The Stolen Child

I Have an Idea

Cass and I had been baby shopping for hours. I had printed photos of the rooms that I liked and we were going store to store looking for the exact things.

"Noe, look at this crib!" Cass stood in front of a beautiful light grey wooden crib. The crib was a complete circle. The display had pink bedding with beautiful blush pink fur pillows in it. It was topped by a baby pink halo curtain draped around the crib. It was absolutely breathtaking.

"Oh, Cass, I love it!" It looked nothing like any of the cribs in the photos I had, but I had to have it.

"They have one box left. Just for you!" Cass beamed as she pulled the heavy box off the shelf.

"Cass! No!" I rushed over, taking the box from her hands.

"I'm not helpless, just pregnant." She laughed.

"Yeah, pregnant with my baby. I'll do the heavy lifting. You just enjoy your frapp." I pointed to the drink she had set down on the shelf, trading the sweating cup for the box.

"Okay." She rolled her eyes, picking up her drink and sipping from the green straw. "You have to have this too." She wrapped her fingers around the curtain, gently tugging it as she flicked it back and forth.

"I don't see that here." I said as I looked around the display. Most of the decor for the cribs was strewn about in random places around the cribs. I fumbled through the shelf of pillows, moving towards the sheets and blankets.

"Got it! What color?" She held up four packages. One pink, one blue, a yellow and a cream colored curtain.

"Um…" I hesitated as I looked at the color options. "I don't know. I want the pink, it would look amazing with the grey crib. But if it's not a girl, I don't want pink."

"Well, yellow and beige are neutral colors." Cass said, lifting the yellow and cream curtains above the blue and pink.

"They are." I tapped my index finger on my soft pink lips as I contemplated color options.

"Okay, so, do you want a boy, or a girl?"

"Well, I'd like a girl, but I'm not going to be picky. I will love whatever gender I am blessed with. Cass rolled her eyes and smiled

"Okay Mrs. Diplomat. I was asking because they say you can manifest what you want by working for it. Have you ever seen those manifest boards?"

"I have." I answered, not entirely sure where this conversation was heading.

"Okay, so, if you would prefer a little girl, you buy pink so you can help manifest a girl." She giggled, tossing the pink curtain in the cart.

"Okay, but I'm also going to get the cream one, just in case." I plucked the cream curtain from Cass' hand, tossing it into the cart.

"Way to believe." Cass laughed as she tucked the two rejected colors back on the shelf.

"I believe, but I'm not going to buy any more color themed things until I know if it's a boy or girl."

"Okay, okay." Cass gave in.

Cass and I wandered around the store, up and down the isles of decorations. I had picked up a beautiful macrame wall decoration. The beautiful white string woven delicately and cascading down from a raw tree branch.

"Noemi, you have to get this dream catcher. It matches the macrame thing." Cass plucked the dream catcher from the hanger and shoved it in my face. I laughed as I ran my fingers over the soft fabric. Small yellow stars were hanging from the woven center, while brown and grey feathers dangled from the strands hanging off the bottom of the ring.

"I love it." I took it from her, placing it in the cart. "Okay, I think we're good, right?" I examined the carts. Cass pushed one with the lightweight decorations while I pushed the one with the crib, mattress, changing table and dresser.

"That's a good start." Cass smiled as she made her way towards the front of the store. "How about lunch? I'm starving."

I sat on the floor of the empty bedroom. I had struggled slightly getting the heavy boxes up the stairs by myself. I needed the break. I gazed around the room, planning where all of the furniture would go.

"I need a rug." I said aloud. The room had a very soft beige carpet in it, but I thought a pretty, round rug would look really nice under the crib. I mustered some strength and drug the crib box over to the center of the room.

"Ouch!" I cried out as I stuck my finger in my mouth. I pulled it away, shaking it before examining the small, blood filled cut.

"Stupid box." I slapped the box in a fit of revenge.

Plopping down on the floor I felt a rogue tear stream down my face.

"I miss you Brody." I know he hadn't been gone that long, but I was really missing him. I felt bad that I was putting together the baby's room without him. "We should be doing this together."

I grabbed the instruction book for the crib and spread the pieces out all around me.

"Place piece A against piece D. Screw together using four L screws." I flipped over several boards before I found A and D.

"Where is the dang bag of screws?" I reached for the box, turning it upside down. The screws slid out of the box, clanking together as they plopped on the floor.

"Gotcha." I exclaimed proudly, flipping through the different bags of screws until I found the ones labeled L.

"Okay. Now, I need the wrench thingy." I used my sparkly French manicured nails to pierce the bag, exhuming the small black wrench from its clutches.

It took me about an hour but I had finally got the crib all set up. I stood back, examining my handiwork.

"Ha ha." I beamed as I shook the crib. Testing it for sturdiness.

"I win!" I jumped up and down, clapping my hands proudly as I laughed at the crib. I had beaten the crib and gotten it put together.

"Oh!" I exclaimed as I heard my phone ringing. I fumbled around the room, pushing back plastic wrapping, foam and cardboard, digging for my phone.

"Ah ha." I said as I punched the answer button.

"What's up Cass?" I beamed. "You'll never believe what I just did."

"What did you do?" She giggled from the other end of the phone.

"I got the crib put together. All by myself."

"Good for you." She applauded me.

"Right?" I giggled. "I just wish Brody would have been here to help."

"I know, honey." Her tone changed from a happy demeanor to sad. "He'll be back before you know it. You could always wait for him to get home before you do the rest. You know, buy it, but wait for him before you set it all up." She tried to cheer me up.

"Yeah. I should do that. It's not right for him to not be here for this. This is all of the exciting stuff." I smiled, thinking of watching Brody as we prepared for our little bundle of joy. He was always so handy with tools and building things. I wasn't bad with it, but he definitely did it much faster than I. I think it's because he's a man, and they just know how to put things together. He didn't even read the directions half of the time and it still came out perfect.

"It is. But hey, you always get to rub it in his face that you did the crib, all on your own." She giggled.

"Oh, you can guarantee that I will, too!" I rolled backwards in laughter. My head hitting the cardboard box behind me.

"So, what did you call for?" I asked sitting back up, running my fingers through my hair to smooth it back into place.

"I got home this afternoon to find a notice taped to my front door." I scrunched my nose, confused for Cass and the mystery notice. "The owner of our house is selling. We have thirty days to find a new place."

"Oh no, Cass. Have you told Todd yet?"

"Yeah. We knew a couple of months ago. We were told that the owner might be selling. But we didn't worry too much about it because he didn't say he was selling. Just that he was thinking about it."

"What is the law on that? Is thirty days the right time frame? I would think it would be more like ninety?" I tried to see if they could get more time out of their landlord.

"Apparently, since he told us about it a couple of months ago, it counts as a notice. So we only have thirty days."

"That's not right." I frowned.

"It's our fault. We didn't prepare. But Noe, I'm stressing out. I'm not sure how we're going to find a new place and move all in a month." I sat silently on the phone with Cass, pondering her options.

"Um, I have an idea." I said excitedly.

"Oh boy." I could hear Cass roll her eyes from behind the phone. "What is it?"

"Hey, you don't give me enough credit." I joked. "I'm here in this gigantic house all by myself. It's quiet and lonely. What if you guys moved in here? It would make it easier for me to help you with the pregnancy and also give you guys time to find a nice place. Something you really love."

"That's not a bad idea." She hummed. "Let me discuss it with Todd. I'll call you later."

"Okay. Love you!" I hung up the phone, sighing as I pressed it tightly to my chest.

Just the thought of having Cass here with me made me excited. I would be more a part of the pregnancy. I would be with her almost constantly, giving me more of a feel for what she was experiencing. It would make the experience more real for me.

"I hope Todd agrees!" I jumped up, gathering the garbage from off the floor.