Andrew walked into the busy doctor's office, searching the waiting room for his wife. When he didn't see her, he walked up to the receptionist's desk.
"Hi, I'm looking for my wife, Amanda Martin. Is she in with the doctor already?"
"Just a second, let me check," she said and quickly glanced over the schedule in front of her. "No, she's not. I don't even see her name in my schedule. Are you sure she has an appointment today?"
"Yes, she told me this morning that she did. Are you sure she's not here?"
"Yes, I'm sorry, sir."
"Maybe I have the wrong office. My wife is a patient here, right?"
"I'm sorry, but I can't give you that information. Our patients are entitled to their confidentiality, sir."
"But I'm her husband."
"I would still need her permission."
"Thanks," Andrew said sarcastically as he turned and walked away.
He wondered where Amanda was. Why wasn't she here or even on the schedule when she said she'd had an appointment today?
"Ms. Boroughs? Everything looks good so far with your little girl," the doctor said as she walked into Reese's room. "Everything seems to be normal so far, but since she is premature, we'd like to keep her here longer, possibly for a couple of weeks, just to keep an eye on her and make sure she's still doing ok. You seem to be doing well, so we'll probably release you the day after tomorrow. You'll be able to go home or you can stay as a guest at the hospital to be closer to your baby. Alright?"
Reese nodded wearily. It had been a long day. Everything had changed in such a short amount of time. She wasn't sure what to think or what to do next.
"Just try to get some rest, ok?"
As the doctor went out, Reese barely had a moment to close her eyes before someone else stormed in without knocking.
"What happened?" Amanda asked frantically. "I tried to call you earlier, but you weren't home and your office said you called in sick, from the hospital. What happened? Is the baby alright? Please tell me that the baby's alright."
"She's fine," Reese said sharply. Her tone made Amanda pause and seemed to calm her anxious activity for a moment. Reese squinted at Amanda staring at her rounded stomach. "Why do you look pregnant?"
"It's just a costume. I wanted to see what it was like," Amanda answered and quickly switched the topic before Reese could question her further. "Did you say, she? You had the baby already?" One look at Reese's now thin frame, made Amanda panic again. "But it's too soon. Way too soon. You said you weren't due for weeks still."
"I wasn't. The baby came early. I started having contractions yesterday and the doctors couldn't stop my labor."
"What am I going to do now?" Amanda wondered aloud. "I can't take the baby now."
"Why not?" Reese asked skeptically. Amanda's behavior seemed very odd to her and she wanted to know what was really going on.
"I'm not ready. I-I haven't gotten anything ready yet. I wasn't expecting this for another few weeks yet."
"Don't worry about it, because I'm not letting you take her anyway. I had a bad feeling about this before, but now the deal is off."
"Oh my God," Amanda said to herself. He mind was racing, trying to figure out what to do next.
"I think you should leave now," Reese said.
Without another word, Amanda turned and slowly walked out of the room.
Amanda drove all the way home in a state of shock. When she walked up to her front door, she wasn't even sure how she got there. She didn't remember anything about the drive home. She was too wrapped up in her own thoughts, trying to figure out how she could fix this.
The only thing to do, she decided, was try and find another baby. But what were the chances she would be able to find another pregnant woman who wanted to give up their baby, was due about the same time everyone thought she was due, and would have a baby who could pass as hers and Andrew's?
She blinked back tears as she unlocked the door.
Even if it had worked out with Reese's baby, everyone probably would have noticed that the baby didn't look anything like her or Andrew. "What was I thinking?" she scolded herself. "How did I let things get this far?" She just wanted it so much.
When she stepped inside, Andrew was standing there waiting for her.
"Where have you been?" he asked.
"I was at the doctor's office," she answered. "You knew that."
"I went to the doctor's office and you weren't there. They told me you didn't even have an appointment today."
"Oh," Amanda said. "There was a mix up . . . Why did you go there?"
"I wanted to ask the doctor a few questions myself." He looked at her closely, studying her expression. "Amanda, what's going on?"
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