Harper & Lee Plus Three

The Best Worst Day

Lee held me as I sobbed and tried to remember everything. Our room was full of police officers and security guards. In twenty-four hours, I'd gone from a brand new mom to a mom with a missing child.

    "Light blue hospital swaddle and a light blue striped hat. He has black curly hair and brown eyes," I said. "That's all I can say about him."

    "We'll do everything we can to find the woman who took your baby," said the man who introduced himself to me as Detective Swan.

    "Please bring him back to me!" I said, still bawling my eyes out. "How did this happen?"

    "If she was a nurse here for over a year and had an ID badge, she had clearance to get through. It was an inside job, with a getaway car waiting in the parking lot."

    "Babe, they'll find him. That crazy bitch couldn't have gone far," Lee said.

    "She was so sweet! I trusted her!" I said, still crying.

    I heard Detective Swan's phone start to ring. He quickly picked it up.

    "You've got a positive ID? You're sure?" he asked. "Very good. Bye." He turned back to us and sat at the edge of the bed like before. "We've identified the license plate of the car. This woman is Traci Camo, a woman who recently got divorced because she was unable to conceive. Has a degree in nursing. A search of her apartment revealed that she'd been planning something like this for months. She'd miscarried three times. Desperately wanted a baby."

"I'll literally kill her! Just because you can't have a baby doesn't mean you can go steal someone else's! Where is she at?" I said.

"We don't know. We have police stationed on every major highway with the make and model of the getaway car," he said.

"I want him back! I want him back now!" I said, crying into Lee's chest.

"And we'll get him. Don't you worry," said Detective Swan as he got up.

"You better," I said.

"I'll be in touch. Please call me if you need anything," he said as he left the room with his crew.

Lee and I were finally alone. He kept holding me as I cried. He rubbed his hand in circles on my back and tried to shush me, but it was no use. I thought I'd be spending Christmas Eve with my babies and getting the amazing gift of going home with them on Christmas Day, but this was the worst possible thing ever that could've happened.

"Maybe we should watch something to take our minds off of this. Worrying isn't going to bring Lukas back to us," Lee said, turning on the TV.

As soon as he turned it on, there was a news station playing a story about us. My picture and Lee's picture were on the screen. I grabbed the remote, turned it off, and went straight back to sobbing.

Detective Swan came back the next morning to give us updates. He had nothing. No new leads at all. It was as if Traci Camo just vanished. They found the unknowing Uber driver who had the getaway car. He didn't know Traci was stealing a baby and just dropped her off at the train station like she asked.

They found records of her taking a train to Penn Station, and that was it. An AMBER Alert was sent to all the people in the NYC area, but with it being such a big city they knew she'd be hard to find.

To make things worse, when the detectives got to the train station, they found the swaddle and hat in the garbage can of the women's bathroom. They assumed she changed all his clothes so he didn't match the description being sent out.

I cried a bunch more and the next day, Detective Swan told me to stay positive, but I just threw him out. Unless they were telling me that my son was found, I didn't want to hear anything.

The time came later in the day for us to be discharged. I didn't want to leave because this was the last place I saw Lukas, but I had to get out. I had to eat some real food that wasn't the gross hospital shit.

We got the girls dressed in their coming home outfits. Ella wore a light green sleeper with the words "I love you" written all over it in cursive. I gave her the pink hat. Zophia wore a sleeper with yellow and grey stripes. I put her in a matching grey hat.

At the bottom of the bag was the black and white hedgehog sleeper I brought for Lukas, along with the dark grey hat. I held the outfit to my chest. It was snowing and so cold outside. What if he was getting frostbite right now? What if he was hungry?

I used the cuffs attached to the sleeves of the sleepers to cover the girls' hands, since it was freezing. At least I knew they were safe and warm.

A nurse wheeled me down the hallway. I held Ella's carrier on my lap. Lee held Zophia in hers, along with the empty one for Lukas. How is this happening? How am I leaving here with only two out of my three babies? I thought.

Lee pulled his car around and I waited outside in the freezing cold with the girls. The nurse helped me into the car, since I was still hella sore. Ibuprofen, heating pads, and rest was all I was told I should do. Thankfully I had Lee and Etsy to help care for the babies while I healed up.

We drove home and I walked in the door. Lee was right behind me with both girls.

"Surprise! Merry Christmas!" Etsy said, jumping out in front of us.

I looked around the house and saw not only Etsy, but my whole family. Sophia and John were there, along with Blake, who was sitting with his phone on the couch.

Hazel came up and gave me a hug. Levi and Zoey were gleefully watching the train that was going around this huge Christmas tree. Presents were everywhere.

"Wow...this is...great," I said, lying through my teeth. I just wanted to rest and not have a house full of people.

"Here, sit down on the couch sweetie!" Sophia said. "You need your rest. We'll bring all your presents to you."

I sat on the couch and opened all of the boxes one by one. I got a new set of Beats, a bunch of leggings, some gift cards, and some new crop tops that I could finally wear now that I wasn't pregnant anymore. 

"Just one last box," Sophia said, placing a long rectangular one on my lap.

I undid the ribbon and opened the box. There was a wooden thing covered by tissue paper. As soon as I moved the tissue paper, I started crying. I literally couldn't contain myself.

I looked around the room, and I saw that Levi, Zoey, Blake, and Hazel all held up plaques that were similar to mine. I looked down at mine and read it again and again.

Love is what makes us a family.

Happy Adoption Day, Harper!

Sophia had her arm around me. I hugged her, getting my tears all over her fuzzy sweater.

"All of us?" I asked. She nodded. "You really sure you guys want to adopt me? Even though I'm a teen mom?"

"Oh honey, of course we do!" she said, hugging me tighter.

I looked around the room at my two brothers and two sisters. I had siblings now. It was official. I had a mom and a dad who loved me.

"I know you like your last name, so you don't have to change it if you don't want to," Sophia said.

"Thanks. I think I'll keep it the way it is," I said.

She took out her camera and got a picture of all of us kids together, smiling with our new adoption plaques. I did my best to seem happy, even though I knew that no matter how big this was or how much it meant, it was nothing compared to knowing my baby boy was still missing.