The Conspiracy of Baby-Switching novel Chapter 92

Slumberland drags me back under.

The sun is just setting over the park outside my hospital window. A gentle knock sounds at the door and Gabriel gets up and answers it. "Hello, yes.

She's hungry."

He stands to the side and the lady wheels in the dinner trolley. "Dinnertime." She smiles.

I sit up, excited, and Gabriel wheels the table over the bed to sit in front of me.

"We have chicken soup, followed by meat loaf and vegetables, and a bread roll." She places it all down in front of me. "And fruit salad for dessert."

Gabriel looks over the food suspiciously. "Can she have something else other than meat loaf?"

"That's the only option."

"Hmm," he replies, unimpressed.

"Meat loaf is fine." I widen my eyes at him. Stop.

"Would you like water, or lemonade?"

"Lemonade."

"We'll take some waters too." Gabriel gives me the side eye.

She loads it onto the tray and leaves us alone. Gabriel takes the lid off my meal and gets my knife and fork ready.

"You know, you can go home. You don't need to babysit me."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

"How you going to cut up that horse meat loaf with one hand?"

I stare down at the meat loaf. "Horse?"

"It's dubious for certain." He leans over me and cuts up my food. "How you going to take the lid off your water?" He unscrews the bottle of water and pours it into the glass.

"I've never felt so useless." I sigh.

"Hmm," he says, uninterested. "I feel like you've been a lot more useless than this before."

"When?"

"When you used to work for me."

"Are you kidding me?"

His eyes dance with mischief. "See...if I wasn't here, who would annoy you?"

I twist my lips to hide my smile and I take a big bite of my meat loaf. "Appaloosa or stallion?" he asks.

"You're gross, you know that?"

A knock sounds at the door and Gabriel ducks around the curtain to answer it, he blocks the view so I can't see.

"Hello," a man's voice says.

Jack.

"What are you doing here?" Gabriel replies flatly.

"I came to see Violet."

"She's not accepting visitors."

"I don't think that's up to you."

"I'll tell her you came by."

"Is she okay?"

"She will be."

"You're really not going to let me in to see her?"

"No, I'm not. Goodbye, Jack." He closes the door in his face and then comes back in and sits down, totally unfazed.

"And..." Gabriel glares at my mother. "I'm not sure if you realize how children are conceived."

"Listen, you two..." I sigh, they're both getting wound up.

"I just don't think it's a good idea." My mom keeps going.

To be honest, I'm not actually sure I could deal with my mom living with me for a few weeks...and Dad has to work.

"I can assure you that I'm more than capable of caring for Violet,"

Gabriel snaps. "I will reorganize my schedule and work from here." "I think this is a family matter," my dad says.

"Exactly, and I'm Violet's direct family. Our two children need both their mother and father," he snaps. "I can carry her up and down the stairs to her bedroom. You can't."

"No," my mom interrupts.

"I'm right here, you know." I snap. "Maybe someone could consult me?"

"Violet. Tell your parents that I'm staying with you until you're better."

It is true, Mom can't carry me up and down the stairs...maybe I could sleep on the couch.

Gabriel raises an impatient eyebrow in a silent warning.

Fine...

"Gabriel will stay with me, Mom, it's okay, thanks for the offer, though." "Are you sure?" Not really.

Five days later.

Knock, knock.

"Come in," I call.

The door bangs open and Gabriel and the kids all smile broadly. Gabriel is pushing an empty wheelchair and the two kids are bouncing on the spot.

It's been the longest nine days of my life. "Let's go home."