Thank you for all the lovely reviews! Just to clear things up; I didn't choose France instead of The Netherlands because Elizabeth speaks French and I thought it would be interesting to have the girl speak a not so popular language. I, however don't speak Dutch fluently so excuse any misspellings in the future.

"This is their sister. They deserve to know." Elizabeth said, and they sat in silence together for a while before heading downstairs.

Their kids were in the kitchen getting food when they walked down. "Everything alright?" Stevie asked, and her mom nodded before hugging her and pulling Jason in too. Her hand reached for Alison and Henry joined the family hug.

"What is going on?" Alison asked as Elizabeth wiped away the tears. She reached up to touch Jason his face like she is scared he will go. She closed her eyes as she recalled a memory of when Jason was just a baby. The way his skin felt like beneath her fingers.

So smooth and soft.

She opened her eyes again and Henry his expression was worried, but he knew better than to ask what she had been thinking about. "Why don't we sit down." Henry suggested, and Elizabeth sat on the couch with Jason and Alison while Stevie sat in the chair with her dad on the armrest.

"Remember before your mom accepted the position as Secretary of State, we talked to you guys?" Henry started cautionsly, and the kids nodded, all wondering where this was going. "Remember we told you how, when Stevie was little, we lost our baby?" Henry ignored the tears in his eyes and swallowed hard.

They had told their kids the story before Elizabeth became Secretary because they did not know if the press would write about it and they did not want their kids to learn about it from the news. Which is why they decided to tell them before the press got a chance to. It had been a tremendous impact on the three kids but eventually they came around.

"Daisy came by because there is a newspaper running a story about it." Elizabeth managed to say before the tears welled up again. She hoped Henry would take over because she did not know how to break the news to their kids.

"As it turns out, the doctor who delivered our baby, he- he switched her for a baby that had passed earlier that day and from what we can tell he s-sold her. He seemed to be depth and people who can't adopt are willing to pay a lot of money for a baby." Henry's voice cracked, and Stevie grabbed his hand while Elizabeth held her other two kids close.

"What does this mean?" Stevie asked, her brain still not having caught up with the news.

"It means that the daughter that we buried wasn't ours and our real daughter has been alive for the past eighteen years." Elizabeth said through her tears and a silence fell while everyone processed the news. She held her kids close almost as if she was scared they would disappear. She took in the scent of Alison her shampoo and she closed her eyes, remembering all the happy times with her family. It worked for a moment until a shot of guilt ran through her heart as she remembered her daughter had not been a part of any of it.

"How do you know she's not lying? Or doing it for the attention?" Jason asked, trying to be protective of his parents. It is not like he did not want the news to be true, he just didn't want his parents to get their hopes up.

"No, because she isn't the one who contacted the newspaper." Henry explained, touched by the protectiveness of his son. He knew Jason was starting to feel responsible and protective of especially his sister- even though he was still acting like a kid at times.

"So, she wants nothing to do with us?" Alison sounded hurt. She did not know how she felt about the situation yet, but she did know she was excited to have another sister. It was complicated, and she knew that, but she could not understand why her sister would not want to meet them.

"I don't know, Ali. Maybe but maybe she's just scared." Elizabeth sighed, having wondered the same thing earlier. She would not blame the girl if she did not want to be in contact and she could not imagine what it must be like for her.

"Do you know her name?" Stevie asked carefully. Just like her other siblings, she as well was not sure how she felt about the situation yet, but she knew her parents could use the support. Her mom looked like she was about to fall apart, and it slightly scared her.

"Lauren." Henry said, grabbing a picture from the file and handing it to her.

"She's pretty." Stevie told them, and she handed it to Alison who was curious as well.

"She has your bright blue eyes." Alison told her mother before showing the picture to Jason. He studied his sister for a moment. Dark blonde hair with light highlights reached the top of her rib cage. A smile on her lips while her nose crinkled just like his mom's does when she smiles. However, she seemed to be tall which she probably got from his dad. She was surrounded by three other girls and he guessed they were her friends.

"Does she live in the neighborhood?" Alison asked, already excited to meet her sister.

"Kind of." Her dad told her, and she looked confused. She figured her sister was born here so she must live in the neighborhood.

"She's studying in Philadelphia for the moment, but she was raised in The Netherlands." Elizabeth explained, and Alison her eyes widened.

"Europe?" Stevie asked shocked, wondering how a baby could have been sold to someone in The Netherlands. But then again if they had the money to buy a baby, they would have the money to pay for an illegal way into the country.

"Does she live with her adoptive parents?" Alison asked.

"I don't know." Henry explained. They had not come that far into reading the details of the file yet.

"Are you going to see her?" Jason asked, and his parents locked eyes. They had not talked about it because they wanted their kids to know first.

"I think we have to. It's going to be front page news in the next few days." Henry sighed. "Maybe not see but at least contact her."

"I think you should do that sooner than later. Do it before the press is all over this if you still want a chance." Stevie told them, and they nodded.

"That's why we will leave you be and go upstairs." Alison agreed and got up, followed by Jason. Henry took place next to his wife on the couch.

"We love you guys. So much." Elizabeth told them and they all nodded.

"We love you too." Alison told them, and they left.

Eventually Elizabeth broke the silence that was between them. "What do you write to your long-lost daughter that you thought was dead." Elizabeth sighed, dropping her phone.

"Maybe we should just call." Henry suggested, and Elizabeth nodded. She dialed the number but then looked at him.

"What do we say?"

"I don't know but we have to call her, text makes it seem like we're not really trying." Elizabeth dialed the number again and put it on speaker.

"Hi it's Lauren." They heard a happy, cheerful voice and neither knew what to say. This was the first time they heard their daughter speak. Elizabeth tried to imagine her daughter in this moment "Hello?"

"Hi, it's Henry and Elizabeth McCord." Henry said when he realized neither of them were speaking. A silence fell, and Elizabeth looked at him, wondering if their daughter had hung up.

"Hi." They heard her say and they knew it was their turn to speak again.

"Did we catch you at a good time?" Henry asked, saying the first thing that came to mind because he had no idea how or where to start.

"Yes." Lauren said and there was once again, a silence. "Look, I had no idea the story was going to get sold to the press. I'm sorry if it's causing you any trouble."

"It's not- we're not calling because of that. I mean we are but we-" Henry started, clueless as to how to handle this. Elizabeth had been silent the entire time but now decided to speak up.

"Hi, we only called because we just found out tonight and we- we want to know what you want." Elizabeth asked. Normally being very strategic but now her mind went blank and she just blurted it out.

"I don't know." Lauren replied, "To be honest, I doubt I have much choice since it will be on the headlines soon."

"That doesn't mean you're obligated to do something you don't want to." It pained Elizabeth to say it because she did not want to be rejected by her own daughter but then again, she wanted the choice to be Lauren's.

"I'm sorry, I've got to go."

"We understand." Elizabeth said, not being able to hide the disappointment in her voice. Of course, she did not expect her daughter to come home and live her life with them, but she had hoped the girl was at least a little more excited. She heard Lauren sigh.

"How about I call you somewhere next week?" She offered, and Elizabeth smiled. At least there would be another opportunity to convince her daughter to take a chance with them.

"That would be great." She said happily.

"Now I really have to go, I'll speak to you soon." They said goodbye before hanging up.

Eventually the kids came downstairs again, and they finished the movie while they talked some more. Alison was disappointed her sister did not want to see them and was determent to find her herself.

Later that night, Henry lay in bed with his wife in his arms. Papers from the file were spread around them as he read through them. He had started humming a small lullaby as he slowly combed her blonde hair. He used to sing it to Stevie when she was little and had a nightmare. It used to calm her down and it seemed to work for his wife as well. He had one arm wrapped around her shoulder, an act that could be interpreted as a protective move.

"Henry, tell me." She was not ready to read everything yet. It was better if Henry just told her because every time she would read the adoptive parents' names, her blood would run cold. She could not wrap her head around what happened yet. Why them?

"Her adoptive parents raised her for seven years before they passed." Henry read, and Elizabeth untangled herself from her husband's arms. She sat up against the headboard of the bed, their shoulders touching slightly.

"How did they die?"

"It doesn't say but I'm sure we could find out."

"Do you think what we're doing is an invasion of her privacy?" Elizabeth grabbed her daughter's picture again. So many questions ran through her mind and she imagined what it would be like to see her for the first time. Would the girl be happy and jump in their arms? Would she be distant and refuse to see them again? Would they even get the chance to see her?

"I do think we need to know the basics. Besides, most of what's in the file is proof that she's our daughter, not detailed information about her."

Elizabeth looked up into her husband's eyes, and nodded, "I love you"

Henry smiled and kissed her, "I love you too."

"How could this have happened? There are more than one nurse that could've seen something."

"There was a major car accident on the highway, remember? Most of the staff was working on them at the time and the nurses who delivered our baby stayed with you while the doctor left to help our baby with other nurses. Perhaps he had help from one of them, I don't know." Henry sighed, having a theory but he wasn't sure if that was how it actually went.

"That makes sense since Daisy and her reporter friend Linda told us he switched our baby with one found at the scene of a car accident." Elizabeth choked back a sob. "How could I not have seen it wasn't my daughter. It felt different than with Stevie when I held her b-body but I was exhausted and-"

Henry held his wife as she bravely held back her tears. He rubbed her back, sitting in silence for a moment.

"I think we should go to the fbi, let them handle this." Henry opted.

"He was 58 at the time which makes him 76 right now." Elizabeth sighed. She remembered him telling them he had been a trauma surgeon in Iraq years prior before switching to this. She was not sure what she wanted. Of course, she wanted him to pay for what he did to them but he could go to prison at 76.

"Secretary of State sends 76-year old veteran to prison, it would be a PR nightmare." She sighed and Henry tilted her chin up so she was looking at him.

"Hey, stop thinking like a politician. This is our choice and he kidnapped and sold our daughter, I think the world would understand if we did this." He tried to tell her. He knew she always put others before herself, including the world but this time he needed her to know that she had to make the choice and think about herself for once.

"Will our daughter understand?"

"We can always ask what she wants to do?" Henry sighed, wanting nothing more than to arrest this guy right now and let him go to prison.

TBH