Chapter 9
Back at Sally and Frank's
"Shauna Callaghan. Is that any relation to Mick Callaghan your station officer?" Campbell asked as he wrote the name in his notebook.
"Yeah she's his wife." Sally said to Campbell.
"If she's his wife and you know her, why was she not on the list of contacts you gave me?" Campbell asked as he wrote more in his notebook.
"They've been separated for the past 6 months and we haven't seen her for almost a year." Frank said slightly concerned with how white Sally had gone.
Campbell made a note of that before he looked back to them. "Miss Fields it's great that we know who this woman is but I need proof that she would take your daughter."
"Shauna and I were never best mates but if we seen each other we were always friendly with each other. She suffers from bipolar disorder and she sometimes has these strange ideas." Sally said as she felt Frank looking at her the whole time but she couldn't look at him with what she was about to admit.
"Ok and when you say strange ideas, what exactly do you mean?" Campbell asked hanging on her every word.
"Shauna got pregnant around the same time as me but when she was 3 months along she miscarried and lost the baby. She was heartbroken and became severely depressed so I avoided her at all cost as I didn't want to make her feel worse because I hadn't miscarried and I was having two babies. I managed to avoid her for about month but then one night I did see her but it made everything worse." Sally said.
She knew what she was going to say would be hard because she had never told Frank what happened almost a year ago.
20th November 2002 – Almost one year go
Sally sat in the women's locker room in Blackwall fire station waiting for a wave of nausea to ease off. She was just over 4 months pregnant but her nausea showed no signs of going away. Sometimes it was only in the morning but other times she got a smell of something and it would hit her like a ton of bricks. Her doctor had told her it would eventually wear off but it could be lasting longer as she has having twins. It was only 5 weeks ago that they found out she was carrying twins but it seemed like months ago. Frank was delighted with the news but Sally had been shocked and scared now that they were having two babies. One would have been fine but two meant double the work, cost and someone extra to depend on her. Frank had been so supportive and after a few days she had calmed down and was now looking forward to having twins as well.
Now that she was pregnant it meant Sally couldn't continue on active duty due to the risks involved for both her and the babies. Mick had told her there were two options for her. Option one was to stay at Blackwall and be on Blue Watch's shifts but she would be on light duties, not attend shouts and mostly be based in an office then return to action duty after maternity leave. Option two was to leave Blackwall and take an office job at HQ then return to action duty after maternity leave. She didn't need to think about it and went for option one. The idea of being stuck behind a desk was her worst nightmare and she knew she would need to do that if she stayed at Blackwall as well but she would be with the crew there and still part of the action without hurting herself or the twins. Frank wasn't so sure and thought she should have opted for option 2 but after she talked to him about still feeling part of the crew and action he had supported her. She was glad he hadn't forced her into option 2 but she felt him looking at her more to check she was ok and when she was stuck in the office he came and checked on her regularly. It was sweet as he was showing how much he cared for her and the twins but it was also starting to get annoying. She didn't need checked on every hour and it did feel a bit suffocating.
It was the end of their second day shift and Adam had announced that Kate had decided to keep their baby so drinks were on him at the twist. Sally had been invited but her back and feet ached from carrying the twins so instead she was going home to soak in the bathtub with a family bag of Doritos – her latest craving – and have some me time. Frank had gone to the twist with the lads but had come to say goodbye to her and asked if she wanted him to go home with her. Wanting some time to herself, she said she would be fine and told him to go and enjoy himself. He looked like he wasn't going to go but luckily he did. Once the lads had left, Sally got changed but as she opened the locker curtain, a smell of food from the kitchen had hit her and she thought she going to be sick again. She quickly sat down in the locker room and let her body recover. Red watch's shift had just started but as blue watch were changing, both appliances had been called out to a shout meaning Sally was alone in the station.
"Come on you two. Lets go home." Sally said as she rubbed her expanding bump and stood up from the bench in the locker room.
She was just over 4 months pregnant but she looked about 6 months pregnant due to having twins. The blue watch lads were always joking about how big she was getting but Sally shrugged it off in good humour but Frank didn't seem to see the funny side in it. In another three weeks, they would be able to say if it was two boys or two girls that they were having instead of just two babies but both she and Frank were certain it was going to be two boys.
When Sally stood up her nausea had gone and she knew she would be able to get home without throwing up. She made her way out of the locker room and passed the mess to go out to the car but as she approached the stairs, she heard raised voices coming the station officer's office.
"Don't you understand? We lost a baby." A woman's voice shouted.
"I do understand Shauna. Do you not think that this is hard for me to?" A man's voice said back.
As Sally stood watching she realised that Shauna and Mick were in the office discussing her miscarriage. Sally knew Shauna was struggling with that had happened but Mick was slowly losing his patience.
"You didn't even want the baby. Your probably happy that this has happened." Shauna shouted to Mick.
"Shauna that's not fair. It just took me by surprise to start with but I wanted the baby to." Mick replied to her trying not to shout.
"Then act like you are upset by everything that has happened or is going to the pub to celebrate someone else having a baby more important to you." Shauna spat back at Mick.
Sally knew that they would be done soon and it wouldn't be good for Shauna to see her. She made her way down the stairs but it was to late. Just as she was three steps from the landing, the office door swung open as Shauna came out and the women met face to face.
"Oh hi Sally." Shauna said to Sally as she wiped away a tear from her cheek.
"Hiya." Sally said awkwardly to her. It was the first time she had seen her since it had happened. "I'm really sorry to hear about your baby."
"Thank you. I was so excited but it's just nature's way of telling me it wasn't the right time." Shauna replied as more tears welled up in her eyes.
"You and Mick can always try again." Sally said with a soft smile.
"We'll see. We're still working things out. Anyway how are you keeping with your pregnancy?" Shauna asked as her eyes wandered down to Sally's bump.
"Yeah I'm ok. The nausea still hasn't worn off but it will eventually." Sally said with a wince in her face as both of the twins kicked her really hard.
"Was that a hard kick?" Shauna asked as her eyes fixed on Sally's stomach.
"Yeah they're both kicking me really hard just now." Sally replied without realising her mistake as she gently rubbed her bump to ease the kicking twins.
"Did you say they?" Shauna asked with a shaky voice.
"Yeah they. We're having twins which is why I look so big." Sally said with a slight smile.
Without any warning Shauna burst into tears and took a step back from Sally.
"You couldn't bare to see me happy could you?" Shauna almost screamed at Sally.
"Shauna, I'm sorry I didn't mean to upset you." Sally said as she stood still on the steps.
"Why would you take another woman's baby?" Shauna asked Sally as she continued cry.
"Shauna I haven't taken anyone else's baby." Sally replied choosing her words carefully.
"You couldn't be happy with just Frank's baby. You had to have Mick's baby as well." Shauna was again shouted at Sally.
All of the shouting had caught Mick's attention and he came out of his office to find Shauna in tears and screaming at Sally.
"Shauna, what's going on?" Mick asked as Sally stood still on the steps.
"Did you know she was having twins?" Shauna asked Mick.
"Yeah but what's that got to do with us?" Mick asked her back.
"She took our baby Mick. She wasn't happy having Frank's baby but she had to have yours as well. The worst thing is that a woman would take another woman's baby." Shauna replied as she leaned into Mick's arms for support.
Mick couldn't believe what he was hearing. He knew how upset Shauna was about miscarrying but this was just ridiculous. As he held Shauna, he shot Sally an apologetic look for what Shauna was saying.
"Shauna, Sally didn't take our baby. We lost our baby. You seen that in the doctors and the baby was still inside you. Sally's babies are her and Frank's." Mick said soothingly to her.
Shauna let go of his arm and turned to face him. "I can't explain it but I know she took our baby and one of them is ours. It's like I said when I first got pregnant scientists can do IVF where they transplant one egg from one womb to another. That's how she did it." Shauna said as she looked back at Sally with anger in her eyes.
"Shauna we've talked about this. It doesn't work like that. Have you taken your meds today?" Mick asked her trying to get the attention off Sally.
"That's your solution to everything isn't it?" Shauna turned around and spat at Mick.
Mick's plan had worked. He looked back up to Sally and nodded his head towards the door, telling her go before Shauna turned her attention back to her. Sally caught his look and quickly went down the last few stairs and made her way out of the station.
"I want my baby back." Sally heard Shauna shout as she made her way into the forecourt.
She didn't want to look back and almost ran to the car. Her hands were shaking and she struggled to get the key in the car door to open it but eventually she opened the car and slumped inside. Once the door was closed, a tear fell down her cheek at what had just happened but she wasn't sure why she was upset. She did feel sorry for Shauna at losing her baby as now she was a mother she could understand her pain. If Sally had lost one of her babies she would be upset as well but not as upset as Shauna. The part she was upset about was the verbal attack she had just endured and being accused of taking another woman's baby. What Shauna had just accused her off made her feel sick again. For a woman to take another woman's baby would be a vile and horrible thing to happen but Sally would never do something like that. Her twins weren't born yet but already she had a mother's instinct and was ready to protect her kids at all cost. If someone took one of them, she would fight until she got them back but she didn't steal Shauna's baby. Both of the babies inside her were hers and Frank was the father to both of them.
Part of her wanted to go across to the twist and run into Frank's arms for comfort. She had never been a needy and cuddly girlfriend but since she got pregnant her emotions were all over the place but the best thing to calm her down was being in Frank's arms. She had her hand on the car door handle to open it but then she stopped. If she went over and told Frank what had happened, he would tell that this wouldn't have happened if she had taken the job at HQ and he would convince her to get a transfer there as soon as possible. That wouldn't make her feel better and she decided against telling him for now. She let go of the door handle and took a deep breath to calm down before driving home. She hadn't done anything wrong except to have a schoolgirl crush on Mick but she hadn't slept with him. She had Frank who loved her and had given her two babies. They had a good home and they were going to be a family. Her life was in the best place it had ever been and she wasn't going to let Shauna ruin it.
"Come on lads, let's go home." Sally said as she patted her bump and put her seatbelt on.
She started the car and made the drive home. Once home, she ran herself a hot bath, grabbed her bag of Doritos, a bottle of juice and slid inside the bathtub, letting the hot water take the pressure off her body. As she lay in the bath, she tried to put Shauna out of her mind and thought about more baby related things like names, when she would go off on maternity leave and what items they still had to buy.
She stayed in the bath until the water was cold and once out she changed into her pyjama bottoms and threw one of Frank's t-shirts on. She would soon need to start buying more maternity tops but just now Frank's t-shirts fitted her but only just as her bump was growing by the day. She made herself a cup of tea and watched TV for a while but she wasn't really watching it, so she turned it off and got ready for bed. Just as she climbed in under the covers in bed, the flat door opened and she heard Frank stumble in and he came into their bedroom.
"Hiya. You have a good night?" Sally asked as he sat down beside her on the bed.
"Hello. Great night." Frank replied with a big grin before he bent down and kissed her hard. When their lips met, she tasted a mixture of whisky, beer and smoke.
As Frank leaned up, Sally could tell he was merry. Not wasted or drunk just merry.
"That good was it?" Sally asked him.
"Turned into a double celebration for me and Adam. Told him it was his night but he made it our night. I'm gonna be a dad to." Frank said, as his grin got bigger.
A few months ago if Frank had gone out with the blue watch lads he never would have gotten this merry or stayed out as late. Instead he would have had a few drinks and left after a good amount of time had passed. Now he was opening up more and being one of the lads.
"That was good of him. Is anyone still out?" Sally asked him.
"Nah everyone is away home now. How was your night?" Frank asked as he took her hand and rubbed it.
"Yeah was good. Had a long soak in the bath, ate the last of the Doritos and watched some TV." Sally replied as she decided it still wasn't the time to tell him what had happened.
"How's my boys?" Frank asked her as he placed his hands on her bump. As he did this, the twins began kicking madly again as if they were saying hello to their dad.
"Yeah their fine but their kicking is getting stronger everyday. I think we got two footballers in there." Sally replied as her hands covered Frank's on her bump.
"More like rugby players eh boys." Frank said to her bump as the twins continued to kick away under his hands.
"Or we could both be wrong and it could be two girls in there instead? Sally said to him jokingly.
A scared look flashed across Frank's face. "That's a scary thought but I think there's definitely two boys in there." Frank replied as he looked back to Sally.
"Yeah so do I." Sally said agreeing with him.
Frank leaned down again and gave her another kiss. As there lips parted, Sally could see his eyes were just about shut he was that tired.
"Go brush your teeth and then come and join me." Sally said as she gently pushed him away as the mixed alcohol and smoke smell was starting to make her nauseous again.
Frank didn't say anything but smiled at her and pushed himself off their bed and headed back to the bathroom to get ready for bed. While he was away, Sally kept wondering if she should tell him what had happened this evening. They had promised no more secrets between them and so far he had been honest with her and she had been honest with him. She did want to tell him what happened but he would try and control the situation and convince her, she needed to be away from the station while she was pregnant. It wouldn't help what had happened either. Shauna's mind was made up and only meds would help her.
While Frank was away, she got herself and the bump comfy so she could try and sleep through the night without having to wake up because she was uncomfy. She knew she'd be up during the night for the bathroom anyway as the twins were using her bladder as a squeeze toy. Just as she managed to get comfy by lying on her left side, she heard the bedroom door close and Frank came round to his side of the bed, changed so he was just in his boxer shorts and climbed into bed with her. Sally wanted to turn around and face him but if she moved she wouldn't get comfy again but Frank knew this. He turned his side light off so the room was in darkness and moved to spoon Sally from behind.
"You're the best thing that's ever happened to me. Well you and the kids. I love you Sal." Frank whispered in her ear as he slowly drifted off to sleep.
"I love you to." Sally said.
She had made her decision. She wouldn't tell Frank what had happened. Shauna was just emotionally at losing her baby and she had lashed out at Sally because she was still pregnant but having twins instead of one. Sally didn't want to ruin her and Frank's happy bubble that they had been in since she decided not to terminate the pregnancy. There was nothing they could do to ease the situation. Shauna would take her meds or get professional help and she would realise that she was being ridiculous about the idea that Sally had taken her baby. Shauna couldn't do anything to hurt them and Sally wasn't going to ruin her happiness.
The next day it was blue watch's night shift and after roll call, Mick and Sally were in one of the office's going over her duties for the shift. Before they discussed the duties, Mick had apologised for Shauna's outburst and knew that Sally hadn't done anything wrong. She had accepted his apology and knew that Shauna was grieving but needed help. She also told him that she hadn't told Frank and wanted to keep it that way just now, which Mick understood her reasons for doing so. They put the incident behind them and never spoke about it again.
Back to present day.
"And that's why she took Sarah. She believes that Sarah is her baby and not ours." Sally said to the Campbell and Frank as she finished telling them what happened.
While she was speaking, Campbell had been writing down everything she said in his notebook for her statement. As he kept writing, Sally wanted to look at Frank but she could tell without looking at him at he was not happy with what he had just heard from her.
"Thank you Miss Fields. Do you have any contact information for Mrs Callaghan?" Campbell asked Sally and Frank.
Sally was about to answer but Campbell's phone started ringing. He fished inside his jacket pocket and pulled it out his phone to answer it.
"Detective Campbell." He answered politely.
Campbell listened as the other person spoke but his face didn't give anything away about what the person was saying.
"Ok can you hold on one moment please?" Campbell asked the person on the phone as he moved the phone away from his ear.
"I need to take this. I'm just going to step into the hallway." Campbell said to them as he wanted privacy for the call and he could tell that Frank and Sally would need to talk about what she just said.
"No worries." Frank said as he readjusted James on his lap and tried to keep calm after what he had just heard.
Campbell nodded to them as he got up off the sofa and went out into the hallway, closing the door behind him so he could talk privately on the phone.
Once the door was closed, Sally let a big sigh and braced herself for the talk she going to have to have with Frank.
"Frank. I'm so sorry. I know I should have told you but." Sally said to him and reached for his hand.
As she was talking and reaching for his hand, Frank pulled his hand away from her.
"Come on mate, you need your nappy changed." Frank said to James as he got up off the sofa with James on his hip.
"I can do it. You did the last one." Sally said as Frank walked away from her.
Frank ignored her and kept walking into the twin's room and closed the door behind him. As the door closed she placed her heads in her hands as the tears threatened to fall.
A few days after Shauna's outburst, she did consider telling Frank what happened because she didn't want any secrets between them. Each time she decided to tell him, something would happen to delay her telling him and eventually she had decided not to tell him. Until today she forgotten that the event had even happened as she hadn't seen Shauna since that night and she was so happy with her two babies that the night was a blurred memory. She knew Frank would react like this when he found out but she didn't know what was making him so angry. Was it because Sally hadn't told him? Was it because he was shocked Shauna could have done this? Was it because he blamed himself? Whatever the reason was, she just wanted him to talk to her and hopefully have Sarah back tonight.
She didn't know how long she had been sitting with her head in her hands but the sound of a door closing made her look up. As she looked up, she saw that Campbell had come back into the flat. As he walked back into the living room, Frank came out of the twin's room with James in his arms, as he walked back into the living room as well and both men sat back down on the sofas.
"That was my CSI team on the phone. More evidence should be available in a few hours time. Now did you say you know where Mrs Callaghan lives?" Campbell said as he took out his notebook again.
"Yeah 17 Brogan Street." Sally said with a slight shake in her voice.
"Thank you. Ok that's everything for the moment. I'm heading to Brogan Street now and ill be in contact with you in a few hours once I have spoken to Mrs Callaghan. Do you have any questions just now?" Campbell asked them as he put his notebook back in his pocket.
Both Sally and Frank shook their heads. James had decided he'd had enough of being on his dads lap and reached out for Sally to take him. She gently took him from Frank's lap and placed him on hers instead.
"Ok. I'll be in touch later." Campbell replied as he got off the sofa.
He couldn't tell them what had really just happened. Their boss Mick had just called him to say he had eyes on Sarah and Mrs Callaghan did believe the little girl was hers but the situation needed to be handled delicately. He was heading to Brogan Street to meet with a psychologist from the police but they would be posing as doctors coming to help soothe the crying Sarah. They had to get Sarah away but also needed to evaluate if Mrs Callaghan needed to be placed in a psychological clinic instead of a prison cell. He didn't want to tell Sally and Frank encase they insisted on coming to and blowing the plan. If his plan went well, he would be back here in a few hours time, handing them their daughter back.
"I'll walk you out." Frank said as he got off the sofa as well.
"Thank you again detective." Sally said as she stroked the top of James head.
"No problem Miss Fields." Campbell said before he headed for the front door.
Once he was at the door, he turned and shook Frank's hand and left the flat, as Frank closed the door behind him. Once the door was closed, Frank took a deep breath before he turned and walked back into the living room. He sat down on the sofa where Campbell had been sitting instead of sitting beside Sally and once he sat down, he didn't even look at her.
Sally knew that they had to talk about this and move past it, even if they just shouted at each other. Carefully she picked James off her lap, gently placed him in his play nest and grabbed a new toy from the box beside the sofa. She gave James the toy and luckily he began playing with it right away instead of being upset he wasn't sitting on his mum or dads lap anymore. Sally gave him a half smile and stepped away from her baby boy. With the talk Sally and Frank were going to have, it wouldn't be good to have James between them fussing.
Once she stood up, she went and sat down next to Frank but when she sat down, he still didn't look at her. She took a deep breath and braced herself for the argument they were about to have.
"Right come on then." Sally said as she turned to Frank.
"What?" Frank asked her as he finally turned to face her.
"Let's have it out. Scream at me, shout at me and tell me this is all my fault." Sally replied as fresh tears welled up in her eyes.
Frank instantly leaned over to her and pulled her into his arms. She was surprised at what he done but she wrapped her arms around him and they held other. After a while Frank gently pushed her away so they were face to face with each other.
"Sal, this isn't your fault. This is all my fault." Frank said as he took her hands in his.
This was not the reaction that Sally was expecting.
TO BE CONTINUED.
