Family Found. Bonnie Winn K.

she had brought home to work on.

      Her house looked shuttered as they headed up the sidewalk. Mrs. Plummer was at her place, her cold now a full-fledged case of the flu. Although Mitch suspected Mrs. Plummer hadn’t really been sick the first day Laura had brought Alex along, now the woman was genuinely ill. He also suspected she had become ill from stress. She seemed to think that Laura was deliberately keeping little Alex from her.

      Mitch admitted he’d lost the battle with Laura. He had tangled with his share of determined women in the past, but none to equal an obstinate, protective mother.

      Alex snuggled closer in his arms and Mitch felt a now-familiar twitch that he’d been ignoring. It was the same twitch he felt when Alex smiled, chortled or reached up chubby arms to him. But then, the kid was a charmer, he acknowledged. And it wasn’t as though he himself was a dog-kicking, baby-hating hardhead.

      “It’s been a long day,” Laura was saying. “I can’t promise one of Mrs. Plummer’s home-cooked meals, but why don’t you stay for dinner. We can order Chinese.” She grinned, a flash of pearly teeth in the near dark. “Alex loves the fortune cookies.”

      “Szechuan?” Mitch bargained, not particularly eager to return to an empty apartment or equally unappealing office.

      “Why not? I live for adventure.”

      Mitch smiled, even though Laura had turned away. He knew why she was especially cheerful. While researching the hospital records for births in Galveston they had stumbled onto a partial list of attending physicians. It was an unexpected bonus, since finding this information was unusual.

      Mitch had cautioned Laura to not be too optimistic. The list wasn’t complete and so many years had passed. Memories might be faulty; some of the doctors might be deceased or unable to be located. Yet secretly he was very pleased at even this minor breakthrough.

      Laura flipped on lights as they entered the house. “I have a menu from a pretty good Chinese place,” she remarked. “The food’s great, and even better, they’re fast.”

      “Mmm. I think Alex is waking up. What should I do with him?”