Daddy Devastating by Delores Fossen Page A

her. “She’s awake.”
    When Julia reached the crib, she saw those big brown eyes staring up at her. The baby looked first at Julia, then at Russ.
    “Hi, princess,” Russ said, before Julia could say anything.
    But he didn’t stop with just a greeting. Russ reached down into the crib and picked her up. He didn’t hesitate, and he didn’t say something clichéd about being afraid she’d break. He eased Emily right into his arms, cradling her protectively against him, and he rocked her as if he’d done this a thousand times.
    “What?” he said, defensively, when he glanced at Julia, who was staring at him.
    She had several questions she was trying to ask at once. “Do you have children of your own?”
    “No. And I’m not married, either. Never have been. But I love kids. Always have.”
    Obviously. “This isn’t your first time holding a baby, is it?”
    “Hardly. Most of my coworkers and friends have kids. I’m godfather to three of them. All boys.” He leaned down and gently kissed Emily’s forehead. “What about you? Do you have much experience with kids?”
    “Plenty,” she lied. Truth was, Emily was the first and only baby she’d ever held.
    He chuckled when Emily puckered her lips. “I rescued a little boy not much older than her just three months ago, and I held him for hours before we could get him back to his parents. He was a cute kid all right, but nothing like the little angel here.”
    Rescued? So, the stolen baby wasn’t his first. She supposed that made Russ a hero of sorts. And he certainly seemed to be a natural with Emily.
    My God. She could actually lose custody of Emily to him. Yes, she had more money than Russ. Well, maybe. But she had also been in therapy for twelve years. She had panic attacks. And the final blow—Lissa hadn’t asked her to raise Emily. She’d wanted Julia to merely be the locator, and Lissa had murmured that dying wish in front of several members of the medical staff and a cop.
    None of that would be in Julia’s favor.
    Still, she had to fight; and her first step was to put some distance between Russ and her. Between Russ and Emily. Out of sight, out of mind might help him realize that he didn’t want to give up his undercover life after all.
    “You’re breathing fast again,” Russ pointed out. But he didn’t look at Julia when he spoke. He kept his attention on Emily and made cooing sounds. Cooing!
    “I was thinking about Lissa,” Julia mumbled, and forced herself to breathe normally.
    “You were close to her?” He didn’t wait for an answer, as he announced “The angel just smiled.”
    Julia looked at the baby, who did indeed seem to have the right corner of her mouth lifted into a pseudo-smile. Her first. And she’d smiled for Russ, not for her.
    “Lissa and I weren’t close,” Julia admitted. “But we used to be.”
    “Before the attack,” Russ added when she didn’t say more.
    A cooing hero with ESP. Great. This wouldn’t be a custody battle, it would be a custody war.
    “Yes,” she finally answered. “It was Lissa who set me up with the guy who stabbed me. He was a friend of hers.” A friend from the wrong side of town, her parents had said. Lissa had been from the wrong part, too. That’s what had drawn Julia to her. And look how that had turned out.
    Russ pulled his attention from Emily and looked at her. “You blame Lissa for what happened to you?”
    “No. But she blamed herself. We weren’t close after that, and I was too broken to try to mend things between us.” Uncomfortable with yet another personal wound that she hadn’t intended to reveal, she reached out and took Emily. “It’s probably time for a diaper change.”
    Now, that should send Russ running, Julia thought. But it didn’t. “I can do it,” he said, when Julia placed the baby in the crib. “With my godsons, diapering can be a challenge. I’ve gotten hosed down more than once.”
    He reached into the bag next to the crib and pulled out the wipes