Her Festive Doorstep Baby. Kate Hardy

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      ‘We can take the box back with us—and the blanket—but I don’t think it’s going to help much,’ PC Walters said, accepting a mug of tea.

      They went through the whole lot again when Jane Richards, the social worker, arrived ten minutes later.

      ‘So what’s going to happen to the baby?’ Amy asked.

      Jane grimaced. ‘At this time of year, everyone’s on leave. You’re lucky if you can get anyone even to answer a phone. And with Christmas falling partly on a weekend, the chances of getting hold of someone who can offer a foster care placement are practically zero. So I guess the baby’s going to have to stay in hospital for a while.’

      ‘The local hospital’s on black alert,’ Josh said. ‘Apart from the fact that beds are in really short supply right now, there’s bronchiolitis on the children’s ward, and there’s flu and the winter vomiting virus in the rest of the hospital. The chances are that Hope would go down with something nasty, so they’ll refuse to take her.’

      Jane looked at Amy. ‘As you’re the one who found her, and Christmas is meant to be the season of goodwill... Would you be able to look after her for a few days?’

      ‘Me?’ Amy looked at her in shock. ‘But don’t you have to do all kinds of background checks on me, first?’

      ‘You’re a teacher,’ Jane said, ‘so you’ll already have gone through most of the checks. The rest of it is just formalities and, as I’m the senior social worker on duty in this area today, I can use my discretion.’

      ‘I’m more used to dealing with teenagers,’ Amy said. ‘I’ve not really had much to do with babies.’ Much less the baby she’d so desperately wanted to have with Michael. Something that could never, ever happen for her. ‘I’m not sure...’ And yet Jane was right. Christmas was the season of goodwill. How could Amy possibly turn away a helpless, defenceless newborn baby?

      ‘I could help out,’ Josh said. ‘I’m working today and tomorrow, but I could help out between my shifts.’

      So she’d have someone to talk things over with, if she was concerned. Someone who had experience of babies—and, better still, was a doctor.

      But there was one possible sticking point. Even though she knew it was intrusive, she still had to ask. ‘Will your partner mind?’ she asked.

      ‘I don’t have a partner,’ Josh said, and for a moment she saw a flash of pain in his expression.

      Did he, too, have an ex who’d let him down badly? Amy wondered. She was pretty sure that, like her, he lived alone.

      ‘I can make decisions without having to check with anyone first,’ he said. ‘How about yours?’

      ‘Same as you,’ she said.

      ‘Which makes it easy.’ He turned to Jane. ‘OK. We’ll look after Hope between us. How long do you need us to look after her?’

      She winced. ‘Until New Year’s Eve, maybe?’

      A whole week? ‘Just as well it’s the school holidays,’ Amy said wryly.

      ‘I’m off for a couple of days between Christmas and New Year,’ Josh said. ‘I’ll do as much as I can. But the baby has nothing, Jane. I just went out to get emergency milk, nappies and enough clothes to keep her going until you got here. Her mother left her wrapped in a blanket in the box, and there wasn’t anything with her. Well, the police found a note and a gold chain that the mum obviously wanted the baby to have,’ he amended, ‘but the baby doesn’t have any clothes.’

      ‘We don’t have anywhere for her to sleep—and, apart from the fact that the police have taken the box, a cardboard box really isn’t a suitable bed for a baby,’ Amy added.

      ‘I can help there,’ Jane said. ‘We have things in the office. I can bring you a Moses basket, bedding, nappies and spare clothes, and I can organise milk. Do you have any bottles?’

      ‘Two,’ Josh said, ‘and I bought a couple of cartons of ready-mixed formula. We’ve muddled through with very hot water to sterilise them for now.’

      ‘If you don’t mind mixing up your own formula, I can organise more bottles and sterilising equipment,’ Jane said. ‘What about the baby’s mum?’

      ‘We haven’t got much on the forensics side,’ PC Walters said. ‘The best we can do is to put out a press release and ask the local media to tell her to get in touch.’

      ‘If she’s as young as I think she might be,’ Josh said, ‘she’ll be worried that she’s in trouble—especially if she managed to hide her pregnancy.’

      ‘Strictly speaking, it’s a criminal offence to abandon a baby,’ PC Graham said, ‘but judges are always lenient in the case of newborns and very young, very frightened mums.’

      ‘She really needs to get to hospital or a doctor and let them check her over,’ Josh said. ‘That’s important because, if she’s retained any of the placenta or she tore during the delivery, there’s a high risk she’ll develop an infection—and if it’s left untreated she could become really ill.’

      ‘We’ll make sure everyone says she won’t be in any trouble and we’re worried about her health,’ PC Graham said.

      ‘And tell her the baby’s absolutely fine and being looked after. The poor girl’s probably going to be worrying about that, too,’ Amy added.

      Josh looked at his watch. ‘Sorry. I’m going to have to leave you now. I need to be at work.’ He scribbled a number on one of the spare sheets of paper. ‘You’ve got my mobile number, Amy, and this is my direct line in the department. You can get a message to me if it’s urgent. I’ll be back about half-past eight this evening—unless there’s a crisis in the department, in which case I’ll get a message to you as early as I can.’

      Amy really hoped that she wasn’t going to have to use that number. ‘OK. Thanks.’ She paused, knowing that this probably sounded like a come-on, but hoping that he’d take it as the practical suggestion it actually was. ‘Look, as you’re helping me with the baby, you might as well have dinner here. It’s as easy to cook for two as for one.’

      ‘That’d be nice.’

      They exchanged a glance, and another frisson of desire ran down her spine—which was completely inappropriate. OK, so they were both single, but this was all about caring for Hope, not having a wild fling with her neighbour.

      She fought to keep herself sounding professional. ‘Do you have any food allergies, or is there anything you don’t eat?’

      ‘No to the allergies.’ He smiled. ‘As for the rest, I’m a medic in the emergency department, so we tend not to be fussy. We’re lucky if we get a chance to grab a chocolate bar. As long as it’s food and it’s hot, I’m happy.’

      She smiled back. ‘OK.’

      Once Josh had left, PC Graham sorted out the last bits of paperwork and the police left, too.

      ‘I’ll be back later this afternoon with supplies,’ Jane promised.

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