Chapter 13

A month had passed since Jo had left the hospital, after staying there for five days. She and Alex were told that there was nothing else that could be done in order to find their daughter the day after Jo was operated. Alex started to look for Camilla on the park where the body was found at, the day after they received the Detective's news, but had no luck; no one had seen his child around there. Jo was told to rest for at least five days before she could start doing any demanding activities and after her bed rest, she joined Alex in the search of their daughter which had no results. They too were running out of options and hope of ever finding her. They were both lying in bed on each other's arms. Jo had her head nestled on Alex's chest when Alex felt his chest getting wet from Jo's tears.

"Hey..." he whispered and Jo immediately wiped her eyes "It's okay. You can cry..." he said and kissed the top of her head.

"This is all my fault..." she said through her sobs.

"Stop thinking like that honey." He said and rubbed her back to sooth her.

"I should have taken her out of there when I could..."

"You couldn't have known." Alex said and Jo didn't say anything else. The room was filled with her crying noises as she kept releasing the pain she was feeling, but there was nothing that ever be done to free her forever from that pain. After her crying subsided, she lifted her head from Alex's chest and looked at him for a couple of seconds before he bent down to press his lips against hers and kissed her softly. After they pulled apart, Jo replaced her head on her husband's chest once again.

"I have something to tell you..." they both said at the same time and sadly laughed at each other.

"You go first." Alex asked her.

"I... I..." Jo started and then sighed for not being able to form the words to say what she wanted to say. "I knew I was pregnant" she admitted and shut her closed tightly swallowing a lump that had formed on her throat. Alex didn't say anything, he just held her tighter and she knew what he was asking for. He wanted her to continue, "I was going to tell you on her birthday... I found out the day she went missing. After I left the daycare, I saw a shirt saying Big Sister on that little store in front of the hospital and I went there to buy it and I was going to give her as a birthday present..."

"Did you buy it?" he asked her.

"Yes, but then... then someone took our baby and I didn't want to have another one without her being around, so I thought if I didn't think about it too much it'd go away. I ignored it and it went away..."

"Jo, it wasn't your fault either. This baby was never going to be born, you had an ectopic pregnancy."

"But..."

"Shh... I think Abigail is my daughter..." he confessed.

"What? How? Why?" Jo lifted her head up from his chest and started to sit up taking the blankets with her to cover herself with them.

"Have you looked at her?" Alex said looking at his wife eyes and then sitting up too "She looks old enough to be mine and Izzie's child, but that just not it. I could see myself in her..."

"Oh God. What are you going to do?" She asked him.

"I don't know..." he said shrugging his shoulder.

"Don't feel bad for me Alex... You have to know if she is your child too and will go on from there" Alex took Jo's right hand on his squeezing it "Now let's get up... we still have a long day ahead of us" she said and then he took her hand to his mouth to kiss it

"I love you, Jo"

"I love you too." she said with her closed and losing another tear.

XXXXXXXXX

"How is she?" the woman asked Mia on the phone since she wasn't able to pass by the house they were staying at.

"She is... Fine, I guess." Mia answered after looking at Camilla who was doing a puzzle on the center table. "She's a little bit grumpy today but she's fine."

"Can you put her on the phone?"

"Yes, sure" Mia said and walked to Camilla and then kneeled besides her "Hey sweetie, your mom wants to talk to you..." she said handing Camilla the phone but Camilla pushed Mia's hand away from her refusing to speak to that woman "What's wrong? Don't you want to talk to your mom?" Mia asked her.

"No..." Camilla said shaking her head and still focusing on finishing her puzzle "No. Stop it." She whined for Mia trying to hand her the phone once again. "I don't want it."

Mia sighed and stood up "I don't know if you heard but she apparently doesn't want to talk to you."

"Put me on speaker, please" the woman asked Mia. Mia did what she was told to and put the phone on the table

"Hi baby" the woman said and Camilla looked annoyed at Mia and crossed her arms on her chest in response "How are you? Are you mad at mommy?"

"Yes." She said with her arms still crossed and with her face scrunched.

"Why? Mommy is sorry she hasn't come to see you yet... will you please forgive me?" She asked but got no response from the little girl "Please, pretty please?

"Okay... Mommy?" she accepted the woman's apology and uncrossed her arms

"Yes baby?"

"When are you coming home?" the little girl asked and the woman smiled on the other line of the call for the fact that Camilla was now calling the house they were staying at 'home'

"Oh honey, Mommy doesn't know yet. Soon I'll be home."

"Can't you come home today?" Camilla whined with tears staring to form on her eyes.

"No baby, I'm so sorry I can't."

"Well, then I don't want to talk to you ever again..." she said crying, then stormed out of the living with her arms crossed once again and started going up the stairs.

"I'm sorry" Mia said, "She'll come around eventually."

"I'm messing this all up with her... again." The woman said and then sighed.

"Well, don't you feel a little bad at all? Not even a tiny bit?"

"About what?"

"I don't know how much longer I'll be able to keep this up" Mia said shaking her head at herself.

"Mia, don't you dare. She is mine and they will not take her away from me again."

"Do you even hear yourself?" she asked the woman cynically "She is just a kid. She should not be kept captivated. She needs her parents!"

"She has me. I am her parent. I'm just taking care of some stuff and then I will be there for her." The woman said nervously afraid of what Mia could do.

"You don't get it, do you? You know what happened a few nights ago?" Mia asked laughing angrily "I was at the kitchen serving our dinner and came running from the living room crying in panic and she told me that she couldn't remember her daddy's voice." Mia said and then she wiped a tear that had fallen from her left eye.

"That's good, right? That she is forgetting about Alex."

"Oh my god you're sick," Mia said with disgust lacing her voice "I got to go. Goodbye." She said and hung up the call. She picked Camilla's blanket that was lying on the couch and went upstairs with it. She entered Camilla's new bedroom and found the little girl laying on her tummy with her face buried on her crossed arms. She sat on the bed next to Camilla and rubbed her back, which made the little girl turn her head to Mia showing her her wet eyes.

"Look what I got for you," Mia said showing the girl her blanket, which she took out of Mia's hand and thanked her for it. "Don't be sad, okay?" she pleaded Camilla and the girl nodded her head after sitting up on her bed.

"I wish mommy and daddy were here..." Camilla said looking down at her lap "Why they don't want me anymore?", she took her eyes from her lap to look at Mia's. Mia's heart broke for the pain that the little girl was going through and pulled her into a tight hug.

"Oh baby, they do. They do want you and they do love you so much and they always will" she comforted Camilla with her words and rubbed her back up and down while saying them. "Look at me" she said putting her hands and both side of Camilla's face "I know sometimes it might not feel like it but your mommy and your daddy will always love you and they will always be safeguarded right in here" she pointed at Camilla's heart "Okay?"

"Okay." Camilla responded, and then positioned her arms around Mia's neck, and hugged her. "Can we go outside, please?"

"Yes, sure let's go to the park, shall we?"

They got ready for the trip they were going to make and got in the car. Camilla was over her little heartbreak and kept talking all the way from her new house to the park. After almost half an hour of driving they reached they destiny and entered the Houghton Neighborhood Park in Kirkland. They stablished their rules, Mia put some sunscreen on Camilla's body and after that, she was free to enjoy herself for a while in the park. Mia sat under a tree to protect herself from the sunny day and picked up the book she had brought from the house to read it. Mia would take her eyes from the book every once in a while to watch out after Camilla. The park was crowded; there were a lot of kids running around and parents everywhere. Camilla was on the playground playing with the other kids that she had made friends with and having a great time.

"How old are you?" a girl she had just started playing with asked her.

"Four." Camilla answered all proud of herself

"I'm nine. My name is Abby. What is yours?" Abby asked her.

"Skye" Camilla responded with her middle name because Mia had asked her to.

"Okay." They kept playing, laughing and running after each other, Abby present Camilla to her nanny that was with her at the park and made the nanny take a picture of them both before she had to leave. After they had said their goodbye, Camilla started walking to Mia when she saw a familiar face. She gasped and ran to that person with a smile on her face. When she reach that someone she placed her arms around their waist from the back and said hi with delight.