A Forever Family: Reunited By Their Baby. Rebecca Winters

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       CHAPTER FOUR

      AT THREE THE NEXT afternoon, Nik left Fran holding the baby while he walked out to meet Leandros and his wife at the helicopter pad behind the villa. They’d been paying their respects to the other family, the ones who had lost their parents in the tornado and who couldn’t get away before now.

      “Fran will be relieved you’re here now. It’s all that matters.” He led them out to the patio of the Angelis family villa where everyone had congregated to talk and eat. More tears ensued while Leandros and Kellie commiserated with his family.

      Incredibly, the pain of losing Melina and Stavros was softened by the joy of having found Demi alive, a blessing no one had expected. Nik was heartened to see his family’s spirits had lifted despite their loss.

      “It’s all over the news,” Sandro spoke up. “Demi is known as the Miracle Baby. Did you know the hotel in Leminos has become famous overnight?”

      “So has the hospital,” Cosimo declared. “They even interviewed Demi’s doctor on the noon news.”

      Though the whole family was eager to hold her, Demi clung to Fran just as Nik had suspected she would. The only time she didn’t cry was when his parents held her. But after a few minutes, Demi was looking for Fran and making sounds that indicated she didn’t want to be with anyone else.

      Nik knew his parents were hurt, but they hid it well. When they had issued her an invitation over the phone to be their guest for as long as she wanted, they had had no idea they would need her on hand to keep Demi happy. He smiled to himself. Though Fran had turned him down about staying on, she didn’t know this story wasn’t over yet.

      His father eyed Fran who was holding Demi against her shoulder. The baby looked around chewing on her teething ring. “Tell us what you thought when you found her. We want details,” he beseeched her.

      Fran broke into a tender smile. Once more she repeated her amazing tale. “The hotel is situated on a corner of the street. My first thought was that her mother or father had been walking her in a stroller on the other side of the hotel when those gale-force winds drove Kellie and me to run inside for shelter.

      “It seemed more than possible she’d been blown into the garden at the rear of the building. But if that were true, then where were her parents? I was in shock to think she’d been exposed to the elements all night. Honestly, she looked like she’d been dropped from the sky.”

      Nik’s sisters-in-law made moaning sounds to think such a thing had happened.

      Kellie sat forward. “I came around back and saw Fran holding a limp baby who was wearing only a torn shirt. I thought I was hallucinating.”

      “You weren’t the only one,” Fran added. “When neither the police or the hospital staff had heard of anyone looking for their baby, I began to think that’s exactly what had happened, that she’d been carried by the wind and deposited in a cushion of bushes.”

      “But twelve miles—” Nik’s mother cried out and put her hands to her mouth. “God wanted her to live.” His father nodded his silver head and wept.

      “Nik?” Fran eyed him from her place on the swing. “Has your family seen the pictures you took with your camera?”

      He’d been planning to show them later. “Let’s do it right now,” he said, but he had difficulty talking because of the lump in his throat. After pulling out his phone, he clicked on to the picture gallery and handed it to his parents. “Slide your thumb across to see all of them. I took a few pictures in the hospital, too.” He’d made certain he’d gotten some shots of Fran.

      For the next little while his family and the Petralias took turns viewing them. Nik’s sixand seven-year-old nephews were eager to look at them, too. The younger threeand four-year-olds had no idea what was going on and played with their toys. In the quiet, Fran’s eyes met his. They were both remembering that surreal moment when she’d showed him the now-famous spot.

      While everyone was talking, he walked over to her. “Do you think she’s ready for something besides a bottle?”

      “I hope so. She needs the nourishment.”

      “That’s what I’m thinking. I’ll tell cook to get out a jar of her favorite fruit and meat.”

      Fran hugged the baby. “You’d like some food, wouldn’t you, sweetheart?”

      Whether she wanted it or not, she needed it. Having made up his mind, Nik left the patio and headed for the kitchen. In a minute he returned with the food and the high chair that had been in use for several years.

      He put it in front of Fran, then plucked the baby from her arms and set her inside it. The cook had given him a bib that he tied around her neck. Both Fran and Demi looked up at him in surprise.

      Nik shot them an amused glance. “We’ll both feed her,” he explained and sat down on the swing next to her. “You take the turkey.” He handed her the jar and a spoon. “I’ll give her some plums.”

      “Coward,” СКАЧАТЬ