It was getting colder. Was the baby wrapped warmly enough she worried. For an instant she shut her eyes. Oh God, please make this man get off the phone, she prayed, I need to make this call now.

An instant later she heard the click of the receiver being replaced. Sondra waited until the caller was a few paces away before she grabbed the receiver, dropped in the coins and dialed.

“St. Clement’s rectory.” The voice was that of an elderly man. It had to be the old priest she had seen at Mass.

“Please, may I speak to Monsignor Ferris, right away.”

“I’m Father Dailey. Perhaps I can help you. Monsignor is outside with the police. We have an emergency.”

Quietly, Sondra broke the connection. They had found the baby already. She was safe now, and Monsignor Ferris would see that she was placed in a good home.

An hour later Sondra was on the bus to Birmingham, Alabama, where she was a student in the music department of the university, a violin student whose astonishing talent had already marked her for future stardom on the concert stage.

It was not until he was in the apartment of his elderly aunt that Lenny heard the faint mewling of the infant. Startled, he looked into the stroller. He saw the shopping bag begin to move and quickly tore it open; he stared in shock at the tiny occupant. Unbelieving, he unpinned the note from the blanket, read it and mouthed an expletive. From the bedroom at the end of the narrow hallway, his aunt called: “Is that you, Lenny?” There was no hint of a welcome in the greeting, spoken with a strong accent that betrayed her Italian roots.

“Yes, Aunt Lilly.” There was no way he could simply hide the baby. He had to figure out what to do. What should he tell her?