Chapter 11
Sally and Frank followed Campbell as he turned left at the reception area and led them down a corridor towards the paediatrics ward. Sarah and James were born on this ward but the maternity ward was to the right of the reception desk. As they followed Campbell, Sally's heart was racing and she thought she was going to be sick. They had found a baby who matched Sarah's description, which meant after 24 hours of heartache, worry and fear she would finally be back where she belonged.
Campbell led them down a few corridors before turning right onto another corridor, which was private for consultations. He kept walking until he stopped at a door half way along the corridor where the sounds of a crying baby could be heard and he turned to face Frank and Sally.
"A doctor is just checking her over as a precaution. You ready to see your little girl again?" Campbell asked.
Frank squeezed her hand knowing she would be on the verge of tears again. "Course we are." Frank replied with a smile.
Campbell smiled back, put his hand on the handle and pulled the door open for Sally and Frank to walk in. Frank was about to walk forward but something stopped him.
"Frank wait." Sally said as she gently pulled him back to stop him going any further.
Frank stopped as Sally pulled him back towards her. He had no idea why she had stopped him from going to see Sarah. He turned to ask her what was wrong but as he looked into her eyes, he knew why she had stopped him. As soon as Sarah seen him, she wouldn't want to leave his arms. He would try and pass Sarah back to Sally but as soon as she was in her arms, Sarah would reach back out to him to be in his arms. Sally needed a few moments alone with Sarah before she wanted to be in Daddy's arms for probably the rest of the night.
"Take your time." Frank said to her as he let go of her hand and kissed her on hrthe cheek.
Sally smiled back at him and took a deep breath as she walked towards the door that Campbell was holding open. She gave a weak smile as well as she walked into the room and he closed the door behind her. Once inside the room, her ears following the crying noise and her eyes fell on the little examination bed as her heart melted away. A female doctor was taking the temperature of the person on the bed and lying on the bed crying her eyes out was Sarah.
Sarah seemed to sense that her mum had come into the room. She turned to face Sally and reached her arms out to her. "Mm M Mm." Sarah babbled in between her crying.
"Oh my baby." Sally said as she let all tears run down her face and she walked over to the bed and kneeled down so she was level with Sarah.
"Miss Fields. I'm Doctor Brown. I'm finished examining her so you can pick her up." Doctor Brown introduced herself as Sally appeared by the bed.
Doctor Brown had barley finished her words as Sally stood up again and lifted Sarah up and cuddled her into her chest. The little girl clung to her mum as she wrapped her little arms around her neck.
"Hi. Is she ok?" Sally asked as she rubbed Sarah's back to soothe her.
"Yeah everything looks good. No bruises or injuries that I can see. We did get salvia and fluids from her which will tell if there is any substances been given to her but I'd say that's highly unlikely. She hasn't stopped crying since the detective seen her but I think she just missed her mum." Doctor Brown said as Sarah was starting to settle down.
"Thank you for checking her." Sally replied as she kept rubbing Sarah's back and swaying on her feet to soothe her. Just like she had done yesterday to soothe James.
"Your welcome. I'm glad she's ok. I'll give you some privacy." Doctor Brown said as she turned and left the room.
Sally held on to Sarah as tightly as she could without hurting her as more tears fell from her eyes. All the worry and heartache from the past 24 hours washed away in those tears as she finally had her baby girl back where she belonged. Sarah stopped crying but she was still whimpering and fussing as Sally moved her to her hip.
"It's ok. Mummy's here and I'm so sorry darling. I know you were scared but your back now with us and that's all that matters. I love you so much." Sally cooed to Sarah as she kissed her cheek.
Sarah was still fussing but Sally knew once she was reunited with James, she would settle. She moved Sarah to hug her to her chest for one final hug knowing that she couldn't keep Frank out for much longer. That wasn't fair to him.
"Someone else missed you and wants to see you. You want to see Daddy?" Sally asked as she moved Sarah back to her hip.
At the mention of the word Daddy, Sarah's whimpering eased more but her petted lip stayed where it was.
"I knew that would cheer you up." Sally said with a smile as she turned back to face the door. "Frank, someone wants to see you." She shouted hoping he could hear her from behind the door.
She waited to see if he had heard her before she tried again but just after she had called to him, the handle of the door was pulled down and the door swung open as Frank walked in as the door closed behind him.
His eyes met Sarah's and the biggest smile spread across his face. "There's my little girl." Frank said as his eyes welled up as well.
Like Sally had predicted, when Sarah seen Frank, her little arms reached out to him. "Dd D Dd." Sarah babbled as she asked her dad to hold her.
Frank smiled at her as he walked over to Sally, took Sarah from her arms and hugged Sarah to his chest. Sarah clung to him like she had done with Sally as Frank rubbed her back.
"We missed you but your safe now." Frank cooed to her as he held her tightly.
After a few moments, Frank moved Sarah so she was now on his hip and could see Sally as well but Sarah continued to whimper and fuss.
"She misses James. That's why she won't settle." Sally said as she kissed the top of Sarah's head.
"I was thinking the same thing. The sooner we get her home, the quicker they'll both settle." Frank replied as a knock on the door interrupted them.
"Not interrupting am I?" Campbell asked as he opened the door.
"No, come in." Sally said as she wiped away another tear.
Campbell slid inside the room as he closed the door and walked over to them.
"Someone's finally calmed down. You got some set of lungs on you little lady." Campbell cooed to Sarah as she had stopped crying in her dad's arms.
"Yeah she's fine but she'll be better when we get her home and reunite her with her brother." Frank said as he readjusted Sarah in his arms.
"Very true. I've just spoken with Doctor Brown and she's confirmed that this little one hasn't been hurt in away. No bruises, scars or scratches but she did say there's a chance their could be some emotional damage with being separated from her family." Campbell replied.
"That's nothing cuddles from Mummy and Daddy can't fix." Sally said as she turned to face Campbell. "Was it Shauna that took her?"
"Yes it was Miss Fields and for the reasons that you said it would be." Campbell said, as he turned serious again.
"So happens now then?" Frank asked as Sarah snuggled into his side while she kept whimpering.
"Mrs Callaghan is in custody at the police station and I'm going back there now to ask her some more questions and be present while a psychiatrist completes an evaluation on her. Once we have all information, we'll decide how to prosecute from there and I'll be round tomorrow to let you know the next step. In the meantime, get this little one home for some rest and get some rest yourselves. It's nearly over." Campbell replied to them.
"Thank you for bringing her back safely to us." Sally said.
"Your welcome. Both of you. Now go home and get some rest. I'll be in touch tomorrow." Campbell replied as he turned and headed back for the door but he stopped. "Oh and we found her car seat in the Callaghan house but the CSI's need it for evidence. I'll drop it off tomorrow."
"Thanks." Frank said as Campbell turned and left the room.
"Come on darling. Let's get you home." Sally said to Sarah and Frank.
Frank smiled back at her as he followed her out of the room and back towards the lift. Once they got to the reception area, Sally pushed the button for the lift and as they waited for it to arrive, Sarah reached out for her mum.
"M Mm Mm Mm." She babbled as her arms reached out to her mum.
This surprised both Frank and Sally as usually once Sarah was in Frank's arms, she didn't want to go back to her mum. It was as if she knew Sally wanted to keep her close to her after being taken away. Sally reached out and lifted Sarah from Frank's arms and held her to her chest just as the lift arrived and three of them got in. As the lift doors closed, Frank placed his arm around Sally and pulled her to him.
"My girls." He said as he kissed Sally's cheek.
Sally smiled a him but her eyes were fixed on Sarah. She didn't know how long it would be until she seen those big blue eyes again and now that she was seeing them again nothing else mattered. All that was missing was her big gummy smile but she knew that once they got her home, that smile would come out and so would James's.
The lift reached the ground floor as the double doors opened and Frank, Sally and Sarah made their way back to the car. Frank jumped in the drivers seat while Sally got into the passenger seat and adjusted Sarah on her lap, as she happily cuddled into her mum as she continued to whimper.
"It's alright. We're going to see him." Frank said to Sarah as he pulled out onto the street and started the drive home.
"Yeah. Going home to see James, get you a bottle, cuddles with Mummy and Daddy, then bedtime." Sally said as she kissed the top of Sarah's head.
"Then bedtime for Mummy and Daddy." Frank replied.
"Sounds good to me." Sally said as she moved and squeezed his hand, which was on the gear stick.
He squeezed her hand back and they fell into a comfortable silence as they drove home, with the only noise being Sarah's whimpers and fussing baby noises.
After another 15 minutes of driving, Frank pulled onto their street and got the last parking space just down from the building entrance. Frank got out, closed the driver's door and walked round to Sally's door. He held her door open as she got out with Sarah and closed it for her when she was out and locked the car up for the night. After he locked the door, he went to get the keys for the flat out of his pocket but as he reached into his pocket, his eyes met Sarah's and he knew what was going to happen next.
"Dd Dd Dd Dd." Sarah babbled as reached out for Frank.
"Well that didn't last long did it." Sally said as gently passed Sarah into Frank's awaiting arms.
"Didn't think it would." Frank replied as he settled Sarah on his hip and passed Sally the keys for the flat.
"Come on. Let's go see our other baby." Sally said as she opened the building door.
Sally went inside and held the door open for Frank as he slipped inside and let it close securely behind him, then they both made there way up the three flights of stairs to their flat. They reached the landing on their floor and turned the corner to go towards their flat but as they approached the door, they could hear James softly crying.
"Wait here for a sec. I want to settle him before they see each other." Sally said as she put the flat key in the door.
"Sure." Frank replied. He wasn't sure what difference it made but he was just happy that she was happy again.
After a few turns, Sally managed to unlock the door and went inside the flat. She took her shoes off but used one of them to keep the door ajar so that Frank could get back in with Sarah. Once her shoes and Jacket were off, she walked into the living room to see Andy sat on the cream couch, cradling James in her arms as he cried softly.
"Alright. I take it he figured out we had left." Sally said as she walked over to Andy.
"Hi Sal. Managed to give him his dinner but when I went to him his bottle, he realised you's were gone and hasn't stopped crying since. I'm sorry but I tried." Andy replied as she sat James up.
"It's not your fault. He's just not himself. Come here." Sally said as she lifted James from Andy's lap and hugged him to her chest again.
"How's Elaine?" Andy asked as she noticed Sally looked better than she had a few hours ago.
"Yeah she's getting better. A week or two of rest and she'll be good as new but we had to cut the visit short." Sally replied as she softly rubbed James back.
"How come?" Andy asked knowing there was some news about Sarah.
"The detective called us when we were visiting Elaine to say that he had Sarah. He took her to the same hospital to get check her over but she's fine." Sally said with the biggest smile on her face.
"Oh thank god. Where is she then?" Andy asked with a tear in her eye wondering where the little girl was if she had been found.
Sally kept smiling as she moved James to her hip, who had now returned to his whimpering. "I know what you need. You need to see your sister." Sally cooed to James as she walked back behind the blue couch.
"Frank bring her in." Sally called to Frank.
Frank heard her and pushed the door open with his free hand and walked into the flat, closing the door behind him. He walked over to where Sally was standing, as each held a whimpering twin in their arms. Both Sarah and James looked up at each other and both instantly stopped whimpering and fussing, as if someone had flicked a switch inside them. Sarah started making baby noises first then James quickly started making the same noises, like they were speaking to each other in their own language. After a few more noises, they both were smiling their big gummy smiles.
"Boy have I missed those smiles." Sally said as a tear ran down her face seeing both her babies smiling again.
"Me to Sal." Frank said, as his smile got bigger as well.
"Come on." Sally said as she led Frank to the living room where Andy was sitting.
"Hello gorgeous. Have you been on an adventure?" Andy cooed to Sarah as Sally sat down next to her.
"Yep but now she's back where she belongs." Sally replied as she sat down. As Frank sat down, Sarah reached her arms out to Andy asking her to take her.
"That's all that matters." Andy said as she reached and took Sarah from Frank and settled Sarah on her lap. "Did they catch the scumbag who took her?" She asked them.
"Yeah they got them. Down the police station just now and they'll let us know the verdict tomorrow." Sally said as James happily made baby noises on her lap.
"That's good. Give them what they deserve. Lock em up and throw away the key" Andy said as she hugged Sarah. She didn't notice the look that Frank and Sally exchanged between them.
"See what they say tomorrow." Frank said with a smile.
"Very true. Right I better be heading off. Make sure George hasn't snuck to the chippy." Andy said as she passed Sarah back to Frank.
"You don't have to.' Frank replied as he settled Sarah on his lap.
"It's fine. You guys need time with just the four of you and get them ready for bed. George probably has gone to the chippy so if I can catch him out, it's even better." Andy said as she put her jacket on.
As she put her jacket on, James reached his arms out to her and made a growling noise.
"Oh so now you want me to cuddle you, do you." Andy cooed to him as she lifted him off Sally's lap.
He looked at her as if to say, "I was grumpy earlier but now that my sister's back, I'm good."
Andy smiled at him and gave a him a cuddle before handing him back to Sally, who had stood up to walk her out. "We'll let the lads know that's she back. Save's you phoning everyone and I'll call you tomorrow Sal." Andy said as she said bye to Frank and Sarah and walked towards the front door with Sally following her
"Thanks again. Speak to you soon." Sally said as Andy went out the front door and waved goodbye. Once she was out of sight, Sally closed the door, put the latch on the door, walked back to the living room and sat down next to Frank. Once she sat down, James and Sarah started their baby conversion again.
"Wonder what their saying?" Frank said as held Sarah tighter to stop her falling forward.
"Sarah's probably telling him what happened to her while she was away and James is probably saying that he's hungry." Sally said as she looked at her two happy babies.
"That's true. Speaking of food, better get a bottle for her." Frank replied as he stood up with Sarah still in his arms. "Back in a sec." He cooed to Sarah as he kissed her cheek.
"Andy said he wouldn't take his tea time bottle. Need to make up two." Sally said as Frank handed her Sarah as well.
"Sure." Frank said as he turned and walked into the kitchen to make up to bottles for the twins.
When Sarah was placed on her mum's knee, she looked around again for her dad but couldn't see him.
"It's ok. Daddy's just gone to get you a bottle. He'll be back soon." Sally cooed to Sarah, who seemed to understand and went back to talking to her brother.
With Sarah sitting on her leg and James sitting on her other leg, happily talking away to each other, Sally wished she could freeze time. It seemed like it was only yesterday that they had brought the twins home from the hospital and they were growing up so fast that it scared her. Seeing them getting bigger made her feel like a bad mum. She loved her kids more than anything in world but she also loved being a fire fighter. Most mums took 9 months off work to be with their kids but she had gone back full time just after 5 months. She had gone back early as she and Frank needed the money because they had twins and the brigade only gave 18 weeks maternity leave but part of her was happy to go back to the job that she loved. For the next two days off, all she wanted to do was spend time with her babies and Frank. The little family she never dreamt of having.
"Right, who's taking who?" Frank asked as he came back into the living room and placed two bottles of milk on the coffee table.
As Frank put the bottles down, James had seen them and lunged forward to get one
"Whoa!" Sally said as she managed to catch him in time before he fell on the floor but he still tried to fight out of her arms to get to the food.
"Can you take him before he falls?" Sally asked as she was leaning over and struggling to hold her squirming son and hold Sarah with her other arm.
When James had lunged forward, Frank had quickly reached over to catch him encase Sally didn't get him in time but she did. Once he started squirming, Frank took him out of Sally's grasp and settled him on his hip.
"Someone's back to his old self now." Sally said as she used her free arm to lean forward and take a bottle to give it to Sarah.
"Definitely." Frank replied as he leaned down to the table and picked up the other bottle as James kept making frustrated growls on his hip.
Sarah looked at Frank and wondered why she wasn't in his arms like she usually was but she knew from her bothers growls not to annoy him when he was about to be fed.
Frank sat down on the other end of the sofa that Sally was on and they both cradled a twin in their arms and gave them their bottles, which they both happily started drinking from.
"Who's running the bath tonight then?" Frank asked as he looked up from feeding James.
"What time is it?" Sally asked as she looked at him from feeding Sarah.
"It's quarter past seven. Why?" Frank asked as he checked the time on the wall clock.
"It's almost their bedtime. We'll bath them tomorrow night." Sally replied as she smiled at him.
"Yeah the sooner they go to bed, the sooner we can go to bed as well." Frank said as he looked down to see James was more than halfway through his bottle.
"I think a drink is needed after the last few days." Sally said as she seen Sarah was half way through her bottle as well.
"Now you're talking Sal. You got a rag behind you?" Frank asked as he noticed James was just about finished.
"Yep. Here." Sally replied as she used one arm to cradle Sarah and hold her bottle, which she used her free hand to grab two burping rags that where lying on the back of the couch.
"Cheers." Frank said as Sally placed a rag beside his leg for when James was finished.
It didn't take long for James to finish his milk and Frank took the bottle of his mouth and placed it back on the coffee table. He then carefully sat James back up on his lap, who again looked drunk off of his milk, as he placed the rag over his shoulder.
"Looks like you after you've had too many pints." Sally said as she looked at James when Frank sat him up.
Frank turned James so he could look at him and laughed when he seen him. "Like looking into a tiny drunken mirror." Frank said as moved James to place him on his chest, with his head on his shoulder to burp him.
"At least he's drunk on milk." Sally said as she moved Sarah to her shoulder to burp her as well.
Frank smiled back at her and they both burped the twins. Both twins seemed to burp in sync with each other but soon they were done and no more burps were coming out.
"Right." Sally said as she stood up and adjusted Sarah on her hip. "I'll get her changed first. Entertain your son for 5 minutes." Sally said as she walked to the twins room."
"Right mate. Let's talk women." Frank said to James as he sat him on his lap.
"Frank that's not what I meant." Sally shouted back to him knowing he was winding her up.
He didn't say anything back but she heard him laughing as she walked into the twins room. She walked over to one of the changing tables and gently laid Sarah to get her ready for bed. She was wearing tights and a dress that Sally had never seen before and assumed that Shauna had bought these to put on her.
"This is going straight in the bin." Sally cooed to Sarah as she took all Sarah's clothes off and put them in the bin.
She changed Sarah into a clean nappy, put her into her pink sleeping onesie, buttoned her up and scooped her back up into her arms.
"There you go. All clean and ready for bed." Sally said to her as she kissed her cheek. "You'll get back in your own crib tonight, with James beside you and in the morning Mummy and Daddy will still be here when you wake up. We love you." Sally said as she kissed her cheek again.
She moved Sarah from her hip and cuddled her to her chest as Sarah snuggled into her mum. She was just so happy to have her little girl back where she belonged, with her brother, Mummy and Daddy.
Sally hugged Sarah for a few more minutes but she knew Frank would want some one on one time with Sarah before bedtime as well.
"Come on you." Sally said as she put Sarah back on her hip and walked back out into the living room. As she walked over to Frank, James was sitting on his lap laughing as Frank tickled his cheek and between his neck and shoulder. Sarah thought this looked fun and started making baby noises, asking to be apart of whatever James was doing.
"I've missed that laugh." Sally said as she stood next to the arm of the couch.
"Me to but now he won't stop." Frank said as he tickled his son's cheek again, making him squeal in delight.
"Here you go then." Sally said as she took Sarah off her hip. "Make twin one laugh while I change twin two." She said as she placed Sarah gently on his lap and took James off his lap.
"Alright Gorgeous. You ready for bed." Frank cooed to Sarah as Sally took James into the twin's room to get him ready for bed.
"Daddy is so sorry that the lady took you away. I just wanted to be with Mummy so badly that I had to shake things up. It's my fault that she took you away from us but we got you back and that's all that matters. I missed you so much. I love you darling." Frank said to her as he lifted her up to his face and kissed her cheek.
When he kissed her cheek, Sarah smiled at him and his heart melted way. Before he set her back down on his lap, he blew a raspberry on her cheek and Sarah let out a squeal of delight as Frank placed her back on his lap. Just when she was about to stop laughing, Frank tickled her cheek, which sent her back into hysterics but just as she was about to stop, he tickled her again making her laugh.
"That's one dirty laugh you've got Sarah." Sally said as she sat back down on the couch beside Frank with James on her lap, who was changed into his blue night onesie.
"Very dirty." Frank replied as he tickled her again and another squeal of delight came out.
James decided that he didn't like being left out of the game his dad and sister were playing. He reached his arms out to his dad and started making excited baby noises. Sally carefully passed him to Frank and he settled both twins on his lap, as he tickled their cheeks making them both laugh.
"Should I just go and leave you three alone?" Sally asked as she was left with no baby on her lap.
"If you want. My little girl and my best mate just wanna spend time with me." Frank replied with a smirk.
"I'll leave you to it." Sally laughed as she got off the couch and headed to the kitchen.
"Mummy's jealous." Frank said to the twins as they kept laughing.
He continued to tickle them as their laughter and gummy smiles made his smile get even bigger. After a few more minutes of tickling, Sally walked back into the living room and placed two glasses of white wine and a plate of olives, crackers, cheese and cherry tomatoes on the coffee table.
"Not a big dinner but it'll do for tonight." Sally said she took a drink of wine from her glass.
"It's fine." Frank replied eying the food as he was hungry but he had two babies blocking him from eating.
Sally caught the look in his eyes and seen he was hungry.
'Come on. Which one of you is coming to sit with Mummy?' She asked the twins with her arms reached out to them.
Sarah and James looked at her as if she had two heads and turned back to make baby noises at Frank.
"I'll take that as a no then." Sally said but she had a trick up her sleeve.
She leaned forward, took a cracker with cheese off the plate and leaned back as she ate it. As she leaned back, James's food senses went off and he turned to see that his mum had food in her hand. He reached his arms out to her deciding maybe it was better to be on Mummy's lap.
Sally finished the cracker and then reached over to take James. "Knew that would work. Come on then." Sally said as she reached over and took James off Frank's lap.
As she took James, Sally moved to sit at an angle so that they could still see Frank and Sarah. Now that he wasn't blocked, Frank leaned forward with his free hand, took some food of the plate and popped it in his mouth as he held onto Sarah with his other hand.
"It's bedtime and they don't even looked tired." Sally said tickled James cheek.
"They'll be excited to see each other again but they'll crash soon." Frank replied as he took a drink from his glass and leaned back on the sofa.
Frank and Sally each sat with a twin on their lap, continued to tickle them and eat their food but the twins showed no signs of going to sleep. It was just after eight o clock when the twins stopped laughing and both rubbed their eyes with their hands and yawned, both in sync with each other.
"All that laughing finally tired you two out." Frank cooed to Sarah as she kept rubbing her eyes.
"Finally. Let's get them down." Sally said to him as she stood up and placed James on her hip, as he kept rubbing his eyes as well.
Frank stood up and placed a Sarah on his hip as he followed Sally to the twin's room to put them in their cribs. Sally turned on the main light as she opened the door and let her eyes adjust to the bright light. She walked over to Sarah's crib, leaned down and pulled back her blanket as Frank did the same with James crib.
"Night Gorgeous." Frank cooed to Sarah as he hugged her to his chest and kissed her cheek.
"Night Sweetheart." Sally said cooed to James as she hugged him to her chest and kissed his cheek as well.
Once they were done hugging the twin that they currently held, they gently exchanged twins in their arms.
"Night Mate." Frank said to James as he kissed his cheek and hugged him to his chest.
Frank gently removed James from his chest and gently laid him down in his crib. He pulled the blue blanket up to James chest and turned the baby monitor on. Before he leaned back up, he noticed James was just about asleep and smiled at his sleeping son. As he leaned back up from James's crib, he turned and seen that Sally was still hugging Sarah to her chest, as Sarah was just about asleep in her mum's arms.
"The sooner you put her down, the sooner you'll see her in the morning." Frank said to her.
"I know. Just after what's happened, I don't wanna let her go" Sally said as she moved Sarah back to her hip.
"We've got her back now and she's not going anywhere. She just needs a good nights kip now." Frank replied.
She knew he was right but it was hard. She only got Sarah back two hours ago and she wanted more time to have her in her arms with being separated. She was tired herself and knew that she could cuddle Sarah all day tomorrow.
"Night darling. We'll see you in the morning." Sally cooed to Sarah as she kissed her cheek.
She leaned down and gently laid Sarah in her crib as well. She turned Sarah's baby monitor on as well and pulled the pink blanket up to Sarah's chest. As she leaned back up, she noticed that Sarah's eyes were closed and she was now fast sleep. Once she leaned up, she snuck a quick glance into James's crib and seen that he was fast asleep as well. Both babies snuggled up in their cribs where they belonged with Mummy and Daddy.
"Let's go before they wake up." Frank said as he slipped his arm around her waist, knowing she would stay here all night if she could.
Without saying anything, Sally turned around and let Frank guide her out of the twin's room, turning the main light off in the room as they left. Once they left the room, Sally turned around and quietly closed the door to the twin's room, then turned and walked back to sit beside Frank on the blue couch. As they sat down, the both let out a deep sigh as they reached for their remaining wine on the coffee table.
"Part of me is glad that it was Shauna that took her." Sally said as she took a drink from her glass.
"Why?" Frank asked her.
"It was someone that we knew and not some random scum taking her for no reason. If Shauna gets the help that she needs, then we won't be worrying about someone taking her again." Sally replied as she leaned in closer to him.
"Yeah I suppose." Frank said as he pulled her close to him.
"I can't believe that she would do this to Elaine as well. Why not wait and take her while she was with us." Sally asked him.
"She was probably watching us to see who watched the kids while we're working or out at night. She probably thought Elaine would be the easiest to over power while she took Sarah. Mick probably told her that the fire kept everyone up all night, giving her the chance to get Sarah," Frank said as he took another drink of wine.
"Yeah that makes sense. When Campbell calls tomorrow, I wanna see Shauna and speak to her." Sally replied as she rubbed Frank's hand that was resting on her thigh.
"Sal, you sure that's a good idea?" Frank asked as he turned so he could face her.
"Yeah I want to see her and see if she's sorry. Give me the closure I need." Sally said back to him.
"Suppose Sal. After tomorrow, I just wanna put this behind us and move on." Frank said as he squeezed her hand.
"Same but I hope Mick's ok as well. He'll have to see to Liam and explain why there was a baby in the house. Now that baby is gone and his mum's gone as well. He might be at the police station tomorrow as well." Sally replied as she took another swig of wine.
"Maybe yeah." Frank said as he took a drink of wine as well.
Frank knew that she was saying this as she was friends with Mick and generally hoped that he was ok but would he use this to out there relationship in the watch. Would they walk into work in two days time to find that one of them had to get a transfer? They weren't planning on telling everyone that it was Shauna that took Sarah and would just say the culprit was caught but they wanted to move on. He didn't mean for Mick to get hurt when he started all this but Mick could now be the one out for revenge.
They both sat in comfortable silence as they finished their wine and were happy knowing that they had both twins were asleep in their cribs. Sally was the first to finish her wine as she let out a big yawn and stretched her arms above her head.
"Bedtime for me. Time is it?" Sally said as she brought her arms down.
"It's ten to nine. You beat?" Frank asked as he moved his arm so she could stretch again.
"Yeah I'm knackered. You coming to bed?" Sally asked him as she stood up.
"Yeah I'll be through in a minute." Frank said to her as he smiled at her.
Sally bent down and kissed him. "I'll see you when you come through." She said as she leaned back up and headed into the bathroom.
She went into the bathroom, brushed her teeth and used the toilet. As she came out and walked towards their bedroom, she noticed Frank was sitting on the other sofa and had poured himself a malt while she was away. He looked deep in thought and was probably still blaming himself for Sarah being taken but it wasn't all his fault. Knowing that he wouldn't listen to her, she left him with his malt and walked into their bedroom. She went over to Frank's bedside table and picked up Sarah's baby monitor that he had moved there the other night and walked back to her side of the bed. She plugged it back into the wire and turned both monitors on. When the monitors turned on, they lit up green and the sound of Sarah and James heavy breathing and snuffling filled the room. Some people needed soft music to help them go to sleep but this was Sally's music. The sound of her babies sleeping soundly.
Happy that the twins were still sleeping, Sally changed into her night vest top and shorts before climbing into bed and getting comfy for the night. Just as she lay down and got comfy, Frank came in and quietly closed the door behind him.
"They both still asleep?" He asked as he walked over to his side of the bed and changed so he was just in his boxer shorts.
"Yeah. Long may it last." Sally replied as she turned to face him.
Frank pulled back the covers and climbed in under the covers beside her. He turned on his left side to face Sally and opened his arms to her, which she happily moved into. They lay in each other's arms as they listened to the sounds of their babies sleeping. After a few moments, Sally moved so that she could look at Frank.
"I don't know what I'd have done without you through all this." Sally said as she smiled at him.
"Anytime. Hopefully tomorrow we'll be able to put this behind us." Frank said as he smiled back at her.
"Hope so. Let's not think about it anymore tonight. We've got our baby back and that's all that matters." Sally replied as she relaxed more in his arms.
"You're right. Now come here." Frank said to her.
She laughed at him as he pulled her closer to him and kissed her. As their lips parted, Sally moved her head back in for more and Frank was only too happy to oblige. As much as Sally was enjoying their make out session, she was too tired to go any further. When their lips parted, she moved her head back so she was out of his reach.
"We'll finish this tomorrow." Sally said as she faced him.
"I remember when you couldn't keep your hands off me." Frank said seductively to her.
"Yeah but that was before you got me knocked up with twins." Sally said to him.
"Fair enough." Frank said as he turned and turned off his beside light, putting the room into darkness and turned back to Sally.
"Night Sal." Frank said as he placed his arms back around her.
"Night Frank." Sally said as she snuggled into his chest.
Within seconds they both fell asleep with the sounds of Sarah and James sleeping sending them into a deep sleep.
TO BE CONTINUED.
