The cries of a newborn child could be heard from almost any place in the mansion.
His son had been born.
It was such a strange feeling; being a father. Theo never would have imagined that one day he would take on such an important role.
He was happy but extremely overwhelmed.
He took his time walking up the stairs. He wanted to savor the moment, because it wouldn't last. It would end as soon as it began.
As he got closer to the nursery, he noticed something that could be described as unusual.
Everyone was silent.
They were avoiding his gaze, as if they all knew something he didn't. This seemed odd he thought; this should be a joyful event.
He couldn't help but wonder what was wrong.
Was it his wife? Had the delivery been so painful, so difficult that she had not made it?
Or was it his son? Was he sick? Theo had heard the infant's cries, so he knew the worst possible scenario had not happened. Or did it?
As he entered the room, the first thing he saw was his wife, and the guilt driven look on her face.
As he got closer to the bed, he understood everything.
The staff's unusual behavior, the unwillingness to meet his eyes and his wife's expression; the way she looked at him, with guilt and sorrow in her eyes.
When he saw his son for the first time, the once anticipated moment had turned into a nightmare filled with pure horror and disgust.
What lay in his wife's arms was in fact a baby. A newborn baby boy.
But the child wasn't human.
He looked like an animal, with light brown fur covering his tiny body.
He had a tail and ears like a dogs
An animal snout and paws instead of hands.
How could this happen?
''Theo, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!''
He could barely hear the sound of her voice. He was in shock; His eyes still fixed on the small creature cradled in his wife's arms.
He walked closer to the bed, just to be able to get a closer look at the baby.
The boy had pale blue eyes. Theo hadn't noticed until now.
He didn't look so vicious; he thought
He reached out his hand and touched the top of his head. His fur was so soft, it was almost enough to make him forget the gravity of the situation.
''Mary, what are we going to do?'' he asked, voice shaking
'' I don't know. I want to keep him but I'm not sure we can.''
She had a point. What would people think if they found out about the baby? What would they do? The child would surely be confiscated, taken to a lab somewhere to become nothing more than a unique specimen just waiting to be experimented on.
And of course, his reputation would be tarnished. He would lose everything he worked so hard to gain.
But then again, how hard could it be to hide a baby?
Sure, some people were looking forward to seeing their little bundle of joy for the first time. He had to find a way to fix the problem; But what?
Then an absolutely crazy idea came to him.
'' We could fake his death. People wouldn't ask questions if they thought he'd died and it would be easy for us to hide him.''
She looked at him and contemplated what he said. His offer sounded logical, but she had to be sure that the plan would work; for all their sakes.
The first thing the y would have to do is pay their staff into silence, in order to insure complete secrecy over the matter.
This would be the easy part.
The rest would have to be carefully planned.
.