What is Mine ~ 4 months later ~ Doctor Jack Whelan eased the nose of his silver Jaguar into the sprawling driveway of his brand new Sacramento home. Located right in the middle of the ‘Fabulous 40s' - an exclusive and wealthy Sacramento area - the surgeon's impressive new mansion was the talk of his colleagues. Further up the driveway Jack spotted his wife and son. Cassie and Little Robby were chattering away at one another and had not yet noticed his presence. The amused surgeon briefly blew the car's horn, getting the duo's immediate attention. They waved happily at Jack and awaited his approach. “Hello, little man,” Jack greeted his son as he pulled up beside them. “Do you want to drive the car up to the house?” “I can't,” Robby replied. He lifted his small hands for his father to see. They were tightly clasped around several letters and flyers. “I hava carry mail for Mama.” Cassie ruffled her son's dark hair. “It's all right, Robby. You and Daddy can take the mail up to the house and I will meet you there.” Jack restrained a smile at the way his son's eyes lit up at the thought of ‘driving' his father's shiny car. The doctor opened his door and accepted the mail from the little boy before pulling him onto his lap. “We will wait for you at the top of the drive,” Jack told his wife. With hands that barely encircled the steering wheel, Robby guided the car shakily up the driveway. Jack's foot was not on the accelerator, so the car crept slowly toward the house. “I was good, Daddy!” the little boy praised himself when they finally reached the top of the driveway. “Of course you were. You're my boy!” Jack parked the car. He opened his briefcase and withdrew a plain white notepad and an official looking gray envelope. “This is for you to write on later,” he pointed to the notepad, “and the letter is for Mommy. Here she comes. You can go and give it to her.” The letter was from Children's Services via the crooked lawyer who had arranged for Robby's illegal adoption. The California Department of Adoptions was officially informing the Whelans that in thirty days the little boy's adoption would become legal and binding. Jack watched his son's small legs take him the short distance to his mother. Once safely there, he did not watch to see Robby hand Cassie the letter. He did not have to. His wife's ecstatic outcry reached him where he stood. Smiling broadly, Jack closed his briefcase and began to gather the bits of mail the little boy had handed him. He froze as the address on the corner of one particular letter caught his eye. It was from the nuns in New York, informing him that they were preparing to travel to Europe and that he and Cassie were invited to come along. Jack snatched the letter and thrust it into his briefcase. He would feed it into the paper shredder as soon as he was alone. And he would contact the nuns and have their names removed from the organization's list. But for now, he would just be grateful for the bullet he had dodged with Cassie |