"It’s a baby," Chet said, quietly. Then he looked closer. "Is it a he or a she?"

"I don’t know! But there is a baby in my van?" Joe exclaimed in shock. Then reality clicked in. He immediately started to look around the van for any sign of anyone. But all he saw was a single set of footprints in the snow that led to the cleared roadway. There, the footprints ended with no way to be tracked or traced. Joe turned to look at the baby. The baby smiled at him from under the covers. Joe walked over to the baby and cleared away the thick blankets. The baby was in a car carrier with a note. Joe carefully opened the note.

"Dear Fenton and Laura Hardy,

I hate to leave little Rebekkah, but I have no choice right now.

Please take care of her while I have to be away. I know who you

Are and I know that you will be good to my little angel. She is three

Months old and takes formula very well. I will be back for her and

I will repay you for everything. Just don’t turn her in. Thank you,

A Person in Need

"How did they know my parents’ names?" Joe asked, looking down at the baby. She smiled again.

"Probably from your van’s registration," Chet said, pointing to the front seat. Someone had ransacked the glove compartment, leaving the van’s registration with all of the Hardy information on the seat, out in the open.

"Whoever your mommy is, she is clever!" Joe said, with a grin as he looked at the brown haired baby. "She has a lot of hair I bet." He pulled her pink hat from her head to reveal a head full of hair.

"AH-GOO!" the young baby said proudly, then smiled again with a twinkle in her eye. Joe just smiled back. For some reason, that smile seemed to melt his heart. Then he noticed a large diaper bag on the backseat.

"Looks like you come with luggage already little Bekka!" Joe said softly. He reached over and swiped his fingers past her cheek. The young baby just smiled again.

"She likes you," Chet said with a smile. "So what are you going to do?"

"What can I do? I am going to take her home and hope that her mother comes to get her…soon!" Joe said as he started to look the car carrier over.

"But you don’t know anything about babies?"

‘So? I am sure Frank knows something. He seems to know a little bit about everything!" Joe quipped looking around the carrier. Then he discovered a small little Christmas box that was wrapped in Christmas paper. "It looks like Bekka has a gift already." Joe pulled out the small package and opened it. Inside, was a small necklace with a ring attached to it? "LOOK! A CLUE!" Joe exclaimed as he pulled the ring out.

"It is just a ring Joe," Chet said in a matter of fact manner.

"Not just ANY ring, a CLASS ring!" Joe remarked, holding the gold ring up. He quickly looked on the side of the ring. All he could see was a tennis racket on one side and the symbol of a Viking on the other side. A blue stone was in the middle. But no sign of any name, but "AR" was engraved on the inside of the gold ring. The graduation year, 2000, was etched into the gold by the Viking small note was attached to the ring.

"If you are short money to feed her, please sell my ring. It might not bring much, but it is 18K gold. It is the most valuable thing I own.

Mommy"

"See, even the mother doesn’t call her Bekka!" Chet mumbled.

"Well, the mother left her with me and that is what I am going to call her, Bekka!" Joe commented as he looked for a way to hook her car seat into the van. He picked the carrier up and faced the carrier forward.

"Ah, Joe, you need to flip that around. It has to face the back," Chet said quietly, watching his friend.

"What do you mean? Then she will be staring at the back of the seat! How am I supposed to see her if she is faced the other way! That makes no sense," Joe said, looking back at Chet like he was crazy.

"Joe, I am serious. She has to face the back of the seat. I don’t know why, but I just know it has to go that way. I remember something about that in Driver’s Ed," Chet said, getting up in the van and helping Joe fasten the baby in place. "See! Right here it is on the back of the carrier. The directions say they face the back and the belt loops through this flap." Joe looked at the diagram and quickly strapped the baby safely into the backseat of the Hardy van, grumbling the entire time about not being able to see her in case she would happen to choke.

Then both boys looked back at the large tree. They had plans of moving the seat forward and putting the tree in the van, allowing the back doors to be slightly ajar. But that was not going to work now. It would have been all right for just them, but the baby could not be in the cold air like that. So reluctantly, Joe and Chet strapped the tree to the top of the van. Chet was about to get into the front passenger seat when Joe stopped him.

"Someone needs to ride back there with the baby!" Joe said sternly. Chet just shrugged his shoulders and hopped into the backseat for the ride back to the Morton farmhouse.

"So what are you going to do now?" Chet asked.

"We are going to find the mother. I am sure we can help her out. Whoever she is, she seems like a nice woman who was very desperate. For Rebekkah’s sake, we need to find her and help her out."

"But what if she is a criminal?" Chet asked. "She did leave her baby in a van out in the middle of nowhere with total strangers!"

"But it also said that she knew mom and dad. She trusts them. I also think that she went to too much trouble if she was not doing this for a good reason. I am not saying what she did was good, but it makes me want to find her even more because it means she is desperate and alone," Joe acknowledged as he turned into the driveway of the Morton home. It was now dark and Mrs. Morton’s car was back. "HEY! Your mom is back. She can help us out!"

"Sorry Joe, but I would say that mom is with dad. The truck is gone! They mentioned about going up to Aunt Ruthie’s to take her a tree and decorate it for her. They will be gone till late. But Iola is probably here," Chet said as he started to unstrap Rebekkah.

"Great! Iola has done a lot of babysitting. I am sure she will know what to do," Joe said as he jumped out of the van. He went over to the side door and snatched the baby up into his arms. Chet grabbed the diaper bag and followed behind. "You just wait little Bekka. Iola, my girlfriend is going to show us how to take care of you since Uncle Joe knows nothing about babies!"

Chet just shook his head and sighed. He would have never have thought that Joe Hardy would have fallen for a baby that fast.

When the two boys walked in the door, sixteen-year-old Iola was reading on the family couch. She almost dropped her book as she peered over her reading glasses. Her brown eyes were as wide as her mouth.

"Joseph Hardy? Is there something you need to tell me?" she asked, walking up to the boys.

Joe grinned and quickly filled Iola in on the story. The whole time he was explaining things, he stood with little Bekka, gently swinging from side to side.

"So you want to know how to take care of babies," Iola said with a mischievous grin. "My Joe, the one who would clear the room when I did a diaper change with little Toby, wants to learn to take care of babies."

Joe just nodded. "Are you going to help me or make fun of me?"

"Well, you have one of the first things down," Iola pointed out. She carefully pulled out her scrunchy and put her black long hair into a ponytail. "You have the baby sway."

"Funny!"

Iola quickly gave Joe a crash course in baby care. Joe watched very attentively and took careful thought to everything his girlfriend taught him. The diaper bag was well stocked much to Iola’s relief. There were six sleepers, a large can of powdered formula, three bottles, several diapers and even a small rattle.

"You are going to need baby wipes and Vaseline," Iola said after the looked through the whole diaper bag.

"Chet, we have to take her to Joe’s house. Could you please stop by the store on your way over and get some wipes and Vaseline? I will ride with Joe and get the Hardy home ready for a baby! I am going to go and get the bassinet from the attic. I am sure mom would not care if you borrowed it. Generations of Morton’s have used it."

Chet agreed and helped Iola bring the bassinet down from the attic. Then the phone rang. It was Frank calling for Joe.

"I was just checking to see if everything was fine. You have gone a while and I have not heard a word from you. The house is done so we are fully ready for the tree", Frank said on the other line.

"We?" Joe asked.

"Callie came over to help out. She didn’t have to work tonight after all. So be nice, okay" Frank commented, knowing how Joe and Callie got along at times.

"No problem big bro, I will be on my best behavior!"

"So you DO have the tree right?"

"Yes, and you are definitely going to be surprised this Christmas."

"Be careful and I will see you in a few minutes," Frank said. Joe hung up the phone with an evil looking grin.

"Didn’t you tell him about the baby?" Iola asked, as they gathered everything up.

"No, I figured he needs a little surprise," Joe said as he looked at Bekka. Her blue eyes twinkled back and she let out a small giggle.

"You find that funny? She has dimples! Two cute little dimples, Iola," Joe commented as he held back the blanket for Iola to see. Iola just rolled her eyes. She could not believe that Joe Hardy, quarterback of the Bayport High School football team, was completely whipped by a three-month-old baby girl.

After the van was loaded once again, Iola and Joe set out for the Hardy home while Chet went into town to the store for baby supplies.

When the young couple arrived at the Hardy home, Frank and Callie came running out of the house. They were eager to see the tree, but stood in amazement at the sight of the tree strapped to the top of the van.

"Why did you put the tree up there? I hope you didn’t scratch it up. You know how scratches show up on black! What on Earth were you thinking!" Frank rambled on. It was obvious he was upset over the sight of the tree being strapped to the top of the van. Then Iola stepped out from the other side of the van with Bekka snuggled in her arms.

Frank looked at Iola, then at the baby and then at Joe. Callie was literally speechless.

"Congratulations Uncle Frank! It’s a girl!"