Chapter 11

Through the middle of the week, the relationship between Darren and his son’s nanny had gotten to its coldest since she started the job. Aside from updates on Gabriel’s days, their evening chats were rather short. Darren was a bit reluctant to join her out on the terrace when he found her sitting out there with Gabriel; Sherry would often put Gabriel to bed in the evenings just as she heard Darren coming into the house. It became a regular occurrence for her to look down the staircase and listen to the man move around downstairs. She would then pull herself away retreat to her room.

Friday evening came sooner for Darren than he thought. He finished up a meeting with the property management firm around 5 o’clock then came straight home. Upon arriving, he found Sherry sitting in the old maid’s quarters off the side of the dining room. She rocked Gabriel gently, rubbing his head. She then mentioned to Darren that he’d just been burping.

Darren smiled, wanting to say so much to Sherry, but knew he needed to go about it the right way. He pulled a small chair from the corner and sat down next to Sherry. After several moments of silence, with the words “I feel like he’s mine” echoing in his mind still, Darren cleared his throat. “So, where did you give your son up for adoption? I wasn’t on that end, so I don’t really know about this, but can you look him up since he’s only still a baby? Do you even know if he’s been adopted yet? He could still be, you know, in one of those homes waiting or whatever.”

Sherry sighed, leaning over to bless Gabriel’s head with a motherly kiss. She then looked at Darren. “Well, I can’t be sure. I don’t remember exactly what the case worker said at this point, but I think it would be extremely difficult for them to unseal the records...at least for my reasoning, since it’s not a criminal case. Look,” she glanced down at Gabriel’s head, “I wanted to ask you did you adopt Gabriel in Chicago or when you got here?”

“When I got...” Darren said, his words trailing off. His face was flushed with confusion. He sighed, trying to process it all. Gabriel slept so peacefully in Sherry’s arms. “What are you trying to say, Sherry? Really, what are you trying to say?”

A tear strolled down the side of Sherry’s face. “I think...” She leaned forward, not being able to push the words out. “I think this beautiful child might be the child I gave up for adoption, Darren.” She sobbed briefly. “Sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I can’t be sure, of course, but there’s something about this kid. And he’s the same age as my baby boy would be by now.” She turned toward the window, looking out at a street light. “I could be his mother and I can’t even say for sure if I am or not. That’s sad… It really shouldn’t be that way.”

Darren’s shook his head as he stood up then turned toward the bookcase. “How old was the child you had when you gave him up for adoption?”

Sherry sniffled. “Three days old.” Her head dropped. “My life was messed up and I walked into a adoption agency and just handed him over. I mean...really. I just handed him over. How could I do that?” She looked down into Gabriel’s precious face then turned toward Darren. “I really think he is the little boy I gave birth too.”
Darren looked at Gabriel. He saw things in his son’s face he hadn’t seen before. Reminiscing through the family photo albums and looking at his baby pictures was still fresh on his mind. Just like his mother and Aunt Carol said, baby Gabriel did indeed look like Darren. Quickly, the confused men approached Sherry. She stood up, cradling Gabriel in her arms.

“It’s okay, Sherry,” Darren said, hugging her. “Really, it’s okay. We can have paternity and maternity tests done to find out. Come on, let’s go put Gabriel up in his crib then we can talk about it.”

Sherry agreed then the two of them headed upstairs. Once Gabriel had been softly set back down in his crib, Sherry turned around and faced Darren. He wrapped his arm around her neck and pulled her closer, kissing the side of her head as she sobbed into his chest. Darren pulled his eyes away from the window and looked down into the crib. Could Gabriel really be my son? He then glanced down at Sherry’s head. And she’s the first woman I really ever loved.

When Sherry finally pulled her face away from Darren’s, she thanked him then turned around and looked into the crib. Darren’s arms were still wrapped around her mid-section. His holding her so closely made her feel safe at a time when she felt so vulnerable. Processing the events of her life in recent months, she didn’t think she’d feel so right after divulging everything. Then again, she sure as hell didn’t think she would coincidentally becoming the nanny to a baby boy that may very well be her own son.

“Since I started this job, there’s been something about this baby, Darren,” Sherry confessed.

Darren sighed, a light chuckle slipping up out of his throat. “Since you started this job, there’s been something about you.”

Sherry turned around to face Darren. “What do you mean?” She forced a smile, finally getting her emotions together. “Huh?”

Darren smiled and grabbed Sherry’s hand. “I mean the reason I hired you is because of the way you held Gabriel and cared for him from the very beginning. Ever since then, I’ve been watching you and it looks so natural...you treated him like a mother would treat their child, even though as far as I knew, you didn’t have one.”

Sherry chuckled. “Oh,” she said, smiling. “I only took care of him for three days, not to say it wasn’t an experience during those three days, but still...”

“Yeah, I’m sure,” Darren said. “Then there was you.” He pushed some of her hair behind her ear. “Everything about you...a lot of the stuff I saw when you at the bar that night. The coincidence of it all, really, was probably what made me look a little closer. I’m looking int your eyes and then Gabriel's. My mother and Aunt Carol were right?”

“Your mother and aunt were right about what?” Sherry’s heart thumped. “You didn’t tell them how you originally met me, did you? I only met your mother that one time, but I can see how she would react already.”

Darren laughed. “No, no. She and Aunt Carol mentioned to me how much Gabriel looked like you.” Darren decided to leave his mother’s foreshadowing words out of the discussion. “At first, I didn’t see it. It was just odd they would say the baby looks like you then me.”

Sherry cried a bit more, stepping up to the crib. She reached in and pulled some blankets over Gabriel's tiny body. “The more I think about it, Darren, I feel like it’s my child. I really feel like this my little boy.”

Darren had never cared about a woman’s emotions and feelings the way he cared about Sherry’s right then. He felt his own heart breaking at just listening to and witnessing Sherry’s strife, even if it was well over a year after she gave the child up for adoption. He stepped forward and put his hands on her shoulder while her head dropped and she cried. “We will find out, Sherry. And I hope...” He paused and smiled, thinking about the great conversation he had with Sherry – how he loved to spend time with her, their competitiveness in cooking, their nights sitting out on the terrace. “I hope Gabriel is yours...ours.”