Chapter 6
"I miss my mommy and daddy." Eliza murmured truthfully as she and Monica sat at the kitchen table the next morning discussing the situation. Monica managed a small smile of sympathy and squeezed Eliza's hand affectionately. "They were good parents weren't they?" She obliged with such empathy in her voice that Eliza managed a miniscule smile and nodded at the memory of Abby and Mike Tucker. Sensing her daughter's sorrow, Monica glanced across the table, and, with her free hand, she picked up Eliza's baby photo, bringing it forward for her daughter to see.
"Eliza, do you know who this is?" She questioned gently as she pulled her chair closer to the child's and gestured to the little bundle in her arms in the picture. Eliza leaned over and took one glance at the photo before shaking her head no. Monica smiled and went on to explain. "That's you." She told her softly in her gentle, Irish lilt. "You were only a few minutes old there." She continued with a brief smile as she recalled the night Eliza was born. But now Eliza seemed more interested as she stared down at the picture and took it gently from her mother's hand into her own, all the while not taking her eyes off of it.
Monica knew what she was thinking already. She was probably wondering why she had never seen this photo before, but at the same time, it gave her some form of proof that this woman with her really was her mother. Looking upon this picture and seeing this young, redheaded woman sitting in a hospital bed with her back propped up against a pillow and a tiny baby resting in her arms told her that somehow, sometime, an angel named Monica had given birth to her, not a human named Abby.
But after a long moment of silence and deep thought, Eliza gently placed the photo back down on the table and glanced up at Monica expectantly. It was then that the angel realized what she wanted to do with the rest of the day. She wanted to spend it with her daughter. "Eliza, I'll tell you what." She began, draping a friendly arm across the little girl's petite shoulders. "We can do anything you want today. Anything in the whole world. You just say the word." She offered quietly as she held eye contact with the little girl and smiled cheerfully. Eliza managed a small smile in return and racked her brain desperately for something she wanted to do. It brought up bad memories for her, for the last thing she had wanted to do was go to Paris but now she decided she would never get on a plane ever again!
But after some serious contemplation, Eliza made her decision. "Can we go to the zoo?" She begged with a sudden glint of long-deserved excitement in her honey-brown eyes. Monica's smile broadened with joy at her daughter's words and she nodded gladly, clearly happy to do anything Eliza wanted…
And so the mother and daughter went to the zoo, just like Eliza wanted and Monica taught her daughter everything she knew about every animal they came across. Lions, zebras, koalas (which Eliza found exceedingly cute), camels, deer and a lot more. Monica couldn't remember ever enjoying something more than teaching and spending the day with her own child. Something she had been thanking God for ever since Eliza showed up again yesterday. How she loved her. If only Eliza knew how much Monica had been waiting and praying for this day, this moment ever since her daughter was born. For years she had fantasies and dreams about taking her child to the zoo and teaching her about all the different animals and holding her hand and just spending quality time with her. She loved Eliza and knew that now more than she ever did before. She knew already that she would die before she let something happen to her…
Back at the assignment house, Andrew finished off an apple he had been eating while he sat on the living room couch and read the newspaper. It really didn't interest him all that much, but he still liked to know what was going on in the world, not that the paper was his only source to know stuff like that but he still liked to read it.
But just then, the musical tone of the doorbell cut through his musings and he stood from the couch, tossing the apple core in a nearby garbage can as he made his way toward the front door. He hadn't seen Monica or Eliza yet today. He assumed they went out to do something together and he was glad they had taken the chance. But right now he had no idea who could possibly be ringing their doorbell. Then again, he had never expected his friend's long-lost daughter to show up either so he kept an open mind.
The doorknob felt cold and metal in his hand as he turned it and swung open the front door. But who he saw standing there made his heart jump into his throat and he suddenly realized they were all in grave danger.