Chapter Two: Holly

I crept into the dark bedroom, still giddy over my new discovery. Laying the basket gently on the floor, I leaned over Aaron's face and kissed his temple, willing him to wake at my touch.

"Lexie?" he mumbled, turning towards me. He reached out his hand as if to touch me, but then seemed to fall back asleep. I shoved on his shoulder, this time speaking.

"Aaron… Aaron…" I called out in a singsong voice. "Oh come on. I need you to wake up!" Finally, he opened one eye and glared at me. "Okay – here's the plan," I said, pleased to get his attention. "You get to play daddy today, but only if you drive me to school – Aaron?"

At the word "daddy," Aaron had bolted upright, looking frantic and completely awake. "Daddy?" he repeated, his wide eyes traveling down my body and resting on my stomach. "Lexie… Are you… are you pregnant?"

"No, I'm not pregnant," I said hurriedly, though I felt the corners of my mouth twitch up in amusement. "There was a baby on the doorstep. I just found it a few minutes ago. I need you to take care of it today." He blinked at me. "I have finals," I reminded him, remembering that I was going to be late with an uncomfortable jolt in my stomach. "Look, Aaron, I need you to drive me to school. I'm going to be late!" I tugged at his arm, and he toppled out of bed. "Come on!" I urged. I picked up the basket, treating it much more gently than I had Aaron, and all but sprinted down the hallway to the front door.

I snatched my backpack from the corner where I had thrown it and hurried outside, my arms full of basket, backpack, and Aaron's pajama-clad arm. Not trusting him to drive while he was still sleepy and confused, I shoved Aaron into the passenger seat and dumped my backpack into his lap. I hopped into the seat behind the steering wheel and lowered the basket between the two seats, making sure it was firmly wedged in.

A few moments later, I was driving along the highway, feeling much calmer now that I was on my way. "So," Aaron said, sounding a little nervous and completely bewildered. "What were you saying about a baby?

"I found a basket on the porch," I began, recounting the whole story. "I was going to ride my bike to school because I missed the bus and you were still asleep, but I brought the basket inside and there was a baby in it. It's tiny, Aaron! I've never seen such a little baby. And who would leave a baby like that by someone's door in the middle of January?" I glanced at Aaron, and found him eyeing the basket between the seats, as if at a loss for words.

I turned into the university parking lot and shut off the engine, handing the keys to my dumbstruck boyfriend with a quick kiss on the cheek. "I really have to go, Aaron," I said. "I'm sorry I woke you up, and I'm sorry to force this on you, but I need you to take care of the baby – and don't you dare give me that look; you're a doctor, you know how to hold a baby – until I get back from finals. I'll be home around two, okay?"

"Lexie! Of course I know how to hold a baby!" He said indignantly. "But you can't keep it! It might need medical attention and someone is probably frantic because their kid is gone!"

I bit my lip. "I know, Aaron, I know! I can't do anything about it right now though. It's up to you!" I jumped out onto the slush-covered sidewalk and slammed the door, effectively cutting off the rest of his protests. I felt bad for dumping my problems onto him, but he would probably have a better idea of what to do with a baby than I did. Plus, I knew he would do the right thing, whatever it was. I watched the car drive off, then turned and ran into the imposing concrete building.

* * *

I plopped down into my seat and flung my backpack down next to me. People were still trickling in through the double doors leading into the room. I thanked God, Allah, and Buddha that I had made it on time. Some higher power must have made it possible for Aaron and I to both use the car today. Even so, I would have to take the bus home, because Aaron had work at one… Uh oh. Aaron had work at one, and I would get home at two. For the second time that morning, I cursed my lack of memory skills. What would happen to the baby in the hour or so that no one was home? My brain was overloading and I hadn't even started testing yet. Oh well. Aaron was mature enough to make a good decision. Right now, my priority was getting through these exams.

* * *

I thought we must've been halfway done with this portion of the test, but hard as I tried, I just couldn't strain my eyes to see the clock in the front of the room. As always, I was seated in the back because of my last name, Turner. Damn alphabetical seating. Maybe I should start wearing a watch.

Forcing my eyes back to the blank paper, I redirected my focus. I-R-I-S. That was the only easy term in the whole of the eye. No, wait. L-E-N-S was easy, too. I hurriedly put my pencil to the diagram, the soft lead indenting the creamy white surface.

It was terms like Aqueous or Conjunctiva that got me all turned around. And Choroid – oh, I never knew whether to put Choroid or Choriod.

Somehow I got through all three tests I had that day and made my way out of the brightly-lit classroom to the bus stop. The snow gods must have been very happy today, because my face stung every time I took a step. I could barely make out the cars down the street, the snow was so thick. I was glad I'd slipped on my thick socks and snow boots instead of street shoes this morning.

This morning.

The baby.

I needed to get home.

* * *

After letting myself in, I cautiously tiptoed my way into the kitchen. 'No one's home,' was my first thought, but then I saw long brown hair spilling over the top of a chair.

"Jess?" I whispered, and the woman turned around. Her face lit up as she ran over to embrace me. I pulled away but kept my hands clasped on her shoulders.

"Did Aaron call you?" I asked, my voice returning to normal volume.

"Yes, but shhh." Aaron's older sister put a finger to her lips. "They're both sleeping."

"They?"

"Yes, they. Your baby and Erica."

"Ooooo! You brought Erica? Can I see her?"

"Of course I brought her. What else would I do with her?" Jess led me into the den, where her daughter was curled up on the couch. I glanced down at the little girl I thought of as my niece with a smile on my face. I had been living with Aaron when she was born, and since she almost never saw us apart, Erica's two-year-old mind assumed that I was "Aunt Lexie."

Anyways, I smoothed her bangs off her forehead and pulled the big green blanket I had knitted last year up around her shoulders before I bent down to kiss her cheek. I had always love kids; it was one of the main reasons I had chosen to become a pediatrician. But more than that, my ultimate dream was always to have my own children. At my preschool graduation, we were supposed to tell all the assembled parents what we wanted to be when we grew up. I had waltzed up to the microphone and announced "When I grow up… I want to be a MOM!"

The thought of having my own children reminded me of the baby that I desperately wanted to be mine. "So?" I asked Jess while I situated myself on the couch by Erica's feet.

"Well, it's a girl," Jess replied, immediately picking up on what I was talking about. "Aaron was going to take her to work with him and have her checked out and go to the police to see if they could locate her parents, but I convinced him that you both should be there when that happens, because they'll probably need your part of the story. He didn't tell me very much when I asked him about it."

I grinned, in spite of the seriousness of the situation. Just like every other kid, I had always wanted to meet a police officer. "I kind of gave him a muddled version this morning. I was in a hurry!"

Jess laughed. "Well, you certainly confused him! He didn't sound particularly happy when he called me. You're going to have to talk to him. Maybe give him an apology."

I hung my head. "I know," I began, but then a bundle on a big red chair at the other end of the room caught my eye. Peeking out of another blanket was the tiny face of the little baby. Gently, I stroked the little face, running the tip of my index finger down the delicate curve of the nose. Her head was mostly hairless, but here and there I found little wispy curls. I touched an ear, amazed at how something so small could be so intricate. Then I froze, feeling something extremely unexpected beneath my fingers. I pulled my hand away and examined the side of the head more closely. The top of her pink ear was pointed, like someone had bent the ear away from the baby's skull and snipped off the round top, making it look like a scrunched-up leaf.

"You found her ears," Jess whispered from behind me. "Aaron was kind of weirded out by those. He says they may be a birth defect. They're both like that. I think it looks kind of cute." I stroked the oddly-shaped ear again, my finger lingering over the tip of the point. To tell the truth, I was weirded out by the ears too. They were cute, I couldn't deny it, but they would probably make the poor baby look like one of Santa's little helpers.

I peeled back the blanket and examined the baby's entire body. She was dressed in a little fleece sleepsuit that was much too large for her body. "That's one of Erica's old ones," Jess told me. "She was completely naked in that basket. Aaron asked me to bring some clothes and diapers because you obviously don't have anything in the house."

"Poor baby," I whispered. "You must've not been very happy." I covered up her warm sleepy body and tucked the blanket around her.

"Oh, no!" Jess exclaimed quietly. "The complete opposite, really. She was the sweetest little thing! She was awake when I came over; just sitting on Aaron's lap and smiling. You should see her big blue eyes, Lexie. She's absolutely adorable. Didn't cry at all, except when she wet the diaper I put on her."

I smiled at Jess. "Thank you so much for coming over. I don't know what we would have done if you weren't here."

"I don't know either," she replied, her eyes twinkling. "My little brother can be pretty clueless sometimes, he didn't even know how to put on the diaper properly! I guess Emergency Room doctors don't change diapers very often. I can't stay though, I've got some shopping to do." She pulled me out of the den and back into the kitchen, and pointed wordlessly at the counter, where I saw several canisters of baby food formula lined up like soldiers in a long, straight row.

I turned to her, astonished. "You brought all this? And diapers and clothes too?"

She laughed. "There's a bottle of milk in the fridge. I haven't fed her yet, so when she wakes up, put it in the microwave to warm it." I enveloped Jess into an enormous hug.

"Thank you so much! I can never thank you enough!"

"How could I refuse to help such a sweet little baby like that?" she glanced at the clock. "But now I've got to run, dear. Aaron said he'd try to get out of work early, so he should be home in a few hours. Good luck!' She collected Erica from the couch, and then she was gone. I was alone.

* * *

The baby woke up about half an hour later, red-faced and squalling on the chair. "Hey, don't cry," I soothed, rocking the baby in my arms. "Jess said you were well-behaved! Shhhhh. I bet you're hungry, aren't you? Let's get you that nice bottle that's in the fridge…" I warmed up the pre-prepared bottle of baby formula in the microwave, trying and failing to quiet the ear-splitting wails coming from the tiny bundle in my arms. How could something so small be so loud?

When the bottle was ready, I offered it to the open mouth and was rewarded with silence as the baby suckled greedily at the rubber nipple. "You were hungry!" I said, thankful that I had done something right. "Does that taste good? You're certainly drinking it fast." Big blue eyes peered up at me over the bottle. The baby's tiny jaw was moving up and down as she sucked, and she was making odd little gulping noises every time she swallowed, as though every sip was her lifesaver.

Too soon, it seemed, the bottle was empty. I gently eased it out of her mouth and set the baby on my shoulder to be burped. As soon as the bottle was taken away from her, the baby began to fuss. Not full-out crying, but pretty darn close. "There, there," I comforted. "What's wrong now?" I checked the diaper. Nope, not the diaper. On a whim, I reached for the bottle and dangled it in front of the baby's eyes. The crying tapered off a bit, but then started up again when I took the bottle away. "Are you still hungry?" I asked, surprised. I'd never heard of a baby this small drinking more than one full bottle. A wail was my only response. Shrugging, I measured out baby formula and mixed it with warm water. But then again, I hadn't heard everything. The baby guzzled the second bottle like a dying man.

The baby was finally satisfied after she polished off, I kid you not, five more bottles. Silently thanking Jess for supplying so much formula, I settled down on the couch with my laptop balanced on my knees and the baby sprawled on the couch next to me (it'd be awfully hard to type on a laptop with a baby on your stomach). While I waited for Aaron to come home, I searched the wonderful thing known as the World Wide Web for baby names. I didn't want to keep calling her "the baby." She needed a name.

* * *

Aaron came home a few hours later, bringing a gust of cold air from outside in with him. I smiled up at him, and he returned it for a moment before seeming to wipe it off his face. He had remembered that what I had done to him that morning. Dang it.

I guiltily looked down at my hands, and then twisted them together and apart for a few seconds before I felt the couch sink down and Aaron's arm come around my shoulders. He didn't say anything, but I knew what he was thinking. A hot tear streaked itself down my cheek and ran along my lip. Another one started down the same path, but Aaron wiped it away and turned my face towards his.

"Hey, Lexie, honey, don't cry," he said softly, hugging me more tightly.

"Are you mad me?" I asked, knowing full well that he was.

There was a sigh. "No, I'm not mad," Really? That was good. "But I think we need to talk," he went on.

I took a deep breath. "Aaron, I know I acted badly this morning. I'm sorry,"

"It's okay," he reassured me. "The thing is, you need to think about what's best for this baby. This morning you acted like you were going to keep it."

I couldn't help it; I let more tears streak down my face and turned my head and buried it into his shoulder, my whole body shaking with sobs. He knew me too well. Of course I wanted a baby. And when one just showed up, literally, on my doorstep, what did he expect me to do?

He stroked my hair and went on. "You know we can't raise a child right now, especially not this one. It's not even ours! We need to go to the authorities and see if they can locate the parents."

I lifted my face so I could look him in the eye. "What if she has no parents? And why was she on the porch? It seems like whoever's baby she is didn't want her!"

"Maybe," he said. "But we don't know that for sure."

"But what if she doesn't? What if, Aaron? What'll happen to her then?"

"Then I assume she'll be put into foster care or up for adoption."

"If that happens, Aaron," I said, very sure of myself. "I'm going to adopt her."

"Well, we're not quite at that point yet, so I guess we'll have to see." I took that to be an agreement. Knowing Aaron, he'd probably figured out that the probability of the baby not having parents was very low. Even I, having acted irrationally all day, also knew that I would have to let the baby go.

"That means yes, right?" I asked hopefully.

"Sure," he replied, laughing at my eagerness. "But first we need to go to the police. Now."

"Fine," I said, scooping up the baby I had fallen hopelessly in love with and depositing her in Aaron's arms. "Make sure her diaper's clean, and I'll go get a few bottles for her in case she wakes up while we're out."

"Won't one work?"

"Aaron, you have no idea how much this baby can drink. She had seven bottles in the space of an hour this afternoon."

Aaron's eyes got huge. He looked down at the sleeping form that he held cradled in the crook of one arm. "And where," he said quietly to the baby. "Does a tiny little thing like you put seven bottles of milk?" I couldn't keep from smiling as I went into the kitchen. Practical though he was, I knew that Aaron was falling in love with her, too.

* * *

In my opinion, the talk with the police had gone very well. It definitely could have been worse. Aaron and I had been told that there had been no missing child reports in the last two weeks within a fifty mile radius of our town. There were only two problems: it had taken forever, as the officers made me tell them how I had found the baby over and over; and Aaron got a little short with them when they started asking too many personal questions. After they'd discovered that, no officer, we aren't married, they'd asked us if we were sexually active, at which point Aaron had told them that our sex lives we absolutely none of their business, thank you very much. The police officer had turned a rather unattractive shade of red and muttered something about needing to get the background while a fuming Aaron loomed over him.

At one point the baby woke up and proceeded to guzzle all three bottles I had brought with me. Aaron and the assembled law officials were astounded. "Until we can locate any family members Ms. Turner," the chief of police had said. "I think it would be best if the child stayed with you. You seem to know what you're doing."

They asked us even more questions to make sure we were suitably equipped for taking care of a baby. We had no carseat, but given the baby's size, it probably wouldn't have done much good. Instead, we told the police how we wedged the basket between the front seats, and they had agreed that it sounded safe enough.

After Jess had left in the afternoon, I had discovered the sheer amount of things she'd left for us. In addition to clothes and bottles, she had erected a little playpen in our bedroom, and filled it with simple toys, like blocks and stuffed animals. Among the numerous other "baby necessities" were two pacifiers and a baby carrier, though the carrier was much too big for the baby. But she would grow into it. As of this moment, Jess was my favorite person ever. She had so much on her own mind and schedule but she still found time to help us out so much. How I loved that woman.

In the end, we were told to take the baby to the doctor's office for a complete exam the next day, and that the police would be calling us often to check up on the baby and let us know if they found anything. It's obvious to say that I really hoped they wouldn't.

By the time we left the police station, the sky was a dazzling pitch black with a few stars visible through breaks in the clouds. We ate a late meal at some sleazy fast food restaurant and went home, exhausted. "So," Aaron said when we got inside. "You get to keep your baby for a little longer, huh?"

"Yep," I agreed happily. "But she needs a name. I don't want to keep on calling her 'the baby.'"

"Holly," he said.

"Excuse me?"

"We should call her Holly."

"Why Holly?" I asked. As an answer, Aaron pointed to a single sprig of holly that I'd taped to the mantel a few weeks before Christmas. I'd been too lazy to take it down, but the leaves were still green and there were even a few berries still clinging to the branch.

"Holly," I repeated, testing the name. I think I could get used to it. It seemed to fit her.

Holly.

* * *