The Sweetest Gift (The Gift) Read Online Free Page A

wondering
what the next day would bring, and then he gradually drifted off to sleep.
    Maggie lay awake for a long time too, listening to
Tucker snore softly.
    He woke briefly and put his arm around her.
    “Go to sleep, Maggie. Everything will be fine.”
    Maggie snuggled closer and was comforted by his warmth,
but as she fell asleep she was thinking about the last night that she spent
with Justin.

.
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 4
     
    The next morning,
everyone got up early and went over to Maggie and Zak’s house for breakfast. The
children were already sitting at the kitchen table having some cereal when they
arrived. Zak offered to make eggs and pancakes while Justin started a pot of
coffee. Neither Justin nor Maggie had slept well and needed to start the
day with some caffeine. Justin brought over a large mug of coffee for Maggie
and put his hand on her shoulder.  
    Maggie looked up into his face and then turned towards
her ex-husband and said, “Zak, I’d like to take Jake over to the doctor this
morning for his checkup. He’s due for some vaccinations.”
    “O.k., Maggie. I can take you.”
    “That’s not necessary, Zak. Tucker and Justin offered to
go with me if we can borrow your van for a couple hours. That’s probably easier
than taking the car seat out.”
    “Sure, Maggie.”
    Zak went over to the counter and picked up a set of keys
and handed them to Justin.
    “Can we go Mama, please?” said Belle.
    “It’s just going to be a lot of waiting around at the
doctor’s office, dear. Why don’t you stay here and we’ll go do something fun
when we get back.”
    The adults finished their coffee and then Maggie packed
a bag with a few of Jake’s toys and books and then they got into the van for
the trip to the hospital in Lafayette. When they got to the hospital, they went
up to the lab on the second floor and checked in. A friendly nurse took Jake
and Justin to a back room to get their blood samples. Maggie and Tucker stayed
in the waiting room. A few minutes later they heard Jake cry as the nurse took
his blood. Jake and Justin emerged from the back room, Justin had his arm
around Jake’s shoulders and was telling him how brave he’d been. Jake had tears
streaming down his face, but he was happily looking down at some stickers that
the nurse had given him.
    “How did it go?” Maggie asked.
    “It was fine,” Justin responded. “Jake was very brave
about his ‘vaccination’. I got one too, and we both got special bandaids with
stars on them.” Justin smiled at Maggie. “We should get the results back in
about a week.”
    “Maybe we should change the plane reservations to Nashville, Tucker. I think we should be here for the test results,” Maggie said.
    “O.k. darlin’, whatever you want.”
    They all drove back to Maggie and Zak’s house and when
they went inside, Jake excitedly showed his new stickers to his brother and
sister.
    “I got a shot, and Uncle Justin got one too,” Jake told
them.
    Zak looked up inquiringly when he heard that.
    “Yeah, I was overdue for a tetanus shot and decided to
get it out of the way while we were there,” Justin said.
    The kids seemed a little wound up, so Zak offered to
take them for a walk. Tucker said that he would join them as he needed to get
some exercise. They left the house in a flurry, leaving Maggie and Justin alone
on the front porch.
    “What did they say about the DNA testing, Justin?” she
asked.
    “Well, they explained how it works. Apparently if you
are doing paternity testing on a male child, you can compare the Y chromosomes
since they are passed directly from father to son. This test is extremely
accurate, Maggie. I’m glad we had this done so there will be no question as to
the identity of Jake’s father.”
    “It’s all kind of overwhelming, Justin.”
    “Don’t worry Maggie. We’ll just take it as it comes.”
    Justin took Maggie’s hand in his and stroked it for a
minute.
    “I don’t know how I’m going to get