by Rachel Burns
“You two have a child?”
“Yes, a girl, Sarah.” Nanny threw into the conversation.
Brian gave her a very mean look. The name hadn’t been decided on. Just because Amelia had given birth to her all alone didn’t mean that the baby would have to have such a plain name. He would have chosen something more elegant for the girl.
“Yes, I’ll look at her, but just the child not her.” He had gone pale thinking how proud he had been of her that day when she was at his house. Amelia had seemed so grown up, despite the school uniform. She must have been pregnant then already. She had tried to run, and then what? Had she given up, or did he find her?
“I’ll see to it.” Nanny bowed and left.
Nanny went up to the real nursery. A young nanny was feeding the baby. The baby looked so much like her mother. “She’s a breathtaking baby,” she announced.
Nanny Prim wanted to hold the baby and stare at her, but she needed to keep Mr. … happy. He was the one who held all the strings in his hand.
“He wants her in his office now. Her grandfather is here.” Nanny was higher up than the other nanny. Only the butler was considered higher up than her, but Brian listened to Nanny and told his butler what to do.
The young nanny got the baby ready and took her down the stairs. She was a little unsure, but she had been warned by the other servants not to cross Nanny Prim, ever.
Nanny knocked on the door of his office.
“Come in, Nanny.” Brian called out.
“Keep the baby in your arms. Don’t give her to anyone who doesn’t ask for her and don’t offer her to anyone.” Nanny warned the younger woman who nodded after Nanny had spoken.
Nanny opened the door and held it wide for the younger woman who was now unsure what to do next. She looked at the older woman who laid a hand on her shoulder and pushed her forward.
The men both came to look at the baby. Neither reached for her. They just stared at her. She was awake and not crying.
Brian hoped that she was his. He wanted a child so badly.
James felt that it was a shame that the child wasn’t a boy. An heir would be nice to have but not a girl. “Well, congratulations, Brian.” Amelia’s father sat down again and picked up his papers and continued reading. “I trust Amelia is in good health.”
“She is exhausted from taking care of the baby,” Brian answered before anyone else could say something. “Nanny, I insist that she take a nap.”
“Of course, sir.” Nanny turned the young woman and led her out of the room before she could disclaim what her employer just said.
A few hours later, Brian had finally finished his business and personal chitchat with James. Brian had sighed relieved when James had finally walked out of the door.
Brian still had so many problems. He decided to start with Nanny. He would see what she wanted.
“What seems to be the problem, Nanny?” Brian hated that he still had to deal with her.
He had gone up to see what Nanny wanted from him. If a chance presented itself, he would fire her. He hoped that because Nanny had lost her once already that she would watch over Amelia better now.
“I couldn’t get her off the floor. She woke, refusing to get up, admitting that she was getting you mad on purpose so you would kill her.” Nanny wiped tears away. “She believes that if she dies, she can be Sarah’s guardian angel. She believes that God forgot to give her one.” Nanny sobbed into her hands. “You told her she may never see her baby again. She believed you, and now she wants to die.”
Brian stood there dumbfounded. “But that would mean that she is suicidal?” That explained so much.
Once again, he had said something that he shouldn’t have. Amelia always took everything to heart. He had forgotten that.
“Yes, sir, that is what I came to tell you.”
“I’ll be right back. I’ll give her something so she sleeps again.” Brian went down to his office to get his bag. His butler was just laying the daily mail out on his desk. There was a large white envelope among the things. He couldn’t resist a peek. He sat down and opened it up. It said that he was the father to 99.99999%.
He exhaled first now noticing that he had been holding his breath.
The baby was his. He was a father, a real father.
Nanny stepped aside when he returned. She noticed that he was in a good mood. She prayed that he too wasn’t snapping under the pressure. They went in together. He went right to her and gave her a shot before he picked her up. He carried her to her own bed.
Brian lovingly tucked Amelia’s bear in beside her, moving her arm so she was hugging her toy. He kissed her on her forehead. He had no idea how to deal with his runaway wife, and now he had a daughter too, so much responsibility.
The sad thing was that Amelia was going a little crazy. He knew that he was the one doing this to her. Had she already been off balance before she took off?
They really needed to talk. If his wife needed help, he would see to it that she got the best. But he would protect his daughter from her. The risk was too great. The chance of them having a second child was too slight.
His little princess Sarah would be perfectly protected.
Once Amelia was settled, he went to the nursery and held his daughter in his arms.
A thousand thoughts went through his head. He wanted a photographer to come and take pictures of his pride and joy. He needed to call his brother and Uncle Ned and brag.
This was a moment that he would remember the rest of his life.
***
I woke up again. That was in itself disappointing. I looked around; Brian was sitting next to my bed. I wanted to bark at him that he should go to work and leave me alone. I rolled away from him.
“Amelia? Are you awake?”
I pretended not to hear him. Maybe I could get him mad again. I felt closer to dying than yesterday.
“That’s right, Sweetheart, sleep.” His voice soothed me back to sleep. I hated that he could do that.
Brian was trying to sit me up to feed me. I could smell the soup. I was dressed again. I didn’t even remember that. I must have been really out of it.
He laid a cloth over my breasts they weren’t dripping anymore. I didn’t feel the weight of milk in them anymore. He had the first spoonful waiting.
I shook my head. I didn’t feel like eating anymore. I was too depressed.
“But if you are all better by Christmas, you get to see her.” He smiled at me really nicely.
“Really?” I looked at him.
“Yes, I want to take a picture of you two in matching dresses, and we have to open presents. I got her lots. You want to see what Santa Claus got her, right?”
I nodded. I would really like to see that.
“We want to sing Christmas songs. I bet she likes it when you sing to her.” A muscle in his face tightened. He looked sad.
I opened my mouth and drank as much soup as I could. I was so tired again, but he wanted to wash me and get me dressed nice and warm. I could see snow falling outside. Christmas would soon be here. I had to get better quickly. I wasn’t sure how long I had been unconscious.
He took me with him into his bathroom. The water was already in the tub. He set me down on the edge and got undressed.
Was he afraid that I would drown if I got into the water without him?
Who cared, if I was good, I would get to see my baby. My Sarah was the most important thing in the world to me.
I could be whatever he wanted me to be if it meant that I got to see my baby.
A little while later, he had me dressed in my old clothes. I looked adorable. I had my teddy bear underwear on and white tights, along with a pair of new black shoes, which were a copy of the ones that I had runaway in. A white long sleeve blouse and a pink checkered dress also with a teddy bear on it.
I was surprised that it fit me as well as it did. I had just had a baby. Was I already back to my normal size?
Probably, I hadn’t eaten anything since I
had been here except the bowl of soup just now.
I was standing by Brian’s bed, waiting for him to get dressed. I had my head leaning against his bedpost with my hands wrapped around it. I was leaning back and forth like I was rocking myself, but my head never left the bedpost.
He came back out and stared at me some more. I stopped moving and looked back as still as a deer in headlights.
Someone knocked on the door. He went to get it. I could hear his butler whispering to him.
I started in rocking again. Was I going crazy?
“Amelia, I’ll be right back. Wait here.”
I nodded. Damn, I just missed a chance to call him Brian again.
No wait, I didn’t have to do that anymore. I got to see my beautiful baby.
Daddy was back a few minutes later. He sighed and pulled me out of his room. The halls were all empty. I looked around and listened, but I didn’t hear anyone. I was listening for a baby crying.
Was she really here? Was he taking me to her?
I smiled at him. He just looked mad at me. This wasn’t going to be good. He led me down the stairs.
The butler was at the end of the stairs. He bowed to me like I hadn’t been gone so long.
Brian opened the door to his study. Two older men were in there. I recognized one of them.
“Amelia, come here and sit down.” The one I recognized said.
I really didn’t want to sit. They were bigger than me even when I was standing. I felt like they were ganging up on me.
Brian laid his arm around my back and marched me forward. He sat me down in the chair.
“Do you remember who I am?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Who am I?”
“You’re Heather’s daddy.” Heather the stuck up note passer, I thought to myself.
“That’s right. Now Amelia you were gone from your daddy for a very long time, over six months right?”
I nodded.
“That’s a long time. Now we want to ask you some questions about that time. We need to know that you are telling the truth. So what I want to do is hook you up to a lie detector. Have you ever seen one of these before?”
I looked at the machine on Brian’s desk then back at Heather’s daddy. “No, sir.”
“Are you game to try it?” he asked, with a smile on his face.
I looked at Brian who nodded. I nodded too then.
He started right in putting pads and things on my hands and fingers, lifting up my sleeves. My hands had often moved to protect the rest of me so a couple lashes were visible.
“Brian, put these by her heart just like you would at work.”
He opened my blouse and moved the pads where he wanted them. He stepped back when he was finished, but in a way that he could still see me.
I felt scared. I was alone in a room with three men, all a lot bigger than me. What would happen if they didn’t like an answer?
“Amelia, you don’t need to be scared just answer truthfully. First, I want you to tell me your name.”
I did.
He watched me very closely. He sat down on top of Brian’s desk, trying to look at ease.
I wasn’t. This was going to ruin my marriage beyond repair.
“Where do you live?”
I got nervous. I didn’t know our address. I could hear the machine scratching away. Then I got an idea. “I live here.”
“Do you know your address?”
“No, sir.” All three of them were staring at me. It was making me nervous.
“Have you ever eaten pasta?”
I smiled at that question. “Yes, sir.”
“Do you like spinach?”
“Yes, sir.”
He looked back at his machine and smiled. “Now I want you to lie to me. Who is the president of the United States?”
“Umm – Winnie the Pooh.”
“Good. Have you ever stolen anything?”
I hung my head. “Yes, sir.” I answered, quietly.
“What did you steal?”
I thought of the apples in my father’s orchard. Then about when no one had been watching in the kitchen, and I would swipe something. “Food,” I answered.
“What kind of food?”
“Mostly apples, sometimes bread.” I wiped a tear away from my eye.
“Whom did you steal it from?”
“Umm – my father.”
“Where did you go when you ran away?”
“I went to Tony’s Italian Bakery.” I was found there, it was no big secret.
“Why did you go there?” His tone stayed soft the whole time.
“Because Cindy told me I could.”
Brian wanted to say something, but the name stopped him.
“Who is Cindy?” Heather’s daddy asked me.
“A friend of Daddy’s, his little girl.”
“She told you that you could go to Tony’s?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Why would she tell you that?”
I hung my head. I knew I had to answer, and that I still had to live in this house. “Tony is her father.”
“I see, so you wanted to meet her parents?”
“No, I wanted to see her, but she wasn’t there, so I left again.”
“Where did you go?”
“Nowhere.”
He looked at his machine and then back at me. He raised an eyebrow. “How can a person go nowhere?”
“I guess when they don’t even know where they are.”
He looked at his machine again.
“But you were living with them when your daddy found you?”
“Yes, sir, I kept going back to see if she was there. I think I was starting to annoy them when one day her father asked why I kept coming back. I told them that she said that they could help me. He wanted to know when I had seen her last, and then he admitted that they had no clue where she was. They gave me something to eat and a place to stay.”
Brian jumped to his feet and came towards me. “What did you tell them?” he asked me. It was clear that he wanted to hit me again. Heather’s daddy held out his arm to stop him.
“I told them all I knew.”
“What, exactly, was all you knew?” Heather’s daddy asked.
“That I met her with my Daddy, and that she also had one named Travis, and that he had been her math professor at college.” I raised my hands to protect my face, but Daddy didn’t hit me. The third man had stopped him.
Daddy was fit to be tied. “I can’t believe she did that. How could you? Because of you, they had to leave the country.”
“Her parents were so worried. I had to tell them.” Tears were dripping from my face. This was one of the things that he could never understand.
“Brian, we still have lots of questions to go. Just sit down and relax for now. You can talk to her later about anything you want, but right now, these questions are more important.” He turned back to me. “Amelia, what did you tell them about yourself?”
I shook my head.
“Answer him, damn it!” Daddy yelled out and hit his desk with the side of his fist.
“I just told them my name, and that I was pregnant, and that I had no parents.” I hung my head again.
“Are you lying now, or did you lie then?”
“I lied to them. They are really nice people. For them family is everything. They wouldn’t have understood about my father.”
“What wouldn’t they have understood?” he asked.
“That not all parents love their children.”
He looked back at the machine as I hung my head. “They were probably very curious about you? Did they ask you a lot of questions?”
I looked up at him and nodded.
“What did you tell them about yourself?”
“Nothing really. Just my first name, and that I was expecting, and that I didn’t have anywhere to go.”
“Did you tell them about your daddy?” he asked.
“Not really.”
“What did y
ou say?” he repeated.
“That Daddy wouldn’t want me anymore when he found out that I was pregnant.”
He leaned back on Daddy’s desk and looked at the print out.
“Is that everything that you told them?”
I nodded.
“Amelia, you’re lying.”
“I refused to tell them more.”
He leaned back again. “How did you explain your refusal?”
That was the exact question I didn’t want him to ask. I had to be very careful with my wording. “I told them that it was the only way I could protect my baby.”
“What were you wearing when you ran away?” Again a question that changed the topic.
“My school uniform.”
“Where is it now?”
“I threw it away.”
He looked at the machine again.
“Why?”
“Because it was ruined.”
“How did it get ruined?”
“I – umm. It had sand on it, and it was torn.”
“How did it get that way?”
“I slept at the playground under the slide.” I couldn’t meet Brian’s eye. Was he mad at me?
“Why did you sleep at the playground?” Heather’s daddy asked me.
“I didn’t know where else to go. The police checked the benches in the park.”
He looked at the machine again before asking his next question. “Did you tell them or anyone else, anything about school?”
“No.”
“How did you explain the uniform?”
“I told them that is what Daddy liked me to wear.”
“How did they react to that?”
“They wanted to know if Cindy also had to wear a uniform. I told them I didn’t know.”
“They probably asked how you got away?”
“No, they never asked how, but they knew I ran away. They were more concentrated on getting Cindy back. They let me stay with them and in return I worked in the bakery.”
“Where did you deliver the baby?”
“At the hospital.” I hung my head again.
“How did you pay for that?”
“Umm – They did.”
He peeked back again. “How was that possible without a last name and insurance?”