The Baby Shift- Vermont Read online

  The Baby Shift: Vermont

  Shifter Babies of America 6

  Becca Fanning

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Also by Becca Fanning

  Chapter 1

  They kept falling off her cheeks without the slightest restraint. Large drops of tears that she could not seem to hold back no matter how hard she tried. She was hurting; and she was hurting real bad.

  Elena stumbled slightly as she hit her right foot against a step. Managing to grab hold of the railings of the staircase, she regained her balance and resumed her climb. At the top of the stairs was a wide corridor. She walked forward and finally stopped in front of one of the many doors. She pressed the doorbell.

  A few seconds later, the door opened, revealing a woman in her late fifties. She had long auburn hair that was very similar to that of Elena's. Her blue eyes stared at Elena's weeping face.

  "Elena? What's wrong, honey?" the woman asked.

  "Mom," Elena said and fell into the woman's arms. She let the tears flow now; and flow they did.

  "I loved him so much, Mom," Elena said as she dabbed underneath her eyes with a white handkerchief. They were in her mother's living room with Elena sitting beside the older woman.

  "I know. I know, sweetie," Carolina Garza consoled her daughter.

  Despite the handkerchief her mother had given her, the tears continued to stream down Elena's cheeks. "What hurts most is that I saw them. I saw the whole damn thing! I saw her on top of him. I saw the look in his eyes. I saw... "

  Carolina interrupted her by placing a finger on her lips. "That's enough, honey. He never deserved you anyway."

  "Three years, Mom. We've been together for three years and engaged for four months. We had everything planned out - down to the names of our future kids. How could he do this to me?"

  Her mother sighed. Elena figured she had no answer for her question. A sudden feeling of conviction came over Elena. This was the third time a man had cheated on her. She was tired of getting her heart broken over and over again.

  She said, "You know what, Mom? Screw marriage."

  "What...?" Carolina looked confused.

  "Screw marriage, Mom. I don't want it anymore, and I doubt if I ever will."

  "Come on, honey. You don't mean that. I know how much you want to start a family."

  "And who says I can't?" Elena said, wiping off the last drops of tears. "There are ways to have children outside of marriage or relationships."

  "Are you talking about..?"

  "Yes, Mom. I'm talking about artificial insemination. I want to see if I can raise a kid on my own because marriage isn't meant for everyone."

  Elena saw the conflicting emotions that flashed across her mother's face. Finally, Carolina said, "Are you sure about this?"

  "Yes. You have no idea how certain I am."

  "Do you understand the terms, Miss Elena Garza?"

  Elena stared at the words on the piece of paper in her hand. She said, "Yes, doctor. I have gone through them several times, and I have decided to go ahead with this."

  Doctor Phil smiled. He looked smarter than most doctors Elena had come across and she felt a sense of calm when around him, despite the delicacy of the procedure. He asked, "You work in the police force, right?"

  "Yes, I do. Detective, to be exact."

  Doctor Phil smiled once more. "I'm certain New Hampshire is safer with you around."

  "You won't be if you break any of our terms," she said jokingly.

  The doctor burst into a fit of laughter that lasted almost a minute. He said, "Alright, Miss Garza. I suppose you have seen pictures of the donor?"

  "Yes," Elena said. "He is very good-looking and I must admit his academic records were pretty impressive."

  "Of course." Doctor Phil grinned. "With your genes and his, your offspring is certain to possess both beauty and brains." He held a small file in his hand.

  "That's the idea." Elena winked. "As agreed, I expect my identity kept from him."

  His smile broadened. "Don't worry about it, ma'am. We assure you that no one will bother you and your child." Gesturing towards an inclined bed by his right, he said, "Now if you don't mind, you can lay back on that bed so I can start the procedure."

  Elena walked forward and lept on the bed. The doctor strolled to a small transparent container filled with ice and three tubes. Each tube had a name tag pasted on it though she couldn't read them properly through the frozen glass. He took two of the tubes out of the container and peered into the file in his hand, no doubt checking for the tube with the right name tag.

  Just then, a sudden loud noise rang out in the room. Elena instinctively recognized it as the fire alarm.

  Doctor Phil sighed. "I'm afraid we'll have to exit this wing of the hospital. There's an emergency exit nearby, I believe. Just come with me, please."

  With that, the doctor walked towards the door with Elena trailing behind him. She was dressed in an awful-looking patient's gown given to her by one of the nurses on duty. A few minutes later they were gathered at the parking lot of the building with the other people in the hospital at the time of the alarm.

  It turned out to be a false alarm. One of the smoke detectors had been triggered by dust. The safety personnel apologized for the inconvenience and instructed them to head back into the building using the front door.

  Elena and her doctor finally made it back into the room allocated for her artificial insemination. The entire procedure took only a few minutes and soon after Doctor Phil was done with her, she was free to take her leave.

  As Elena walked out of the hospital, having retrieved her clothes, her mind raced with thoughts of what she had just done. She was going to be pregnant with a child now. A smile formed across her lips. She was finally starting the family she deserved and no man could ruin that for her.

  Peter grabbed the rubber duck firmly with both hands even as she tried to take it away from him. So determined was he not to let go that Elena could not help but find the entire scenario funny. A thin smile appeared across her lips.

  "You don't want to give it up now, do you?" she said.

  In reply, he gripped the toy even harder. He was barely six months old and hence was incapable of speech. However, Elena could not help but talk to him like he understood and could talk. She could not wait for him to finally start talking to her.

  Ever since she gave birth to little Peter, Elena realized that the things she used to prioritize were no longer as significant. Her job was one of these things. Although she had taken a leave of absence to take care of her child, however, she was not looking forward to going back to work in a month's time. What she wanted was to spend as much time with Peter as possible. He was her world now, and she could sit beside his cradle all day just to watch his adorable smile.

  Elena was just considering getting a seat so she could continue the little game of tug-of-war she was playing with her son when something strange happened. There was a loud hiss that sounded like punctured rubber. Elena's eyes fell on the toy she had been dragging. It was ruined. The entire bottom of the rubber duck had been slashed by something extremely sharp.

  Elena swiftly checked to ascertain the baby wasn't holding any sharp objects. That was when she saw it. His hand had slashed the rubber duck - only, it wasn't his hand anymore. It was that of an animal - reddish brown and white in color, with streaks of black here and there.

  Peter's hand and over half his right arm had transformed into that of a tiger. Elena's entire world began to spin. She heard herself scream as if from a distance.

  Doctor Phil looked not a day older than the last t
ime she saw him over a year ago. However, he no longer looked smart to her. He looked scared out of his mind.

  "You have no idea how sorry I am, Miss Garza. This was never my intention," he said shakily.

  "I don't care what your intentions were, mister. The fact is you inseminated me with shifter sperm without my knowledge. How could you?!" Elena screamed.

  "Please lower your voice. I beg of you." He was sweating profusely in his air-conditioned office.

  "How the fuck do you expect me to lower my voice? I don't know the first thing about raising a baby shifter. Do you know how much it hurts knowing I don't have the capacity to be the mother Peter deserves?"

  "I understand your plight, Miss Garza, but I want you to try to understand mine. This was an honest mistake. I must have accidentally switched the tubes after the fire alarm went off. It could have happened to anyone."

  "But it didn't just happen to anyone, it happened to me," Elena said. She was terrified. All the plans she had for her child seemed at risk of going up in smoke.

  "We can find a solution to this. You're not the first to have an unwanted baby shifter. There are homes that specialize in..."

  Elena felt red hot anger rise from the pit of her stomach. She felt a strong desire to stick the underside of her heels into his face. "I will pretend you didn't just suggest I put my baby up for adoption for something he had no control over."

  Doctor Phil's trembling increased as he tried to make up for his words. "I'm sorry if my suggestion offended you, but there is no better way to remedy this."

  "Yes, there is," she said. "I want to know who his father is. If anyone can teach me how to raise him, it's his biological father."

  Doctor Phil's eyes widened. "You are asking me to break very strict patient confidentiality. This particular donor insisted he is kept anonymous. I could lose my license."

  She flared. "And what do you think will happen to you if I sue this hospital for what you did. Give me his name."

  "I...I can't."

  "See you in court, doctor." She made as if to leave.

  "Wait. Okay. I'll tell you. The donor was a young man. A popular one at that. Gabriel Anderson."

  Elena felt time stand still. "Gabriel Anderson. The rockstar?"

  "Yes. He is popularly known as Ace. Please, someone as influential as this would destroy me if he pressed charges. I... "

  "Take care of your problems. I'll take care of mine," she said just before walking out on the frightened doctor.

  Chapter 2

  Elena had never been to Vermont in her life, but she discovered that as the taxi drove her and her baby through the streets of Grey Town, she could not take in the view of the unfamiliar city. Her mind was too preoccupied with thoughts of what she was about to do.

  Finding Gabriel Anderson was easier than she expected. She had been prepared to misuse the resources in her police department if that was what it took to find him, however, it seemed all she needed to do was look him up on social media. Ace was currently touring different states in America. His next concert was scheduled to hold in Grey Town, Vermont in the next five hours.

  Elena decided she could get Peter from his nanny, book and board a flight to Grey Town, and still make it just in time to catch him at the backstage of his show. She made preparations for her departure a few minutes after leaving the hospital.

  The taxi slowly pulled to a stop. The driver said, "We're here, ma'am."

  Elena paid him, grabbed Peter, and got out of the car. In front of them was a large building with bright lights and loud music emanating from the inside. Holding her son to her body with her right arm and gripping her bag with her left, Elena made her way towards the entrance of the building. There were people walking out of it in droves, all of them chattering excitedly.

  "Hey," she called out to a passerby. "I'm here for the Ace concert."

  The middle-aged man replied, "Tough luck. The show just ended."

  Confused on how to react to this, Elena decided she must have mixed up her earlier time estimation. "What about the artist?" she asked.

  "How would I know? My best bet is he and his crew should be on their way out of Vermont with their tour bus."

  Panic struck Elena. She could not come all the way out to Vermont only to narrowly miss out on speaking with Peter's father. Before the man could walk away she quickly asked, "Do you have any idea where this bus is parked?"

  "Should be out back."

  "Thanks." With that, Elena held Peter tighter as she hurried in the direction of the back of the building. There she saw a sight that made her heart skip a big. The tour bus was there alright. It had different pictures of Ace posted on its body, and it was already on the move.

  It took her only a few seconds to decide on what to do. By her right was a large man, still in the process of opening the doors of his car, an expensive looking Cadillac. Making sure not to lose her grip on her infant, Elena fumbled in her bag for her badge.

  "Police! I'm afraid you have to step out of the car. I'm sorry, but I need this vehicle."

  Lucky for her, the man was more excited to have his vehicle used in a cop chase than he was suspicious. He promptly stepped back and allowed her to open the car doors.

  "The keys are in the ignition," he said.

  Seconds after taking the wheels and placing Peter beside her on the passenger's seat, she started the car and zoomed after the tour bus. By now the bus was already at the end of the street. Doing her best to keep an eye on it, Elena drove past other cars with as much speed as she could handle.

  She was right behind it by the time it reached the next street. Elena cursed as she realized she had no siren in this civilian car. There was no way to force the tour bus to pull over, unless...

  She stepped on the gas pedal and in split second, the Cadillac overtook the bus. After putting some meters between them, Elena swerved the car to the left and placed it directly in front of the bus. She braced herself as she suddenly stepped on the brakes. The car screeched to a stop forcing the driver of the bus to step on his own brakes to avoid a collision with the back of the Cadillac.

  Breathing a huge sigh of relief, Elena picked up young Peter, stumbled out of the car and walked towards the bus. The driver was about to rain insults on her but a quick flash of her badge shut him up quickly.

  She walked up to his window and said, "Put that mic of yours to good use, would you? Inform all passengers to get off this bus - all except Gabriel Anderson. I'll be going in to have a word with him."

  Meeting Gabriel Anderson did not turn out anywhere near how she had planned. He was just as he had remembered seeing him on TV: tall, ridiculously handsome, broad-shouldered, with reddish-brown hair that strangely matched his tanned skin. However, his first words were a complete shock to her.

  "Look. If this is about the cocaine on board, I want you to know, I don't have control over what my crew brings in or out," he said.

  Elena was too confused to reply at first, but she soon regained her composure and said, "No, this.. this isn't about drugs or anything of the sort." They were in a secluded part of the large bus - a part reserved for the main act alone.

  His face suddenly lit up with delight. "Oh. I get it. Stop the car on the road, get everyone out except me, pull out a fake badge. Classic! My manager paid you, huh? I love the inventiveness you girls have these days. I'm horny already, though I think bringing a baby along is going a bit too far."

  "Wait, what? What, no!" Elena said shaking her head furiously. "I'm not a prostitute."

  "Then what the fuck is this all about?" Gabriel seemed genuinely surprised.

  Elena was so furious that she had no idea when the words came rushing out of her mouth. "This is about the sperm you donated which somehow found its way into my ovaries, and now I'm finding out that not only is my baby a shifter, but he is also yours."

  There was silence for what seemed to her like minutes. His eyes widened into large balls as he stared at her in shock. He began to mumble something under his
breath. At first, she could not make any sense of his words, but she soon realized what he was saying.

  "They agreed never to mention my name," were the words he kept repeating under his breath.

  "Is that all you have to say?" she asked.

  He replied, "What else do you expect me to say? I didn't ask for this. I donated my sperm before I became famous because I needed money to pay off police officials and ensure my record as a shifter is never exposed."

  "Why would you hide who you really are?"

  "Because no one would have bothered with my music if they saw me as a weretiger. They would either fear that side of me or be overly fascinated by it."

  "That's no reason to hide behind lies," she said.

  Gabriel's brow wrinkled in a frown. "You have no idea what it's like. What do you want from me, anyway?"

  She replied, "I have no idea how to raise a weretiger alone. I don't want to fail Peter. He deserves a father who understands him."

  Gabriel laughed. "Look at me." He spread his arms apart. "I'm not exactly the perfect example of a father."

  Reality dawned on Elena. She realized just how stupid her idea had been. "You know what. You're right. This was a terrible idea. I definitely wouldn't want my son around a man like you."

  He opened his mouth to speak but she interrupted him, saying, "Have a nice life, Ace."

  She turned around and stormed out of his compartment.

  She had only just stepped out of the tour bus when her phone rang. Ronny, her colleague, and best friend was calling from New Hampshire. The members of the show crew were already filing back into the vehicle as she held the phone to her ear with one hand while her other hand was wrapped around Peter. The little boy had been quiet all through the craziness of the day. She felt a sharp pang of anger as she realized Gabriel had not even asked to hold his own son.