Bright and early, the search party resumed. It was pouring down rain that day, the sun having yet to make an appearance. As Stef followed her group up a hill, the mud beneath them made splashing noises as they stepped over rocks and sticks. They walked and called Callie's name. Soaked with rain, they looked in every corner of the area they were in, searching every inch.
In the area where everyone met up, sat vehicles of local news stations, reporting on how the search party was going and if they were able to find anything. But the hours ticked on. The lunch break came and went. And there was still no sign of Callie.
It would be one o'clock before the rain would let up and the sun would begin to shine. Only a few more hours remained of the search before it would be getting dark and they would resume again the next day.
"Callie!" Stef called and looked around, before looking up as a helicopter flew by above them. Once again, she called Callie's name. And again. Her feet ached, but she was in no way ready to give up. She listened to every sound and watched every movement, hoping for the moment someone would yell that they found her. And they would all run over, and Callie would be okay.
But she knew the reality of the situation. The reality in which no one wanted. The one where Callie might not be found. That thought was scary, and she immediately took her mind off of it and continued to call for Callie.
They walked through fields, woods, and up hills. They searched the ground, pushing at tall grass and flowers.
Before Stef knew it, it was the dreaded time where they called it a night and she had no choice but to go back to her hotel room.
As soon as she was in the privacy of her room, she pulled her phone out and dialed Lena's phone. "Hi love," she said.
"How did the search go?" Lena asked.
Stef felt her heart sink as she had to tell her wife that it was the same as yesterday.
Lena's heart broke as she could tell by Stef's voice that she felt like she was letting them down. "Please honey, don't feel like you have to blame yourself."
Stef didn't respond. She sat down on the bed closest to the door. "I just wish it didn't have to be like this."
There was silence on the line. Lena knew what Stef meant. That she wished the search wouldn't take this long. That it wouldn't take this long to find her. That she wished Callie never ran away and never went missing. That their lives couldn't just go back to normal and they never had trouble adopting her. "I wish it didn't have to be like this either," she whispered and felt like crying.
Stef felt a pang of anger hit her. She didn't know where she stood in if she believed in God or not, but she was angry at him. That he would bring Callie into their lives and then allow this to happen.
Two days went by. Two more days without any news; without any progress made. Lena sat in the waiting room of the doctor's office. Today was at least one day where she could be happy about something. She felt like time was moving slowly and just couldn't wait until it was her turn.
She kept touching her baby bump and couldn't believe that today she was finally going to find out if she was carrying a boy or a girl.
When she was finally called back, she followed the nurse back to one of the rooms and had her blood pressure and temperature checked. The nurse made sure everything was okay with the baby before getting everything ready for the ultrasound.
Lena's heart fluttered as the cool gel was applied. She looked at the screen as the nurse spoke.
The nurse looked at Lena with a smile. "Congratulations! It's a girl!"
Lena felt speechless as she stared at the screen showing her baby girl growing inside her. A smile crept onto her face and an overwhelming amount of joy overtook her. She couldn't believe that she was going to have a girl. "Thank you!" she told the nurse.
She left the doctor's office, not caring if anyone stared at the smile on her face. It was the first smile she had in a long time and she was going to enjoy this moment. She couldn't wait to call Stef as she got into her car. They already had a name picked out for a girl: Francesca, and they would call her Frankie for short. They were naming her after Stef's father who had passed away about a month ago.
When she turned her phone on, she saw that she had several missed calls from Bill. Unlocking her phone, she went to her voicemail. "Hi Lena, it's Bill. I got the call that Robert Quinn has possibly been found. He is wanting a DNA tes-"
Lena immediately got out of voicemail and dialed Bill's number. "Bill, I'm sorry, I was in the middle of a doctor's appointment."
Bill waved her off, letting her know it was no trouble.
"I listened to your voicemail. They really found him?" She listened as Bill explained to her that, yes, they did possibly find Robert and that he is wanting proof of his relation to Callie. "Have the police questioned him yet?"
She heard Bill sigh, "He is refusing to be questioned until it is proven he is the father."
"When will we be able to do that DNA test?"
"I'll have to talk to them about a date, but as soon as possible," Bill said.
Lena got home with the news still on her mind. She couldn't believe Robert Quinn had possibly been found. All these questions came to her. She wondered what kind of person he was. If he was nice. She wondered if when Callie was found, he would be interested in meeting her, but also wondered why he hadn't been in her life. It was all a lot to take in.
She placed a hand on her growing baby bump, letting Frankie know she was right there. A smile crept onto her face; she was so excited for Frankie to be born. Words couldn't describe how thrilled she was to finally know if it was a boy or a girl. Of course she would be happy either way, but knowing made it feel all the more real. Going into her bedroom, she grabbed the box of baby stuff she and Stef had yet to put in their places. Lena figured this was the perfect time for that and went through each item. Soon, she had everything almost done. All baby clothes were folded neatly and put away in drawers, the bassinet was set up in their room. Everything was ready; now all they had to do was wait for Frankie.
Robert Quinn was a man of wealth. He had grown up without the need to worry about going hungry or running out of money. He had a good childhood and when he grew up, he was expected to carry on his family's wealth and find a spouse who came from a wealthy family like he had. That expectation was broken when he was in his twenties and he wouldn't be reminded of this mistake until sixteen years later.
"And you're positive it's true?" Jill asked him with uncertainty as they sat on the patio chairs by their pool and sipped on two glasses of wine.
"I saw her photo. She looks exactly like Sophia."
"But that doesn't mean anything. What means something is what the DNA test says." Jill didn't know how she felt about any of this.
"But it could be Jill," Robert looked at her. "And she's missing."
"Robert, you know you are not responsible for that."
"I should have stood up to my father. Should have told him no."
"Let's not dwell on the past. Let's think about what we could do if it turns out you are her father."
"I need to finish up some work that I just remembered about." Robert stood up and Jill watched him go back inside the house, confused about his sudden change of subject.
In the privacy of his office, Robert opened one of the drawers of his desk and pulled out a photograph. It was of a much younger version of him, sitting on a porch swing with his arm around a brunette woman. They both looked happy and very much in love. He stared at the photo for a long time. He wondered how much he had missed.
