Phoenix
Chapter Seven
It had been almost three months since Perry had asked Linda Osborne to allow them to adopt Peggy. While he handled all the necessary paperwork for the adoption, Della took care of the visits with Cynthia the social worker, who in turn had told them she was sure there would be no problem with the adoption. As Miss Osborne had agreed to it, everything ought to be a mere formality. Now it only remained to wait for the audience with Judge Craig Richwood and after that, Peggy would be officially theirs forever.
Within those three months Della had completely moved into Perry's apartment. Together they decided to transform the guest room from something mundane into a little girl's fantasy suite. The social worker had allowed young Peggy to spend every weekend with the Masons.
For his part, Paul had been in charge of investigating the strange coincidences between the birth of Peggy and the death of the daughter of his friends. The more he dug into the details, the more his confusion gave way to a theory he hated to consider. But before he talked with Perry and Della, before he presented the facts he'd gathered, he wanted to verify it. All of this led him to Chicago, where he discovered something incredible related to his Beautiful.
But he was not sure if this information should reach his friends' ears. After all, if Della had never said anything, who he was to interfere with it? Even though the information was completely corroborated, Paul had a hard time believing she had been in love with someone, had been engaged to someone before her move to Los Angeles. She would have been so young . . . and the man was obviously her first love.
Frank Faulkner, his best operative, had uncovered something puzzling about the death of the Mason's infant. When the report reached Paul, he knew in his gut the dark theory wasn't far from the truth. Faulkner had told him the doctor and nurse who treated Della in her delivery had both resigned and left Los Angeles the next day. Nothing wrong with that in general, other than the abruptness of the departure. But the strange thing about all of this was that they both died under strange circumstances shortly after.
Paul knew he was getting closer to the truth. His detective's sixth sense was tingling and his gut was reeling. Realizing if everything turned out as he suspected, his dear friends would receive the most shocking news of their lives! He had trouble processing it; the joy of the discovery would surely be bittersweet, as for nine agonizing, punishing years they had lived in hell, believing their little girl had been cruelly snatched to heaven.
Paul couldn't help but smile as he thought that he wouldn't want to be in the bones of the person who did them such evil when Perry learned the truth. As much as he wanted to see his friend dismantle the culprit, he was worried about the aftermath.
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It would take another two weeks for the court to confirm the audience with Judge Richwood to finalize the adoption.
The night before of the meeting with the judge, overwhelming emotions kept Della and Perry from sleep. Spending almost the entire night talking, making plans about the future with their new daughter, the prospective parents were too keyed up to rest. Della told Perry she didn't want Peggy to stay at the boarding school, but if she didn't want to leave her friends, they could allow her to study there, with the proviso she would come home every afternoon. Perry agreed with his wife's decision. After all, Della insisted that, if Fate gave her the opportunity to become mother again, she would not waste an unnecessary second away from their daughter. She didn't need to add she had already suffered without knowing what it was like to hold a child in her arms. All the stored, pent-up love of nine years was ready to be unleashed on Peggy.
By morning Perry and Della looked like kids at Christmas. The emotions swirling inside threatened to burst out of their chests. Neither knew how to explain it, but they felt it was as if their child were being restored to them. Although they, both individually and collectively, never intended for Peggy to be their dead daughter's surrogate, there was something about the little girl which made them feel this way.
Because of how nervous she felt, Della barely touched her breakfast. Realizing she was feeling queasy, Perry took his wife's hand tightly to reassure her.
"My lady, please calm down!" he urged, "I promise everything will be fine. All the paperwork is in order, Judge Richwood assured us it is just a matter of showing up! Now, I want you to think that in a couple of hours we will officially become the parents of the most beautiful girl in the world. And when we return here, our nest will never be empty again."
Della looked deeply into his blue eyes and smiled shyly. Then she informed him, "And I assure you I will keep an eye on you and Paul, lest you spoil Peggy too much."
He grinned. "Woman! Don't you know that's a father's job? But I wonder who'll be watching you . . . "
She slapped his arm playfully and his grin widened. Suddenly Della's expression of joy became one of concern.
"Del . . . What's wrong?"
"Perry, please—please tell me this is not a dream from which we'll wake up. I couldn't bear this beautiful dream turning into a nightmare again." Her hazel eyes clouded with emotion that robbed Perry of his breath. "Is it true that today Peggy will become our daughter?"
Rising from his seat, Perry lifted Della out of her chair and embraced her tightly. After hugging in silence for a while, just listening to each other's breathing, he released her just enough to see her face.
"Of course, it's true, my fair lady! This is all real, as real as the love we have for each other." He broke the gaze between them to consult his watch, then met her eyes again. "Now we'd better get going; Judge Richwood doesn't like late people, and we want him to like us. After we leave court, the three of us will go to lunch and we'll celebrate the homecoming of our daughter."
"Our daughter! How beautiful those words sound!" Della pulled her husband tighter as tears of happiness begin to fill her eyes. "Perry, I want you to know that I love you."
After they both calmed down, the two left their apartment knowing that upon returning, their home would house a father, a mother and a daughter.
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When Perry and Della arrived at courthouse, the social worker and Peggy were already there. Looking up as they approached, Peggy's eyes flooded with tears and she raced into Della's arms. Concerned about the little girl's emotion, she and Perry looked at each other in bewilderment, then to Cynthia for an explanation. One glance at her nervous expression and Perry knew something was wrong.
"Cynthia, what's wrong?" Della demanded, puzzled by Peggy, but also by the woman's reluctance to speak. "Peggy's upset, and I want to know why."
Before Cynthia could answer them, Peggy's tears gave way to sobs. Perry's brows furrowed, and Della soothingly petted the little girl's hair. At last, she lifted her head and said, "I don't want to go with him! I just want you two to be my parents! Please don't let that man take me to Chicago!"
"Chicago?" Della looked to Perry, but he had no answers. She looked back at Peggy. "Man?"
Her face blanched and she felt her stomach turn over. The corridor of the courthouse grew long, then shortened. The ceiling started to spin, and then she felt Perry's firm hand at her back. Her eyes sought his. She felt scared, as though the nightmare was about to start and another child would be ripped from her arms, leaving her once again submerged in the deepest abyss of emptiness and pain.
Perry wrestled with who needed him more. Kneeling, he tapped Peggy on the shoulder. "Little lady, please calm down! I promise no one will take you from here." He gathered her into a fierce hug, then gently removed his handkerchief and dabbed at her tears. When she was calm, he placed a tender kiss on her forehead.
Standing once more, he wheeled on the social worker. "Miss Olsen! Could you tell me—us—what is happening? What man is Peggy talking about? I don't understand. As of yesterday, there were no encumbrances to the adoption. Judge Richwood himself confirmed the meeting and assured me everything was ready, that we only needed to come early this morning and put our signatures on the adoption papers." He looked hard at the woman. "And then Peggy would be a Mason. Our little girl."
"Mr. Mason, I—I don't know how to explain it. Everything you've said is correct. Everything was set for this to be Adoption Day. But very early in the morning there was a situation, and that may thwart any plans to move forward. Mr. and Mrs. Mason, I'm so sorry! I have a duty to report that Peggy's adoption has been canceled."
"Canceled?" Della parroted, her voice numbs and her face still ashen.
"How do you mean canceled," Perry clarified. "If we have complied with all the documentation and requirements the court demanded of us, then how—! Apart from the simple fact that Miss Osborne gave us her consent to adopt Peggy, you told us yourself this was all just a formality. And now you come without the slightest compulsion to tell us the adoption has been canceled. WHAT CRUEL JOKE IS THIS?"
His last sentence reverberated down the court halls, bringing prying eyes and reporters out of hiding to see what had made the great man lose control of his temper.
"Perry," Della tugged on his arm, "Please, lower your voice. Peggy . . ." She glanced down meaningfully at a nervous Peggy, who was obviously scared by the ferocity of her irate attorney. "Now, Cynthia, could you explain to us the reason we can't adopt her?"
The social worker drew in a ragged breath and then launched into her explanation. "Mrs. Mason, until an hour ago everything was ready for you to adopt Peggy. But before you two arrived, the judge received a visitor from Chicago. This person gave him all the papers to prove he is Peggy's legal guardian until she reaches legal adulthood. We verified the documents and everything was in order." She paused to look sadly at the little girl. "So, the court had no choice but to turn the girl over to this person. We would have done so already, but Peggy was so insistent on saying goodbye to you that the gentleman agreed to wait. Right at this moment he is in the judge's private office waiting for her. He made it clear he is returning to Chicago today."
"Chicago! No, he can't take her! Perry, please do something! Talk to the man, convince him she will be better off here with us!" Della grabbed her husband's arm again. She was sure it was the only thing keeping her from collapsing. "Please, hurry up and do it! My heart couldn't bear to lose another child. Not again."
Perry's heart shattered, but before he could even survey the fallout, a man's voice entered the conversation.
"So sorry, Mrs. Mason! I don't think sending this brute would do you any good."
Della stiffened. It was a voice she hadn't heard in over twelve years. Despite the time, she still had it trapped in her memory. As she looked at the owner of the voice, her hazel eyes met jet-colored ones. Those jetties, who once looked at her with love and devotion, now only reflected hatred and resentment. Michael Domenico. Michael, the same person she had deserted at the altar. Her first love, who was now standing in front of her, here to take her daughter. Suddenly she felt her legs begin to give way. Perry's tight grip prevented her from doing so.
Michael Domenico, still dark and handsome, glared hostilely at the couple. Then a sardonic, amused smile slithered across his face and he said evenly, "Mr. and Mrs. Mason, excuse my bad manners for not introducing myself properly. My name is Michael Domenico. I am Peggy's official tutor." His black eyes collided with Perry's intense blue ones and his smile widened into a mocking grin. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you both!"