Of Love and Deception (29 page)

Falcon? Why… Oh that bitch! She… she marked it as Falcon’s on purpose. Oh, God. She used Cruz’s sperm to
—

“Hello? Daniella? Are you following me?”

“Yes, Bob. Just trying to figure out how this changes anything for me. It’s hearsay and won’t hold up in court.”

“What I’m about to tell you just might change everything. So sit down, if you’re not already doing so, and brace yourself. All records are still being reviewed, but funny thing is, apparently no specimens were checked out the day Meg inseminated you.”

Okay, that was a surprise. “What? Then how… but she inserted the catheter… and I am pregnant. I don’t get it.”
But I do get it and there isn’t a damn thing I can do about it.

“Either she used nothing or she used a very fresh specimen. Again, another
John Doe
specimen was left, but this time, the employee I told you about earlier, she noticed the donor. Said she only took notice because Meg slipped out of the ‘donor room,’ straightening out her clothes and tucking a container into the pocket of her lab coat. She proceeded to glance around, assuming all was clear, and headed toward an exam room, the one in which you occupied.”

“Yes! It was Tiffany. I know you can’t disclose that information, but I know it was her. She was acting all uptight and uncertain. I wanted to ask her what was wrong, but Meg was in the room and belittled her for walking into the room without knocking and waiting for permission. She glanced at me, at Meg, and back to me again before she left.”

“Ah. Well,
before
she entered your room, she waited, curious to see who came out of the donor room after Meg exited and was alarmed to see a man with similar features to Falcon exit and proceed toward the employee exit.”

“It was Blake. Had to be. He looks a lot like Falcon.” She hesitated, pondering her next question. “Does Cruz know about any of this?”

“Falcon and Meg are not aware of the new information. It’s still being investigated. I would imagine Cruz is aware of it.”

Though the news was good, the facts remained the same. Daniella was still in trouble and she couldn’t peep a word. Blake still had the upper hand, right along with Meg.

“Daniella? Are you with me here?”

“Uh. Yeah, Bob. Just shocked.”

Bob continued. “Here is what you have to do. Go to the University hospital. There will be a specialty team waiting for your arrival. They’ve reviewed the ultrasounds and pictures retrieved from the fertility clinic. There is concern over some of the things they’ve found, but I have no idea exactly what that means.

“I already have an appointment that I forgot to cancel. It’s tomorrow.”

“Well, they were willing to bump it up a day. Can you get there within the hour? The sooner the better.”

“Yes. I can and I will.”

He paused and then spoke so quietly that she could hardly hear him when he said, “Cruz will be required to go there as well.” Bob coughed. “His lawyer notified me.” He coughed again.

“But I don’t have to see him, right?” There was no way she wanted to risk being confronted by Cruz, or more specifically, Blake.

“Absolutely not. There will be no contact, unless you agree to it. Now you better get on down there.”

“I will. Thanks so much.” Daniella held back the tears about to spill over.

“I hope this all works out in your favor, Daniella. Such a terrible thing to happen to a wonderful person. Now go on and get going.” He hung up.

Daniella packed a snack and examined the hallway before she headed out the door. She made sure Blake’s SUV wasn’t in the parking lot nor the surrounding area, tossed her purse into the car and slid into the driver’s seat. After rolling the engine, she backed out of the parking lot. In the rear view mirror, she caught a glimpse of Cruz’s red BMW. Something about his nearness made her feel safe, but she was acutely aware of what a run-in with him might stir up if Blake were to catch him following her. She forced her eyes to look ahead and not to glance back to see if
he
continued to follow her. When she arrived at the hospital, she didn’t see Cruz’s car. She sighed and went in to the admissions desk.

As promised, a team of specialists awaited her arrival. Questions were thrown at her left and right. She changed into a gown and was whisked away, carted off into a surgical suite. She was laying on the gurney, when the team began to prep her, flipping the bottom of her gown up over her swollen abdomen. There was cold fluid splashed along her belly—betadine, drapes placed over and around her—

“Stop! I didn’t know I agreed to… what is this?”

“Amniocentesis.” The doctor confirmed.

“I can’t. I Can’t do it. Stop. Now.”

Two nurses stayed at her side and comforted her. “It’s not that bad. No pain really. Just a sting and a burn.” The nurse to her left side knelt and rubbed Daniella’s shoulder.

“That’s not it. I don’t want to do the amniocentesis.” Daniella sat up. “Don’t try to talk me into doing it either. I won’t do it.” She rubbed her belly.

“Weren’t you supposed to have this done tomorrow? We have your signed agreement on file. Your OB doctor confirmed it and your lawyer stated you’d agreed to the procedure.”

“Yes, I had an appointment. No, I didn’t agree to this. I don’t recall my lawyer mentioning it, other than my appointment that was scheduled tomorrow. I meant to cancel it. I just hadn’t had a chance to.”

“Can I ask why you’ve changed your mind?” The doctor asked.

“I’m sorry. It’s not safe. My friend’s baby died because of this procedure. And… and I don’t want to deal with… with my soon to be ex-husband. He… wanted this, to confirm he’s not the father,” she whispered. “But it’s not what you think. I didn’t… it was the insemination. All b-bad.”
And I don’t want to confirm it’s Blake’s, even if all odds are against me.

“No need to explain, Daniella. We understand. Nobody here will judge you. We’re fully aware of the investigation and know the basics about your pregnancy, and the insemination. Your lawyer talked to the appropriate people and that’s why you’re here.”

“Okay.”

“We can still proceed with the ultrasound. There is a lot more we can learn at this point. Top notch equipment and we can practically give you, with great accuracy, the exact due date.” The doctor said.

“I’ve had a lot of ultrasounds already. In the beginning, and then one when I was fourteen weeks.”

“Yes, we have your records. Your ultrasounds were located and given to us to review. I’ve reviewed them. There are some serious discrepancies with those ultrasounds, and to be truthful, we can’t be certain the ultrasounds are legitimate.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“I cannot give you any information until they’ve been thoroughly combed through by our top notch radiologists.”

“Please, tell me something more. I think I deserve to know. And you should tell me, or you shouldn’t have said anything to begin with.” She cringed inwardly.

“Ah. True, true.” He tapped a finger lightly against his lips, obviously deciphering what or how much he should share with her. “What I’m about to tell you has not been proven yet, but we have reason to believe your ultrasounds are demos.”

“Demos?”

“Yes, demonstrations. They use them to train students.”

“So… all my pictures are… not my baby at all?” Tears filled her eyes. She rubbed them away fiercely, reminding herself that she wasn’t keeping the baby anyway.

“Precisely. But… we’re about to change that right now. You’ll be surprised to see the progress of the developing fetus. Ah. And you’ll get 3D imaging, so it’ll be like looking at your baby through a camera.” He smiled and patted her hand. “Ready?”

“Mm-hm.” Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. To see the baby, knowing she wasn’t going to be able to keep it. Unless she wanted to fulfill one of Blake’s other stipulations. And living with him was never going to happen. She stirred over the mention of the previous ultrasounds. How could Meg do such a thing? What kind of swamp did this woman crawl out of?

Warm goop slathered over her abdomen and the tech dragged a wand across her pelvis. Daniella could hear the
swish, swish, swish
of a rapidly beating heart. It was a beautiful sound, and she wanted to look, but didn’t because if she did, it might make her indecisive about adopting. But then, she suddenly recalled what her lawyer said. Cruz had put a halt on the adoption. The adoptive parents would be crushed. Worse than that, Blake would probably follow through on his threat.
Would he? Could he actually shoot us? No. He can’t. I promise you little baby, if it comes down to that, then I will beg him to let us live with him. Come hell or high water, I will find a way to save you. I promise—

“Look at the baby, Daniella,” a nurse to her right interrupted her moment. “Over here, honey.”

Daniella couldn’t stop herself. She turned her head and glanced at the monitor.

“See here,” the ultrasound technician, pointed to a spot on the screen. “Baby has a thumb in the mouth.”

She sucked in a breath. “Oh, that… that’s precious.” Her voice crumbled.
It’s... oh, Lord. Cruz used to suck his thumb.
She remembered looking at his baby pictures before she married him. His mother apparently thought sharing those pictures would somehow bring her grandchildren right after the wedding.
If only it had….

“This little one is a spitfire. I can’t get a shot of the genitals.” She glanced up at Daniella. “Did you want to know the gender?”

“No.”

“Ah. Well, this little bugger won’t budge. Legs are crossed and tucked,” the tech said and then called out measurements of the femur, abdominal girth, size of head, fluid levels, and several other things. She kept moving the wand, then examined the screen, and then a chart, and back to the screen several times. She glanced up at the doctor, pointed to a section on the chart and asked, “Is this accurate?” The doctor took over, running the wand over Daniella’s abdomen, repeating the sequence.

“What? Is there something wrong?” Daniella could feel a knot forming in her throat. She gulped hard at the ache and forced the tears back. Another round of bad news would do her in.

The doctor ran the wand over her abdomen and measured several areas again. “No worries, Daniella. This baby is perfect, but by the size and measurements, I can certainly tell you that the due date stated is about six or seven weeks short. This is not a twenty-six week gestation. This is about a thirty-two to thirty-three week old fetus.”

“What?” Daniella held up her hands and calculated the weeks on her fingers.

“You’re much further along.” The doctor nodded.

“Are you saying… I only have maybe seven weeks to go?”

“I am certainly saying just that, but nothing is final. We will have the ultrasound viewed by the best of the best. They will examine every detail. Results are almost spot on, but nothing, other than DNA is a guarantee. Well, other than the time of conception is more than a month off.” The doctor turned to the nurse. “Send the ultrasound to be read STAT. Time of conception and fetal age is crucial for more than one party.”

“I’ll send it out now,” the nurse replied as she wiped the goop off Daniella’s belly.

~~~

The staff and the doctor left the room, allowing Daniella to get dressed. She numbly slipped the navy blue sundress on, raked her fingers through her hair, slid her feet into her matching sandals. Sitting for a moment, she replayed the information over and over in her head. What the doctor said could only mean one thing. This baby was conceived before Cruz’s business trip, before Meg’s scheme, before… but what would it mean now that Blake wanted his revenge? Flinging her purse over her shoulder, she pushed forward, opened the door and stepped into the chilly hallway.

“Daniella, wait.” She heard Cruz’s voice. He stood just outside the door she’d just emerged from. “Please. I just want to talk to you.”

“There’s nothing to talk about. I bypassed the amniocentesis, so please, just leave me alone. I can’t handle any more stress! I have limited time to prepare and no time to deal with your questions or accusations anymore.” She broke down because she really wanted to fall into his arms and tell him everything. This was his child. HIS CHILD!

He reached for her, grabbing her arm and pulling her back as she attempted to walk away from him. Before she could react or push him away, he wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight, pressing his cheek against the side of her head. She stood, arms hanging at her sides, not wanting to return the gesture because it would only make her wish. Wish for everything to be okay with them and that maybe they could work things out. But wishes didn’t work in her favor and she needed to find a way to move forward with her life, with or without this baby.
And Blake!

His body started to tremble and it startled Daniella.

Is he… he’s crying. But why?

And then he took in a deep breath and slowly released it. “I… I’m sorry. And I miss you so damn much. I don’t know what to do… who or what to believe. I think I believe you, but—”

“But? But what, Cruz? But. What! You don’t understand why your precious Meg would lie to you. Well, I do.” No, she wouldn’t go there. It was too dangerous.

If he learned the truth, what would happen to him?

“Are you sleeping with her? Or not? Oh, wait. There’s no evidence. What a pity she didn’t go to lengths to prove you were all hers. No. Because that would make her look bad, make you look worse.”

“I’ve never slept with her. Not even when I dated her in high school.”

“Save it. It doesn’t matter. What’s done is done.” She walked backward, away from him as tears threatened to spill. She couldn’t let him back into her heart, not that he’d been close to leaving it, but she wasn’t letting any more of him back in. Absolutely not. Because, that might end her and the baby.

~~~

The drive home was a blur but the couch was pure comfort. Daniella was exhausted, not only from the ultrasound, but from the added stresses she was forced to deal with. Seven weeks was all she had left and her life was still in disarray. There were a lot of things she needed to do before the baby’s arrival. But, here she lay and thoughts of her and Cruz resurfaced. Everything they shared, the love they had, the talks about having children… up to the day she went in for the stupid procedure. But she’d used all those pregnancy tests Meg had given her and they were all negative. It didn’t make sense. She wasn’t sure what to think. Maybe the baby was just bigger than the average baby. There were so many questions, very little answers.