Noah admitted to having a brief relationship with a woman who went by Gigi approximately ten months ago, but that he didn’t know her last name or how to find her. Mel watched him blush as he said this and realized quickly that it must have been a one-night stand. Thankfully both social workers also seemed to read between the lines and didn’t ask for any more details.
Regardless of the note left by the mother, Georgia or Gigi or whoever she was, Joanne informed Noah that they would have to confirm paternity before he could have custody of the baby. Mel knew what that meant because of her experience in the ER, but based on Noah’s excitement as they waited for the nurse to bring the baby in for them both to meet, he did not.
“Noah, you understand that you can’t take him home today, right?” Melanie asked tentatively, while Betty was getting paperwork from the printer outside her office.
He looked at her, baffled. “What do you mean? I know I have to do that paternity test, but why am I here if it’s not to take him home?”
Melanie squeezed his hand gently. “To determine if you are even interested in having a baby, meet him, and maybe start some paperwork. That’s all. I don’t think they can just let him go with you.”
She saw the moment realization dawned on Noah. Unfortunately, it was also at that exact moment that Betty and Joanne returned, along with a nurse who was pushing a bassinet that held a sleeping baby, wrapped in a blue blanket.
Together, Melanie and Noah stood up and walked over to the bassinet. Mel closed her eyes briefly, steeling herself for the emotional pain that always hit her when she saw a newborn.
* * *
The instant Noah looked down at the tiny infant, he knew, without a doubt, that his life had just irrevocably changed. Even asleep, he could see himself in the baby’s features, and the tuft of reddish gold hair that peeked out from under the hat on his head only further served to prove, this child was a Carlisle. His future lay there in front of him, and he was filled with clarity over his purpose in life. This baby was his flesh and blood, and the new permanent center of his universe.
“He’s mine, Mel. I know it. I can’t tell you how, I just do. This is my son,” Noah told Mel who was leaning over the bassinet beside him. He could hear the certainty in his voice and meant every word. He was filled with the instant kind of love only a parent can feel when they first lay eyes on their child. There was no denying what he believed, and he didn’t need a test to prove it.
Even as an overwhelming sense of completeness filled him, he remembered Melanie’s cautionary words. He couldn’t take the baby home until he proved paternity. The idea of his son going home with a stranger and not with him caused physical pain. A stab in his heart that threatened to send Noah to his knees. Over the buzzing of emotion in his mind he could hear the worker from CPS speaking, words like foster home and temporary placement filling his ears and adding to his growing panic.
When Melanie spoke, her words were both a relief, and a shock.
“I’m a licensed foster parent. Can I take the baby home for now?”
Joanne from CPS looked at the two of them quizzically. “I can see from your uniform and your ID badge that you’re a physician here, Doctor Haynes, how on earth will you have the time to raise a baby?”
Noah leaned forward to interject. “I can help. I’ll look after him when she’s at work. He’s my baby, I know it. And my work is flexible, I work for my brother. Please let me take care of him.”
Joanne frowned. “What exactly is your relationship to Doctor Haynes? She may be a licensed foster parent, but I assume you’re not. There are rules about who can be around the baby, even with your likely paternal status.”
Without pausing to think about what he was about to say, Noah grabbed Melanie’s hand and blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “We’re engaged.”
He heard Mel’s soft gasp of surprise, and felt her clench his hand in response, but chose to ignore it. He would say or do whatever he had to, to make sure he could be there for his son. Hopefully, Mel understood that and would play along. He didn’t imagine it would look good if anyone figured out that he was lying. He just hoped that his impulsive choice would pay off.
Joanne looked from Noah to Melanie several times, and Noah was terrified she could see right through the lie.Might as well dig the hole a little deeper,he thought grimly, then pulled Mel into his side and wrapped his arm around her. The zap of excitement when he felt her arm snake around his waist surprised him; now was not the time to think about how good it felt to finally hold her.
“Ummm yeah, it’s new, we’re newly engaged. He, ah, just asked me a few days ago actually. But we’ve been dating for months,” Mel piped up, and Noah was filled with gratitude that she was going along with the ruse. The questioning look she shot him before she smiled at the two social workers told him that he would have a lot of explaining to do, soon.
“Interesting. Well, that does change things a bit. I suppose that if Doctor Haynes’ foster parent status is up to date and approved, I would be prepared to accept this as a solution until paternity is confirmed.” Joanne shrugged as she turned to Betty, and the hospital social worker nodded in agreement.
With that, she handed a list to Noah that outlined necessary and recommended items. “Doctor Haynes, I presume you have a room set up at your home for a foster child. I suggest you take some time to go and obtain these specific things that the baby will need, and then you can come and pick him up. Betty and I will clear his discharge paperwork for later this afternoon. I will come for a home visit in the next few days to make sure all is well, and once the results of your paternity test are in, we can discuss the next steps. Good luck, Noah, Doctor Haynes.”
Chapter 2
How the hell had this happened? One minute she was writing discharge instructions for a patient, the next Melanie Haynes found herself in a fake engagement and offering to take home a baby. This was definitely not how she had envisioned her day going when she woke up this morning.
Yet here she was, going through the motions of signing paperwork, speaking to her supervisor about arranging for another physician to come in and cover the rest of her shift, changing out of her scrubs, and climbing into Noah’s big SUV, bound for the department store that would have most of what they needed. There was no way she was going to let that innocent newborn go home with strangers when Noah was so adamant that he was the father. She trusted him, even as the rational, scientific side of her knew there was still a chance he wasn’t. But she was going to have to address his outrageous statement about their relationship, and fast.
They hadn’t said a word to each other since leaving the hospital. Mel could tell that Noah was still overwhelmed by everything and trying to process what was going on. She had to admit, she was just fine with the silence.
It gave her time to dive inward and open the tiny chamber of emotion that she normally kept locked tight. The chamber that was filled with loss and heartache from years of trying to conceive with her ex-husband, Darren. In the end that was a large part of why they had divorced. Okay, he also had some majorly outdated notions about women and their need to be ‘barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen’ all of the time, which meant he really didn’t appreciate her dedication to her job, but ultimately it was the fact that Melanie could not produce the biological children he wanted, that led to their marriage ending.
When Noah pulled into a parking space outside of the store, he cut the engine and leaned his head back with a sigh.
Mel looked at him, taking in his tight jaw and nervous expression.
“What are you more anxious about, the baby or your new fiancée?” she asked sarcastically.
