The Doctor's Baby(31)

“How are the tube feedings going?” Lexi asked.

“Good,” Kayla said. “It looks like we’ll have to keep the tube in until she’s big and strong enough for her heart surgery. Right now she doesn’t have the energy to swallow.”

They talked for a couple minutes about Emma’s medical issues before Lexi spoke up.

“I like this arrangement, too,” she said. “I’d brought some stuff along for Addie to play with, but I’m sure she’s having more fun watching the movie and playing with the boys.”

July took a sip of the iced tea Mary Karen had set out and just smiled.

“I’m not sure how this club is supposed to work,” Kayla said. “But I enjoyed the one you picked, Mary Karen. The chapter that dealt with adoption really hit home for me.”

The book had been on July’s “to-do” list but the time just hadn’t been there. But from the back cover blurb and the inside of the dust jacket, the book appeared focused on successful parenting. It seemed odd that adoption would even be mentioned.#p#分页标题#e#

“I’m curious,” July said. “Why did you find the topic so relevant? Were you adopted?”

“No,” Kayla said. “But John and I struggled with infertility for years. We had our names in at a number of adoption agencies. Unfortunately there aren’t enough babies.”

Lexi nodded. “Too many mothers keep them for all the wrong reasons.”

July shifted uncomfortably in her seat and told herself she was keeping Adam for all the right reasons.

“What you’re saying is they don’t look at what’s best for the child,” Mary Karen said. “They keep the baby because they can’t imagine their life without it or because of the welfare money.”

“I can so relate,” Kayla confessed. She leaned forward and rested her forearms on the table. “My mother was a single parent with no marketable job skills. She struggled to put food on the table and a roof over our heads.”

“That had to have been hard,” Mary Karen said.

“It was,” Kayla agreed. “And while I applaud her efforts, I grew up with this cloud of uncertainty over my head. One summer, we lived out of our car.”

“That uncertainty is hard on a child.” Normally July didn’t share specific details about her childhood, but she remembered Dr. Allman’s homework assignment. “I can relate to your story, Kayla. I spent a lot of my childhood in and out of foster care. All I wanted was a home. A real home. Not an apartment we had to leave every time my mom got behind on the rent. There was one family who wanted to adopt me. They could have given me that home.”

“Why didn’t they?” Mary Karen asked, her face soft with sympathy.

“My mother refused to relinquish me.”

“There are ways to terminate parental rights,” Lexi said, sounding very much like a social worker.

“I know there are.” July thought back to that time. “But the couple didn’t want me bad enough to fight the system. Eventually, I ended up back with my mother.”

“I’m sorry that happened to you,” Mary Karen said, covering July’s hand with her own. Her gaze then shifted to encompass the other two women at the table. “We’ve all had our trials. But we’re here to support each other, to learn from each other and hopefully to be the best parent we can be.”

Even as July nodded and the talk returned to the book, she found herself thinking of Adam and his future. There was no doubt in her mind that life was going to be tough when they returned to Chicago.

If she was still working at the Sun Times with set hours, a regular paycheck and great benefits, she wouldn’t have to worry. Instead she was a freelancer with an unsteady job and no family for backup if she stumbled. What kind of life could she offer the little boy she loved so much? Was she being selfish to want to take him with her when he could have a wonderful life in Jackson with his dad? The kind of life she’d dreamed of as a child?

Adam deserved to have a house with a yard and a swing set out back. He deserved to grow up surrounded by aunts and cousins and grandparents. He deserved the kind of life she’d never be able to give him.

But dear God, how could she ever leave him?



David couldn’t hide his surprise when Mary Karen strolled into the living room at ten past nine and announced the first meeting of the book club had ended.

Though he and Travis had planned to take Mary Karen’s boys to the movies, he’d enjoyed this evening even more. The boys had been disappointed about the movie, until he’d convinced them they could have their own party in the living room and watch a DVD, to boot.#p#分页标题#e#