Chapter One
If she disappeared, would anyone notice? Would she matter to anyone ever again? A mother’s love was the strongest power in the world.
Who was a person without a family? At twenty-seven, Bailey still felt like a child who belonged to her mother and her family. Now, her mother—both her parents—were gone, and she wasn’t sure who she was without them.
After lying on her mother’s bed for a solid ten minutes, she opened her eyes and focused them on the large trunk in the corner of the room. Her grandmother’s steamer trunk had always been in her mother’s bedroom, but she didn’t remember ever seeing it open.
She crept off the bed and wandered toward it, gliding her hand over the fluffy quilt that sat on top, the stitching as fine and tight as the day her mother had finished it. She lifted and hugged the quilt before resting it on the bed. Then she flipped the old latches on the trunk until they popped, and the lid lifted from the release of pressure. With a creaking noise, it gave way as Bailey raised it slowly.
Two more handmade quilts sat cramped inside. She picked them up, inhaling the scent of cedar before she laid them on the floor next to the trunk. She looked inside, surprised to see a baby book in the center of the stacks of photo albums and scrapbooks.
She pulled it out and paged through it, getting glimpses of her own face as a baby. She couldn’t wait to spend some time reading the notes her mother had so carefully written inside. She thought she knew every nook and cranny of this house, but she’d never seen this book before.
One by one, she lifted the books out and stacked them next to the trunk in a neat pile. The last and largest scrapbook, with its wood panel cover and threadbare binding along the spine, looked older than her. She placed the scrapbook in her lap as she rested against the trunk, before lifting the old, wooden cover.
The first page was a newspaper clipping dated a few weeks after she was born.
Baby found by local couple dubbed ‘Baby Bailey.’
A tingle traveled down her spine as her back went erect. Then her eyes rested on the text below the headline.
Appleton, WI – At approximately 9:00 p.m. on Sunday, Ernie Morton went outside to check on a noise in his side yard. “I thought it might be some neighborhood kids. You know, sometimes they come prowling around looking for trouble. They’ve smashed my aluminum cans, knocked down a portion of my back fence, and trampled my wife’s garden there in the side yard. I planned to chase them off,” Mr. Morton said.
But when 31-year-old Morton unwrapped the bundle resting between a Juniper bush and a garbage can in his side yard bordering Bailey Drive, he couldn’t believe his eyes.
Inside the bundle of blankets was a tiny baby girl, wide-eyed and alert. “I yelled at my wife to call the police, then I just picked her up and took her inside.”
Officer Harper, of the Appleton Police Department, said the infant, dubbed “Baby Bailey,” appeared to have been well cared for. This led police to believe the mother might have a change of heart and return to claim the baby.
“If it weren’t for the Mortons, she would have frozen to death in a matter of hours,” said Officer Harper, who seemed a little shaken at the heartless act of abandonment.
Paramedics transported Baby Bailey to the emergency room, which reported her as perfectly healthy. Doctors determined her to be about six weeks old.
Police are investigating the crime. So far, they have no new information, but they hope to have something to report within the next couple of days.
Neighbors said they were shocked by the news.
"I can't believe someone would do something like this," said Jeanette Roberts, who lives nearby on Mulberry St. "I'm just shocked. There are so many people who want families."
The Mortons said they want to adopt the little one. “It was fate,” Mrs. Morton later told reporters.
If anyone has any information about the baby, they’re asked to call the Appleton Police Department.
Bailey’s breath caught in her throat. She lifted her hand to her mouth, still staring at the article. When a hand clamped on her shoulder, she bolted to her feet, dropping the scrapbook on the hardwood floor with a smack.
“Why didn’t you answer the door?” Ryan said, staring down at her.
She tried to talk, but her mouth had gone dry. She swallowed hard and stared up at him, her breaths coming out in pants. “Ryan—I—oh, my God!”
He lifted both hands as if to calm her. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Bailey clutched her sides and tried to catch her breath. “Oh, my God!”
“Bay, what’s wrong with you?” He leaned in to see her face. She pointed to the baby book then reached for it. She flipped open the cover and came face-to-face with her birth certificate, as she’d always known it. She turned another page. The first few pages were all news articles, no photos or notes.
She flipped another couple of pages to the first photo. The note above it read, ‘Baby’s first day as Bailey Grace Morton.’ She couldn’t have been more than six months old in the picture.
“Ryan, I was adopted…” she whispered and sank onto the bed.
“What?” He snatched the baby book from her. “No way…”
“I had no idea. I was abandoned. Why would someone…”
“Bailey, how is it you’ve lived twenty-seven years and didn’t know you were adopted?”
She reached up and flipped the book back to the first page. She ripped the birth certificate out, thrusting it at his chest. “That’s how. My mother never said a thing about it.”
“I can’t believe she didn’t tell you.” He paced a bit, his eyes skimming the birth certificate. His right shoulder lifted in a shrug. “When you think about it, it makes sense.” His gaze drifted to hers. “You look nothing like your parents. Your mom was six inches taller than you, and she had blonde hair. You have dark brown hair with brown eyes.” He stared at her for a moment and said, “You never wondered?”
“Not everyone looks like their parents.” She turned to him. “Did you ever wonder…about your parents?”
“I tried to, especially when I was pissed at them, but I look too much like my dad to really question it.” He set down the baby book and rounded the bed to sit next to her. “I’m sorry. I—”
“I can’t believe this. Why would my mother lie? My father—why didn’t they tell me about this?”
“Maybe they didn’t want to hurt you or make you feel like you weren’t theirs. Family isn’t always about blood.”
“I’m not sure what shocks me more, being abandoned in the snow or never being told I was adopted.”
“Bay, I’m sure your mom and dad had to jump through hoops to keep you. Don’t think about being unwanted; think about how much Helen and Ernie must’ve gone through to keep you.”
She smacked her palm to her forehead. “God, Ryan, I don’t even know where I came from. I could be anyone. I could be the daughter of a serial killer or some nasty hooker from Wisconsin.” As if she didn’t feel orphaned enough after losing her mother, now she felt unworthy. She had been raised by decent people. Her parents had been the most honest, hardworking people she’d ever known, and now, to read that they’d taken her in…kept her. They’d raised her and taken care of her without having any idea where she’d come from. Her stomach twisted at the thought. God only knew what kind of people had created her.
“You’re Bailey Morton, the same person you were when you woke up this morning.”
“Ryan…” She shook her head, dizzy with her new reality, dizzy with her upturned world that had been so ordinary a few moments ago. “Ryan…I’m named after a street sign.” She turned away, fighting her tears.
“I think it’s too early to work on the house. Helen’s only been gone a few days. Why don’t you wait a week or two?”
“No. I need to know everything.” Bailey sprang off the bed and grabbed another scrapbook from the trunk before flipping through the pages. “Why would she leave these for me to find? Why didn’t she just tell me so I wouldn’t have to find out this way?”
“Maybe she forgot they were here?”
“How could she forget?” Bailey asked. “How could she forget something this important?”
Ryan shrugged. “It probably wasn’t that big a deal to her. You’re her daughter, and I’m sure in her eyes, you always were and always will be, so this didn’t matter or change anything.”
Bailey stared at him, not sure what to say. “Not a big deal? Are you crazy?”
“Bailey, she was sick for a long time. It’s not like she didn’t have other things on her mind.” He gestured toward the stack of books. “Maybe she left them here on purpose for you to find.”
“She should’ve just told me, Ryan. Someone left me on the street. What kind of people would do that?”
“I don’t think it matters. Someone found you, kept you, and treated you like a princess your entire life. Don’t question that. Be grateful and continue to respect them for loving you.”
“I am grateful.” She placed a hand over her heart and said, “I love my parents more than anything. Don’t doubt that. But, Ryan, this isn’t about respecting them. This is about finding out the truth. Wouldn’t you want to know why?” She tried to swallow the lump in her throat. “Wouldn’t you want to know who you are?”
“Yes, of course, I would want to know where I came from, but, Bailey, this doesn’t change who you are.”
“Doesn’t it?” she said, sitting back down next to him.
“No, you’re still my best friend, and you’re still their daughter.” He rested his hand on her shoulder. “Nothing has changed.”
She looked at him and, with every sincerity, said, “Thank you for saying that, and thank you for being here.” And she meant it too. Ryan cared for her. He was her best friend. But he was wrong—everything had changed.
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