Surprise, Doc! You're A Daddy!. Jacqueline Diamond

here. Their lives could continue pretty much as planned.

      The security she’d longed for since she was small might still be possible. To have a loving husband here where she belonged, surrounded by old friends, and to have her daughter grow up in such a safe environment, was all Meg wanted.

      At the wading pool, the little boy’s mother lifted him onto a towel to dry off. Dana climbed out and headed for Meg.

      When she spotted Hugh, the little girl’s eyes widened. With an expression of pure bliss, she shouted, “Daddy!” and ran to him.

      He barely got out of his chair in time to catch her. “Hi, honey.” Hugging her, Hugh paid no notice to the water dripping over his clothes.

      “My Daddy!” Dana announced to everyone. “Mine!”

      When he lifted her, she wrapped herself around him as if she’d known him all her life. “Are you having a good time, sweetie?”

      “Us go home!” she cried.

      “That’s right, we’re going home,” Hugh said. “Together.”

      Meg’s chest squeezed at seeing her family reunited. “Last one to the parking lot’s a cross-eyed gopher!” she said, and grabbed her gear.