phantomgirl259: Yep and the fact this story is loosely based on a true story makes it even more tragic. And trust me, if or when the truth does come out there will be hell to pay.
DISCLAIMER: STILL OWN NOTHING :(
It had been a year since the infant Aidan O'Brian was snatched from the hospital and his parents had filed a lawsuit against the city. They believed that if the hospital had had better security and taken proper precautions they would still have their son with them. Despite the likelihood, that they would win the lawsuit, both Johnny and Sarah knew that it wouldn't fill the hole in their hearts. The only thing that could fill that gap was their boy's return.
Aidan's life was priceless to them and no sum of money in the world could measure up to having their son back.
Even though Sarah was still devastated at the loss of her son, her anguish grew into a burning rage. Rage at the woman who stole her boy, at the hospital for letting her baby get taken, and the police's failure in finding her little boy. She couldn't believe that the police hadn't found Aidan yet. In the beginning, there were dozens of helicopters and police officers everywhere but Sarah felt like it all died down rather fast. On the first anniversary of the kidnapping, on Aidan's first birthday, the press did a piece on the ongoing case.
A reporter went with a cameraman to the hospital where this all happened and met with the parents.
"The FBI has run down every lead to find the missing baby, who was snatched from this hospital a year ago." The reporter spoke calmly into the camera as a picture taken of the baby and the sketch of his abductor appeared on the screen. "Baby Aidan O'Brian was taken out of his mother's arms and out of her life when he was just eight hours old by a woman pretending to be a nurse."
"All those people out there are talking about us thinking we might have done this and even when the cops cleared us right away we always felt like they saw us as suspects," Johnny growled as he recalled the way the police officers looked and talked to them during the early days of the investigation. Though they didn't say it, it was clear they thought the family had faked the kidnapping for profit and fame. "But, you know, at the end of the day my baby's still out there; he's still gone." The noirette frowned and the reporter turned to Sarah.
"It eats you up inside, not knowing anything about your child." The blonde muttered. "I wonder what he likes, what kind of food he eats, who he takes after." She said and her mind started to drift off as she contemplated those questions before she focused again and scowled at nobody in particular. "Please, I just want my baby boy back." She said and with that, the interview ended and the news channel changed the subject. After the interview ended, Johnny tried to engage with his girlfriend.
She, however, completely ignored him and walked away.
Where Johnny didn't know and he knew if he asked she would probably just ignore him. Besides, Johnny had plans to visit the police station this afternoon. In the police station, Johnny waited in the lobby until he saw the man he had been waiting for.
"Detective Benson!" He exclaimed when the man came through the front door. "I need you to give me some good news." He pleaded desperately. Ever since Aidan was taken from them, things had been falling apart in Johnny and Sarah's lives. Neither of them had been sleeping, without pills anyway, and Sarah had begun drinking heavily and her school work was starting to suffer as a result. Helen tried to be supportive of her daughter, but she rejected both of them.
Johnny was too scared to visit his girlfriend some days.
The other day Sarah had gotten so angry that she threw a half-empty wine bottle at her mother when the older woman had asked if she wanted anything to eat. That was how bad things had gotten in a year. If things didn't change, Johnny and Helen were terrified that Sarah was either going to drink herself to death, end up in prison, or possibly both.
"We're still working on the case, Mr. Hawley." He replied and turned to leave, but Johnny wasn't letting him go, blocking his path before he could leave.
"You said you'd find him!"
"Look, witnesses say that they saw the woman you described with a baby leaving the hospital the day Aidan was taken and we're looking into it, but these cases take time." The detective tried to explain, but this seemed to make Johnny angrier.
"You've had a fucking year!" He shouted, causing a few nearby people to look at them with concern. A guy from security made to step forward but a quick shake of the head from Detective Benson stopped him in his tracks.
"If Aidan was the son of a rich family, not the son of an ex-con and a teenager, you would have found him by now!" Johnny accused the detective venomously.
"You believe that?"
"At least he'd still be in the papers and I want you to keep your word; find my son!" He spat harshly before storming out, making sure to slam the door as hard as he could on the way out of the police station...
Anne smiled tiredly as she walked into the house after a hard day at work. Mike was still working late and it was just the Wansons at home with Toby. Ivy had learned she was pregnant six months ago and recently she had asked her friend if they could look after Toby to get more experience looking after a baby. They did have books and prenatal classes at the hospital, but nothing beat practical experience. At first, Anne refused, but nobody was surprised.
She was very protective of the boy, but after all the miscarriages she had had nobody was surprised.
After some persuading from her husband, however, Anne agreed and the Wansons had been babysitting Toby for the past two weeks while his parents were at work. When she entered the house she saw Ivy playing with Toby while Carver was getting the one-year-old a snack ready. Anne greeted them both but frowned at the missing child report on the side of the milk carton Carver was using. It was of Aidan O'Brian. That was the last thing she wanted to see after the day she had had.
She had just had a scare at the mall earlier as she was running errands and this morning when she left the house.
First, she saw an article about it in the newspaper and she had to hide it from Mike, saying that someone must have stolen their paper. Next, she saw a wanted poster with the police sketch of her and a picture of the baby taped to a lamppost. She ripped it off and hid the poster as well. Then she heard a reporter talking about the abduction over the radio on her way to work. Luckily for her, however, the couple hadn't noticed the missing person report on the milk and Carver threw out the now empty milk carton without a second glance.
Anne visibly relaxed before putting on a loving smile.
"Hello, there my little star." She smiled brightly as she gave Toby a small kiss on the forehead before putting her stuff away.
"He missed his mommy and daddy." Ivy cooed as she gave Toby a little bounce, making the infant laugh.
"What are you doing with that?" Carver asked when he saw Anne pulling out some bolts of fabric from her bag.
"I am making Toby a brand new outfit." She replied as she moved to the closet under the stairs to gather her sewing machine. "Mike's taking us out for his birthday and I'm going to make him a new coat and little hat." She beamed happily as she gathered up her sewing supplies.
"That's cute, I like the patterns." Ivy smiled when Anne held up a bright blue sheet of fabric with little turtles and fishes on it. Just then, Toby started whining and started squirming and Ivy gasped when she remembered something. "Hey Anne, wait 'til you see what we've been working on all day, right Toby?" She grinned as she knelt with the baby. She then stood Toby on his feet and slowly let go.
"No way." Anne gasped in joy and shock.
"Yes, way." Carver grinned as Toby started to waddle towards Anne. His first steps. All three of them laughed as Anne picked up and spun the blonde boy when he reached her.
"You did a great job, Toby!" Anne squealed in delight, feeling an overwhelming sense of pride and joy as the baby babbled and buried his face in her neck as she hugged him tightly. Ivy and Carver left shortly after. Anne didn't think they needed to be worried; they were going to make great parents. When Mike came home an hour later, Anne showed him what Toby had done and he was overjoyed, snapping a few pictures and video of Toby stumbling around.
After that excitement, Mike took his little family out for the day and they all had a great time.
When they returned home, they put Toby to bed. Then Mike and Anne sat on the love seat watching some TV after a great day. Mike had his arm around Anne's shoulder while she laid her head on his shoulder. They were comfortable until Anne suddenly felt sick. She put her hand to her mouth and ran towards the bathroom to throw up. Mike quickly went after his wife. Anne was kneeling over the toilet throwing up her dinner, which was sushi.
Mike kneeled beside her as he rubbed her back gently to help soothe her.
"Are you okay, dear?" He asked worriedly as he rubbed she rested her head on the toilet a bit to try to cool off.
"Y-Yeah... I guess the sushi wasn't any good!" She said just as she threw up some more. He continued to rub her back with a concerned look.
"I-I'm fine now honey; the sushi must have been bad." She stammered weakly, smiling at Mike. He smiled back and they went back into the living room. Raph still sat beside him rubbing his back.
"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" He asked again and Anne gave him a small smile to show him she was okay.
"I'm fine Mike... I just want to get some water and lay down." She said and she was about to get some water but Mike stopped her by grabbing Anne's arm. She looked up at him, wondering what she was doing.
"You go lay down and I'll bring you some water." He said as he kissed Anne's head. She smiled and nodded at him before she moved away and decided to go to their room, still feeling a little bit queasy...