Chapter Fifteen

Steven, Aaron, and their family and friends waited a heartbreaking seven hours while police scoured Sweet Valley and San Diego, where Linda Carson lived, for any trace of Linda and Emma.

It was an especially painful seven hours for Bruce and Elizabeth, who sat on opposite sides of the living room, looking anywhere but at each other. Jessica sat close to her sister and put her arm around her. She was probably the only one in the room who knew exactly how much her sister was hurting. No one could comfort Elizabeth like her sister.

“It’s taking too long,” Aaron declared.

“The police are doing what they can,” Steven said.

“We should be out there looking for her,” Aaron said.

“They sent police cars to her house and her work; they’ve got her license plate. They’ll find her.” Steven actually felt confident they would find her. Now that they knew it was Linda, the odds were in their favor.

“But what if it’s too late?” Aaron said. “I should never have agreed to a nanny. If I’d stayed home and held her like I wanted to…”

“It’s not your fault,” Steven told Aaron, sternly. “And we’re not going to even think about something bad happening to Emma. Linda would never hurt Emma. Believe me, she only wants money.”

“She’s such a stupid woman. She wouldn’t even know how to take care of a baby.” Aaron ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “Nobody can care for her like we can! Nobody! If we get her back—”

“When we get her back, we’re going to figure something out.” Steve crossed his arms. He was determined to remain optimistic until it killed him.

Just at that moment, a strange sirenlike wail cut through the conversation. Everyone stopped talking and looked around, confused, except for Steven and Aaron, who leaped to their feet and charged through the room to the front door and flung it open.

Emma!

And there she was, their baby, in an oversized basket, wrapped in a flannel blanket, red-faced and screaming the five-alarm wail that only Emma could do.

Aaron bent down and swooped her up in his arms, and Steven wrapped his arms around Aaron and Emma and they hugged for a long, long time.

“Oh, thank God,” Elizabeth said behind them.

“Is that Emma? Oh, thank heaven,” Jessica said.

Steven glanced down and saw a note pinned to the flannel blanket. He read Linda’s scratchy handwriting:

 

Can’t stand that wail anymore! She’s all yours! Thank God!

 

Greedy as she was, it was obvious that Linda was undone by the wail that only the fathers could love.

“And you said it was bad that I was spoiling her,” Aaron said, holding up the note for the others to see as he hugged little Emma, who quickly calmed down now that she was back among the people who adored her. And in her father’s arms. Which father didn’t matter as long as she was being held.

“She’s not spoiled, she’s perfect,” Jessica said. Steven hugged Jessica, never before so grateful they were related.

The Jessica gene had saved Emma’s life.

After that, Steven and Aaron decided to let Agneta go. Actually, she insisted on going. After the whole ordeal her nerves were shot. Police kept searching for Linda but seemed to have trouble finding her. But Aaron and Steven weren’t too bothered. They were happy little Emma was back with them, safe and sound. If the police found Linda, great. If not, they weren’t going to stay up nights worrying. In their hearts they felt she would leave them alone. Emma’s five-alarm wail ensured that.

The bigger problem was figuring out day care for Emma.

For a while, Aaron insisted on being a stay-at-home dad, but then Steven found a solution that worked for everybody.

All it took were a few calls around at his office building. He found five other couples who had also recently had babies, and then it just took a few more calls, and the renting out of the empty office on the third floor. Some people at Leisten, Hartke & White had been clamoring for on-premises day care for years. Even Annie was glad to join in. In a few weeks, Steven had made it real.

And somehow, being with other children was more interesting to Emma than being held by adults. As for the wail, she saved that for her fathers.

Additionally, Aaron would be close enough to swing in at lunchtime to visit with Emma, and Steven could sneak down in between meetings. And the best part? Everyone who entered the day care had to have a special swipe card, ID tag, and background check. Steven wasn’t taking any more chances.

Now, in the mornings, Steven, Aaron, and Emma got ready for work. From now on, there wasn’t going to be a stay-at-home anybody.