Ron stepped about for a look at Renata. In all the time he had struggled to gain her custody, he suddenly realized, he had never actually seen her.
Standing on tiptoes at the corner of the window, he man-aged to peer past the tangle of wires and tubes to see directly into the isolation chamber.
A blond head lay on a stark white sheet. Tiny hands flexed their fingers, testing them out. The head rolled. Renata Chan-dler gazed toward her father.
She could not possibly have seen him, he realized. He stood in darkness, she lay bathed in light. Her blue eyes, though, seemed to stare at him and through him.
He watched his daughter, unable to fathom the feelings that raced through him. All his life he had been able to make snap decisions, had always been on the go, on the way to a goal. He had embarked on the custody battle with equal zeal.
Now he gazed at a child, his daughter, whose gaze implored him to stop, to think, to consider. There existed no need to rush. Watching Renata, there were no decisions to make, no appointments to keep. She squirmed and kicked and twisted about in the crib like life itself-ever changing, ever ready to contort into some different position and then start anew.
Footsteps scuffled and clacked down the hallway.
Ron turned, looking at the approaching people with guilty surprise.
'Valerie,' he said. 'We've got to talk.'
She gazed through the window before answering. 'I think you've said everything already.' Terry glanced at Evelyn, who nodded and quietly escorted everyone else toward the break room. Alone, gazing at their daughter through the glass barrier, Valerie spoke in a weary, hushed tone.
'Today I gave up Jennifer for the second time.'
'It's what you wanted. Both times.'
She nodded. 'Renata is a lovely name, too.'
'She's beautiful.'
Valerie pressed her hands against the cool, smooth window. 'I'm sorry I lost the case for you.' He shrugged, leaning his hands against the window frame. 'I didn't lose. I walked off. It turned out the way you wanted, didn't it?'
'Only the trial.'
He glanced over at her for an instant, then looked back at Renata. 'I'm sorry about what I did. About the way I've acted.' He nodded toward his daughter. 'You know, I never saw her until just now.' Valerie's hand moved slowly down the glass to touch his. 'Isn't she wonderful?' His hand grasped hers, held on for dear life. 'You don't re-gret losing her?' She shook her head. 'I lost her eight months ago. I've only just found her.' She stood on her toes as high as she could to see more of Renata. After a moment, she lowered to face Ron. 'She may be Karen and David's daughter now, but we gave her something no one else could. I'll never again take that miraculous gift for granted.'
Ron pulled her gently close and wrapped an arm around her. 'You gave her that gift twice.' He held her tightly as her arms drew him near. 'More than anyone, you're a part of her. Now and forever.' Valerie felt the warmth of his body against hers. She turned her head to look through the glass and plastic at the tiny fig-ure inside. She gazed at Renata. And saw the future.
Epilogue
FIRST TRANSOPTION
DOWN UNDER
UPI
BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA planted the fetus-safely recov--Just three months after the ered from an abortion-into the well-publicized Baby Renata womb of a 31-year-old house-case in the United States, doc-wife from Sydney. tors at Victoria Hospital an-The revelation has caused
nounced the successful transop-some public outcry, with calls
