Mixed Blessings (9 page)

Was it instinct that told him this wasn't truly his son, or was it disappointment in his failed marriage? Perhaps it was suspicion. Darlene had begun to grow disillusioned in the second year of their marriage. It didn't matter how much time he spent with her, where they vacationed, what
praise he lavished on her. His gifts were unappreciated, his attention rebuffed. He didn't have any actual proof that she'd had an affair, but any fool could guess her actions weren't those of a faithful wife.

What Peter wouldn't have given to have a wife adore him the way Marie doted on her husband! She cherished his memory, loved his photo and had sentimental connections to the home he'd provided. Only once, in a dark mood, he'd tried to tell himself that she was no different than Darlene. Had Jack lived longer, Marie would have grown bored and unhappy, too. But then he remembered the withered stem he'd found pressed between the pages of her Bible. Jack and she had gone on a walk and plucked a dandelion. They blew the seeds off as they “wished” and she'd saved the stem. Marie told Peter she'd known that day that she loved Jack, and she'd added on that in the year and a half they'd been married, Jack fulfilled every wish she'd ever hoped to have. A wife like that wouldn't leave her husband.

He'd gotten lost in his own thoughts. When the corner of the picture frame started to dig into his thigh, he turned his attention back to Marie. Threading his fingers through her hair, he promised, “We'll handle it. With God's help, we can do it.”

She tilted her face up to his and whispered in a shaky voice, “For the boys?”

“Yes, Marie. For the boys.”
And for us, too.

T
he sound of sandals on tiles in his entryway early Monday evening told Peter he was about to have a visitor. The emphatic, rapid slapping warned him that the visitor was on a mission. He straightened up. “Jill! What a surprise!”

His sister glared at him and marched across the room. From the fire in her eyes, he suspected he'd better brace himself. Jill never bothered to hide her feelings, and from the set of her jaw, he knew—

“Surprise? Oh, let's talk about
surprises,
dear brother. I dropped by yesterday. I hardly see Luke anymore, and I had a little time.”

Peter had a sinking feeling, but his family had to find out sooner or later. He'd hoped for later, but—

Jill stopped directly in front of him and continued on. “Luke wasn't here. Neither were you. The two of you were down south visiting—let me quote the nanny precisely here—
your other son.
I think you'd better start explaining.”

Peter groaned aloud. “I know I haven't said anything yet.” He hadn't just remained silent around his family;
he'd been careful to close off the bedroom doors whenever they came over so they wouldn't see Marie's picture or Sandy's bed. He wanted to share the news with his parents and sisters, but he knew Marie couldn't withstand the pressure they'd put on her. Once they discovered a little Hallock boy wasn't under their wing, they'd have a collective fit.

“I'm waiting,” Jill stated shrilly.

“Jill, some things—”

“Don't you dare try to put me off, Peter.” She wagged her finger at him. “I'm not going to ignore this.”

She was right. Once something piqued Jill's curiosity, she turned into a bulldog and wouldn't let go. He blew out a long, slow breath. “This is difficult—”

“Cut to the chase. You know better than to sugarcoat things with me.”

“Okay. Here it is in a nutshell. Babies got swapped at the hospital. Luke isn't really my biological son.” He watched Jill melt onto a chair, then he quietly continued, “He belongs to a widow in Orange County. She has my son.”

Jill sat there and closed her eyes in horror. “I thought things like this only happened on TV. What are you going to do?” Her eyes opened wide and she cried, “We can't give up Luke!”

“I know. There isn't a chance I'd ever let him go.” As the tension started to drain out of her, he quietly added, “Marie feels the same way about Ricky.”

“His name is Ricky? What is he like?”

Peter spent a while sketching out details, then concluded, “Marie is emotionally fragile. She's been through too much for me to push her into doing anything just yet. I've purposefully left everyone in the family out of the
loop on this because she and I need time to work out the issues.”

“Fragile? As in some kind of nutcase we could have declared mentally incompetent?”

“No!” He half bolted from his chair. “Jill, that's terrible! She's someone very special. I don't want her to get hurt. She's already been through far too much. I need time to convince her to move up here.”

“If she won't come, will you move down there?”

He stared at the top of his desk. Distinct piles of forms, reports and letters demanded his attention. They represented his livelihood. Could he walk away from it all and live elsewhere if it meant he'd have both Luke and Ricky with him? He looked back at Jill. “I don't think it will come to that. If it does, my sons are more important than my job or anything else.”

“Peter!”

“Don't borrow trouble. I told you, she needs time. The blood tests from the lab finally confirmed our hypothesis just days ago. I'm thunderstruck, and Marie is, too. The last thing I need is for you to sic Mom and Dad on her. She'll dig in her heels or bolt.”

“All right, all right. Still, you have to tell the folks—and soon. I've already told Brianna and Kate what the nanny said.”

“Thanks a heap! Can't you ever keep secrets from one another?”

“Nope—at least, not up 'til now.” Her impertinent smile didn't carry a hint of apology. “We all knew something was up. You're never around on the weekends, and we've hardly even seen Luke for the last month! The nanny's slip of the tongue just made us a bit more curious.”

“A bit?” He gave her a censorious look.

“Okay. A lot. In our wildest imaginings, we didn't concoct this scenario. You've never been the type to sleep around, but we wondered if you'd had a fling on a business trip after Darlene died.”

“Aw, come on, Jill! That's not my style. It goes against how a Christian lives.”

She waved her hand helplessly. “I know, I know—but it was far more believable than this! This is totally outrageous.”

“If you think it's outrageous, how do you think Marie and I feel? I'm barely coming to grips with it, and she's still in shock. You're going to have to keep this a secret.”

The corners of her mouth tightened. “Okay. I'll finally keep a secret—for you.” She forced a laugh. “Even if they're going to try to pump me unmercifully. My guess is, even with me keeping my big mouth shut, you'll be lucky to have twenty-four hours before everything breaks loose.”

He didn't have twenty-four minutes. The phone rang. It was his parents demanding to know where their “other” grandson was.

Peter wanted to deal honestly with Marie. Okay, he'd gone behind her back with the auto mechanic. That car of hers had so much wrong with it, it was a marvel it moved at all. In fact, from what the mechanic said, the fact that the old thing withstood the long drive from his place to hers that night counted as nothing short of a miracle.

Peter paid for the mechanic to do the brakes, replace the compressor, muffler and carburetor, as well as overhaul the engine. Marie was charged for a simple tune-up and oil change. The mechanic truthfully told her the oil filter seal had been loose, causing a leak. She hadn't thought to ask if anything more was wrong. Peter breathed
a sigh of relief when the mechanic reported back to him. Still, he'd vowed not to go behind her back any more, and he'd stuck to his word.

Much later that evening, after he knew she'd have Ricky tucked safely in bed, Peter called. “Marie, we have a problem.”

“Luke's not sick, is he?”

“No, honey. Luke's fine.” Her sigh of relief pleased him. “It's just that I haven't mentioned my family much.”

“Uh-oh.” Her reaction barely whispered across the line, but it carried a wealth of dread.

He hurried to reassured her, “We're real close, Marie. They know about Ricky. I tried to keep it from them for a while until you and I got over the initial shock, but the cat's out of the bag.”

“Can you shove the cat back in?”

He forced a chuckle, but when she didn't laugh, he quickly shifted tactics. “You and I decided to still keep it quiet, and I didn't want them to find out yet, but my sister asked Miss Anne where Luke and I were. It hadn't occurred to me to swear her or my housekeeper to secrecy.”

Marie said tightly, “Luke was bound to say something soon, anyway.”

Grateful she wasn't condemning him for his oversight, Peter said, “At this point, we can either face them on our own terms this weekend when you come up, or we can plan on them crashing our party whenever they get wind of the fact that you're around. What do you think?”

“Couldn't you just be an orphan and simplify this a little?”

He chuckled. “Too late, I'm afraid.”

“No, you have that wrong.
I'm
afraid.”

Her admission made his heart twist. Marie rarely admitted to any weakness. She'd learned to bear up under extreme burdens, so for her to confess fear made his heart ache. He softened his voice and coaxed, “They're nice folks, Marie. They'll flip over Ricky. What are you afraid of?”

“How are they going to feel about Luke now?”

So that was it. Bless her heart, she'd worried one child might supplant the other! He doodled on his desk pad as he cradled the phone closer. He wished she were here so he could cradle and comfort her. “Marie, that's not an issue at all. I promise, they'll feel no differently than they already do. Mom stopped in the middle of our conversation today about Ricky and insisted that Luke was due to have his dentist appointment and demanded that I see to it. She insisted it was time for him to have a haircut, too.”

“Whew.”

“She also started spouting off wonderful ideas for redecorating so the boys could share a bedroom. Dad decided to see when the country club will enroll them in tennis lessons because they'll be great for doubles.”

“Now wait a minute!” All of the relief he'd heard a second before evaporated in an instant.

“I know,” he soothed, “they're getting a little ahead of themselves. They'll have to tone it down, but give them a bit of time to get used to the whole mess. They've been totally besotted with Luke, and that's not going to change at all. It's just that they have big hearts, and they'll automatically want to include Ricky in everything, too.”

The line went silent for a long few seconds, then Marie said, “Part of me is glad Ricky will have grandparents in his life. That would be great, and I don't mean to sound nasty, but things are already complicated enough. You and I have to work hard to see eye-to-eye about several issues.
Adding their agenda to the relationship won't work. They have no say in what we choose to do, Peter.”

“I agree. Think for a minute—I kept this a secret for several weeks because I felt the same way.” He heard her let out another sigh of relief and couldn't help smiling. “I'm just letting you know we're going to have to navigate around a few more people.”

“Thanks for the warning.”

He coiled the phone line around his finger. “So, what do you want to do about it?”

“Turn into an ostrich?”

He chortled softly. “We've been doing that for a month. What's plan B?”

“We pay a magician to make them all disappear?”

“No can do.”

“So why can't we just let them peek at Ricky while he's napping?”

“They're too excited. Dad's voice will wake him, and a loaded gun wouldn't keep my mom from picking him up. She can hardly wait to get her hands on him.” He let go of the phone cord, and the coil sprang free.

“Videotape? Can't we just video Luke and Ricky playing together this weekend?”

He had a camcorder, but he knew a tape wouldn't satisfy his parents or sisters. He countered, “Why not a good, old-fashioned pool party?”

“They'll drown me so they can keep both boys.”

“I'll buy you a set of arm floaties so they can't.”

“And I told you, you can't always buy your way out of a problem.”

“There's a pity.” He didn't like the way the conversation was going. The worry in her voice kept growing minute by minute. “Come on, lighten up. My family isn't
going to eat you alive. They'll love Ricky, and they'll love you, too.”

“Give me a minute to try to believe that crazy story.” Her wry tone carried more wariness than sarcasm.

Peter continued to play with the phone cord. “Ricky is a delight, Marie.”

“I know that.”

Peter jerked, and the cord tangled in his grip. “Marie, how could you possibly worry about whether they'll take to you? What's not to love? You're sweet tempered and patient. You're pretty as a china doll and love both kids to distraction. No one in his right mind would discount you.”

“I'm not ready for any of this. You're catching me at a bad time.”

Peter grimaced. “Marie, I tried to delay this. Honestly, I did. I know you're probably a little overwhelmed. I can't blame you, either. Still, try to turn it around. We ought to be proud to show off Ricky.”

“That's the problem,” she whispered sadly. “They're going to fall in love with him.”

“And you're afraid of that? Aw, Marie—didn't you just say you want Ricky to have a family who loves him?”

“Are you implying Sandy and I aren't a loving family?”

“No!” he said without hesitation. He silently berated himself for the insensitive question. “You're wonderful with him. You're so great, I want you to be with Luke so he can thrive on your love, too. This isn't supposed to be a contest where the winner gets all. We all win when we love the boys.”

Emotion choked her voice. “I'm not sure I believe that…about winning. I'm afraid I'll lose.”

“Sweetheart, don't. Don't you dare say that. Don't you
think that for even one second. You're selling yourself short and insulting me all at the same time. No one can replace you in the boys' lives, and I'm not stupid enough to even entertain the notion that someone could.”

“Peter, I'm not sure I can trust you yet. How can you expect me to trust your family?”

“We have to face the fact that my family is going be a part of Ricky's life. They're enthusiastic and affectionate, but I have to admit they tend to be on the forceful side, so I think it's best that we come up with our own game plan rather than let them barge in and run over us.”

“Forceful?” She moaned. “Like you?”

“Worse.”

“Impossible.”