It Takes a Photographer

Chapter 1“He’s beautiful,” Trev said, tentatively touching the baby’s cheek. Quint smiled proudly. “We know. Beautiful, handsome, cute, um…” He glanced at Clay, who was holding their son. “Sweet, darling, adorable?” Clay kissed Jamie’s forehead. “You do know,” Zack pointed out, “until he gets a little older, some people will think he might be a girl with that name.” “Blame his mother.” Quint glanced fondly at Amanda’s niece, who was sitting a few feet away. “Wendy found it in some romance novel and insisted it had to be his.” Wendy nodded. “My first gift to him. My second was giving him to you and Clay to adopt.” Rory joined the small group at one end of the rooftop patio above Quint and Clay’s loft. “I can’t think of a better gift for everyone concerned. They’ll be great parents.” “Thanks,” Quint replied. “For damned sure, we’re going to try.” Clay wagged a finger at him. “And your first step is not swearing in front of Jamie.” That earned him laughs from everyone within hearing range. All of Quint and Clay’s close friends were gathered on the patio to celebrate the finalization of Jamie’s adoption that morning. Amanda, the manager of Clay’s gallery, was the reason that the adoption had happened in the first place. * * * * Eight months earlier “Okay, do you want to tell me why you’re in such a funk,” Clay asked Amanda. She’d been wandering around the gallery, straightening paintings for the past hour, looking as if she’d lost her last friend. “It’s my niece, Wendy,” she blurted out. “She’s pregnant.” “That’s wonderful.” “No, it’s not. She’s sixteen.” “Okay. That’s not so wonderful.” “Tell me about it. My sister is…” She shook her head. “Wendy kept it a secret as long as she could.” Amanda smiled wryly. “It wasn’t that hard at first, given that she’s always been on the plump side. Anyway, she finally told her parents, and they’re furious.” “Oh boy.” “They threatened to kick her out, so I volunteered to let her stay with us until the baby’s born. She arrives in the morning.” “What about the father?” “She won’t say who he is.” Amanda sighed. “I’m not sure she knows. She’s…a bit promiscuous. I hate to say it, but I suspect that’s because she’s not thin and svelte the way most of her friends are, so she sleeps around to prove to herself she’s got some worth.” “That’s sad, but, unfortunately, it happens.” Clay gave her a hug. “You’ll survive this. At least the gallery’s closed tomorrow, so you can get her settled in.” “One blessing.” “Is she planning on keeping the baby?” Clay asked. “I don’t know that she’s made up her mind yet. If you want my honest opinion, I hope she puts it up for adoption. She’s got her whole life ahead of her and being tied down, raising a child…” Amanda shook her head. * * * * That evening, when Quint got home from work, Clay told him about Wendy. He had an ulterior motive, other than filling his partner in on his day. Recently, they had been dancing around the idea of adopting a child. “There are hundreds, thousands, of kids out there who need families,” Quint had said at one point, “and too few people willing to adopt them. We could. We’re stable. We’re old enough to get what it takes to bring up a child.” “You’re serious.” Clay had been startled, but maybe not as much as he could have been, knowing his caring detective. Quint had shrugged. “I know I haven’t said anything until now, but I’ve been sort of thinking about it. If you don’t like the idea…” “It would be a big undertaking. Not something we should jump right into. That said, I think it’s a wonderful idea.” When Clay finished telling him about Wendy, Quint understood immediately where he was going with the story. “If she does plan on putting the baby up for adoption—” “Are we ready to step in? Maybe?” Clay smiled. “No, not maybe. Definitely.” That was all it had taken. It hadn’t been easy at first. They’d met Wendy a week after she’d moved in with Amanda and her husband. The girl was sweet—and scared, not at all surprising as far as Clay was concerned. She had spent the next two months—before the baby was born—vacillating between keeping it and letting them adopt, after she’d accepted that they wanted to. “I have no problem with it being you,” she’d said more than once. “It’s just—” “A mother’s love. We understand.” * * * * It was a bright, sunny spring day when Wendy delivered a healthy baby boy. Quint and Clay were there, along with Amanda. When they walked into Wendy’s room, she was lying with the baby in her arms, looking exhausted but elated. She’s going to keep him, after all. Clay’s spirits sank. “His name is Jamie,” she said softly, looking up at them. “Do you like the name?” “It’s beautiful,” Quint replied. “Then you won’t change it, once he’s yours?” Clay shook his head, barely able to get the “no” past the lump in his throat. Quint, being Quint, was a bit more practical. Pulling up a chair, he sat, looking between Jamie and her. “Are you sure?” She nodded. “It took a long time to make up my mind, but he deserves a real family, not a sixteen-year-old single mom.” She stroked Jamie’s head. “I had plans, before this happened. I still do. College. A job. Maybe I’m being selfish, but that won’t happen if I have to take care of him, too. I couldn’t give him the life he deserves.” “You’re not being selfish,” Quint replied. “You’re doing what’s best for both of you.” He smiled. “Of course, I’m a little prejudiced when I say that.” Wendy managed a weak laugh. “You might be, a bit, but that’s okay. Do you want to hold him?” When Quint nodded, she handed Jamie to him. Clay watched Quint holding the baby for the first time, and tears came to his eyes at the look of love in Quint’s expression. He knelt beside them, taking one of Jamie’s tiny hands in his, and he felt the same love flood him as well. “Welcome to the world,” he said softly. “We’ll do our best to make it the world you deserve.” * * * * It took the next six months for the adoption process to be completed. As they went through the formalities, Clay and Quint made certain Wendy was involved. “After all,” Clay had told her repeatedly, “you are his birth mother. As far as we’re concerned, we’ll let you see and be with him as often as you want until you leave.” Wendy grimaced, replying, “Going home should be fun. Not.” She had reason to feel that way. Her parents had barely acknowledged Jamie’s birth, other than to call to make certain Wendy was all right. “You’ll survive,” Quint told her. “You’re one strong young lady.” “And I have Aunt Amanda, if I need her.” “You couldn’t have a better person in your corner,” Clay said adamantly. Wendy continued living with Amanda, but spent time at the loft as well, helping Clay and Quint with Jamie. It was a learning curve for all of them as they dealt with feeding, diapers, and all the other things involved with caring for a new baby. When the adoption was finalized, the men decided to throw a party to celebrate and to give Wendy a happy send-off before she went home. * * * * “Okay, no one move,” Olivia said, aiming her camera at the group surrounding Clay and Jamie. Olivia had volunteered to take photos of the gathering, even though she was an invited guest. “After all, it is what I do.” That was true. She was a professional photographer, as well as working at Rory and Lou’s art gallery when she was needed. Kevin, the gallery’s only other employee, had introduced her to them soon after they had decided to make Valencia Gallery—which had been set up as part of a sting operation—the real thing. Now, she and Kevin were engaged, and today he was following her around, carrying her camera cases. “That’s why I agreed to marry him,” Olivia quipped when Trev had commented on that a few minutes earlier. “He makes a good workhorse.” “I am her slave, eternally,” Kevin added, winking at Trev. “Where can I find one of those?” Trev grinned. “Right behind you,” Zack replied, wrapping his arms around his lover. Olivia immediately took several shots of them before heading toward Clay and Jamie. “I said, don’t move,” she grumbled when Quint struck a pose with his hand on Clay’s shoulder. “Okay. Never mind. That’s great…or not.” She laughed when he raised two fingers behind Clay’s head to make horns. After more group shots, she asked Quint and Clay to pose with just Jamie. They did, with Quint holding the baby while Clay put his arm around Quint’s waist as they leaned against the patio railing. “Wonderful,” Olivia said, taking shot after shot. “Now, over there.” She pointed to one of the lounge chairs. As the men moved over and sat, she took more photos of the rest of the celebrants, zooming in on Gideon and Cole, who were laughing as they chose food from the table set up at one end of the patio. She saw Rory, standing alone now, a beer in hand. Going over, she asked, “Where’s your partner in crime?” “Dealing with crime,” he grumbled. “He should be here soon, though, barring anything major happening at the last minute. The life of a detective…” “Says the man who gets sent off on jobs out of town,” she retorted with a smile, patting his arm. “At least he comes home at the end of the day.” “I know. I’m not really complaining…much.” She left him to go take more photos of the happy parents. Then Kevin corralled her, took the camera away, and told her it was time for her to relax and enjoy the party—which she did.