Wake the Dawn by Lauraine Snelling

Why? ” She had to control herself. And she couldn’t. “Why are you so stubborn about this? It’s not your child!”
    “I gave her life. The world’s worst mother tossed her under a bush and I—” His voice dropped. “I don’t know. I feel this intense—I mean, I have this intense feeling that I’m the one she needs. I can’t hand her off to strangers. She’s my responsibility. But it’s more than that. I can’t explain it.”
    Esther knew there were probably more diplomatic ways of dealing with this, but all she could do was yell. She took a deep breath. “No, Ben, I won’t sign off on this one. The law is very clear. No. I can’t.”
    His eyes had narrowed until they were mere slits. He dropped his voice. “You think I would put her in danger after all she has been through already?” The words wore diamond-cutting edges.
    “And you think I would?” She fought to keep her own voice under control.
    Ansel interrupted. “We were thinking of calling her Dawn, Esther.”
    She knew he was trying to ease the tension, but it wasn’t working. “Dawn. That’s nice.” Actually, it is nice.
    “She’s coming home with me.” Ben made it sound final as he shoved a package of diapers in the box and grabbed another container of formula off the shelf. “What if you don’t have distilled water?”
    “Boil some.” She grabbed his arm. “Listen to me!”
    “You go ahead and fill out your paperwork to cover your…” He ground to a halt and stared at her hand clamped on his arm. With excruciating politeness, he removed her hand with his other and let it drop.
    Dawn, who had been sleeping in Ansel’s arms, whimpered and squeaked before settling into a real, genuine baby’s cry.
    “Now see what you did.” Ansel raised her to his shoulder and patted her back. “I just got her to sleep.”
    “If she doesn’t come with me, what are you going to do? Put her on that chopper and let them leave her alone in the hospital?” Ben shook his head and tucked the edges of the boxes into each other to close the top.
    Good question. Esther shoved her hands in her back pockets and stared at the floor. She glanced up to see Ansel and Beth each cuddling a baby. Life goes on. “You know for sure your house is beyond living in?”
    Ansel nodded. “That’s what Chief said. And I saw that oak tree topple in my rearview mirror. Structural damage for sure, and who knows how much water damage.”
    “Okay, I have an idea. Ben, are you listening?”
    The glare he sent her could have melted a steel I-beam. He wheeled and went to the fridge.
    She pressed on. “These people need a house, you have a house. You need help with Dawn, they have huge hearts to take care of you all. I can’t fill out the paperwork for a few days at least, so what do you say we all work together on this one?”
    Beth interrupted. “That would be wonderful! With three of us, we can take turns sleeping and there will always be someone to take care of the babies. Sleep is the one thing you don’t get with a newborn.” She smiled at the infant in her arms, and then to the little girl on the pallet. The child had been up that morning, Esther knew, but she was again sleeping soundly.
    Ben put a baby bottle in the microwave and pushed buttons. It began to hum.
    Beth looked over at Ben. “We should be able to do this, we’ve been friends for a long time.”
    Esther watched Ben and his internal war while trying not to seem obvious. She glanced down at Bo, who was watching each of them in turn, as if he understood every word they said. As well he might; she figured his vocabulary ranked pretty high on the dog charts. When Dawn didn’t quiet back down, the pooch lurched to his feet and walked over to stand by Ansel, as if ready to do whatever was needed to make her stop crying.
    She almost giggled. “It’s all right, Bo. You know he’s a friend.”
    “But I have his baby and he’s not taking any chances.” Ansel took the warmed bottle that Ben handed