Her Secret, His Child

Daddy stopped really fast. He was always afraid Ashley was going to wet her pants, even though she didn't do that anymore.

"Guess what, Daddy?" she asked, exactly the way she'd practiced to herself as soon as she'd gotten her idea.

"What?" He was carrying her up the walk and she was going to have to talk really fast before Mommy could hear.

"Mommy's got a date with a other man," Ashley said, making herself sound as serious as if she was saying an answer to Miss Peters in school. Now Daddy would hurry up and marry Mommy, so some other man wouldn't take her far away and try to be Ashley's daddy, too.

Daddy stopped walking, which was good, but he was staring at Ashley like he might throw up, so she didn't feel happy anymore. "You're sure about that?" he asked in a very Daddy voice.

"April's fool!" she called. But the trick didn't seem good anymore.

He was a fool all right. A damn fool. In that split second when he believed he'd lost Jamie, he'd felt as though he were dying. And his death would have been no one's fault but his own.

Hoisting Ashley a little higher in his arms, he forced himself to smile at her joke. It was difficult.

For an intelligent man, he was really pretty stupid.

TARA TAYLOR QUINN

He'd spent the last four days holding Jamie at arm's length when he should have been trying to hold her close, instead. How could he ever hope to salvage anything from this mess if he didn't try?

He still didn't have any answers—only an inkling that he shouldn't be searching for them alone. Unless that was how he wanted to end up. Alone.

"Daddy, I think Mommy's feeling sad. Could you help make her better?" Ashley pulled on his collar.

"What's wrong with her?" he asked quietly.

"Her smile isn't working so good."

Out of the mouths of babes… ' 'And you think I can fix that?"

Ashley nodded. "Daddies can fix things. Kayla says so."

"Then I'll try my best. Okay?" he asked the child. His four-year-old was clearly smarter than her degree-totin' father.

"That's good, Daddy."

Chuckling, Kyle set Ashley on her feet inside the front door. He could smell dinner cooking—the savory aroma of wonderful things he couldn't identify. "Where is Mommy?" he asked his precocious daughter.

"Right here." Jamie came from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a dish towel, and Kyle's day suddenly seemed that much brighter.

Early Saturday morning, so early Ashley and Kayla were still in bed, Karen came knocking at Jamie's back door.

HER SECRET, HIS CHILD

"I saw your kitchen light come on," she said as soon as Jamie had let her in.

"We're driving into Denver today. Kyle's going to be here soon." Jamie smiled as she noticed her friend's glowing eyes.

"What's so funny?" Karen asked, her brows drawn together. "You've seen me in my robe before."

"You look happy."

Karen's face broke into a wide smile, too, as she nodded.

"You told Dennis about the baby when he got home last night."

"Yep."