9. A Meeting

A MEETING

MADDY

I glare at Dr. Lane. "Right here? Right now?" I shake my head. "No, not in front of everyone."

He cringes a little, then squares his shoulders. "I still want to meet him."

"Fine," I say shortly. "Come with me."

I march from the room without looking back to see if he is following me. I hear his footfalls behind me as I hurry to catch up with the gaggle of children.

"Paul, honey," I call to my son. "Come here for a moment."

Paul halts and turns. He looks up at me, eyes wide as I draw closer to him.

I put an arm around my son, holding him close. "Paul," I say, "Please allow me to introduce Dr. Andrew Lane, your biological father."

Paul is completely silent for a moment. Then the formal manners I drilled into him take over, and he says, "Pleased to meet you, sir. I'm Paul Robert Northernfield."

Dr. Lane gravely shakes his hand. "I'm very pleased to meet you. I'm sorry we did not meet sooner, but I had no idea you even existed."

Paul looks up at me. I want to punch Andrew for springing this on me, but I don't want to alarm my son. I look down at him and say, "I'll explain it all later. But he really is your dad."

"Yeah?" Paul looks skeptical. "Some of my classmates have parents who are split up and they have to spend time with them. Did you know who he was?"

"I always knew," I say.

"I didn't," Dr. Lane says, softly, apologetically. "I left at the end of the week after I met your mom. I went to Africa so I could hide from my grandfather. It seems I should have taken your mother with me. But I'm not sure it would have been good for you. Perhaps it was better this way."

"It was better that I didn't know about you?" Paul asks, looking up at his father.

"I live a dangerous sort of life," Dr. Lane explains. "I went to places where there were contagious diseases, and where people were shooting at each other. They weren't good places to raise a family. But I might have done things differently if I'd known about you."

"Would people have died if you weren't in those places?" Paul asks. He is the calmest of the three of us. I am inwardly seething. I can only guess at what he might be feeling. "My homeroom teacher read an adventure book about Dr. Livingstone, the explorer. Was it like that?"

"Not quite like Dr. Livingstone," he says. "If I'd had a family, it is likely some other doctor would have been sent to the dangerous places, and I would have been sent to places not quite so scary. One of my friends brought his family along. They were assigned to a missionary village in a peaceful area."

"Did he do important work there?" Paul asks. It was clear from his expression that he didn't think caring for a peaceful village sounded as exciting as risking getting a terrible disease or doing medicine while people were shooting at each other.

"Very important work," Dr. Lane says solemnly, just as if Paul was an adult at a committee meeting. "He gave vaccines to the children, learned about local medicinal plants, set broken bones, and treated animal bites. His wife taught English and mathematics at the local school."

Paul is quiet for a minute, then asks, "Why didn't you ask my mom to go with you so the two of you could do that?"

For a moment neither I nor Dr. Lane know what to say.

Leland walked in from the other room. Had he been there listening all the time? "Good question," he says. "I gather this is your dream woman? The one you weren't quite sure whether it was a real memory or a fever dream?"

"Yes," Dr. Lane says. "But I never thought. . ."

Austin cuts in, sarcastically and more than a little harshly. "Someone forgot to give you the talk? You cut class the day your medical school instructors taught about the birds and bees?"

"Hey!" Dr. Lane protests.

Rylie enters the hall, and soothes everyone. "I think we'd all like to hear this story. And I believe there is more than one side to it."

Kandis has also crowded in and adds, "Why don't we get some food in here, and we can have a story time with everyone chipping in their parts. We'll have to keep it clean for the children's sake, but I think they deserve to know why they were snatched."

In short order, Jason Wintergreen was sent off with a security force, and everyone was gathered around the big table.

When everyone is seated, Richard says, "All right. I think chronological order is the best way to run this storytime. So let's start with Andrew. How did you meet Maddy?"

Dr. Lane clears his throat. "I was celebrating my acceptance into Doctors Without Borders. I met Maddy at a party one of my friends was throwing as an end-of-residency celebration. We danced, we talked, and we found we had a lot in common – including being at the same teaching hospital. That led to a week of parties, culminating in the big send-off my friends threw for me. Neither of us were enjoying the party, so we went to my studio apartment and threw our own celebration."

"Just what were the two of you drinking at this celebration?" Richard asks.

"Soda," Dr. Lane says.

"Just Coke," I say at the same time.

I feel my face grow hot, and Dr. Lane blushes a bright fire engine red.

Leland says, passing the salad to his wife, "So what happened next? Let's start with you, Andrew."

"We . . . discovered we liked each other a lot. I was feeling more than a little angry and confused. The morning after the last party, I had a meeting with Dad and Grandfather Aims. They told me about this girl I've been engaged to since I was still sleeping in a bassinet. Some sort of compact made with this Tulok dude who runs a dating service for royalty. I told them that arranged marriages went out with crinoline, then I caught my plane to Africa."

Pops Quinn made a strangling noise, and hid his face in a napkin to keep from snorting his drink all over the table. Mimi Quinn pats him on the back. "Mind the tablecloth, dear," she says.

Andrew picks up his glass and drinks from it. He looks embarrassed. "I should have told Madeline about the arrangement, but I was too humiliated and embarrassed."

"So why didn't you?" Mimi Quinn asks.

"I was afraid that Grandfather might do something ugly to her if I admitted I was seeing someone."

"Uh-huh," Pops Quinn said. "Sounds like an excuse to me."

Andrew blushed an even deeper red, if that was possible. I almost felt sorry for him. He swallowed and said, "I felt like such a heel. Here was this beautiful, intelligent woman on one hand. And on the other, somewhere in the world was a kid who wasn't even grown up yet who was expecting me to marry her. It was all just too, too much."

The people around the table were silent for a few minutes, as if they were deciding whether to be sympathetic toward Andrew, or critical.

Catriona gave me a meaningful look as if she understood all parties involved, then interrupted the silence. "Meanwhile back in the States…"

I heave a sigh. "Three months passed. I realized that I was going to have a baby. I called the number Andrew had given me. It was reported as ‘out of service.'"

Catriona looked a little scandalized. "It took you three months to call him back?"

I scowled at her, defensively. "I was doing practicums. I was busy."

Leland elbowed his wife. "Not everyone has their love life foremost in their minds."

Catriona elbowed him back. "So?"

Mimi Quinn gently chided them. "No squabbling in front of the children. When you couldn't reach Andrew, what did you do then?"

"I reached out for help and support from Family Services. This led to my eventual arrival in Rhodri Aims office. Mr. Aims said he would be glad to adopt the baby if a test showed that it was Andrew's. The only catch was, I would have to give him up and have no contact with him afterward."

"Did you know he was a boy?" Andrew asks, as if that somehow mattered.

I shake my head. "At that point, he could have had six toes on each foot and three heads. But he, she, or it, was mine, and I had no intentions of handing my baby over to anyone else."

"What did you do?" Andrew inquired.

I smile. "I relied on my girlfriend network. I called Kate."

"We were roommates as undergrads," Kate explains. "I called my aunt and uncle, because I knew they would come up with a good plan for her. While we were getting things set up, my brother, James, drove to New York and brought Maddy to Spindizzy in Kansas."

Andrew says, "Thank you for being there for her." He reached over and squeezed my shoulder.

"Careful," I squeak, surprised at his response. "I need that arm."

He relaxes his hug, but doesn't let go. Illogically, I don't want him to. I'm still feeling angry, but there is something safe about his presence.

"That's quite a story," Richard says, before the adult explanations can get too deep. "I think it leaves out a few things, but sounds like we have most of the important parts."

Charles put in, "Now, to the next thing. Paul, Cece, how did you and Isabel manage to get yourselves kidnapped?"

Paul looks at Cece, Cece looks at Paul. Cece says, "I messed up."

"Just how did you mess up?" Charles prompts gently.

"Julia and Mom were busy with the babies. All the big kids were putting together this great big puzzle. It was boring."

"Uh-huh," Charles says. "So what did you do?"

"We went down to the edge of the orchard. There were oranges all over the ground. We started picking them up," Cece says.

"I peeled one and we each had a section," Paul added. "It didn't taste very good."

"Bergamot oranges," Pops Quinn explains. "The rind is used for flavoring, the fruit has a sour bitter flavor."

"Anyway," Cece picked up the story, "that guy, Jason Wintergreen, walked up out of the orchard, and says, ‘hey, kids, your grandpa wants you.'"

Charles pinches the bridge of his nose. "Cece…"

Cece looks guilty. She says, defensively, "I thought he meant Pops Quinn, so I said ‘Okay', and we all went along with him."

Paul adds, "Only when we got to the edge of the grove, some men grabbed us, stuck nasty smelling sacks over our heads, and we woke up in a dusty basement."

Isabel spoke up at that point, "There wasn't anything in that basement at all, not even a sink or bathroom. We were there for the longest time! I was sure glad to hear Ark-Ark barking, and to hear Austin calling us!"

Charles looks at his daughter. "Thanks for your honesty, little soldier. And you are correct. You messed up."

"Am I court martialled?" Cece asks, looking a little worried.

"No," Charles says, "But you are going to lose your stripes, and I foresee a lot of very boring chores in your future."

I feel sorry for Cece. She looks as if she wishes the floor would swallow her up whole. It could have been worse. Better a little embarrassment than the way this story might have ended.

I say, "I think Paul and I should go home. It's been a very long day."

"Maybe tomorrow," Austin says. "Too much of a security risk. We don't know who else might be lurking around."

"Where can we go, then?" I almost wail.

Mrs. Quinn says, "You can stay with us in the main house tonight. There are plenty of guards there since it is Quinn Orchard headquarters. We even have Angel watching over us."

I eye her askance. "An angel?"

"No, no," she says. "Angel. One of Ark-Ark and Colleen's pups. You'll love her."

Before I knew what was happening, Paul and I were whisked over to the "main house", which is the Quinn's home, their office, and their headquarters. It is located on the other side of the orchard from the fairgrounds, and was not far from the cook shack where we were dining.

That is where we met Colleen and Ark-Ark's "pup", Angel.

One should take the description of "pup" lightly. Angel is a white-coated version of her German Shepherd father. Thanks to her shaggy dog parentage, her favorite place is under the air conditioner in Kandy's old room.

We weren't the only ones placed under the Quinn's roof for the time being. Andrew had been staying in a motel, but Austin wanted him closer at hand, so he was on the couch downstairs.

This seemed very middle class for the heads of a multi-million dollar corporation. I was surprised at the well-loved environment of the two-story ranch style home.

Then I realized, that's exactly what this was – the family home for the Quinns, their daughter, Kandis, and even for her husband, Richard Lane, and their children.

"This should be secure enough for anyone," Mimi Quinn declares, ushering us in the front door. "Plus, we have the night patrol that is always in the orchard and the vineyard."

Paul immediately falls in love with Angel. "You are such a pretty pup," he croons to her. "Such a pretty girl." The big dog absolutely eats up the attention, rolling over on her back for belly rubs, and waving her paws in the air.

The Quinn's house man, a stocky fellow with a deep tan and grizzled hair, brings in a genuine futon — the kind that is thick enough to be comfortable when sleeping on the floor – and places it on the floor in the bedroom.

I barely manage to persuade Paul to change out of his dusty clothing and into a clean t-shirt and underwear, before he flops on the futon. He is joined by Angel almost immediately.

I'm not perfectly sure this is a good arrangement, but both Paul and Angel seem to like it. Goodness knows, if a stranger comes in and tries to take my boy now, he will have his hands full. Even if Angel just knocks him down and licks him, the resultant furor will wake the house.

I sleep on the bed. It is a big bed, and my only sleeping partner is a dainty calico cat named Princess. But, when the lights are out, I stare up into the darkness. The day has been such a turmoil, I scarcely know where to start with processing the events.

The stabbing, the man declaring "I won't do it," the children being kidnapped, and then Andrew finally recognizing me. Well, realizing who I am, not recognizing.

His story of being injured seems odd, but brains are funny things. Medically speaking, we are just beginning to understand how they work.

I embrace the idea of sleep, even if it seems illusive. But my head just keeps spinning.