiful Mary Mae! She’s six weeks early but perfectly healthy. Please message me as soon as you’re able.
The baby was exquisite, with a round head that made Grace suspect Faith had had another C-section, a month and a half before the baby was due. Oh, dear, that had to be her fault. Just as she’d feared, the shock of her departure had sent her twin into early labor.
Guilt banded Grace’s chest. She had only been thinking of herself and Mateo when she went back for him—a decision that could have cost Amos his life when he risked himself to rescue Mateo. And now Faith’s baby had been born early, putting her at risk for developmental issues. Thank God the baby was okay.
“Look.” She showed Mateo the photo Faith had sent her. “This is your new cousin. Isn’t she precious?”
To her delight, Mateo pulled her phone closer to study the photo. Since waking up on the aircraft carrier, he had reverted to being completely nonverbal as well as clingy, but at least he behaved normally otherwise. The bald SEAL had given him chocolate, prompting a quick smile. Best of all, Mateo hadn’t screamed when he encountered Amos. The video Grace had shown him, of Simon and Amos laughing at the otters, seemed to have given him a fresh perspective, not to mention the fact that Amos had plucked him free of the soldier trying to carry him off—if he even remembered that.
Unable to type a response with her arms full, Grace thumbed the little microphone and spoke into her phone as she started forward again.
“Faith…” She searched for the words to convey her remorse. “I’m so sorry if it’s my fault that the baby came early. She’s gorgeous, and I’m so happy for both of you that you’re okay. I love her red hair and her name. Mom will be so touched. Listen, I’m in Bogotá with Mateo now, but I’ll be home soon to help you with the kids and the baby.” She had more to say, but the words would keep for when she saw her sister in person.
She put her phone away and continued toward the guardhouse that presided over the parking lot of the unimposing rectangular structure dead ahead of them. Just one more step and Mateo could come home with her legally.
* * *
Faith had been waiting for a moment to talk to Fitz without the children in the room—apart from Mary Mae, who lay sleeping in her arms as Faith sat upright in her hospital bed, waiting to go home. Remarkably, it had taken five days to get Fitz alone to herself, as he’d brought Olivia and Grayson with him every single evening to visit. Those two were waiting down in the lobby for her, which meant she and Fitz could finally have a private conversation while waiting for the orderly to bring a wheelchair.
“Will you tell me what happened to your family, Fitz?”
The grief that tightened his handsome face made her heart ache for him. He nodded, gripping the rail by her feet as if needing to hold on to it. In a low, gruff voice, he described how he’d come home late from work as an NYC detective and found his wife and children all dead, shot in their sleep. Faith pictured his words with horror.
“I don’t think they suffered,” he added, meeting her tear-filled eyes.
“Come here.” She waved him closer, then embraced him tenderly as he eased down next to her, careful not to crush the baby. “I’m so sorry. I can’t even imagine the depth of your loss.”
To her gratification, he pressed his face into the length of her neck, where she heard him inhale her scent, even as he accepted her solace. Faith smoothed a hand over his broad back. It was the first time they’d embraced like lovers, and it felt completely natural, like they’d known each other all their lives.
“I never expected this second chance,” she confessed.
Fitz lifted his face and laughed ruefully. “Well, that makes two of us. After what happened…I was afraid to get close to anybody.”
“Who could blame you?” His arm felt so muscular beneath the sleeve of his shirt. “Death is so jarring. You think your life is over, too. But God makes all things new.”
His mobile lips quirked at her reference to Scripture. “You would have liked Mary, my late wife. She talked about God all the time. I still hear her in my head.” His ears pinkened as if the admission embarrassed him.
“Oh? What would she say about us, do you think?”
He looked to one side as if remembering something. “I think she approves.”
“I hope so.” Faith lifted a hand to Fitz’s face and stroked his clean-shaven jaw. Words of love hovered on her tongue. Not wanting to pressure him, she sat forward and touched her lips to his. They softened and warmed, and soon their mouths were melding, filling Faith with heady desire.
The sound of her door opening jerked them apart.
“Hey, I’m Orlando,” announced the dark-skinned youth guiding a wheelchair into her room.
Fitz moved out of the way, giving Orlando space to position the chair by the bed. Within minutes, the orderly was wheeling Faith out of L&D into the elevator with the baby on her lap, her purse on the IV pole, and Fitz carrying a bouquet and the bag of her clothes he’d brought in for her, doubling as a diaper bag.
“So, there’s a surprise waiting for you in the lobby,” he announced as he flanked her in the elevator.
Faith gasped. “Is my sister here?”
