Love Beyond the Mask by Adelaide Sinclair

When the Lippert family saw the infant incubator wheeled into the foyer-

Under the glass dome was a tiny, rosy little body, barely bigger than a bottle of Sprite, so thin and pale. Her tiny face was flushed with effort, as if she were straining to take in the world beyond the glass. Her wide, lonely eyes-round and dark-looked just like Whitney's.

The whole Lippert family fell silent, struck by how delicate and small she was.

Camilla gripped her cane tighter, her breathing uneven. She recalled what Ludwik had said about the child's difficult beginnings...

Suddenly, Camilla had no more doubts.

Her eyes, usually sharp with age, now glistened with tears. She didn't dare touch the incubator, but her voice trembled with emotion. "It's chilly outside-let's hurry and bring her in where it's warm.”

Natalie's gaze was complicated as she looked at the baby. She felt a rush of tenderness for the little one.

She stepped forward and, together with Riley Lippert's wife, carefully lifted the incubator. They didn't need the doctor's help; the two women carried the baby inside to the living room.

That's when Ludwik stepped out of the car.

A small, relieved smile played on his lips, the kind you wear after a long storm has passed. “Grandma, it's a heated incubator. The little one will be just fine."

tone sweet and insistent. "My baby sister's getting stronger every

complicated mix of looks from the Lippert family-curiosity, concern, maybe suspicion-but she had

wasn't

answered the unspoken questions, "She can drink milk now, and she'll start gaining weight soon. She'll catch up in

get some rest," Ludwik said,

turned and called back to Sandy, still in the

door. He opened it for Sandy, then reached in and

at how

as she was out, she

cramped and awkward, tension thick in the air.

take care of Tina. Go do your own

casting delicate shadows over

softly, "Alright. I'll find you when

need to find me." She took a

a smirk on his lips. "And how are we supposed to hand off Tina, then? You want her to

talking, Tina's friends might say her parents couldn't get

together and fell silent, clutching her daughter as she hurried after Whitney. Tina, just four, was delicate and