Doctors W:arned a 4th Baby Could Harm Me — Then My Husband Called Me to a Maternity Ward and Asked a Question I Never Saw Coming

Daniel took a breath. "She doesn't have anyone."

I didn't move.

"Her father's not coming. Social services already reached him. He signed something this morning saying he's not seeking custody."

"Already? It's been one day."

"He left months ago. He told them straight out he doesn't want to be involved."

Heat went up the back of my neck. "What kind of man does that. Moves three states from a pregnant wife and signs a baby away over the phone."

Daniel kept going. "The hospital social worker walked me through what happens next. Temporary placement while they look for relatives and sort out guardianship. They don't think there are any relatives to find."

He looked through the glass. Then he looked right at me.

"I want us to ask to be considered."

"For what?"

"For her."

My eyes filled. "Daniel."

"I know."

His voice cracked down the middle. "I know exactly how this sounds."

"No. You don't."

"I already told the social worker I'm married. That I would never decide anything like this without you. That this isn't something I get to promise on my own."

I looked through the window again. Someone had rolled the bassinet closer to the glass. Dark hair. Eyes shut. A face the size of my palm.

"I want to apply for her," Daniel said. "Whatever that means. Foster placement first, guardianship, adoption later if they'll let us. I want to bring her home."

He swallowed hard. "And if this is too much for you, say so, and I will never bring it up again as long as I live."

I laughed. Wet and broken, nothing funny about it. Because I finally saw what he'd been standing there bracing for.

"You think I'm jealous."

He didn't answer.

"You thought I'd hear Grace's name and decide this was about her."

"I didn't know what you'd think."

I wiped my face with the heel of my hand. "I thought she might be your baby."

His eyes went wide. "Okay. That's worse."

I laughed again, and then I cried harder than before. He reached for me. This time I let him pull me in.

I couldn't stop thinking about Grace. Not Daniel's old girlfriend. Not the girl he'd once pictured a whole life with. A woman alone in a bed, spending the last clear thought she had making sure her daughter didn't slip into the world unclaimed.

She had one name left. She spent it on her child.