REUNION.

"Yes." She exhaled, exhausted. "I wanted to write you each a letter, but instead I wrote three."

"Three?"

"One for you, one for all the kids, and one for our firstborn, in case he ever finds you, John." She paused. "After I'm gone, I mean. That way-"

"Elizabeth..." He wanted to tell her not to talk like that; she could tell by the tight way his lips stayed frozen, partially open. But the fight left him almost as quickly. "Go ahead." He pulled a nearby chair closer to the bed. "I'm sorry; I shouldn't have interrupted you."

He took her hand again, and she ran her thumb over his fingers. 'That's okay.

I'm sorry, John." Her heart ached for what he was going through, what they were all going through. "I hate talking about being gone from you; I'm not afraid to die, but I can't imagine a week without you, let alone years and decades. But still..."

"You have to talk about it." He dug his fingers into his hair and when he looked up, there was a weariness in his eyes. A weariness Elizabeth had never seen before.

"You're right; I have to talk about it." She inched a bit closer to the rails at the side of the bed. 'Anyway, have them play my favorite hymn at the service, please, John."

"'Great Is Thy Faithfulness?" He was trembling, but his eyes were dry.

'Definitely."

"Okay. I'll make sure."

"John." She looked at him and felt her expression soften. "You know something?"

'What?" His voice was tender, his eyes deep into hers.

"I don't think I've ever loved you more than I do right now."

His eyes grew damp and he blinked three times. "What else, honey? What about the letters?"

"Right." Elizabeth tried not to feel lost in his eyes so she could focus. It was harder with the medication. "After my service, have 323 kingsbury smalley everyone come to the house. You can read their letter to them then. I say something for everyone, but a lot.., a lot of what I wanted to say was meant for everyone to hear. That's why I stuck to one bigger letter."

"And you want me to read it out loud?"

"Yes. And make sure they each get a copy, please, John."

"I will." He was on his feet again. The bed rail was raised like a prison wall between them. He released a latch and it fell down below the bed. "There." He brushed his nose against hers, and with careful hands he hugged her for a long time. "What else, Elizabeth? I'd do anything for you."

"Hold me, John. That's all. Just hold me." Her voice was a whisper, full of equal parts passion and pain. Not the sort of pain that had sent her to her bedroom before Ashley's wedding. The kind that came from seeing the look in his eyes, from hearing his voice. A pain that knew the hour for goodbyes was drawing near, pain that meant her heart was breaking in two.

After ten or fifteen minutes, he stood and looked at her, his eyes full of questions. "Do you think ... do you have a sense about when?"

She kept her eyes locked on his and gave a slow, sad nod. "Soon." A single tear slid from her left eye and down the bridge of her nose. "Could you do me one more favor?"

"Anything."

"Get the kids for me. Every one of them. Please, John."

It was a reunion, exactly the way she'd pictured it.

Only instead of lying on the beach or even picnicking on their front yard back at home, they were here, in the hospital. All Friday evening and again now that it was Saturday, the hospital staff had allowed them to pack out the entire room. Elizabeth didn't have a roommate, so the conditions were crowded but manageable.

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REUNION.

She'd already asked to go home, and they were saying maybe Sunday afternoon. The bottom line was exactly what Dr. Steinman had told her from the beginning. They could do nothing for her, nothing but keep her hydrated and on constant pain meds. Since she'd agreed to take special protein drinks and take the pain pills at home, Dr. Steinman was more than willing to let her go home.

"If I had a family like yours, I wouldn't want to be any other place."

He was right, especially now, with her family still here. But until she could go home the hospital room would do. Even now, propped up on half a dozen pillows, with John sitting by her side holding her hand, Elizabeth was taking in every moment of her time with them. Kari and Ryan and Brooke and Peter were talking about the fact that Jessie's adoption had gone through. After Kari's first husband was murdered, Ryan had married her and promised he'd adopt Jessie. The process had taken longer than he'd expected, but she was legally his now.

"And we have this little one." Kari patted her rounded tummy. Ryan gave her a light tap and put his face near her midsection. "Hello, in there. You're my little linebacker, right, baby? Enough pretty girls running the place, right?"

They all laughed and Elizabeth shifted her attention to Erin and Sam and Reagan, sitting together with the babies. Tommy was toddling about Reagan's knees, and Erin was saying, "... so then the pastor at our church tells us there's a woman in the congregation whose daughter is pregnant with a baby she doesn't want, and..."

Elizabeth looked to the other side of the room where Luke and Ashley and Landon sat near Hayley in her wheelchair. Cole and. Maddie were on the floor coloring with Clarisse and Chloe. Every now and then Cole would lift the coloring book up so Hayley could see. "Like it, Hayley? I'm coloring it for you." And she would coo a little louder, happier than before. Landon was saying, "She was crazy, remember? Thinking 325.

k in g s b u r y s m a l e y somehow Reagan's baby was mine? A little wacko if you ask me."

"Stop!" Ashley giggled. She had a new glow since she'd married Landon, a peace and serenity that hadn't been there before, but a deep sense of happiness that only true love could bring. She gave Landon a mock punch in the arm. "I only thought it for a minute or two."

Landon raised his eyebrows at her.

"Okay." She gave Luke the punch this time. 'Maybe an hour at the most. It was jet lag, I tell you. Or maybe too many paint fumes."

"You were painting a lot back then." Luke tilted his head. "You have to keep painting, Ash. You're too good."

"What's this? This coming from my doubting little brother, the one who once watched me sketch a tree and thought it was a Russian building?"

Luke held his hands up, bringing them together in a strange shape. He cocked his head one way and then the other, as if he were trying to figure out what it was.

He looked at Landon and shrugged. "I'm still not sure; it had the exact look of one of those government buildings you see in those Russian photographs." "It was a tree!"

Ashley nudged him and they both laughed. Elizabeth felt the corners of her mouth lift. All her life she'd loved music: classical, country, slow songs, and movie sound tracks. But here, under the fluorescent lights of a hospital room, the blended sounds of their voices was the most beautiful song she'd ever heard.

John leaned sideways so she could hear him. "You're liking this, aren't you?"

"I am." She yawned. I could listen to them all day/'

He ran his fingers through her short hair. She no longer wore the beret. They'd all seen her patchy hair, anyway. "Maybe it's time you get a little rest. You'll need your energy if you're going to come home tomorrow."

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"Not yet." She drew in a breath, The rattle in her chest had gotten so loud it stopped the conversations near her.

"How are you feeling, Mom?" Kari stood and stretched. "I saw you smiling."

The kids played off to the side, but everyone else was quiet, listening for her answer. "I was smiling at all of you." She let her eyes meet each of those in the room. "Listening to you talk about the past, laughing together. This was why I wanted a reunion in the first place. I could sit here all night watching you visit, hearing your stories."

Luke seemed to catch a signal from John. It was five o'clock and none of them had eaten yet. "You know, I was thinking we ought to head out for something to eat, maybe let the kids run around the park across the street for a little while and get them situated with the sitters before we come back."

Pastor Mark had arranged for three young women from church to be at the Baxter house by seven o'clock so the children could get to bed. There were nine in all, and with Hayley's special needs, Elizabeth figured it would take at least that many sitters.

She looked at John. He was serious about her getting some rest, and if it was just for a few hours, she could manage the separation. "I guess I could take a nap. But you'll all come back?"

"Of course, Mom." Erin sauntered over and took hold of her foot sticking up under the hospital blankets. "It's a good time to take a break."

The kids each came by, Cole and Maddie taking turns scrambling onto the bed and snuggling with her for a minute or two. Kari helped Jessie, who was not quite big enough to climb up, and next Luke held Tommy up so she could kiss his cheek.

The babies were being rocked by Sam and Erin, and Clarisse and Chloe were still fairly shy. They wrigglecl their fingers at her and gave her timid smiles.

Elizabeth watched them go and looked at John. She could only imagine the lives those girls had led before coming to live 327.

kingsbury smalley with Erin and Sam. How blessed that they might get four daughters in as many weeks. How sad that the girls would never know her well enough to jump up next to her like the other kids.

When everyone else was gone, John bent low and touched his lips against hers.

"Have them call me if you need anything."

"I will." She understood what he meant if something went wrong, if she took a turn for the worse, he wanted to be there. It was all he could do to leave even for a few minutes. Two or thre hours? He never would've gone if it weren't for the kids. "John, do you see it?"

"See what?" Another bit of worry splashed across his expression. "How special this reunion is. None of them will ever forget it." He straightened, but his shoulders stayed slumped. "You're right; it's very special."

After he was gone, she closed her eyes. John was right. She was exhausted; a nap would do her good. Before she fell asleep, she thanked God for every good thing he'd done for them that past week.

There's just one more thing, Lord. I've asked before, but you and I both know my time is running out. Right now, right this minute you know where he is, the boy I gave up. If he's close by or far away, you see him. God, how much I'd love to talk to him just once before I die, to tell him we never forgot about him.

She blinked and looked out the window. A robin lighted on the windowsill, cocked its head, and peered into the room. Then it hopped twice and flew away.

Elizabeth closed her eyes again. That's all I want, Lord. A quick visit like that robin just now. I know it looks crazy and impossible, but you're the God of impossibilities. That's how come Ashley has a wedding ring on her finger. 5o please, God, if it be your will, lead him here. And if not, let him.find the others after I'm gone.

Sleep took her then, deep and restful, and she dreamed about the reunion, about all of her family-every single one-together in one place. Together, the way she liked them best.

328.

329.

Air travel had never been slower.

Dayne was used to placing a call with the charter jet company and having a Gulfstream meet him within a few hours. He had a standing contract with them, and always they'd been reliable-whether his assistant gave them two days or two hours to line up a plane. But this weekend the entire fleet was booked so Dayne had to resort to a public airline.

Now that he knew the information, that his birth mother was Elizabeth Baxter and that she was dying of cancer in Bloomington, Indiana, hospital, Dayne couldn't wait to get there But his six o'clock flight out of British Columbia had been delayed, because of a thunderstorm, causing him to miss his connection in Los Angeles.

His only option was to spend the night in L.A. and take a flight to Indianapolis the next morning. He walked to a hotel across the street, registered under a false name, and was back at the airline at five Saturday morning for the six-thirty flight. The whole time he wore his baseball cap and sunglasses to avoid being recognized.

330.

REUNION.

It was a good thing. He was so focused on getting to Bloomington, he wouldn't have been able to sign his name without checking his watch.

The nonstop flight from Los Angeles was delayed because of storms in Indiana, but the plane finally took off at nine and ar rived at two in Indianapolis.

Thirty minutes after landing he was at the car-rental lot, and by three-fifteen was pulling out of the lot in an SUV.

No question the people at the car-rental agency recognized him. But that was okay. They took his information, but let him register under a different name. He had a brand-new CheW Tahoe with dark tinted windows, OnStar, and a navigational system at no extra charge. He had hoped to arrive at the hospital by four o'clock, and even after the ground delays by no later than four-thirty. But an overturned semitruck on the main highway caused a delay, and he didn't pull into the hospital parking lot until just before five.

He chose a spot near the back, away from passersby. Not until he turned off the engine did it hit him.

Okay, so he was here. Now what?

Dayne stared hard at the building. Inside was his birth mother, dying of cancer, probably with all the other Baxters gathered around her. All he'd known when he took the call from his agent was that he had to come, had to find a way to see her, to meet her before she died.

But now that he was here, in the fading sunlight of a warm July evening, the logistics seemed suddenly outrageous. What was he going to do, walk through the door and introduce him self? Maybe she didn't want to see him, didn't want him to find her. Especially now.

He let that thought sit for a minute.

No, that wasn't the case. She wanted to meet him; otherwise she wouldn't have tried to find him back in the 1990s. The trou ble was with his siblings. If the PI was right, the five of them 331.

k i n g s b u r y s m a I I e y were biologically related to him, but not one of them knew he existed.

He tried to think back to his discussion with the attorney,Joe Morris, before he left Manhattan last time. What had the guy said? Luke Baxter was off for the summer because he had some family matters to take care of. His mother was sick, yes, but something else.

Then it hit him. Luke's sister was getting married; wasn't that it? Dayne gripped the steering wheel. Yes, absolutely. That's what it was.

A big group of people, adults and children, came through the double doors of the hospital and stood in a cluster, talking and keeping track of their little ones.

Dayne pushed a lever near the base of his seat and moved into a reclining position. He couldn't afford to be noticed. Bloomington was a small town; if he attracted a crowd he would never be able to make it up to see his birth mother.

The visit would raise too many questions, and the tabloids would find a way to splash it across the headlines.

His thoughts returned to his siblings. If they were gathered together for a wedding, and at the same time facing the loss of their mother, then no doubt they had enough on their plates. Besides...

Dayne sucked in a hard breath and filled his cheeks with the air. Besides, his birth parents had chosen not to tell them. What right did he have to tell them now? And what good could ever come from it?

They lived in Small Town, America. Bloomington was nothing more than a quaint college town where everyone probably knew everyone else. If he connected with these people now, their lives would forever be in the limelight. The paparaz7i would spout about "Dayne's sister this...' or 'Dayne's nephew that.. ' Whatever lifestyle they knew and loved now would be changed forever if he entered the picture.p> The large group milled into the parking lot and headed to 332 REUNION.

ward him. He lowered his seat back farther, but only enough so they wouldn't see him. It was an attractive group, several cou ples and- He sat up a few inches.

One of the guys was Luke Baxter-no doubt about it! After spending months thinking about the guy, he would've recog nized him anywhere. The group was moving slowly, talking, still heading his way.

And suddenly Dayne felt his heart rise to his throat.

There, walking toward him, was the family he'd never known. Luke and his wife and a baby, four other couples-obviously his sisters and their husbands. And more kids than he could count. At the center was a tall man in his late fifties, early sixties. A man with his own stance and shoulders and gait.