The long highway 97 was dark barely littered with street lights to illuminate the road. A man's dark blue eyes traced the shadows along the asphalt, carefully attending detail even on the blank road. He was looking for a place to stop, preferably a small neighborhood; a place no one would ever think to look. A vast dark land sped past the window, yet his car was as silent as a bubbling brook. His eyes darted to an open file on his leather passenger seat. Mr. and Mrs. Crane had been wanting a child for years, but Mrs. Marie Crane suffered from ovary cancer, unfortunately she was unable to bare children. It was a planned drop off, a secret transaction that would make the Cranes think they were watched over by guardian angels. They were the perfect family in the best location to drop off an orphan to. His foot lifted from the gas and he slowed to turn onto a side road off the highway, a small sign posted at the corner printed: Welcome to Midland!
The vehicle slowly rolled passed generic houses, a community with white picket fences and flower boxes under the windows. It seemed too little, dainty and perfect, but it needed to be a safe place. His eyes darted to the file once again 507 Stroh Street is where they lived. There was a high school, middle school and elementary school nearby, so education wasn't an issue in this little town. Very independent, luscious with citizens, large enough for options and small enough to hide. He turned left and drove a few houses down to Stroh Street. His eyes scanned the brick walls for gold numbers posted, slowly counting to 507. Pressing his foot on the brake he geared his car to park and took the key out of the ignition. The file still open with the information of Mr. Daniel Crane and Mrs. Marie Crane; his way of locating the couple.
They were a great choice for what he was about to do; looking over his shoulder to see an infant wrapped up in a basket. Inside his file there was a packet full of adoption papers, registration citizenship and anything the baby would ever need to have. The man separated the orange packet from the folder and gently set it down on the seat; he'd keep the file, but the packet was a gift to make the Crane's new child easier to handle. He made it a point to hide his face from the child, not showing his features in light, like the child would know who the man was. "Driver, Front, Back, Open." he said quietly as the doors of his car lifted up towards the ceiling. The car itself looked like it was from another planet, a dark interior with a million blue lights. A sleek exterior with rounded details, it purred like wheat swaying in the wind.
He got out of the car and walked to the back seat, gently grabbing the handle of the basket, still keeping his face out of sight from the child. None of it was supposed to happen like this. "Close." he instructed as the doors obeyed and sealed shut. 507 Stroh Street was a quaint little place, green mailbox, white fence and a cobblestone path to the front door. There was a wreath on the door made of fall leaves that Mrs. Crane probably crafted. It was late fall, school was already in season and all the trees painted crimson as the leaves began to wither. The air was crisp cool against his skin and he knew it eventually would affect the infant nestled in the basket. This was going to be the place where the boy would grow up and live away from everything he'd ever know.
With the light breeze his footsteps shuffled down the cobblestone path and the man stopped before the stoop. It shouldn't be to be this way. He gently placed the basket on the 'welcome' doormat, shoving the orange envelope underneath. His face gazed down at the child, but the shadow concealed his lineaments; just a dark figure loomed over the babe. "Be safe." was all he had to whisper to the child, his fingers stroked the top of the infant's skull. The baby's huge brown hues gazed up at the man, as though his words were understood, but all he did was stared, not even a cry emerged from the baby's throat. "I love you." the man's voice added as his fingertips left the child's scalp.
He stood and pressed the doorbell. As soon as the bell rang the light on the stoop flicked on, illuminating the driveway and front lawn. A few minutes later the door opened and the slender face of Daniel Crane peered out. No one was at his door, but as he looked down he noticed the infant placed on his doormat. He opened the door and walked out, taking another survey of the block, not a single soul was seen. "MARIE!" Daniel called over his shoulder. Soon after his call Marie came running down the stairs, wrapping her robe around her body.
"Daniel, what is it?" she inquired walking out onto the stoop. He leaned down and cradled the child in his arms. "It's a child."
Jane Foster stood up from the bleachers, wondering why her son had ceased to swing during a pitch. The slowly crawling wave of shadow spreading across the field was her answer. Her brown eyes followed the grass of the field all the way up to the sky. A huge dark circle was shifting over to block the sun, an eclipse.
Phoebe walked into the Bay Mirror, holding her chin up high. She was a successful and young columnist, currently feeling on top of the world. The office was buzzing with journalists and deadlines. Phoebe desired to speak to Elise about taking a break, she was currently seeing a nice guy and wanted to go to his beach house with him over the weekend, but Elise was currently engaged in a conversation with the new sports reporter, Steven Hemmingway. He was a tall, toned, dark skinned man, who fit the perfect stereotype of a sports junkie.
"Elise, I'm going to need an extension on the sport's deadline." he insisted. His boss didn't seem convinced.
"Well why Steven?" she asked lifting her hands up with a disapproving expression on her face. "It was your idea to have the story run in the first place."
Steven gave a short nod to agree, but he still protested. "The kids live in Oregon. It's going to be a hike to interview them." he explained. Elise gave out a short laugh.
"I thought you were just going to write a story on the success of the Midland team. Seniors who were able to pull off stunts from the NFL." she mentioned. Phoebe wasn't very interesting in the story, she wasn't that much of a sports fanatic and it seemed like everyday Steven found some athlete prodigy, probably just an excuse to travel with business funds. Steven accepted his fate and backed away, planning to save the interview for another segment. Elise turned and almost bumped into Phoebe. "Phoebe I didn't see you there, how is this weeks column?" she asked. Her face was aged and stress added more wrinkles upon her leathery face. Most of the time when people spoke to her, she looked like she was about to hear a boatload of grief.
"Well about that Elise, Darren wanted to go to his beach house and spend the weekend." she said with a wide grin.
"You have a ton of family emergencies that make it difficult for you to work, haven't you been off and out enough Phoebe?" she asked picking up a manuscript and walking around the news floor. Phoebe followed in persistence.
"But Elise, this could help the column, all the romantic advice." she argued as Elise abruptly stopped and turned on her heel.
"If that were the case I'd extend Steven's column to go up and visit those kids for interviews up in Oregon. You see Phoebe I can't always go around and grant favors." she stated placing the manuscript in the finished box. Her mouth gaped open at Elise's decision.
"If that's the issue then let him go up to Oregon." she really didn't care for Steven's story, it was just a bunch of kids, nothing new in sports. She really needed this vacation, the premonition of her daughter would never come true if she missed out on every opportunity that arouse. Her thoughts passed through her head as she gently bit her lower lip. There was no argument she could give Elise without showing her intentions of just attending a extended date. She was about to put on a fight when her cell phone rang.
Ah Darn…
She reached into her pocket and pulled it out, placing it to her ear. "Hello?" she asked sweetly waiting for the person to respond.
"Where are you?" Piper's voice came sternly through the receptor. "You were supposed to be here a half hour ago, I'm getting my ultrasound, remember you wanted to be here when we found out the gender? I'm about to go in." Phoebe's mouth opened even more.
"Ah sorry Piper, I'll be right over, I was just a little pre-occupied at work." she said. "Be right there, bye bye love ya." She sputtered clapping the phone shut. Later, She'd have to call Darren and inform him of the bad news.
"Ms. Halliwell, please just sit back and relax." the doctor instructed as he brought her into the ultra-sound room. Piper, Paige and Leo shuffled into the room, Leo aiding Piper to sit on the bench. The doctor flicked a few switches and waited for the computer to resume. "This is your first visit Ms. Halliwell?" the doctor asked. Piper nodded in agreement to his question. He shook hands with Leo. "I'm Dr. Neville." he said, smiling widely. A tall man with a square face, blue eyes shaded with curly sandy hair and his smile was a wide crescent across his face; Paige noted the smile.
Phoebe busted through the door into the room. "Sorry I'm late!" she announced taking balance after clearly running through the hospital halls. Dr. Neville picked up the gel and shook the bottle.
"Alright Ms. Halliwell this is going to feel a little cold." he instructed as he traced the gel on her bare stomach. After he lathered the gel he placed the gray wand on her abdomen and rolled it around. "Well, it's too early to tell the gender, but you have one heartbeat." he said looking at the screen, pointing at a flashing white light that was the organ. Paige noted his wide smile as he pointed it out.
"So..Dr. Neville, do you have any kids?" she asked coyly, her and Phoebe exchanged looks, even though Phoebe's mind was heavy with the whole 'Darren Situation'. He looked back at the Halliwells and his lips pressed into a flat frown.
"No, Unfortunately." he said. Paige lifted a brow. "Closest I get is pediatrics." he chuckled taking a cloth and wiping off the gel from Piper's stomach. "Alright Piper, you should be coming back in a couple weeks." he said with a wide smile, holding his hand out to shake hands with Leo again.
"Thanks Dr. Neville." Leo said, helping Piper off the seat and out of the room. Phoebe squinted and lifted her index. She recognized the name.
"Wait are you the Dr. Neville?" she asked. There was a Dr. Neville in San Francisco who was famous for his record in surgery, he had the most successful surgeries than any surgeon in the country. He lifted both of his hands up to imply she had caught him red-handed. "You are?" she exclaimed with a wide smile. "Why are you here?" she asked. "Doing this?"
He crossed his arms across his chest and frown slightly in thought. "I told you before, the closest I get to kids is pediatrics." he said. Phoebe nodded as she analyzed the situation. Dr. Neville was a successful, smart, handsome man who loved children and had no wedding ring. It was a curious circumstance to Phoebe, he was the kind of man who'd have women drooling over him and throwing themselves at his doorstep.
"Do you mind if I ask you something? I write-" Dr. Neville nodded
"Finding Love in The Bay Mirror." he added. "I've read it many times." that gave her the permission to ask away.
"You have everything any woman would want and yet..you aren't married, or have a girlfriend? What has caused that?" she questioned, her expression extremely spectacle. Everyone had left at the point and Phoebe was interrogating alone. Dr. Neville took his time to think, it was clear on his face he was choosing the right words.
"I'm where I am today because I've worked hard." he started shrugging. "I guess I just want to find that one person who isn't in love with my hard work, but can look at me and love me." he explained bringing his palms to his chest. Her expression softened as she listened to his reasoning; it was one of the sweetest things she had ever heard and she never gave advice anything like it. He was the man no one thought existed.
"Do you mind if I ask you to dinner Dr. Neville?"