Cutler 03 - Twilight's Child

embraced myself, feeling that if I let go, I would literally fall apart. My stomach felt as if it was ready to empty itself at any minute, I felt so nauseous. My throat was choked so tightly, I couldn't swallow. Every once in a while I had to close my eyes and struggle for a breath. Chambermaids, receptionists, Mrs. Boston, everyone tried to comfort me.
    Finally we heard someone shouting from the far end of the lobby. It was one of the chambermaids.
    " The baby's been found," she cried.
    "Christie. Christie," I called, and somehow I found the strength to stand. It was as if I were floating over the lobby floor as I walked forward. Moments later Millie Francis, the lady in charge of the laundry, came walking out of the corridor carrying Christie cradled in her arms.
    "Is she all right?" I cried.
    "Just fine," Millie said. She handed my baby over to me gently. Christie's eyes were open wide in surprise. Her face was filled with curiosity as I held her tightly, not wanting to think of what I would have done if we hadn't found her.
    "Where was she?" I demanded.
    "I almost missed her. She's such a good baby. She was lying there so quietly."
    "Lying where?" I asked quickly.
    "In the laundry room, in a bin, on top of a pile of towels," she said.
    Everyone looked at one another in astonishment.
    "How could she get down there, and who would put her in a laundry bin?" asked Mrs. Bradly, one of our older receptionists.
    "Sick joke, if someone did that," one of the bellhops said.
    "Thank you," I said, turning to them all. "Thank you all for helping."
    "She don't look the worse for it," Mrs. Boston assured me. We took Christie up to my room immediately and there inspected her more closely. There wasn't a mark on her body, and she looked very alert and happy now.
    "Who would do such a thing?" Mrs. Boston wondered aloud.
    Moments later Clara Sue appeared in my doorway. "What happened?" she asked, a wide smile on her face. "Did I miss some excitement?"
    "Where have you been?" Mrs. Boston asked, her eyes narrowing with suspicion.
    "I fell asleep listening to records," Clara Sue answered nonchalantly.
    "I didn't hear no records playin'," Mrs. Boston said.
    "Well, who says your hearing's so good?" Clara Sue snapped before smiling again. Then she turned to look at me, and her eyes gleamed. "I had them playing during Christie's nap, and it didn't bother her at all. She is such a good baby, isn't she, Dawn?" With that she left.
    Mrs. Boston and I looked at each other, Mrs. Boston's face screwed tightly in anger.
    "From this day on, Mrs. Boston, I don't ever want her in my room, and never near Christie," I said in a sharp tone.
    "Amen to that," Mrs. Boston said.
     
    Christie slept in my bed with me that night. The events of the evening had left me so frightened, it took hours for me to stop shaking. Every once in a while I had to reassure myself that Christie was all right, and when I did fall asleep, I woke up with a start every few hours and checked her again and again. Finally, just when the morning light was breaking over the horizon, I fell into a deep sleep. As if she knew how much I needed it, Christie didn't cry to be fed, and it was Mrs. Boston who woke me the following morning.
    I shook the sleep out of my body the best I could and got up to go prepare Christie's formula, but Mrs. Boston was right there at the door with it.
    "I thought it was about time," she said.
    "That's so nice of you, Mrs. Boston. Thank you," I said, and I lifted Christie into my arms. Then I sat in the rocker and fed her. I thought to myself that she had Michael's eyes, but my nose and mouth. She clutched her tiny pink fingers into little fists and opened her eyes wide to gaze into mine. I thought her mouth formed a silent "Oh," and that made me laugh. When she drank she focused on my face and didn't shift her eyes the whole time.
    It seemed so long ago, truly in another life, when Momma Longchamp had given birth to Fern, and I had to take care of her because Momma was so weak and sick; but once I began to take care of Christie, all that I knew and had learned about babies returned.
    I was so entranced with Christie and had been concentrating so hard that I didn't hear Mother come to the room, nor had I realized that Mrs. Boston had left.
    "My God," she moaned, "what was all that commotion about last night? Was it a dream?"
    "It was no dream, Mother. I'm afraid Clara Sue pulled a sick prank. She took Christie and left her in the laundry bin downstairs. Of