PROMPT: Bawson baby is set out to give her parents a heart attack
tw: description of an anxiety attack
The Case of the Missing Baby
Ginny was in the kitchen, dicing some vegetables for a surprise lunch she wanted to make for Mike who was currently out, running some errands. Charlie was in her playpen in the living room, just across from the kitchen island, meaning Ginny had a perfect view of her baby daughter.
Music was playing in the background, something soothing that didn't make Charlie too fussy since she was teething and everything irritated her.
Charlie kept babbling something, looking at her mother and Ginny kept cooing at her, wishing she could finish that dish as soon as possible and take her baby in her arms.
"Charlie, momma's gonna be there in a sec, I just need to-"
Ginny turned for a moment to take some milk from the fridge, and when she turned back, her daughter was gone.
Fear gripped her heart as Ginny stood frozen in the kitchen before she dashed towards the playpen. Charlie wasn't there, only her pacifier.
"Charlie? Charlie!" Ginny called out for her, looking under the couch, coffee table, behind the glass display containing her and Mike's awards. "Hey baby, where are you, ha? Did you hide from momma?"
Panic overtook her body and she started shaking. "Chaaaarliiiie!"
There was no answer, not a sound from Charlie.
Ginny spent an hour looking everywhere, searching every room, every corner in the house top to bottom but there was no trace of her daughter.
Doing her best to calm herself, Ginny dialled her husband, hands still trembling.
Mike answered after two rings, his voice chirpy.
"Mike, we have a situation," Ginny started before he even had a chance of saying anything but hi.
"What's wrong?"
"I-I can't find Charlie!" She was crying now, sobbing into the phone while she still went from room to room, rechecking if her daughter appeared anywhere.
Mike sounded tense, Ginny could hear words barely making their way out if his mouth, "What do you mean you can't find her?"
"I was just doing something in the kitchen, she was in the playpen and I looked away for a moment and she was gone! Mike I looked everywhere. I can't find her. I can't find our daughter!"
Ginny was on the verge of nervous breakdown now, her knees giving away under her and she fell on the floor. The one thing that scared her at that moment more than not finding Charlie and god forbid, Charlie getting hurt, was getting an anxiety attack.
By now she was pretty good at managing them with right medication and making an effort not to stress too much about things, especially since Charlie came into their life, but it was exactly the possibility of something happening to Charlie that had her gasping for air now as her throat constricted and her limbs became numb, her phone falling out of her hand.
Through the fog of her mind she could hear Mike's voice guiding her through the attack, calming her, telling her to breathe slowly, in and out. It took her a few minutes before she was able to breathe normally, but she was barely keeping herself from passing out. Unable to move, Ginny curled her knees up, swaying back and forth as tears ran down her face, her whole body aching.
Mike found her leaning against the guest room's wall some ten minutes later, her face wet with tears, body still shaking from panic.
"Mike!" she whined, burying her face in the crook of his neck as he wrapped his arms around her, whispering soothingly in her ear.
"Hey, Gin, my Gin, you're okay. Everything's ok. Breathe, babe. Come on, breathe."
She was mumbling something against his skin, but he couldn't make out what it was until she shifted.
"I can't find her, Mike," Ginny was repeating over and over again, her grip on the back on Mike's neck tightening, fingernails digging into his skin, but he made no protest.
"Okay, calm down first, babe. We're gonna look for her together. I just need you to calm down. Breathe."
Obeying him, Ginny concentrated on the steady rise and fall of Mike's chest, gradually getting her breathing in sync with his. Mike was still whispering in her ear, caressing her hair as tension left Ginny's body and her sobs waned.
"Thank you."
"You don't ever need to thank me, Ginny. I'm always here for you. You feeling better now?"
"A bit, yes. Can we go look for her now, please?"
"Of course. Come on," he got up and helped her to her feet.
Telling him once more how it all happened, in a calm manner, Mike and Ginny started searching their home again, from the living room, guest rooms, bathrooms until they got to their bedroom.
"You check under the bed, I'll check the closet," Mike told her and Ginny nodded, getting on her knees.
Seeing there wasn't anything under the bed except for dust, Ginny started getting up. It was then that she heard Mike call for her from their walk-in closet.
"You found her?"
Mike nodded, holding a finger to his lips to indicate they needed to be quiet. He pointed at a large box in the corner of his part of the closet that contained his old uniforms.
As Ginny approached, she leaned over the box and almost let out a laugh at the sight of their daughter cocooned in her father's jerseys, sound asleep and sucking on her thumb.
Wrapping her arms around Mike's middle, Ginny sighed into his back. "I almost died and the missy here just wanted you."
"Oh, don't be so bitter, rookie. I always knew I was going to be her favourite parent," Mike retorted, entwining his hands with Ginny's on his stomach, sneaking a peak at their wedding bands with a smile.
"Yeah? We'll see about that, old man. She's only nine months old. I've got plenty of time to make her like me more."
"Is that a challenge?" Mike turned to look at her with raised eyebrows, a glint in his eyes.
Ginny snorted, "Please. That would indicate you have a chance."
"It is a challenge! Game on, Baker. She'll adore me before she turns one."
Playfully swatting his arm Ginny hugged him, burying her face in his shirt, "I love you."
"Love you too, rook," Mike kissed the top of her head, his palm caressing her back, sending warmth through her body.
"What are we going to do with her?" Ginny asked him after a couple of minutes, returning her gaze to the sleeping beauty in their closet.
Mike huffed out, deliberating for a second before replying, "Well, I think this is the first time she's sleeping peacefully in days." When Ginny nodded in acknowledgement, he continued, "How about we leave her there? I'll just bring the box in the living room and we can watch over her together."
"Deal."
They kissed briefly before Mike picked up the box, careful not to wake up Charlie, and followed Ginny to the living room.
Once he set the box on the floor next to the couch, Ginny put Charlie's favourite blanket over her. Mike and she then settled on the couch, Mike spooning her from behind as Ginny held her hand on her daughter's belly, feeling her breathing steadily.
"I was so scared," she confessed, voice low.
Mike kissed her hair, pulling her closer to him. "I know, babe. I was too. But everything's fine. Charlie's fine."
"Yeah."
"You ok now?" he asked.
One hand entwined with Mike's, the other on her daughter's sleeping form, Ginny sighed contently.
"I am."
