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“Why don’t you talk to the pediatrician in the nursery? I just came from there. Your baby is doing fine.”
“And my ex-wife?”
“She lost some blood, but is recovering nicely.”
“So she’s out of danger?”
“Si.”
Grazie a Dio.
“If her mother looks for me, tell her I’ll be in the nursery.” Violeta had never given up hope the two of them would be reconciled. That would be an impossibility.
“Go down the other end of the hall and through the doors. You can’t miss it. Congratulations.”
“Thank you.”
Giovanni was still reeling with shock when he reached the nursery. The clerk alerted the pediatrician, who came out of his office to greet him.
“Signor Laurito, I’m Dr. Ferrante. Your ex-wife’s doctor told me to expect you. You have a fine boy, who is doing well. Twenty-one inches long, seven pounds and five ounces.”
“That’s wonderful to hear. How soon can I see him?”
“Right now. Come in this other room and wash your hands. While you do that, I’ll have the nurse wheel him in here, where you can hold him and inspect him all you want. Later she’ll show you how to bathe and feed him.”
Giovanni’s heart started to pound hard. He’d played with the nieces and nephews from his two sisters’ marriages, but he’d rarely held a tiny baby. To think this newborn was his own son!
When Tatania had first learned she was pregnant, she’d threatened to have it aborted. No doubt she’d wanted to punish Giovanni because of their failed marriage that she’d blamed on him. But her father, Salvatore, had threatened to disown her if she went through with it. His will had prevailed, grazie a Dio.
After removing his suit jacket and tie, Giovanni washed his hands and dried them with the automatic blower. The moment was surreal for him as the nurse pushed the cart through the door and smiled up at him.
“You have a beautiful bambino, Signor Laurito. Here. Put this cloth over your shoulder and you can hold him. He’s asleep, but he’ll soon wake up for his bottle.”
He did as she said, but his eyes had fastened on the baby wrapped up in a crib blanket. His boy lay on his back. He had a beautiful face, almost angelic. Since Giovanni had black hair and Tatania was a brunette, the wisp of gold hair came as a surprise. His heart melted at the sight of him.
“Vitiello, mi figlio.” That was an old family name he’d decided to give him after he learned they were having a boy. He’d call him Vito for short.
Without hesitation Giovanni picked him up and put him against his shoulder. The warmth of his tiny body seeped through him. “To think your first experience in life happened inside an ambulance. That’s a story the whole family will talk about for the rest of your life.” He kissed his cheek and neck.
Giovanni might not have given birth, but his paternal instincts had taken over, and he was filled with a joy he hadn’t known in years. His marriage to Tatania had never taken. Since the divorce he’d felt relief, but was pretty much devoid of any other feelings. She’d gone through the greater part of her pregnancy without Giovanni’s help. To be united suddenly with his son thrilled him to the core of his being.
He couldn’t comprehend that Tatania didn’t want to coparent with him. According to the doctor, she hadn’t asked to see the baby. If he knew Violeta, she would work on her daughter, but Giovanni didn’t hold out hope. Every child needed a mother and father, but during their marriage, Tatania had shut down. It was as if every motherly instinct had been drained out of her. Psychiatric counseling hadn’t helped.
Eager to examine his son, he put him on the changing board and unwrapped him down to his shirt and diaper. Being uncovered had wakened him. His eyes opened. Giovanni couldn’t tell their color. Maybe a muddy slate blue.
He kissed him on either cheek. “I’m your papà. Welcome to my world.” He checked his legs and feet that were wiggling. Those tiny hands had fingers that curled around his finger. Before long he would pull him up slightly to discover how strong he was. Laughter came out of Giovanni.
In a minute the pediatrician walked in the room and smiled. “It looks like father and son are doing well. The nurse will bring you a bottle and teach you how to feed him.”
“Thank you, Doctor.”
The rest of the night turned out to be pure delight as he fed and bathed Vito. By 11 o’clock Giovanni felt like an old hand, but he was exhausted. He arranged for his pilot to pick him up. He’d go home to sleep, then come back in the morning.
Once the baby was released, they’d fly home, where Stanzie and her husband, Paolo Bruno, were waiting for him. The attractive couple in their early forties had been managing the Bruno Advertising agency under their uncle Ernesto Bruno. Giovanni had become acquainted with the dynamic couple three years earlier through business. But months ago their uncle let them go because the business was failing.
Giovanni had stepped in to help them out and asked if they’d take care of his villa and garden for a temporary period. He believed in them and planned to set them up in their own advertising business a little later down the road that would benefit the three of them. Until that could be accomplished, he’d hired them to work for him, an arrangement that suited everyone. They’d been hoping to have children, but it hadn’t happened yet and they could hardly wait for the arrival of the baby.
He’d spent the past month turning one of the guest rooms into a nursery with everything the baby would need. But nothing had prepared him for the sheer wonder of being a father. This tiny infant was his heart’s blood. Already those protective feelings had taken root. He could tell his life had changed in ways he’d never dreamed of.
* * *
Two weeks had passed since the birth of the baby. Valentina looked down at her handsome son while he slept on his back. She was still trying to breast-feed, but the baby wasn’t getting enough milk so she supplemented with formula.
She’d also struggled trying to decide on the right name for him before he was born. But once she’d laid eyes on him, she felt Riccardo suited him best. She’d called him Ric from that moment on.
“Did you name him after our grandfather?” Carlo questioned while they were gathered round in the nursery. Everyone was crazy about the baby, who luckily slept soundly.
“Yes, but let me ask you a question. I want your opinion on something. Because Matteo was blond, and I am, too, I didn’t expect to have a baby with black hair. Dark hair does run in our family, but Ric’s hair is a stark black. I don’t know. Do you think Ric looks like our grandfather Riccardo?”
Carlo shook his head. “No. Not at all.” Other than the dark hair, Valentina didn’t see any similarities, either, but she’d had to ask. “This little guy has a distinct widow’s peak.”
“Papà noticed it immediately when he came to visit and thought it odd. Now I’m going to ask another question. Do you think he looks like me?”
Rini’s eyes narrowed on her. “No.”
“But he doesn’t look anything like Matteo. He was blond and blue-eyed. My baby’s eyes are dark already.”
“Now that you mention it, Melita thought it strange he doesn’t look like you.”
At Carlo’s comment a sick feeling grew in the pit of her stomach, and she turned away from the crib. “Let’s not talk about it anymore.”
“He could be a throwback to an ancestor, but none of it matters. Don’t worry about it.” Carlo kissed her cheek. “I’ve got to go home. Melita is waiting for me to help put Angelica to bed. Talk to you later.” His footsteps faded down the hall.
Rini stayed in the nursery with her. “Valentina? Look at me.” She was afraid to. “I know what has been going through your mind since you brought Ric home from the hospital. At first I didn’t dwell on it, but tonight I have to admit I’m puzzled that I see no signs of you or our family in the baby. Before you turn yourself inside out, there’s a simple way to learn the truth.”
“I know,” she whispered. “Get a DNA test done.”
“Exactly. Then you’ll know the baby is yours and you can stop driving yourself mad with worry.”
Her breath froze in her lungs. “You wouldn’t suggest my doing that if you didn’t have doubts, too.” Nothing got past her successful brother who was known for his genius in the business world. She held herself taut. “What if the baby isn’t mine? I love little Ric with all my heart and soul. He’s so gorgeous and so sweet.”
They stared at each other for an overly long moment.
“Find out the truth first before you tear yourself apart.”
Tears filled her eyes. “If he isn’t my son, then it means that someone else went home from the hospital with my baby. Things like this just don’t happen!” she cried out. The baby stirred before growing relaxed again.
“I agree switched babies are very rare, but it does happen. That’s not to say that it happened to you, but to remove all doubt, call the doctor and have the DNA test done. I’ll take you to the hospital in the morning and we’ll get this thing settled.”
Though she wanted to be more independent, she didn’t know how she could do this alone and was grateful for Rini’s loving support.
They hugged good-night and she went to her room, leaving the doors open so she could hear Ric when he woke up for his next bottle. Unable to sleep, she got on the internet and researched switched-baby stories. The latest one had come out of France. But the switch hadn’t been discovered until twenty years later.
How horrible that must have been for both sets of parents. If Valentina’s baby was given to the wrong mother, then she wanted her own baby back as soon as possible. But she wanted Ric, too. He was her very heart. How could she possibly give him up? They’d already bonded. Tears streamed down her cheeks.
Was there a mother out there who was worried that her baby didn’t look like her, either, and wondered if some terrible mistake had been made? If so, then she’d already bonded with Valentina’s birth baby. Valentina could hardly bear it.
She spent the rest of the night in agony. Instead of sleeping, she went in the nursery and sat in the rocker, holding Ric. The nursing just didn’t give him enough milk. She fed him bottles to satisfy him at two different times during the night. Morning couldn’t come soon enough. There wasn’t any time to lose getting to the hospital to learn the truth!
* * *
Giovanni fed Vito his early-morning bottle before turning him over to Stanzie. He hadn’t expected her to be a babysitter to Vito and had decided to hire a nanny. But when Stanzie heard that, she begged to do the honors.
In two weeks his boy was filling out and so much fun to play with, Giovanni had a hell of a time leaving the villa to put in a day’s work at his office. He’d had visits from his parents and sisters since he’d brought the baby home. Violeta had begged to see him. He could hardly refuse her.
Giovanni realized she was a doting grandmother and could understand her pain over her daughter’s refusal to see Vito. His son would be lucky to have the love of two grandmothers who already worshipped him.
After his flight to work, he met with Ernesto Bruno over a working lunch in his office conference room. The man’s company did advertising for major companies, including the Montanari Corporation. For the last little while Giovanni had been working to buy Bruno’s failing advertising business. He’d settled on a price that would be very lucrative for him. A win-win situation.
But by the end of the meeting, it became clear that Signor Bruno was still stalling. Maybe Giovanni had underestimated his loyalty to the Montanari family. It appeared the new CEO Rinieri Montanari, a shrewd entrepreneur, wanted to make Bruno Advertising a part of his company. Giovanni realized that in order to get to the root of the problem, he needed to go through Rinieri himself to settle this one way or the other.
He and Ernesto agreed to look at numbers and meet again in a week. After the other man left, Giovanni went back to his office to look over last month’s accounts. He should have done it before, but Vito’s arrival had consumed him.
Giovanni told his secretary to hold all calls. To his surprise she walked in on him, disturbing his concentration. “Signor Laurito? Forgive me, but there’s a call for you on line two. It’s Signor Conti, the administrator of the hospital in Positano. He said it was extremely urgent.”
The administrator? Why?
He thanked his secretary and got on the phone. “This is Giovanni Laurito. You wished to speak to me?”
“I realize you’re an important man, but something has come up I need to discuss with you. Could you come to the hospital this afternoon? Because of confidentiality, I can’t talk about this over the phone.”
Giovanni’s brows knit together. Maybe this was about Tatania. But if she’d changed her mind about seeing the baby, she’d go through her attorney surely, not to mention her mother. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.” He hung up and alerted his pilot. Before leaving his office, he called the villa to inquire about Vito.
“He’s being a perfect boy and is taking his nap.”
“That’s good. Thank you, Stanzie. I’ll be home for dinner. Ciao.”
A half hour later he was invited in the administrator’s office. “Thanks for getting here so quickly.”
They shook hands and he sat down, but Giovanni was on edge. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
“I won’t beat around the bush. Today we discovered that two babies from the hospital’s nursery went home with the wrong mothers.”
Giovanni felt his gut twist.
“This is the kind of mistake every parent dreads. One I dread. Someone in the nursery put the wrong band on the wrong babies. It is a terrible thing to have happened.”
“How did you find out?” Giovanni’s voice grated.
“One of the mothers came to the hospital with questions about her baby. He didn’t look like her or the father. We had her DNA tested with her baby’s DNA. The result proved that the baby couldn’t be her baby.”
Shock brought Giovanni to his feet. “Are you saying the baby I took home isn’t mine and my ex-wife’s?”
“No. We’re having DNA tests on every baby boy that was in the nursery before this particular mother went home. Your baby is the last one on the list of eight we need to check. If you’ll go to the lab, a technician will draw your blood and the necessary tests will be done along with your ex-wife’s and son’s blood to prove paternity. We need to do this process immediately so the babies can be returned to their rightful birth parents before any more time goes by.”
“Let’s do it now,” he bit out, horrified that Vito might not belong to him after all. He thought of all the parents involved. Sixteen people were traumatized by the realization that their sons might have been one of the two to be switched. He swallowed hard. Was it Vito?
“I’ll walk you to the lab.”
They left the office together. “How long will this take?”
“In three days we’ll know all the facts. The lab is rushing everything. Believe me when I tell you we’ll move heaven and earth to make this right.”
Giovanni grimaced. “Nothing could make it right.”
“I know, and I can’t tell you how sorry I am this has happened.”
The administrator was taking this hard, as he should. Giovanni sensed that. But the thought of having to give Vito back to another set of parents was unbearable. If that happened, it meant his birth son was out there somewhere. Giovanni couldn’t imagine having to give up the precious son he’d taken to his heart. But if his birth son was out there, naturally he couldn’t wait to see him and hold him. This was a nightmare of impossible proportions.
After the blood was drawn, he flew back to Ravello. The second he entered the kitchen, Stanzie took one look at him and let out a cry. “What has happened to you? You’re as white as a sheet!”
He looked her in the eye. If the impossible had happened, this was going to be hard on her and Paolo, too, not to mention his whole family and Violeta. Everyone was crazy about Vito. “There’s a possibility that the wrong baby was sent home from the hospital with me.”
“No—” She put her hands to her mouth.
“In three days I’ll know the truth.”
Tears rushed down her cheeks...the same invisible tears he’d shed from the moment the administrator had explained his reason for the unexpected call. While he stood there in agony, she rushed out of the kitchen, no doubt running to tell Paolo the dreadful news.
Giovanni hurried through the villa to the nursery. Vito was awake. The minute he saw Giovanni, his arms and legs grew animated. His love for this child went so deep it could never be rooted out. He changed his diaper before carrying him to the terrace that overlooked the Mediterranean, where the scent of the roses was especially strong and sweet.
He kissed his cheeks. “I couldn’t possibly give you up, Vito. We’re going to forget that a mistake was made. You belong to me.”
CHAPTER TWO (#ulink_6f7a0a34-a202-5fa4-85d1-874e01a3e921)
“SIGNORINA MONTANARI?”
Valentina recognized Signor Conti’s voice. She gripped her cell phone tighter. “Si?”
“We have located your baby, even without the birth father’s DNA. The DNA tests have proved that the baby you took home is a match for the blood tests of the couple whose baby was born on the same day as yours.”
“Oh, no—” she cried out in pain. So it was true. The babies had been switched.
“I’m so sorry, signorina. You have no idea how terrible I feel about this, too. It should never have happened.”
She wiped her eyes that kept dripping. “How was it possible?”
“I’ve learned that they were born within ten minutes of each other. After a full investigation is carried out, we’ll learn the reason why the babies were tagged with the wrong mothers.”
