Chapter 2
She’s going to keep him, after all. Clay’s spirits sank.
“His name is Jamie,” she said softly, looking up at them. “Do you like the name?”
“It’s beautiful,” Quint replied.
“Then you won’t change it, once he’s yours?”
Clay shook his head, barely able to get the “no” past the lump in his throat.
Quint, being Quint, was a bit more practical. Pulling up a chair, he sat, looking between Jamie and her. “Are you sure?”
She nodded. “It took a long time to make up my mind, but he deserves a real family, not a sixteen-year-old single mom.” She stroked Jamie’s head. “I had plans, before thishappened. I still do. College. A job. Maybe I’m being selfish, but that won’t happen if I have to take care of him, too. I couldn’t give him the life he deserves.”
“You’re not being selfish,” Quint replied. “You’re doing what’s best for both of you.” He smiled. “Of course, I’m a little prejudiced when I say that.”
Wendy managed a weak laugh. “You might be, a bit, but that’s okay. Do you want to hold him?” When Quint nodded, she handed Jamie to him.
Clay watched Quint holding the baby for the first time, and tears came to his eyes at the look of love in Quint’s expression. He knelt beside them, taking one of Jamie’s tiny hands in his, and he felt the same love flood him as well. “Welcome to the world,” he said softly. “We’ll do our best to make it the world you deserve.”
* * * *
It took the next six months for the adoption process to be completed. As they went through the formalities, Clay and Quint made certain Wendy was involved. “After all,” Clay had told her repeatedly, “you are his birth mother. As far as we’re concerned, we’ll let you see and be with him as often as you want until you leave.”
Wendy grimaced, replying, “Going home should be fun. Not.”
She had reason to feel that way. Her parents had barely acknowledged Jamie’s birth, other than to call to make certain Wendy was all right.
“You’ll survive,” Quint told her. “You’re one strong young lady.”
“And I have Aunt Amanda, if I need her.”
“You couldn’t have a better person in your corner,” Clay said adamantly.
Wendy continued living with Amanda, but spent time at the loft as well, helping Clay and Quint with Jamie. It was a learning curve for all of them as they dealt with feeding, diapers, and all the other things involved with caring for a new baby. When the adoption was finalized, the men decided to throw a party to celebrate and to give Wendy a happy send-off before she went home.
* * * *
“Okay, no one move,” Olivia said, aiming her camera at the group surrounding Clay and Jamie.
Olivia had volunteered to take photos of the gathering, even though she was an invited guest. “After all, it is what I do.” That was true. She was a professional photographer, as well as working at Rory and Lou’s art gallery when she was needed. Kevin, the gallery’s only other employee, had introduced her to them soon after they had decided to make Valencia Gallery—which had been set up as part of a sting operation—the real thing.
Now, she and Kevin were engaged, and today he was following her around, carrying her camera cases. “That’s why I agreed to marry him,” Olivia quipped when Trev had commented on that a few minutes earlier. “He makes a good workhorse.”
“I am her slave, eternally,” Kevin added, winking at Trev.
“Where can I find one of those?” Trev grinned.
“Right behind you,” Zack replied, wrapping his arms around his lover.
Olivia immediately took several shots of them before heading toward Clay and Jamie. “I said, don’t move,” she grumbled when Quint struck a pose with his hand on Clay’s shoulder. “Okay. Never mind. That’s great…or not.” She laughed when he raised two fingers behind Clay’s head to make horns.
After more group shots, she asked Quint and Clay to pose with just Jamie. They did, with Quint holding the baby while Clay put his arm around Quint’s waist as they leaned against the patio railing.
“Wonderful,” Olivia said, taking shot after shot. “Now, over there.” She pointed to one of the lounge chairs. As the men moved over and sat, she took more photos of the rest of the celebrants, zooming in on Gideon and Cole, who were laughing as they chose food from the table set up at one end of the patio.
She saw Rory, standing alone now, a beer in hand. Going over, she asked, “Where’s your partner in crime?”
“Dealing with crime,” he grumbled. “He should be here soon, though, barring anything major happening at the last minute. The life of a detective…”
“Says the man who gets sent off on jobs out of town,” she retorted with a smile, patting his arm. “At least he comes home at the end of the day.”
“I know. I’m not really complaining…much.”
She left him to go take more photos of the happy parents. Then Kevin corralled her, took the camera away, and told her it was time for her to relax and enjoy the party—which she did. 2
Two days after the party, Olivia strode into Valencia Gallery as soon as it opened, looking…disturbedwas the first word that came to Lou’s mind as she entered the office. He wouldn’t have been there if it wasn’t for the fact his hours at the precinct had changed. He was now working two to ten.