Guest: I'm so glad that you're loving this story so far and I hope you enjoy this chapter. :)
DISCLAIMER: SADLY I OWN NOTHING
Anne smiled at the infant in her arms as she gently rocked him back and forth. It had been a few days since she had escaped the hospital with the baby and so far nothing happened. Every so often however Anne would look over her shoulder or freeze and listen to the silence to make sure she wasn't being followed. But she and the baby had been safe at home for three days with no trouble at all. That didn't stop her from hiding any incriminating evidence.
Any newspaper article she found about the case she cut out and put in a small wooden accessory box she found in the closet.
She also made sure to put the baby's hospital wristband with his real name and date of birth inside the box too. Once she was sure everything was in the box, Anne locked it with a little key and hid the box up in the attic, hoping to never see it again. As soon as she had gotten home she told her friends and family the news. Anne told them she had given birth and was going to bring her newborn son home. They didn't know he was stolen and thought he was her and Mike's son.
They wanted to come over right away but Anne managed to convince them to give her and her new baby some space for the next few days.
She also left a message for Mike, who sounded overjoyed on the phone and said he was coming home as soon as possible. But that left Anne with a new problem. Mike was a particular person and he would ask for a birth certificate to file away with their other documents. Anne used to work at city hall for a time before she and Mike started their travel agency. She knew from her time there that a birth certificate was difficult to fake. It had serial numbers, intaglio printing, edge-on view artifacts, watermarks, microprinting, thermal ink, and color gradients.
A form like that is extremely difficult to forge.
But thanks to her prior knowledge from city hall, Anne knew what a real birth certificate looked like. She went onto the family computer and got to work. Within an hour she had created and printed off the new birth certificate. The paper stated Anne as the mother and Mike as the father. She decided to keep the baby's date of birth the same but changed the name. Instead of Aidan O'Brian, he would now be known as Tobias Tripp. It looked so realistic that Anne was certain that most people wouldn't be able to tell it was fake just by looking at it.
A city official would be able to tell if the document was used for anything, which Anne was certain would cause problems in the future.
Birth certificates served as proof of an individual's age, citizenship status, and identity. They were necessary to obtain a social security number, apply for a passport, enroll in schools, get a driver's license, gain employment, or apply for other benefits. But Anne knew she had some years before she had to come up with a solution for that. Seeing that it was almost feeding time, Anne placed him in a baby bouncer chair and went to prepare a bottle.
As she was waiting for the kettle to boil, Anne turned on the TV to listen to in the background.
What she saw shocked up. The news was on and it was talking about the stolen baby from Malibu. It had been three days and so far no progress had been made in the case so the police had no choice but to turn to the public for help. So a press conference was held in front of the town hall where Detective Benson addressed the public. Johnny and Sarah were at his side as he spoke to the crowd of reporters.
"The UCLA Health Malibu Immediate Care & Primary Care hospital remains on lockdown tonight as dozens of sheriff's officers and FBI agents comb through every corner of the large medical complex for a missing baby boy Aidan O'Brian disappeared from his mother's arms when he was just eight hours old, making every mother's worst nightmare a reality for this young mother, Sarah O'Brian." He explained and gestured to the parents. Anne felt her heartbreak.
This was her first real look at Sarah since the hospital.
She looked exhausted. Bags were under her once clear green eyes, which looked dull and raw from crying. Her blonde hair, while still seeming neat, had an uncared-for appearance to it. Even her clothes held a more disheveled look. But the worst of it all was the look of desperation, terror, grief, and guilt on her face, which added years to her face.
"We have reason to believe that this woman is involved in the kidnapping of Aidan O'Brian." The detective said and a picture the sketch artist drew showed up on the screen. Anne froze when she saw it. The image was of her, but it was with the black wig and glasses. If any of her closest friends or family members did see the picture they might have the sense she was familiar but Anne doubted they would guess it was her.
"The city of Malibu has posted a $10,000 reward for any tip leading to the baby's safe return." The detective finished before he stepped back and the parents stepped forward to address the reporters.
"I want my baby boy back; I was carrying him for nine months." Sarah started, trying to hold in her tears. "I-I trusted this w-woman, she didn't have to do that to m-m-me!" She broke down and lost her composure. "Please, please bring him back to me! Aidan is MY little boy! HE NEEDS ME! HE NEEDS HIS MOTHER!" She screamed to the reporters with the video cameras, hoping that the kidnapper was watching this and heard her pleas for her child.
Unable to speak anymore, Sarah broke down into loud, devastating sobs.
Johnny came forward and wrapped his arms around his girlfriend, letting her cry into his shirt. He then said his peace, having to speak up to be heard over Sarah's crying.
"I think the lady's just scared because it thinks we're gonna press charges but I just want to tell her I won't press charges against you, I promise; just bring our son back." He pleaded somberly. Back in Venture Falls, Anne was sitting in her living room watching the news report as a thousand feelings she couldn't name flooded her soul. Toby was sat in a baby bouncer quietly napping while she scanned the press conference for any incriminating information against herself.
Every so often she would check to make sure he was fine but the baby just slept on without a care in the world.
Suddenly there was a banging on the door. Anne thought this was it. She thought the front door was about to be kicked in and the SWAT team would come running in with their guns at chest level screaming at her to get down on the ground. She believed she was going to go to jail and her family would come home, turn on the TV, and see her mugshot on the news. Instead of the police, however, Anne was stunned as Mike came rushing in followed by their parents and a couple of their closest friends.
As soon as Mike saw his wife, he dropped the bags, ran over, and gave her the biggest hug.
Before Anne could say anything to her husband he saw the newborn in the bouncer seat and froze.
"Awwwww, he's so cute and chubby!" Their friend, Ivy Wanson, squealed.
"I have to get a picture." Anne's mother Sandra smiled and pulled out her camera. The flash woke Toby up and he stared at the strangers in confusion and slight fear, letting out a small whimper.
"Can I hold him?" Mike's mother Amber begged, eager to hold what she supposed was her first grandchild.
"Ok, but be careful he's been a little sick this morning," Anne warned and she watched as Amber carefully took the baby out of Mike's arms and smiled down at him.
"So what's the little one's name?" Carver Wanson, Ivy's husband and their friend, asked as the ladies continued dotting on the baby.
"Tobias James Tripp," Anne replied and Mike smiled tearfully, realizing that she had given the baby his late father's name as the middle name.
"He looks more like a Toby to me." Stanley, Anne's father, commented as he looked at the baby from over Amber's shoulder. "That's right, Grandpa's gonna call you Toby." He cooed in an exaggerated baby voice.
"What're you watching honey?" Mike asked when he noticed the TV on, still playing the news channel. Thankfully had moved on to some story about a boat race, but Anne didn't want to take the chance of her family seeing something. The brunette quickly grabbed the remote and quickly turned it off.
"Nothing important, I'm just going to get Toby's bottle." She smiled and rushed off to the kitchen while her family continued fawning over the baby, trying to understand why tears with gathering in her eyes...