The Children's Corner

Chapter 12

Alexis groans as pounding on the door jerks her attention from the last of the paperwork for her C.S.U. background check. Time is getting tight. The assessment will take eight weeks, and it's less than three months until she graduates. Theoretically, she and Dana can stay on as house parents through the summer, as he'll still be working on campus. But if Alexis doesn't grab the open position A.S.A.P., someone else could. After carefully hitting save on her laptop, she answers the increasingly urgent summons.

A young man stands on the threshold. "Where's Cindy Van Heller?"

Alexis plants herself firmly in the doorway. "I'm the housemother, Alexis Castle-Wygard. Who are you?"

"I'm Baylor Badgett. Cindy is my fiancée. Uh, I mean she was going to be my fiancée. But her room is empty. Where is she?"

"I can't tell you that," Alexis insists. "If you really are her boyfriend, then I know you'd want me to protect her privacy. But I can call her. And if she confirms you're who you say you are, you two can talk."

"All right," Baylor agrees. "But can you call her now?"

"Right away, " Alexis responds, pulling her cellphone from the pocket of her slacks. She activates the camera. "I'm going to take your picture to send to her. That way, she'll know immediately who you are – or aren't."

"Just do it," Baylor urges. "The faster, the better."

Alexis texts the photo with the message: "Calling you about him right now."

Cindy stares at the image on her phone. "Baylor! What?" As her ringtone sounds, she answers as fast as she can. "Alexis, what's going on? How do you have Baylor's picture?"

"I'm right here, Cindy," Baylor shouts toward the phone. "Just tell the lady you want to talk to me."

"Do you?" Alexis queries.

"Of course. Baylor's the guy I told you about. Listen, I'm watching your brothers. Kate and your father took Lily out for a treat. But they should be back any minute. When they get here, I can come to meet Baylor at the dorm. Can he stay in the lounge until I get there?"

"Of course. And tell Lily I sent her a hug."

"I'll do that," Cindy promises.

After directing Baylor to a couch in front of a wide-screen T.V., Alexis returns to finish her questionnaire. She's had to add the details of her life since she applied for her first internship at C.S.U., and this probe was more in-depth. But she's filled every possible gap. After one last proof, she takes a deep breath, crosses her fingers, and presses send.

Rushing into the lounge of Colbert Hall, Cindy can focus on nothing but Baylor waiting for her. His eyes widen as she appears. "You're…."

"Pregnant."

"How much? I mean, when is your baby due?"

"The doctor thinks late June." Cindy watches the calculations flash behind Baylor's eyes. "Baylor, I was never with anyone else. You are the father – if you want to be."

Baylor throws his arms around Cindy's increasing bulk. "Of course I want to be. I came back to New York to ask you to marry me. We and our…."

"Son."

"Our son," Baylor repeats, "will be a family."

"How about your family, your father?"

"Dad just needed some help. So I built a website to sell his furniture. He's getting a reputation as a master craftsman. And I lined him up with a fresh food delivery service to distribute his vegetables. He's doing fine. And I know if when you graduate you want to come back with me, he and Mom will welcome you and their grandson with open arms. But if you want to stay in New York, I can find a job here. The turbine company I work for has a plant right in Brooklyn. I could get a transfer. Just…. Wait a minute."

Pulling a small box from his pocket, Baylor drops to one knee. "Cindy Van Heller, I know I can't give you the kind of life your family could. But I will love you and the baby with all my heart and do my best to make you happy. This ring belonged to my grandmother. She and my grandfather were in love until the day God took them. I want to give it to the only woman I can love that way. Will you marry me?"

As Cindy stares down open-mouthed, the baby kicks. Then, grabbing Baylor's hand, she presses it to her belly. "I think he's saying hello to his daddy. Yes, I'll marry you."

Baylor slips the ring on Cindy's finger. "Thank God."

As he rises, Cindy presses her lips to his."Amen. But we'll need to do more than thank him. We'll need his help to figure everything out from here. And I've got to tell Mr. Castle, Alexis's father, and his wife, Kate. They took me in." Cindy leans her head against Baylor's chest. "We've both got a lot to do."

He strokes her hair. "And we'll get it done."

After the twins' midnight feeding, Kate snuggles into Rick's chest. "I still can't believe that Cindy's boyfriend just showed up and proposed."

"Her story did sound a little like a Hallmark movie. Of course, it was missing the misinterpretation of an overheard remark and some festival involving all the townsfolk. Hmm, it didn't have any royalty, either. But the rich but stubborn Carl Van Heller worked as a stand-in. I wonder if the happy couple will stay in New York or return to the arms of Baylor's poor but loving family. Either happy ending works, but the latter makes a more heartwarming if tropish story."

"Whatever they decide to do, we'll have to find someone else to help with the twins, especially for when I go back to work. "

"Lack of paycheck notwithstanding, it's not as if you ever stopped working," Rick notes. "You made a significant breakthrough on Jebediah MacIver's murder. Finding out about that ship he was going to board gave the boys a new suspect pool."

Kate shakes her head. "Unfortunately, a very well-stocked one. They have a lot of crew to investigate, and unfortunately, some of them are back at sea. But at least Ryan and Esposito know where to look."

"And finding Cindy was a happy accident for us, so we'll have to locate the right pool to fish in for a replacement. After some of the negligent sitters Mother hired when I was growing up, I'm not the most trusting client for agencies," Rick admits.

"Bambi has a degree in early childhood development. Maybe she went to school with a likely candidate," Kate suggests.

Rick kisses the top of her head. "Good thought. When I take Lily to school tomorrow, I'll ask her."

"So," Azra inquires, "are Richard and Kate involved with the investigation of MacIver's murder?"

"They must be, "Jack asserts. "I followed Kate when she met with one of his customers today. But fortunately, that's all she did. I don't think either one of them has any clue about the Russian involvement. Still, they both, especially Richard, have a habit of stumbling into things. That's one of the reasons the company kept using him. He'd blunder onto intelligence sources outside of normal channels. So I'll keep my eyes on both of them."

"How about your camera? Did you get the pictures of the babies?"

"Not yet. They weren't out of the apartment or in my line of sight today. But the weather's getting warmer, and Richard's always's loved taking his children to the park."

"And I bet he never knew you were watching."

Jack sighs. "You and I both know it was safer that way."