Just this morning Drake had admitted to her that he was not prepared to be a father. That’s one of the things they’d argued about.

  Fiona nodded. “And we’re so grateful for you, sir. Your wife’s name is Sherrie, right?” Fiona’s eyes twinkled with curiosity like her child’s. “And you’re celebrating an anniversary, I understand. Edmund and I are on holiday too. Married 15 years.”

  “Yes,” Sherrie said. It seemed that Drake had told them all their business. “Only three years for us. Fifteen years? That’s incredible. Congratulations.”

  “Thank you.”

  The baby grasped Sherrie’s forearm and pulled up from his mother’s lap. He grinned up at Sherrie.

  Sherrie smiled back at him. Dimples creased his plump face. “He’s adorable, Fiona. How old is he?”

  “Thank you. Ten months yesterday. Our little cheeky one. He’s set his cap on you, dear. He doesn’t usually warm up to people so quickly. You two are special. Just look at the way he’s hitting on you, Sherrie.”

  Sherrie didn’t know about the special part. But she did know that this little one was melting her heart. Ian clutched the sleeve of her swimsuit coverup and leaned closer.

  “Bah, bah, bah.”

  The baby’s babble made them all laugh.

  “Hey, little buddy,” Drake said, pretending to butt in. “She’s spoken for.”

  The wail of ambulance’s siren filled the air.

  A man with red hair cut Sherrie’s laugh short when he entered the canopy. “Oh, hello.” He extended a freckle-covered hand to Sherrie. She shook it as he introduced himself. “Edmund Lewis. Would you be Drake’s sweet wife, Sherrie?” His accent, unlike his wife’s, reminded Sherrie of something she’d heard on BBC television. She felt like she needed to curtsy or something. “Yes. I’m Sherrie. Nice to meet you.”

  “You as well.” The playful twinkle in his gray eyes faded into a serious gaze when he shifted his attention to his wife. “It’s the mother of the boy, dearest. She’s not well.”

  “Yes, of course.”

  Edmund was off and running.

  Fiona stood up, her eyes shining with concern. “I’m sorry to impose again,” she said to Drake and Sherrie. “Could you ...”

  “Yes,” Drake said, waving her out of the canopy. “Go. Go.”

  Sherrie’s jaw went slack in disbelief at her husband’s reaction. She waited until Fiona was gone before she spoke. “This is crazy, Drake. We’re watching some strangers’ baby on the beach.”

  “Yeah. You know me, always seeking out the strange babies.” He made a funny face at the baby. Ian chuckled.

  “Drake, I’m not in a joking mood. I’m serious. What if—”

  “Yeah, you’re always serious, Sher. No ‘what ifs,’ okay. Nothing bad is going to happen. His parents are off helping someone. When I rolled up on them, it was like life or death. What was I supposed to do? Besides, that elderly woman eavesdropping on us over our shoulder will call the law if we do anything wrong.”

  Out of the corner of her eye, Sherrie saw the older woman tilt her head away from them. Had she really been spying on them? It didn’t matter.

  The baby let out a babbling response like he was talking directly to her as well. Then without warning, little Ian grabbed her arm with both chubby hands and grimaced. His face turned bright pink.

  Drake placed his palm on the baby’s chest. “What’s he doing? Is he choking on something?”

  Sherrie chuckled. “He’s passing gas, I think.”

  Drake wrinkled up his nose and pulled away. “I think you’re right.”

  The baby reached for Drake and whined.

  “Oh no,” Drake said, shrinking back some more. “No way, kid. I know what’s going on.”

  Sherrie looked around for a diaper bag. “You can’t just let him keep that diaper on.”

  “What are you suggesting?”

  The baby reached for Drake again.

  Sherrie giggled as she located the baby’s bag and pulled out the necessary supplies – a clean disposable diaper, baby wipes, baby powder. “I think he wants you to do the honors. Everything’s here.”

  Drake shook his head. “No. No. No. Shouldn’t we just wait for his parents to return?”

  She nudged her husband aside. “It’s a dirty diaper, not a dirty bomb. You just have to change it. Not diffuse it.”

  “This thing could blow up, you know.” Drake positioned himself behind her as she smoothed a spot to lay the baby down.

  She made a silly face at the baby. “Are you done making a poo, little smelly boy?”

  “Is that what the baby books tell you. Talk dirty to the child. ‘Making a poo.’ Really, Sherrie?”

  The baby kicked his chubby legs in the air. The foul scent intensified.

  Drake fanned the air in front of his nose. “I don’t know, babe. I’ve never done this.”

  “Me neither but I’ve seen ladies do it in the women’s restroom.”

  “In the restroom?” Drake blew out a long breath. “Didn’t your mama teach you how to do it?”

  Sherrie rolled her eyes. “No. That wasn’t on the list of things mom taught me. We can do this, honey.”

  Her husband raked a hand over his beard. “What happened to we don’t need to do nothing to this strangers’ baby?”

  She chuckled. “I like torturing you.”

  “That much is obvious,” Drake gulped. “Can’t this wait? I mean what if I throw up when I see his ‘poo’?”

  “Throw up.” Sherrie sighed. “Seriously, Drake. You’ve been watching too many crazy YouTube Dad videos. We’ve got everything we need. Clean diaper. Baby wipes. Powder.” She bit her lip as she looked into the baby’s beautiful face.

  “What’s wrong?” Drake’s eyes bugged. “Sherrie, what’s wrong.”

  She shook her head. “He’s just so ... so trusting.”

  Could her husband hear the emotion clogging her throat? Why was she so weepy about this? And so unsure of herself? It was only a dirty diaper.

  Her first diaper change. But it wasn’t even her baby.

  Drake’s warm hand on her shoulder was reassuring. “We can do this, Sher.” He moved closer. “Tell me what to do.”

  With her fingertips, she wiped at the moisture collecting on her lower lashes. “First we open the fresh diaper and get it ready.” Blinking back tears, she let her hands go to motion as she talked. After laying all the things out, she opened the right tab of the baby’s diaper.

  She glared at Drake. His dark chocolate eyes were narrowed in concentration. He pressed his full lips against her cheek. “I’m proud of you, Sher. You’re a pro, honey. You sure you haven’t done this before?”

  “Hardly.”

  “What’s next?” Drake asked.

  Little Ian whimpered and squirmed. They needed to hurry up.

  She swallowed her fear. “We open it all the way up and change him.”

  Drake dipped his chin and took a deep breath. “I see. Alright. Let’s do it.”

  Sherrie chuckled. She was enjoying this daring new side of her husband. “Brace yourself. It’s not gonna be pretty.”

  She unfastened the left side of the diaper and peeled the front of the diaper down.

  Nothing.

  “Wow,” she whispered.

  Drake’s eyes widened. “Wow? What do you mean ‘Wow’?”

  “No poop.” She tore two wipes from the package and wiped the baby’s bottom. “I guess it was just gas.”

  Drake peered closer, his eyes trained on the baby’s private parts. “That’s ... interesting.”

  Sherrie swatted her husband and continued cleaning Ian. “Give the baby some space.”

  “I’ve never seen a baby boy’s you know what. Kinda shrivelly. Was my you know what like that when I was a baby?”

  “Probably so, Drake. I can’t believe you. Now back up before the baby —”

  A thin arc of liquid spread from between the baby’s legs to the front of Drake’s swim trunks. Drake yelped and fell back on his haunches. Chuckling, Sherrie tossed two wadded-up wipes over the baby’s privates. The stream of urine stopped.

  “He peed on me.” Her husband’s arms were extended as he studied his midsection in shock. “I can’t believe it. That little rascal peed on me.”

  “I was trying to warn you.” She covered her grin.

  “You’re laughing at me.” Drake moaned. The baby smiled and made babbling noises. “And he’s laughing at me too.” Drake snatched several wipes from the package and swiped his abdomen and trunks. “It’s not funny, little man.”

  Sherrie finished diapering Ian. “His little man parts probably got cold. It’s an automatic reaction, I think. He didn’t do it on purpose.”

  Drake grunted like he didn’t believe a word she was saying. “Is that what your baby books tell you? Got cold, my foot. Look at him. Smiling like he is. He did that on purpose.”

  She picked up the happily babbling baby and inspected her diaper job.

  Not bad for a newbie.

  “Here, hold him while I clean my hands and toss the diaper out.”

  Drake raised an eyebrow and shook his head.

  “He can’t pee on you through the diaper, Drake. Just be glad it wasn’t number 2.”

  Her husband groaned as he gathered the baby into his lap. “You’re right. I guess.”

  Dirty diaper in hand, Sherrie stood up.

  “Whoa. Wait a minute,” Drake stammered, his eyes stretched wide in concern. “Where are you going?”

  She waved the soggy diaper under his nose. “To find a trash can. I’ll be back.”

  With the diaper properly disposed of in a large bin near the boardwalk, she returned to Drake and the baby. From the look of things, her husband had not moved from his spot.

  He was frowning with his mouth twisted to one side as he looked at the baby. “Wow.” Sherrie could almost see the wheels of his engineer’s brain turning.

  Ian yawned and rested his head on Drake’s shoulder. She crouched down next to the playpen and started spreading a blanket in the center. The baby would probably be needing a nap soon. “That’s all you’ve got, Drake?”

  “Wow.”

  “Why Wow?”

  “We’ve got a baby.”

  “It’s not our baby, Drake.” Sherrie found a stuffed toy in the baby’s bag and put it in the playpen.

  “I didn’t say it was our baby, Sher. But, he could be, right? Through adoption, I mean.”

  She stopped short and glared at him. Just when she was starting to let bygones be bygones, he had to bring this up again. “I can’t do this conversation with you, Drake. I just can’t. Not again today.” Her voice was loud, and her tone was harsh, but she didn’t care.

  “Please, Sherrie.” Her husband’s response was quick. “Be mad at me later. Now, right now, I want us to talk through this. I know it’s not our baby. But it is a baby. And he needed us. There are so many babies out there that need parents. They need us. You with me.” Drake handed little Ian to her.

  He lifted her chin with the tip of his index finger and softly kissed her lips. “I love you. I’m not against you. And you’re not against me. We want the same thing; to be parents, right? Listen, I know I’ve been a selfish pain in the butt. I’m sorry for that, Sher. I don’t know how to handle the sadness I feel.”

  Her husband’s intimate touch and tone were comforting. When was the last time he’d touched her like that?

  Drake sat down beside her and let his chin rest on his chest. “Baby, I’m scared.”

  Scared?

  Concerned, Sherrie looked her husband in the eyes. In their three years of marriage, he’d never admitted to being scared. Worried or frustrated, yes. But not scared. A Que Dog frat boy, software engineering grad from North Carolina State University wasn’t afraid of anything. Right?

  Wrong.

  Sherrie placed the baby on his back in the playpen and quietly studied her man. “What are you saying, Drake?”

  “I haven’t been there for you, Sher because I’ve been afraid. I’m scared I’m gonna lose you ‘cause I don’t know how to fix this. I’ve never seen you want something so bad. I’ve seen the pictures you left in the blue room.” He stole a glance at her. “The baby pictures from magazines, right?”

  She nodded as she squeezed the stuffed animal in her lap. A tear traced a path down her cheek.

  “And you gave them all names?”

  Sherrie nodded again. “And I pray scriptures for them. They represent our children, Drake.”

  “I know, baby but after the complications during the second pregnancy I didn’t want to try again.” He dried her face with his palm. “I’ve never been so scared, Sherrie. I kept telling God that I didn’t know what I would do if I lost you.” He shook his head slowly. “During the drive up, I realized something.”

  She watched as his eyes clouded with emotion and something in her heart shifted.

  “I realized that I’d already lost you, babe. Lost to the obsession of getting pregnant. Giving birth to a baby, you carried full term was all you could think of, despite the fact that our last doctor said you could die.”

  Drake blinked, and the tears fell. Sherrie bit her lip.

  “Sherrie, I don’t need a baby that badly. If I lost you ... oh, baby, I don’t know what I’d do.”

  He pulled her up into his strong embrace. Her body rocked with his quiet sobs. “I love you, Sherrie.”

  “I love you too, Drake,” she said, sniffling.

  “Like I was trying to tell you this morning, I’ve been thinking and praying about adoption a lot lately,,” Drake told her, his words spoken into her hair. “To me, being a parent isn’t about the child having my DNA or even my skin color. It would be nice if he or she had a little chocolate in their skin.” Drake chuckled. “This isn’t about me or you, this is about a baby who needs our help. If I do it by myself, I’ma mess things up. I just know it. So, I need you to be on board with this plan.”

  Sherrie pushed back from his chest and dried her face. “Thank you, honey.” Her voice came out in a weak whisper. Did he hear what she said?

  “Sure thing,” he said and sealed it with a kiss. “I want you to promise me that you’ll keep going to the therapist and stop the aggressive fertility treatments. You don’t need all those drugs in your system. Your mental and physical well-being is important to me.”

  She nodded. Strength flooded every cell of her body, knowing he was with her now.

  Drake’s face brightened a little. “I think I know why you stopped participating in our old Sunday School class.”

  “What are you talking about? I’ve been going just about every Sunday.”

  “Yeah, you’re there, but you’re usually helping with the marketing team behind the scenes on social media or something like that. Working in the background, so you don’t have to deal with all the other twenty-something-year-old’s who are expecting and Sister Smith always trying to anoint you with healing oil. Am I right?”

  Sherrie closed her eyes and whispered, “yes.” Her husband had noticed more than she thought. They meant well. She knew that, but it was hard to take every single Sunday. Laying hands on her abdomen. Praying for her womb. She hated seeing the pity in their eyes.

  “Poor Sherrie,” she’d heard them say.

  “We’ve started a prayer chain for you, Sister Sherrie.”

  “I’m fasting and praying for your barrenness, sister.”

  “The Lord is working this out for your good. Just wait and see.”

  Crying harder, Sherrie pressed closer to Drake. “Thank you.”

  He kissed the top of her head. “You’re welcome.”

  She closed her eyes and listened to his heartbeat. He had shared so much, and for a change, she had listened.

  “Hello, you two.”

  Sherrie and Drake turned toward Fiona’s voice. Edmund stood behind her.

  “Sorry to interrupt your private moment,” Edmund said. He peered around them into the playpen.

  The baby was asleep on his back. His round belly rose and fell slowly.

  Fiona stepped away from the canopy and beaconed for the others to follow her. She spoke in hushed tones. “We are forever indebted to you, dear ones.”

  Edmund nodded in agreement with his wife. “Love, I think we’ve been part of a miracle. To have met such a lovely couple whom Ian adores.”

  “A miracle?” Drake asked.

  “Trust me,” Edmund said. “Ian Lewis is a picky little tyke. He rarely goes to anyone without making a big fuss. Including my own mum. You, my dear woman, were a lifesaver. For that little boy and his mother, and for us.” He pulled his wife into a side hug. “We will never forget the part you played in this tiny miracle today. Thank you.”

  Drake smiled. “You’re welcome.”

  “We’d better get going, Fiona love,” Edmund said. “I hate to wake our little prince, but we were originally planning to be back in Durham this morning but decided to take an extra day of fun in the sun.”

  “You live in Durham too? Small world.” Sherrie cast a glance at her husband.

  “Small world, indeed,” Fiona said. “Edmund and I both work at Duke Med. Started about a year ago but I took a few months off when we adopted this little guy. To be honest, when I first saw how Ian took to Drake I thought that he was an angel.”

  Adopted?

  The word threw Sherrie for a loop. Drake nudged his wife.

  A soft gasp escaped Sherrie’s lips. She’d been wrong about Fiona. “Ian’s adopted? He looks so much like you.”

  “People tell us that all the time,” Fiona volunteered.

  Behind them, Ian whimpered. Fiona took a step in his direction.

  Edmund stopped her. “I’ll see to him, love. Probably hungry or lost his binky again. No worries. You continue to visit with Sherrie.”

  “Edmund,” Drake offered. “While you do that, I can help pack up the canopy.”

  With the men gone, Sherrie felt freer to continue her conversation with Fiona. “Drake and I were just talking about adoption. We’ve been having trouble...”

  Fiona looked Sherrie in the eye. “I’ve been where you are. Yearning to have a little one. Feeling ashamed and lonely and tired and empty. Every single day. I’ve got the hips for it, as they say, but I couldn’t carry a child to term.”