Her arms folded, her voice firm, Lilly said, “Lenny, you asked if you could stay a few nights. Well, that was three weeks ago, and I don’t want you here anymore. Pack your bags and get out.”
Lilly’s loud, strident tone startled the already stirring infant, and the faint mewling broke into a wail.
“What?” Lilly exclaimed. Then she saw the stroller. In a quick move, she shoved her nephew aside and looked down into it. Shocked, she snapped, “What have you clone now? Where did you get that baby?”
Lenny thought fast. He didn’t want to leave this apartment. It was a perfect place to live, and staying with his aunt gave him the aura of respectability. He had read the note from the baby’s mother, so he quickly came up with a plan.
“She’s mine, Aunt Lilly. A girl I was crazy about is the mother. But she’s moving to California and wants to put the baby up for adoption. I don’t want to. I want to keep her.”
The wail was now a demanding screech. Tiny fists flailed the air.
Lilly opened the bundle at the infant’s feet. “The baby’s hungry,” she announced. “At least your girlfriend sent some formula.” She plucked out one of the bottles and thrust it at Lenny. “Here, warm this up.”
Her expression changed as she unwrapped the blankets from around the tiny infant, picked her up and cradled her in warm and comforting arms. “Beautiful, bella. How could your mama not want you?” She looked at Lenny. “What do you call her?”
Lenny thought of the star-shaped diamond in the chalice. “Her name is Star, Aunt Lilly.”
“Star,” Lilly Maldonado murmured as she soothed the sobbing baby. “In Italy we would call her Stellina. That means ‘little star.’ “
Through narrowed eyes, Lenny watched the bonding between the infant and the aging woman. No one would be looking for the baby, he thought. It wasn’t like he had kidnapped it, and anyhow, if anything ever did come up about the kid, he’d have the note to prove she had been abandoned. He knew the word for grandmother in Italian was nonna. As he turned and hurried into the kitchen to warm the bottle, Lenny told himself with satisfaction, “Star, my little girl, I’ve found me a home-and you’ve got yourself a nonna.”