"Prove it," Sara said to the woman. "If he is dead then produce a body. What was your role in all of this? What's your name?"
"My name is Stephanie and The Doctor was my boyfriend," she explained. "He lost his entire family in a fire — a wife and six daughters. They all had brown hair and dark eyes, like you did."
"And, so he just recruited you into helping him kidnap women?" Sara asked with a disgusted expression.
Stephanie shook her head. "I didn't know!" she insisted. "He just asked me to talk to people."
Sara felt like she was either talking to a liar or an idiot. "You talked to these women separately, and then they went missing," she said. "You do not find that suspicious."
Stephanie lowered her head and began to cry. Her tears angered Sara — she was the one who had the reason to cry. Emily could have been taken from her, and she would have never gotten to know her sweet baby.
"How do you know he is dead?" Sara demanded to know. "Why was I sent those flowers? Who enrolled in my class as 'The Doctor'?"
"It was me," Stephanie said. " He's dead. I can show you his body… or what is left of it."
~8~
Brass and Warrick rode in a squad car with Stephanie in the back. They still didn't have a clear understanding of what had been happening with the missing mothers and infants, but from what they did know the assumed that The Doctor had been trying to replace his own family that had been lost long ago.
"He's around the corner by the big tree," Stephanie instructed from the back seat.
When Brass rounded the bend, he saw the tree that she was talking about. Underneath the tree was what appeared to be unmarked grave. There was no marker or flowers.
"There," Stephanie said.
~8~
At the Grissom house, the policemen had shut down their stakeout. Sara felt relieved to be able to walk with Emily around the house with having pairs of eyes judging her. Though Stephanie had taken Brass and Warrick to The Doctor's body, Sara didn't feel convinced. She had never seen the man's face. How could anybody be one-hundred percent sure it was him?
"What would make you feel comfortable?" he asked her. "What can we do to ease this?"
Sara sat down on the sofa with a sleeping Emily in her arms. The baby was in a deep sleep, and her bottom lip was poked out. Sara loved the sleeping face of her baby. It brought her peace to know that she had created something so innocent.
"I just want to feel normal again," she said. "and I don't feel normal here."
"Then we'll move," he said. "We'll move closer to the school where the security is tighter."
Emily stirred and Sara laid the child on her shoulder and patted her back. "Isn't that a little extreme?" she asked. "I mean, if he is really dead then we'll be fine. The crooks he hired are in prison, and Stephanie will be in prison for at least a year for aiding in a kidnapping."
"Not when my family is concerned," Grissom replied. "I think it would be just the right thing to do."
~8~
"So we can neither confirm nor deny that this is The Doctor?" Catherine asked.
Doc Robbins nodded. "Since Stephanie was of no relation and Sara never saw his face, we may just have to take her word for it," he explained. "Which is the most risky thing we could do."
Catherine agreed. "If he isn't dead, then he could come after Sara again," she said. "For Sara's sake, I hope the man is in Hell."
~8~
Grissom talked to the university about being assigned a house in the faculty-housing section. Since Sara's kidnapping had been in the news, the school granted him a spot and he moved his family into a tolerable home within a week. The university house was not like their former home — which Sara had been sad to leave. It was smaller, but they found space for all of their furniture. Grissom's jarred specimens were kept in his on-campus office,
Though it was smaller, it was noticeably safer. Because of the students, security patrolled the streets frequently. They had been instructed to round the faculty housing neighborhood twice. Sara also felt comfortable taking Emily out in her stroller.
Though things were not ideal, Sara hoped that one day everything would make sense. She planned to make the best out of her life right now. Even though things were unsure at the moment, she knew that with Grissom beside her, one day everything would be alright.
Time Jump : 6 months
"Oh, Emmy!" Sara gasped when she saw the mess on the floor. "What did you do, silly girl!?"
Emily sat on the floor, a plant in one hand and a clump of soil in the other. Sara had left her sitting on a blanket while she put away laundry, but the child had different plans. She had uprooted a potted plant and had created a masterpiece on the kitchen floor.
"Uh oh," Emily said as she put a finger to her mouth. "No."
"Oh, no," Sara sighed, hoping the baby would imitate her. "Well, let's get you cleaned up before Daddy gets back."
She carried the baby into the bathroom, undressed her, and sat her in the tub. She turned on the water and Emily squealed when she saw the water rush towards her. She loved bath-time, especially if Sara added bubbles.
"Let's get a clean girl," Sara sighed as she kneeled on a towel to clean the baby.
~8~
That night, all of the mothers and fathers — who had been affected by the kidnappings — met for the last time. The babies were all around the age of one now. So much time had passed, and life was beginning to return to normal — or at least what they had dreamed motherhood would be like.
"I'm going to miss you guys," Lakesha said. "but my family and I are ready to move on."
Sara agreed. "I'm in a place now where I can sleep peacefully," she said. "without nightmares plaguing me."
"I'm expecting again," Kelsey said to the group.
~8~
By the time Grissom and Sara finally returned home, Emily had fallen asleep. Grissom carried her into the house and they tucked her into her bed. After that, Sara took Grissom by the hand and led him to bed. I had been six months since The Doctor's body had been found, and somehow she had been able to find peace. After Stephanie was arrested, nothing happened. The name 'The Doctor' disappeared from her classes. She also didn't feel the need to look over her shoulder. She was now finally able to relax and enjoy her family.