Birdie clutched her hands over her ears. “Make her stop!”
Faith bounced the child in her arms, trying to quiet her. “What’s wrong with her?”
“How in the bloody hell should I know?” Birdie was nearly in tears.
Suddenly the bairn burped, sending a string of coddled milk out of her mouth, onto Faith’s shoulder. Then she was quiet.
Faith held the child away from her and wrinkled her nose. “God, that stuff stinks. And now it’s all over my gown.” She plopped Adrianna into her makeshift crib, tossed a blanket over her and stepped away to clean herself up. “She has a load of something in her clout, too.”
“That’s your job, not mine.”
After wiping baby puke off her gown, she said, “Just what is your job anyway? You don’t feed her anymore, you never change her. She might as well be mine.”
Birdie dipped into the box of chocolates she had picked up in the village, popped one into her mouth, wiped her fingers on her handkerchief, and answered, “If this keeps up, I’ll give her to you gladly.”
Faith looked at the bairn. “She’s flushed.” Pressing the back of her hand to the bairn’s forehead, she added, “I think she has a fever.”
Birdie shoulders slumped. “That’s all I need. A sick bairn.”
“Maybe she’s teething,” Faith offered. “I noticed that the front of her sleeper was all wet; I guess they drool when their teeth come in.”
Birdie put her hands over her face. “She wasn’t supposed to be like any other baby.”
With a shake of her head, Faith said, “A baby is a baby is a baby. They all puke, poop, pee, and drool. They all cry and scream for no reason at all.”
“God, they can’t do anything for themselves,” Birdie bemoaned.
Faith gave her an odd look. “Of course not, Birdie, they’re bairns, not dolls.”
“But even baby birds learn to fly quickly, don’t they?”
“You can’t compare baby birds and human babies; that’s just dumb.”
“I’m not dumb!” Birdie whimpered.
“I didn’t say you were, but what you’re saying is dumb.” She went to the washbasin and dipped a cloth into the water, wrung it out, and dabbed at Adrianna’s forehead. “Maybe this will cool her off a little.”
Birdie sat up straight. “Do you really think she’s sick?”
“I don’t know. Like I said, maybe she’s getting her teeth. Let’s hope that’s all it is,” she warned.
“What do you mean?”
Faith turned and faced Birdie. “If she’s really ill, she’ll need a doctor. Can you convince anyone that this bairn is yours?”
Birdie pressed her lips together. “I don’t know, but you could,” she added hopefully.
Faith shook her head. “Like I said, she might as well be mine.”
After a moment, Birdie asked, “Do you want her?”
Faith expelled a snort. “Do I want a baby? God in heaven, no. How would I explain it away? Matter of fact, how would you explain her away?”
“I wouldn’t have to. The mother gave her to me, remember?”
Faith continued to dab the bairn’s face with the damp cloth. “Have you even thought about how you’re going to take care of her?”
“Something will happen; it always does.”
“Why do you even want her, Birdie? You don’t want to care for her, you’ve lost interest in motherhood.”
Birdie’s eyes lit with fire. “Because she belongs to my sister.” Her gaze trapped Faith’s. “Everything I’ve ever wanted, she now has. Have you any idea how that feels?”
On a short laugh, Faith replied, “Yes, I believe I do. I had high hopes of having Gavin to myself.” Her own eyes became angry. “But then, that was before that horrible friend of his, the ugly doctor, discovered my sordid secret.”
Always interested in the “sordid,” Birdie perked up. “What happened?”
Faith redampened the cloth and contined to nurse the baby. “If you must know, I had, well, I had a little fling with a student and ended up having to get rid of, you know…”
Birdie gasped, but she was smiling. “You had an abortion?”
“Yes, and that bloody doctor threatened to tell Gavin about it. That would have been such an embarrassment for me. I mean, Gavin is so straitlaced.”
Birdie rolled her eyes. “Don’t I know it. But he’s a far better catch than Robbie’s fiance, whom I stole and married.”
“And your sister has no secrets?” Faith weedled.
“If she does, it doesn’t matter. I did hear that she once wrote scandalous things for a magazine, but when Gavin learned of it, he merely told her to stop and write what she wanted.” Birdie made a face. “He didn’t even have the decency to toss her out on her backside.”
Faith glanced at the bairn. “She’s asleep, but she still feels a little warm. We can only hope it’s just her teeth bothering her.”
Birdie crumpled her handkerchief into a ball. “Maybe when she wakes up she’ll be all right.”
Faith expelled a long, slow sigh. “We can only hope so.”
Both women wondered what in the name of heaven they would do with the baby if she actually was sick. It almost made them sick themselves.