1. Thomas Parry is a happy man with a good job and wife Sarah, but they are unable to have children. When responding to a call about a murdered couple, Thomas finds the house clean with only a baby left behind.
2. Against orders, Thomas takes the baby home to Sarah. They decide to adopt him but Thomas is fired by his boss for disobeying.
3. Sarah also reveals she is pregnant, adding difficulty to their new unemployed status but Thomas promises to make it work.
2. Thomas Parry was a happy man. He had everything he wanted: a great job, a beautiful home by the sea, an amazing wife. However, his contentment was bitter-sweet. Try as he might, he could never ease his wife’s disappointment.
3. “Do you think it’s my fault?” Sarah asked one evening. “Do I think what’s your fault, love?” “You know, the fact that we can’t have children. Do you think it’s me?”
4. “Of course it’s not your fault,” Thomas replied gently. “There are a lot of couples who can’t have children. If having a child is truly what you want, maybe we could consider adoption.” “Really?” Sarah’s face lit up. “Oh Thomas, I –” Suddenly, Thomas’s Cell Phone began to ring from the dresser. Sarah sighed as Thomas scrambled out of bed and raced to answer the call.
5. “Thomas Parry speaking.” “Hey Tom, my man,” it was his partner, Troy Johnson. “I know it’s late and all, but Davis has a house he wants us to investigate. Something about a murdered couple on Wright Way. Apparently the place is a bloody mess. There’s a witness too, but she’s in the hospital and we can’t talk to her until tomorrow. Meet me there?”
6. “No problem.” Thomas was used to these calls; they occurred on an almost nightly basis.
7. After quickly putting on his clothes, Thomas turned to see Sarah standing next to the bed, watching him sadly. “I wish you didn’t always have to go,” she sighed. “I know,” he said. But I’m an investigator, and many people count on me.” He kissed her deeply. No matter how busy his life got, he still loved her.
8. As he drove away, he glanced at his house in the rear-view mirror. He knew Sarah would try to wait up for him, but was sure it would be morning before he got home.
9. When he got to the house, Troy was standing at the end of the sidewalk, waiting for him. Nothing about the house struck Thomas as being unusual- it was nicely painted and well cared for, and there were even flowers in the front. But if there was anything Thomas had learned from being an investigator, it was that looks can be deceiving. Troy was new to the world of Investigatigation. He was a bright, enthusiastic young man about the age of thirty, and was quite passionate about his work, which is why Thomas liked him so much. “I’ve got the upstairs if you’ve got the downstairs,” Troy declared.
10. As they entered the house together, Troy felt around for a light switch, finding it in seconds. “Whoa,” The two men stood in shock as they took in the house from the doorway. It was warm and clean- not at all typical for a place where a bloody murder had taken place. “You think he sent us to the wrong place?” Troy asked. “Roberts is no jokester, he knows what he’s doing, “ Thomas replied. Let’s split up and look for evidence.
11. The front entry, the Kitchen, the dining area, and the Living room were all clean; there wasn’t a single thing that would suggest a crime scene. For the first time in his twenty-year career, Thomas felt truly clueless. “Hey, come see this!” Troy called from upstairs.
12. The upstairs consisted of a single bedroom that contained a Queen-sized bed, a crib, and a bathroom. After taking a look around the bathroom and finding it, like every other room in the house, clean of any evidence, Troy came back to the bedroom and stood in front of the crib, a smirk on his face.
13. In the crib was, as may be expected, a small infant; no more than a few weeks old. The child was awake and alert, but very quiet. Thomas could sense that there was something strange about the baby, but didn’t know what.
14. “Is this some kind of joke?” Troy was getting angry now. “This isn’t a crime scene. There’s no blood, no nothing! The only thing happening here is child neglect!” “Relax Troy,” Thomas was calm. “I’ll call Robinson.”
15. Thomas and his boss, Allen Robinson, had always had a mutually respectful relationship. In spite of everything, Thomas knew it was important to keep this respect- no matter what the situation. He explained what had happened with utmost sincerity. However, he was shocked to find that this sincerity was in vain. “What do you mean there’s no evidence! The police called us not but two hours ago saying the place was covered in blood!” Thomas tried to remain calm. “Yes sir, I understand. But I swear to you, it looks as if nothing ever happened here. There is not even so much as a hair in here that would indicate a crime scene. The only thing unusual here is the baby. “ He rubbed his forehead, nursing the headache that was coming on.
16. “Very well then,” Roberts sighed audibly into the phone. “Take the baby to the police station. I’ll check again with the police and send some more investigators in the morning.” And with that, Thomas heard a click and the phone call was ended. He stared at the phone with discontent for a moment before gathering the infant in his arms and leaving the house, an annoyed and confused Troy at his side.
17. The night was calm and cool as Thomas and Troy said goodbye. “We’ll go talk to the witness later in the morning. Call me when you’re ready!” Troy called from the window of his Cadillac. Thomas smiled and nodded in response. He was very strange for some reason, and couldn’t figure out why. As soon as Troy drove away, a mysterious figure appeared on the sidewalk in front of him.
18. Thomas was startled as he took in the appearance of the dark man standing before him. He was tall and quite muscular, and seemed to glow blue in the moonlight. Small blue lights that looked like fireflies surrounded him. “ Mr. Thomas Parry, I presume?” The man practically sang in his deep baritone voice. “Ye-yes.” “Listen up, because I don’t have much time…there’s something you must know…”
19. “Soon, the fate of this world will depend on the infant in your arms. Whether or not he succeeds will depend on you- you are destined to raise him as your son. Should you take him to the police tonight and hand him over, well, very bad things would happen. Things you cannot know of yet.” “Why should I believe you?” Thomas asked. Though his heart knew the man was right, it all seemed like a dream. The man laughed. “Believe what you will. Either way, events will soon come to pass whether you accept your destiny or not.” And with that, the man disappeared.
20. Thomas, realizing he had no place for the child to sleep, laid a blue-and- white blanket next to his bed, and put the baby down softly. We’ll find a crib in the morning, he thought. He then joined Sarah in their bed, where he quickly feel asleep.
21. When Sarah woke in the early morning, she was startled by the sight of the sleeping baby on the floor. She froze, her eyes wide. “Thomas?” “Yes dear?” Thomas said groggily. “Why is there a baby on the floor?
22. Thomas sat up in bed, still groggy from sleep. He hadn’t prepared an explanation the night before, and now he wasn’t sure what to say to her. “There was no one else to care for him,” Thomas explained, not sure if this was a lie. Sarah scooped the baby up in her arms. He was no longer sleeping, but was very quiet. “What’s his name?” She asked. “I- I don’t know.” “How long are we keeping him?” “Well, his parents are gone. We were told they were murdered, but when we got to the scene, there were no bodies, no blood, nothing. If we wanted to keep him, we’d have to go through the adoption process.”
23. After much discussion, Thomas and Sarah decided that they did want to keep the baby. He decided it would be a good idea to call his boss and ask for his permission and support. “You took the baby home?!” As soon as Thomas told him, Roberts was furious. “Well, yeah. I felt like he’d be better off in a warm home than with the police.” “That’s not the point,” Roberts sighed. “You disrespected an order and disobeyed the law to fulfill your own wishes. This is enough to get you fired.”
24. “You would fire me after all these years?” Thomas couldn’t believe it. He knew what he did deserved some punishment, but being fired seemed kind of harsh. As much as he would have liked to have been able to explain the situation, he knew his boss would think him crazy if he said a man in black told him to keep the child. “I have to,” Roberts explained. “If I let you stay and someone found out that you disobeyed orders, I would be in trouble. But because I like you, I’ll help you pursue adopting the child if it is really what you wish.
25. Sarah had heard the entire conversation from the hallway. Sarah had some news of her own, and Thomas’s newly unemployed status was now much worse than it would have otherwise been. ‘What happened to the witness?” Thomas asked, grimness in his voice. He sighed. “Well, good luck, and thank you for your help.”
26. As soon as Thomas was off the phone, Sarah approached him. “You heard.” “Yes. Are you really fired?” “Yeah, but I can find work somehow. And he said he’d help us adopt the baby.” “That’s good, but Tom…I’m pregnant.”
27. “I haven’t been feeling well for a few weeks, and I went for a doctors appointment this morning. They did a mandatory pregnancy test, and it came back positive. I’m three weeks along.”
28. He hugged her tightly. “We’ll make this work,” He promised.
