Mai yawned and stretched as she rose up from her chair in her office. Currently, it was midday and she had been at home on maternity leave for about a month and she now knew what it was like to be so exhausted she was starting to fall asleep during feedings with Ren.

Speaking of…

Mai picked up the baby monitor to see that her son was still sound asleep on his back, both arms by his head. She smiled and watched him for a moment before moving the small screen back over on her desk. Maki came over almost every day, even before she had Ren, and Mai had never been so thankful for her constant visits as she was now. When she would visit, Mai would let her know that she pumped and there was a bottle ready to go in the fridge to feed to Ren if he was hungry, and then she would proceed to crash in her bed for at least an hour. When she woke, she would make the both of them dinner and put Ren to bed soon after before talking to Maki about the current situation at work.

Somehow, Mai thought that once Ren was born, she would get back to work as soon as possible. But when the time came, and she held him for the first time, she became immediately attached. He had her wrapped around his finger and he was oblivious to that fact.

Sitting in her desk chair and pulling her laptop closer she didn't notice a book leaning precariously on the edge of the desk. When she moved the computer, it moved the table and the book hit the floor with an obvious 'thunk'.

Mai shut her eyes tightly and her face was scrunched up in apprehension. She waited for a minute and another. One more was about to pass and she was about to sigh and go back to work when a shrill cry rang through the baby monitor and down the hallway.

Blast.

Mai's head leaned back in the chair and she smiled a little and was rather excited to see her son.

"So, still no word on his whereabouts?" Mai asked adding more white wine to the dish she was cooking.

Maki had Ren wrapped in her arms and he was fast asleep to the background noise of their voices. She had just gotten to Mai's from work and almost immediately grabbed Ren from the rocker that his mother had him set up in. He woke briefly, cried and fell asleep after a minute of Maki's rocking. Mai was in the middle of making dinner for both of them and was looking forward to picking Maki's brain about any new developments with their current case that they had right before Mai had Ren.

"No," Maki said walking around the perimeter of the kitchen and bouncing her hips back and forth in a rocking motion. "Stone hasn't made any moves that he has in the past and we've already talked to everyone previously involved with him that might have an idea of where he could be. Unfortunately, no one knows anything."

Mai sighed and worry built up inside her. The first time she met him certainly was not a pleasant experience. Considering he also threatened her child before she had even brought him into the world, Mai was not very keen on meeting with him again and would do anything to keep him away from Ren.

"Don't worry too much, Mai!" Maki said bumping Mai with her hip. "You've got a beautiful little boy to cuddle with and think about at all times of the day."

"That's an understatement," Mai said rolling her eyes. She turned the burner off and gathered a few clean plates from the cupboards. "He makes it impossible to think about anything else – crying all hours of the night. I was told that my first would be fairly easy to handle, but I am not sure who they were kidding."

Maki laughed quietly and watched Mai set the table and walk back to the kitchen to grab their dinner. Trying not to look so eager, Maki moved over to the rocker set next to the dining room and, moving slower than she thought possible, placed the dark-haired babe in the small chair and turning the button set the chair to a slow and steady rocking motion. Mai watched and sent an amused glance as she watched Maki practically run to the table and look around at the food excitedly.

"Don't you give me that look, your cooking is amazing!" Maki said scooping some rice onto her plate and moving onto the other plates of food. "Can I just live here with you both?"

Mai laughed and took a sip of her water before joining Maki in eating dinner.

After they ate, Maki was cleaning the dishes while Mai sat on a chair in the dining room, a sleeping Ren on her chest.

"So, does he take after his father in looks and personality?" Maki asked pausing in her cleaning to dry some of the platters she had cleaned.

Mai looked to Ren with a smile. "Well, if it wasn't obvious, he has his father's looks, that's for sure, and I pray he acts more like me than him. He can be so grouchy at times, I do question it sometimes." Ren squirmed slightly in his sleep as if he knew they were talking about him and popped his thumb in his mouth before relaxing once more into his mother.

Smiling at the sight, Maki walked over to the two of them. "Oh, please, Mai," She said stroking Ren's head lovingly. "You are absolutely adorable and Ren already looks a bit like you, well his eyes do, certainly. Would it be so bad if he did act as his father?"

Maki took a seat next to Mai's and sipped on her glass of wine while she waited for Mai to answer. "No, I suppose it wouldn't." Mai stared off into space thinking about Naru. The way he held himself, stood for what he believed in, how he is irritatingly narcissistic and beautiful, and… her heart constricted at the thought of how much she missed him and loved him. She placed her head atop their child's and rubbed her cheek on his soft hair.

The beginnings of a small cry woke Mai from her sleep. Waking more fully as the cries became more intense, she looked at the monitor and noticed her son squirming with his mouth open in a sign of distress probably due to hunger. Rising from her bed and she made her way over to the chair next to her to grab her robe.

Suddenly, Mai heard Ren's cries stop, a creaking noise from what sounded like a footstep, and a gentle cooing noise came from the monitor instead. That was not normal. She froze and quickly looked to the camera to see her worst fear coming true. Ren was not in his crib and the monitor couldn't pick up where he was. With a swiftness she never thought possible, she reached into her bedside table grabbing her gun and her phone calling Kado, but not before she opened the app that was connected to Ren's 'smart' monitor that he always wore when sleeping.

The monitor was the sine qua non to her pregnancy and was the first piece of equipment she bought for her peace of mind. The device was meant to fit like a sock that monitored a baby's heart rate, oxygen levels, and sleep patterns all while live video feed streamed through. The app would warn her if something was wrong, physiologically, with Ren. Glancing at it now, everything was normal and it indicated he had fallen back asleep. He just wasn't on the cameras.

Her hands were shaking and she felt intensely faint.

"Mai…?" Kado's tired voice came through and Mai felt deep relief. "Is everything okay?" He didn't sound as sleepy now and she could hear Hina in the background asking what was going on.

"I think someone's in my house, I – I can't see Ren on his monitor, but he was just there," Her breathing was becoming erratic and she tried desperately to keep her voice as quiet as possible. "I need you to get here, and fast. I have a bad feeling."

"Mai, get your gun and wait in your room, we don't want to escalate the situation further." She heard him moving and shuffling over the phone after he whispered something not directed to her. "I'll be there as soon as I can and I have just told Hina to call the others and the police. I know this is hard, but you need to stay there in your room, we don't know what is going on quite yet -"

"NO," Mai said sternly. "I will not let my son be put in danger without doing something. He's all I have left; J-just get here." She hung up her phone, shutting it off just in case he wanted to call back. She didn't need the distraction.

Proceeding to move out into the hallway, she looked both ways before moving over to Ren's room, near the end of the hall. She had her gun poised out in front of her and her brain was creating some of the worst scenarios happening to her son. Tears filled her eyes and she quickly wiped them away trying to clear her vision.

Approaching his door, she grasped the handle and slowly pushed the door open trying to scan the room as it opened.

"Here's mommy now." She knew that voice. Gravelly, deep, and almost certainly coming from a person of ill-intent. "Ah, the new mother. How are we this evening?"

Jett Stone stood next to Ren's crib and held the sleeping babe in his arms. Mai's stomach dropped and she felt ill. Knowing she wouldn't get anywhere with threatening him with a gun, as he could move Ren and she might hit him instead, she lowered her gun back down and tucked it into the waistband of her pajama shorts.

"Jett Stone. Great to see you again." Sarcasm and hate dripped from her lips. "I can say that I have had better evenings," She said coming more into the room, her eyes shooting from her son to Stone's.

"Oh, my dear," He shifted Ren's little body and Mai tensed up. "It was only a matter of time before we met again. I knew when we first had contact, I had to see you again. This time I also got to see this sweet little boy." He looked to Mai as he said this and then looked around the room as if trying to find something. "But I do have to ask, where is daddy?"

Mai kept her face blank no matter how much she wanted to rip her son from his filthy hands and beat him till he stopped moving. She thanked god Ren was asleep for this interaction. "Busy and it truly isn't your business." She shifted on her feet, her anxious nerves getting the better of her for a moment. "How did you get in my house?"

He chuckled quietly. "Ah, yes the sticky situation of my presence." Smiling to Mai, he moved over to the rocking chair and took a seat as if he had all the time in the world. "You are ever vigilant, my love, what with all of your security measures in place." He nodded to the device on Ren's tiny foot. "That is certainly nothing to sneeze at."

Thinking again over who Stone was as a person, Mai thought that he seemed rather rehearsed over what protection measures she had in place for her home and her baby. Not wanting to take her eyes off her son, she thought about his baby camera in his room. She didn't think anything of it, but the camera was far higher tech than a normal baby monitor was in most houses.

"In total, you have nine cameras, correct?" He continued. "Sensors for every point of entry in the house and an addition of six hidden guns around the home." Shaking his head Stone grinned at Mai. "It was quite a struggle to get in and I had to watch your movements for a few days, but it was well worth the wait. You really shouldn't leave those lying about, you have a baby in the area now. Unless you would rather give him over to me - "

"NO!" Mai caught herself from breaking down and cleared her throat. "What do you want?"

He rose from the chair and moved over to the window in the nursery. "Why don't you tell me why you think I've come here?"

Mai cautiously walked closer while his back was turned away from her. Her hand was itching to grab her weapon. "I haven't the foggiest idea." She spoke.

Before they could converse further, red and blue lights flashed feverishly outside reflecting into the room. In an instant, he was upon her and a hard shove sent her slamming into the wall beside her, her head cracking against the wood. She barely had enough time to shout due to the pain and confusion, her mind feeling muddled and blurry.

Her baby. Where was Ren?

She strained her ears to listen for him but she couldn't hear anything. Stone's face appeared in her line of sight. He mumbled something to her and went to leave the room.

Did he have Ren! Where is he!

Her brain was rapid firing question after question. She rolled over onto her stomach, groaning when her head protested with a headache at the change in orientation. Gun successfully in hand, Mai took aim at Stone's retreating figure and fired off a shot, the bullet's course hitting the doorframe instead. The door to the nursery slowly swung shut.

Voices and shouts traveled up from downstairs and cries could soon be heard coming from the crib next to Mai. Gasping and stumbling onto her feet, she secured Ren in her arms, her body enveloping him as he cried.

"I've you, honey." She mumbled into the side of his head. Tears fell from her eyes as the gravity of what had just occurred caught up to her. "I'm here. Nothing will ever get to you again."

Her gun sat next to her wounded body and she rocked slowly back and forth trying to pacify both her and her son. Suddenly the door shot open and Mai had one arm around her son the other straightened with her gun gripped in her hand pointing towards whoever burst into the room.

"Mai! Withdraw!" Kado's voice woke her bewildered state and she let her firearm go, hitting the ground with a hard metal clang. With it now free, Mai wrapped the arm around her child bringing him closer, if at all possible. "Where is - " His question was answered when he noticed Ren tucked safely into the side of his daughter figure's body. "Thank god."

Kado came forward encasing his gun in its holster and cupped Mai's face with his hands. "Are you alright?" When she didn't answer, she watched as he turned his head and yelled towards the others. "Someone call an ambulance!" Kado's hand curved around the base of Ren's head. "Is he okay?" He asked.

To this, Mai answered with a weak nod. She was still shaking and her headache had almost tripled in size now that the adrenalin was not dulling the pain. Stone's chilling words caught in her mind.

"Until next time."

Hey! I decided to stop leaving AN's at the beginning of the chapter because of the redundancy they pose. I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! I was waiting to write it and I am so happy we've made it thus far! Let me know what you thought!

I will see you all next week! Until next time.

Cheers!