Perri doubled over in laugher.
“Never a dull moment with the Milan women,” Barrington who'd been trying to hold his in, laughed out loud.
Everyone else joined in the laughter, too.
***
Two Months Later, Athens, Spain
Nia held Imani close to her chest until she burped. Raising her in the air, she said, “You are such a beauty, baby girl. You know that?” She smiled when Imani giggled, kicking her legs with glee. “Your little sister will be a beauty just like you. I'm sure of it, because your daddy—God bless him—makes the prettiest babies.”
Checking her pamper, Nia said, “I think someone needs changing.” She walked to the changing table, talking as she proceeded to change Imani. “You don't miss that mean old woman a bit, do you, sweetheart? You and I are getting along just fine. Aren't we?” She picked Imani up, kissing her plump cheeks. “There, baby girl, feels a whole lot better, huh?” She laughed. “Besides, with me, you don't have to wear shoes.” Nia tickled Imani's bare feet and laughed when she giggled.
“It has been a fun two months, baby girl. And as much as I don't like your mum, I have to send you back home. Your daddy misses you terribly and I know you miss him just as badly, maybe more. I know I do.” Nia smiled. “I'm sure gonna miss our girlie talks, Miss Imani. You're such a good listener. You're gonna miss me, too, aren't you?”
Imani smiled and babbled her gibberish. Nia's eyes filled with tears. “Of course you are. Thank you, baby girl. Because of the past two months I've spent with you, caring for you just like you were my very own, I'll know exactly how to take care of your little sister, who will be joining us in six short months.” Nia patted her protruding belly lovingly. She sat in the rocking chair, placed Imani belly down on her lap and rocked her as she sang her a Spanish lullaby. Nia dreaded the morning light, knowing she'd have to give Imani back to Perri, whom she'd declared her sworn enemy.
***
“Baby, ignore it, it's probably just another crank call.” Barrington gently rubbed his wife's protruding belly.
Perri stepped away from his touch. “And if it's not, Barrington? What if this call is the real deal?” Raising her head in defiance, she questioned. “Can you live with it if we missed what could be our last and final chance to get our daughter back? Huh?”
Barrington looked at the floor and back to his wife. “I'm just saying, Perri, that we've had a hundred crank calls, supposedly from someone who knew where our daughter was, and none of them—not one, baby, ever panned out. What makes you think this one is any different?”
“A feeling.”
“And you're willing to risk your life and our unborn baby over a feeling that may or may not have any merit to it?” He shook his head. “That's senseless.”
“Barrington?” Perri rubbed her temples. “I'm not gonna fight with you about this, because it's not debatable.” Her eyes filled with tears. “I'm basing my feelings on maternal instinct, baby. And I'm telling you that as Imani's mother as well as the mother of our unborn son—whom I'd do no less for—this is the real thing. I can feel it in my spirit, Barrington. Imani's coming home. Today!”
“Perri—”
“Enough, Barrington. You can come or you can stay. But I am going to that museum today. You may be willing to chance not ever seeing our daughter again, but I'm her mother, I gave birth to her and she's been with me the longest. So, I'm sorry if you don't like my actions, but I will not take the chance of missing what I know will be the last chance to get my daughter back. I love my baby too much. She needs me and I'm going to her. Right now.” Scooping up her keys with a shaky hand, Perri headed for the door.
Barrington was quicker and headed her off, standing in front of the door.
She pushed at his chest as hard as she could. “Get out of my way!”
“You're shaking like a leaf. Do you honestly think I'm going to let you take the wheel?” He pulled a struggling Perri into his arms, holding her tight. “Our daughter needs both of us, baby.” Barrington coaxed the keys from her trembling hand. “I'll drive.”
Perri hugged him for dear life. “Thank you. It wouldn't be a real family reunion without you. God, baby, I could never be at peace if I had to do this without you.”
Barrington kissed his wife deeply. “You'll never have to find out.”
***
Pulling into the first parking space, Barrington shut off the engine. “Baby, are you sure this is the place?” He slowly asked, looking around at what appeared to be a deserted building. “Maybe you just misunderstood.”
“No, Barrington, I did not misunderstand anything. This is the place.” Perri nodded. “I'm sure of it. The caller said the old Starlight Museum.” She pointed to the sign. “This is the old Starlight Museum.”
Taking her hand, he ordered, “Stay close to me. You hear?”
Perri nodded, squeezing his hand for a little courage of her own.
Stopping just in front of the main entrance, Barrington said, “I mean it, Perri. No matter what happens in here, you don't leave my side for one second. Do you understand me?” He fingered her lips. “And let me do all the talking. Okay, baby?”
Swallowing hard, Perri said, “I heard you the first time, Barrington, and I do understand.” She exhaled deeply. “But you understand this; I'm not leaving here without my daughter in my arms. And more than anything, I mean that.”
If she's here, Barrington thought, but to his wife he nodded and said, “Let's do this then. Let's go get our baby girl and bring her home to her family and friends.”
Both taking a deep breath, exhaling just as deeply, together, Barrington and Perri entered the double doors of the main entrance of the old Starlight Museum. They'd only been open for maybe a good thirty minutes so the place was virtually empty. An attendant greeted them with a smile from behind a high counter. They returned her greeting. Barrington led Perri down the long corridor and they began searching for any sign of their daughter and Nia.
“We've walked around this place three times already. I don't understand why we haven't seen or heard anything out of the norm. Where is Imani? Where is Nia? What has she done with my child? Where is she, Barrington? Where is she?” Frustrated, Perri was close to tears.
Pulling his wife into his arms, Barrington said, “You need to calm down, baby. It's not gonna do us any good if you get this upset, because when we find Nia, you're just gonna wind up ticking her off. And Lord only knows what she'll pull next.” He glanced around them trying to detect anything unusual.
Angry, suddenly, Perri pushed away from her husband. “God,” she raised her hands in the air, a sign of surrender, “why is this happing?” She shook her head. “Haven't we all suffered enough already? How much more, Lord?”
Trying to calm his wife, Barrington reached for her. She stepped back like he was a hot poker. “Don't touch me. I need answers, Barrington. I need my baby!” she shouted, paying no attention as the onlookers stared.
Pulling her to his chest in spite of her struggling, Barrington firmly stated, “That's enough, Perri.”
She stopped warring against him.
“We're on the same side, baby. Let's not forget that, because you need to remember it. Okay?” He paused in thought. “Let's just go look around one more time,” he suggested. “Obviously we're missing something here.”
She huffed. “You really believe that?”
“You got a better theory?” he shot back at her. “And keep your voice down.”
“Oh, please. What I've got are eyes and I can see,” she whispered harshly.
“Yes, Perri, that's right. You can see. So, baby, maybe you wanna open your eyes to see the truth surrounding us right here.”
She raised her head defiantly. “And that would be?”
“Perri, you do have eyes and you can see. The point is you only see what Nia wants you to see.” Look around us, Perri.” He watched her overtly glance around. “We're in some old museum expecting to find our infant daughter. Why? All because you got some cran
k call—”
“It was not a crank call. Stop calling it that! It was real. I know that much.”
He gritted his teeth. “Alright, fine; a call from a stranger. Whatever. The fact is you still don't know who it was. And you've still yet to receive proof that anything they said was the truth.”
“And that means what, Barrington?”
“Perri, sometimes the eyes lie,” he spoke deliberately and slowly. “You got a phone call from God knows who. Whoever told you what you most wanted to hear.; we get here and . . .”
“And what, Barrington?”
Rubbing his hand down his face, he sighed heavily. “And you see exactly what whoever the caller wanted you to see.”
“You're wrong, because I don't see anything.”
“Exactly, baby.”
“What are you saying, Barrington?” She arrested him with a hostile stare. “And don't you dare tell me my baby's not coming home today.”
He refused to back down. “You said it yourself, Perri. We've combed this place three times and not one sign of Imani, have we found.” Barrington's heart lurched when he saw his wife's lip quiver, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. “Baby, the police have been on this case for the past two months, and still, they haven't gotten any leads.”
Perri sniffled. “No,” she whispered.
“Baby? I'm just saying—”
“No!” she whispered harshly.
“Maybe it's time to—”
“Time to what, Barrington? Give up? On our little girl? Our helpless baby?”
“Baby, we can always keep hope alive and Imani will always live on in our hearts.”
“Stop it,” she ordered. “Stop speaking of her in the past tense!”
“Perri, you just listen—”
“No, you just listen, Barrington.” She slapped her left hand against her chest. “My daughter is not dead. I'm her mother. Don't you think I would know it? Feel it?” She shook her head. “Those nightmares I've been having. They mean something, Barrington.”
“Yes, they mean that you miss your baby terribly. And you want more than anything for her to be returned to you and for you to be able to take her home.”
“And what's wrong with that?” she shouted, not caring who stopped to look.
“Nothing, Perri, except for when it leads you on a wild goose chase such as now,” he said.
Biting her lip to stop it from trembling, she shook her head in denial.
“It's time to go home, Perri.”
“No.”
“She's not here, baby. It's nothing more we can do; she's not here. Okay? She's not. Imani's not here.” He shook his head. “Baby, she's just not.”
Perri sobbed uncontrollably.
Barrington hugged her tight.
“I was so sure,” she cried. “So sure I felt it, you know.” She clung to him. “I want my baby; I want my baby.”
“I know, baby. I know you do, Perri. I want her, too.” He pulled back lifting her chin. “The fact is, though, she's not here, baby. No matter how long we go around this building, she's still not going to be here.”
“But—”
“Perri, listen. Please?”
She sniffled.
He touched her protruding belly. “We've still got another helpless baby to consider. We have to look out for this baby every bit as much as we're trying to look out for Imani, because just like Imani, this baby can't fight for itself either. Do you understand what I'm saying, baby?”
Perri didn't answer. She couldn't. Her heart was aching and breaking and there was nothing she could do to stop it. Trying to come to terms with reality, she buried her head in her husband's chest and cried until her eyes were dry.
Not caring how long it took, Barrington stood right there in the middle of the old museum, consoling his wife in his arms.
Some time much later, Perri said, “I need to go to the bathroom before we go.” She patted her belly. “Nature calls.”
Barrington kissed her lips. “I'll walk you and wait outside the door for you.”
“Okay.”
Perri went inside, relieved herself. She heard the door open and the sound of footsteps. Her mind wondered what she could've been thinking to actually believe yet again that someone knew the whereabouts of her daughter. She wiped herself. The bathroom door opened and closed again. She flushed the toilet. Going to the sink, Perri washed her hands trying not to look at herself, knowing she looked a pure-d mess. She heard the sound of giggling. Or she thought she did. She shook it off, dismissing it as a figment of her imagination. She inhaled deeply. Then she inhaled deeply again.
“Imani?” she whispered, as more tears sprang to her eyes. “Stop it, Perri. Barrington's right. It was just a cruel hoax. Imani's not here. She's not.”
Perri heard giggling. That familiar scent teased her nostrils once more. Feeling compelled, Perri finally looked into the mirror. Instead of her appearance, her eyes focused on something she saw underneath one of the stalls. She shook her head. “It couldn't be.” She shut her eyes tight. “Perri, you're finally losing it. For real.” She slowly opened her eyes.
She swung around, running to the fourth stall and flung the door open. Perri grabbed her chest. “Oh, God!” she screamed.
Barrington, who'd been pacing back and forth, waiting for Perri, was talking to Kane on his cell phone. “No, man, we didn’t find her. Yeah, she’s pretty devastated. Me? Don’t worry about me; I’m still standing. Barely, but standing,” he was saying when he heard Perri’s scream. “I gotta go, man!” He ran into the bathroom.
“Imani?” Perri dropped to her knees, lifting Imani from the car seat.
“Perri!” Barrington yelled, busting through the door. “Perri?” He looked around.
“In here.” Perri called out, inhaling her baby’s scent.
“Oh my God!” Barrington dropped to his knees, holding Perri and Imani in his arms. “She’s here,” his voice broke.
“Yeah, baby. Our baby is here.” Perri sobbed, kissing Imani’s whole face over and over again.
“Let me hold her, baby.” Barrington didn’t bother to wipe the tears that fell from his eyes. He kissed every inch of his daughter’s face and neck. “Cupcake . . .” He kissed every inch of her face again.
“Da, da, da,” Imani cooed.
“Did you hear that?” Barrington and Perri asked each other.
“I thought it was me.” They said at the same time.
“It’s not you.” They declared, engaging in a family hug, they’re tears mingling.
“Mu, mu. Mum,” Imani said, giggling.”
“Oh, God . . .” Perri cried, kissing her daughter’s forehead. “I love you, baby.” She sniffled. “Your Mum loves you, Imani.” She carefully extracted her from Barrington’s embrace and gently laid her in her lap. Perri slowly began undressing her daughter.
“What are you doing, Perri?”
“Taking care of my little girl; she’s mine, Barrington. Because of that crazy Nia, I missed out on hearing the first words she ever spoke.” Without looking up at him she reminded him, “So did you. She taught my child to say Mum. I was supposed to teach her, her first words. I’m her mother; I was supposed to be her first teacher. Always.” Having stripped Imani bare, Perri announced, “I don’t want that woman’s clothes on my baby, too.” Perri hugged Imani to her chest.
Barrington stripped out of his shirt. “Put this on her, baby, so she doesn’t catch cold; it’s cold in here.” He watched as Perri wrapped their daughter in his shirt. Standing, he asked, “You ready to take our baby home, sweet Perri?”
She nodded, smiling through her tears. “Almost.” Perri removed the sandals from Imani’s feet.
Barrington reached for his daughter then helped his wife up with his other hand. “Let’s go home, ladies, so we can really get our family reunion started right,” he announced.
Perri tossed the clothes and shoes she removed from her daughter in the trashcan. “Amen.”
It took another two hou
rs before they could take their daughter and go home, because when they stepped out of the bathroom the police had them surrounded. Chief Morris was elated to see Imani was safe and sound, but still insisted on having her checked out at the local hospital. From there he escorted them to the police station, where they had to give a formal statement of what transpired, leading up to the reappearance of Imani Sinclair Knight.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“I can't believe you guys pulled this welcome home party together on such short notice,” Perri said.”
Hunter wiped her sister's tears. “That's the third time you've said that.” She hugged her. “And stop that crying, you know I can't let you cry alone.” She discreetly wiped tears of her own.
“Besides,” Tyler chimed in, “you didn't really think we wouldn't be throwing the biggest celebration for our baby who has finally come home, did you?”
“I know that's right,” Mattie said. She smiled, looking across the yard at her great grandbaby being rocked to sleep by Linda. She chuckled.”That poor baby; we have worn her slap out.”
“And I'm not complaining one bit,” Perri said, laughing. “I'm glad she's home.”
“We all are,” Journey was saying as she finishing up a long French braid down Crush’s back.
“You better say that,” Crush chuckled. “I thought I was gonna have to kill B before this was all done and over.”
Everyone laughed.
Hunter fingered Crush's braid. “Y'all are so ghetto.” She looked at Journey, “Sitting out here braiding this boy's hair like you in the country.”
“Don't hate 'cause your braid fake.”
“Let me tell you something, man.” Hunter picked up a handful of her hair. “All my stuff is real. I don't model with fake hair. So when you see me up on that runway, you can be assured I didn't buy that hair; I grew it.”
Everyone laughed.
“Usher?” Crush looked at him. “Is that really her hair, man?” he winked.
“Why you asking him?” Hunter demanded with one hand on her hip.”Like my husband, you a white man, so why you want your hair braided anyway?”
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