Disclaimer: You know what I'm gonna say! If not, please see chapter 9.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! I could tell you were anxious to see what happened, so of course I was not going to stand in the way of that. Thanks for the enthusiasm! Also, sorry to the readers who read the last chapter within the first few hours it was up and saw the mistakes at the end (Emily's instead of Rachel's haha!!) didn't mean to confuse you. Thanks to cnflute for giving me the heads-up about it.

A note to Alyssa:…oh goodness. Yes, mon petite chien, Je t'aime aussi. I was beginning to wonder if you had forgotten me. The trip to the other house was great thanks for asking. Karaté!!!

Anyway, on with the story!

March 16

In The Days Ahead

Chapter 10: Searching

Simon unlocked the door of he and Cecilia's home and opened it up. He rushed inside, closely followed by Cecilia and the rest of the adults from dinner. They were met by Emily and Justin. Everyone crowded into the living room to make a plan. Emily appeared to be near tears as she was comforted by Sarah, Matt, and Justin. Simon ran to the center of the living room and got everyone's attention.

"OK!" He shouted. "Here's the plan! Kevin, call Roxanne and get her down here to help." Kevin ran into the next room to call her. "Eric, Matt, Carlos, Peter, David, Kevin, Roxanne, and myself will go out to search for Rachel. We'll split into groups of 2: Eric and Matt, Carlos and Peter, David and myself, Roxanne and Kevin." The men in the group nodded. "Ladies! Sarah, Mary, Lucy, Cecilia, Ruthie, Marie: You 6 need to stay here so that if she comes home or calls, you'll be here."

"I want to go look for her too." Justin announced. Simon looked at him and smiled.

"OK Justin, thanks." He said. Justin nodded. Kevin came back into the room and announced that Roxanne was on her way. Eric and Matt, Carlos and Peter left to begin the search. It was determined that Justin would go with Kevin and Roxanne. The door slammed behind the four men as they left and the room was silent as 4 car doors shut and 2 cars started up and pulled away.

Roxanne soon arrived. She ran in without even knocking on the door. Everyone looked relieved to see her. She ran over to Kevin.

"Let's go!" She said. Kevin nodded his head. He, Justin, and Roxanne went out the door and got into the squad car, closely followed by Simon and David, in David and Marie's car. Sarah turned to Emily.

"Where are the kids she asked?" She asked her oldest daughter. There were 12 children there, but none to be seen.

"After I called you, I got the rest of them into bed…none of them know what's going on." She explained. Sarah nodded, seeming relieved. At least her children, nieces and nephews could rest easy tonight. Without warning, Cecilia burst into tears. Lucy, who was sitting closest to her, turned and wrapped her arms around her sister-in-law. Mary, Sarah, Emily, Ruthie, and Marie soon crowded around her as well, trying to make her feel better.

"She's gone." Cecilia sobbed. "My baby. What if they don't find her? What if she's hurt? Or cold? Or scared?" The other women tried to calm her, but it was of no use. She cried and cried. The phone rang, and Cecilia dove for it. "Rachel?" She answered it desperately. "Oh…hi." She sunk back down into her spot. "No, Simon's not home right now. He's…out. Your welcome…good bye." She hung up the phone. Lucy came up next to her and hugged her again. Cecilia looked as if she was about to start crying again, when she smiled. She turned to Lucy. "You've got a bump!" She said, feeling Lucy's stomach. "A little bump!" Everyone was glad to see Cecilia's mind taken off her missing daughter. Lucy nodded her head.

"Yep. I'll be 5 months in 5 days after all! It's my 5-month-bump!" She said. Smiling, she felt it too.

"Isn't this a little early to have a bump like that?" Cecilia asked. "Do you think it's twins?" She asked, with a little light in her eye. Lucy laughed loudly and shook her head.

"No! I already had my triplets." She said. "No more multiples for me! Besides, I already had my ultrasound, remember? And there was one baby's heart beat." Cecilia and Lucy laughed: a sound foreign to the fear of the night. Everyone else came over to see the effects of the new baby on Lucy's stomach, and for just a few minutes, it was as if there was nothing scary going on at all.

Eric parked his car on the curb and he and Matt got out, each grabbing their flashlight from Eric's glove compartment [A/N: Also called the 'glove box'…the compartment in front of the passenger's seat]. They got onto the sidewalk and switched their lights on. The men started down the deserted street, only 8 blocks from Rachel's home. They looked up and down the street as they walked, seeing nothing but a stray cat running the opposite way that they were walking. They reached 2 side streets, facing away from one another. Eric started down one while Matt went down the other.

Matt walked down the narrow dark street. The light from his flashlight pierced the darkness around him, illuminating the small area. The dirt ground had nothing on it, other than many smashed beer bottles and cigarette butts. There were no people that he could see, and definitely no 13-year-old nieces of his. He sighed as he walked a bit further down until he reached the end of the path and was met with a concrete wall. He turned back around to see Eric standing at the opening.

"Did you find anything?" Matt called to his father half-heartily. He seriously doubted that his answer would be anything but no, but it was worth a try.

"No, did you?" Eric called back, confirming Matt's suspicions. Matt called back the same answer and met Eric back on the sidewalk. They got back in the car. As they pulled out onto the main road once again, Matt's cell phone rang. Eric and Matt looked at one another hopefully. Maybe, just maybe…

It was not Rachel, nor news of her finding, to Eric and Matt's dismay. Instead, it was Sarah, calling to see if they had found anything.

"You know we'd call you if we did." Matt told his wife. "I know. It'll be OK, Sarah. I'm sure. I love you too. I'll call if we find anything out. Bye." He hung up his phone and put it away. They drove in silence for a minute before Eric turned to his son.

"Are you really sure?" He asked. Matt looked as his father, confused.

"What?" He wondered aloud.

"That it's going to be OK. Are you really sure…like you told Sarah?" He asked. Matt looked at his father closely for a minute, struggling to hold his strong expression. Finally, his face changed as he broke down.

"No. I'm not sure." He said. And little did Eric know, a single tear slid down Matt's cheek, silently, slowly, sadly.

Back at the Camden home, things had gone back to a serious mood. Lucy, who was hit with a sudden bout of nausea had run for the bathroom five minutes, and was not back yet. Annie, ever-motherly, was with Lucy, helping her by holding her hair, and understanding the horrible mix of worry and morning sickness. Mary was upstairs with Kyle, who had woken up at all the commotion. She was struggling to tuck him back in without waking the other children, or letting out what had happened. Ruthie, Marie, Emily, and Sarah were getting glasses of water for everyone, happy to be able to do something other than sit around and worry. Cecilia sat silently by the phone. Her eyes were currently dry, but her cheeks tear-stained. Everyone was so busy that no one but Cecilia heard the phone ring. One minute later, Cecilia rushed into the kitchen where Ruthie, Marie, Emily, and Sarah were. Her face was still distressed, but she looked as if she was slightly relieved. Everyone in the room looked at her as she spoke.

"They found her!"

A/N: Please review! Where was Rachel? Is she OK? Look for chapter 11 soon!