by KIKI MALONE
I don’t answer him, I just nod my head. I know what he’s saying is true. It’ll be hard to keep my composure, but I’ll do anything I have to do to ensure my children are safely returned to me. I can’t wait to bring them home. For the first time in I don’t know how long, my heart feels full.
CHAPTER THIRTY
ELIZABETH
MY FAMILY
I COULDN’T TELL Carter how I was feeling when he walked in the room. I didn’t want him to put me first when his priority needs to be the girls, and that’s what he would’ve done.
I need him to go get our children and bring them home. Our lives have been so empty without them. I need the girls here to be a part of all this. I need them here when their new little brother enters the world.
I can’t say first brother, because as we recently found out, he’s not. They have more blood ties to the brother they are on the run with than the one I am carrying, but, they’ll never know the difference if I have anything to say about it.
I was having more contractions when Carter left, but I knew if I told him, he would’ve stayed behind.
It’s been three days since my husband left to bring our girls home. He called while they were gone and told me it felt like they were chasing shadows. I wanted to cry, but I had to be strong for him. He’s there, in the thick of things and needs strength. He doesn’t need to worry about me and the baby right now when he has four other children to worry about.
Wow. That thought just floors me.
Less than a year ago, I was resigned to the fact that I’d never be a mother, and, yet, here I am, about to be a mother of five. How crazy is that?
There it goes, another contraction.
I look at the clock. It’s been about seven minutes since my last one. I decide it’s time to call in the reinforcements.
“Angie,” I say on a gasp. Of course, as soon as she finally answers the phone, another contraction hits. “I need you. I have to go to the hospital, now.”
“I’m on my way,” she answers. She knew when Carter left what was happening. She argued with me that I should’ve told him that the contractions weren’t another false alarm, but then she understood that I needed him to be there for the girls.
I gather all the things I need for the hospital. Carter was adamant we had a go bag all packed just in case, and I’ve never been more glad that he did. I don’t think I could pack anything in the state I’m in now.
Now, it’s time to call my husband. He answers on the second ring.
“Carter,” I try to say calmly. “I’m going to the hospital now.”
“What do you mean?” he answers. I can hear the panic in his voice. This is exactly what I didn’t want.
“The baby is coming,” I tell him as calmly as I can. I need him to be there, finding our girls, not worried about me.
“What do you mean he’s coming?” he all but yells. “He’s not supposed to be here for a few more weeks! I’m here and not there. Oh, my God, Elizabeth. I can’t get there right now. The Feds have them surrounded; I should be able to get to the girls soon!”
I hear the panic in his voice and want to reassure him. At the same time, I hear the excitement that he’s just about to have our girls back. I have to calm him, somehow.
“Carter,” I breathe. “Listen to me. I need you to bring our family home. I’ve got this. Angie is on her way. I’ll do my best to wait for you. I know it’s early. Maybe they can stop the contractions. Get our girls. They will need you. I’m okay, I promise.”
I don’t know if what I’m saying is the truth, but I do know that I need him to have a clear head on his shoulders right now. One wrong thing said or done and he will flip. It may be detrimental to getting our girls back as soon as possible.
“I love you, Carter, you’re doing the right thing for our family” I try to reassure him. “Bring me home our girls and I’ll be sure this little one is okay.”
It’s the best I can do under the circumstances.
“I love you, Elizabeth.” Carter sighs. “I’m so sorry I’m not there right now. It is my job to take care of my family and I’m failing you right now.”
“No, Carter,” I say. “You’re not failing me. You’re giving me my family back.”
“Elizabeth.” I hear so much emotion in just that one word, my name. I know this is killing him. But at the same time, I know I made the right decision when it came to not telling him how I felt when he left. He definitely would’ve stayed behind, and I couldn’t let him do that.
“We’ll be okay,” I answer the question he can’t ask. “I promise. Get our family; we’ll be waiting on you when you return.”
With that, I hang up the phone and go out front to wait for my best friend.
IT’S BEEN the longest eighteen hours of my life, but, looking down at the bundle I’m holding in my arms, it was well worth it.
Kaleb Michael Montgomery was born at seven-fifteen am, weighing in at seven pounds, fourteen ounces. He’s perfect. Absolutely perfect.
I don’t think I understood the love you feel when you hold your baby in your arms. He’s every bit of everything I ever wanted. He has a head of black hair and a haze of blue surrounding his eyes that the doctors tell me will go away in a few weeks. I don’t know what color his eyes will be, but I can already tell you he’s the spitting image of his father.
My labor wasn’t easy. I wound up having to have a C-section after all was said and done. I’ll be here for a few more days, but that’s okay. It’ll give me time to heal and a little extra time to adjust to being a mother to a newborn.
Angie was by my side throughout the entire endeavor. She’s been a champ. From me trying to break her hand, to her crying right along with me when my baby was placed in my arms.
I’m sorry Carter missed all of this, but I know I did the right thing. I just hope he’ll understand.
I haven’t heard from my husband in two days. I don’t know what’s going on, and with a newborn baby and the privacy, or the lack thereof, the hospital affords you, I’m too exhausted to be upset. The nurses are in and out of the room constantly and I really wish I were home already. I know if he hasn’t reached out there has to be a reason. He wouldn’t just go days without talking to me. It’s so not like him.
“I can’t wait for you to meet your daddy,” I coo to my little man lying in my arms. He’s got a full belly after I nursed him and is quickly falling back asleep.
He didn’t have any trouble latching on and milking me for all I’m worth, that’s for sure. When I decided to nurse, the nurses told me it could take some time for a newborn to adapt. Not my son. No, the boy feasted on me like he knew exactly what he wanted. He’d make his father real damn proud, I’m sure.
“You look so much like him. I’m sorry he’s not here yet, but I’m sure they’ll be here soon. They’re all going to love you. Your sisters are amazing. Sofia is probably going to think you’re her baby. Felicia is going to try to cook for you all the time thinking you can eat just like her, and Isabella will try to turn you into a male ballerina. I can’t wait for our family to be whole again.”
I’m talking to my son like he understands what I’m saying. It’s all hope, I know this, but I need to keep on or I’ll go to a place I don’t ever want to go. I have to believe my family is okay and will be here soon.
“I just know your father and your brother and sisters are going to love you,” I tell my boy.
I don’t hide the tears streaming down my face. No need to, no one else is here.
I sent Angie home to be with Alfie, so I’m all alone.
Right at that moment, the door opens.
I can’t believe my eyes.
“Is that ours?” I hear my sweet little Isabella whisper. I want to tell her to yell, for once, as the sound of her voice is like music to my ears.
I can’t believe my girls are finally home.
“Mommy!” That’s my Felicia, and her scream makes my heart soar.
This is what I’ve been dreaming
of. For them to be home when their brother arrived. They might not have been here exactly when he was born, but they’re here to help us bring him home. We’ll all go home together as a family.
I look up and the face of the man who had made all my dreams come true has tears running down his cheeks. He’s holding Sofia and Oliver in his arms and both of them have their heads hidden in his shoulder.
“Sofia,” I start. “Do you want to come meet your baby brother?” I don’t know why she hasn’t said anything yet, or even looked at me. It starts to worry me.
When she doesn’t answer, I look into Carter’s eyes again and he slightly shakes his head. We’ll have to talk about this later; I’m not going to push.
“Come on girls, climb on up here,” I tell them. “You, too, Oliver.” It’s going to take a little time to adjust to having Oliver be a part of our family, but I will try my hardest.
At my mention of his name, he turns his head to look my way. The sadness that’s there is too much.
“Carter,” I direct to my husband, “come and meet our son, and bring me yours so I can meet him, too.”
I’m hoping by switching off, I’ll be able to give Oliver a little reassurance that this is where he belongs, and my husband hasn’t even met our son yet, he needs this just as much.
“I’m so sorry I wasn’t here, Elizabeth,” Carter says as he walks over to the bed. “I tried my hardest. The authorities weren’t releasing the children to me until they contacted the courts. I tried, I promise.”
So, that’s why he hasn’t come all the way to me yet. He thinks I’m upset he wasn’t here, but that’s not it at all. He was doing what he needed to do for our family and I’ll never be upset about that.
“Carter,” I say. “No. I’m not upset, my love. I’ve never been happier. You brought our children home and I brought our baby into the world. Nothing can make me happier than you all being here, right now. Please, come meet our son.”
I lift Kaleb higher in my arms, as an offer to my husband to take him.
Finally, he walks over to the bed. When he places Oliver down, I gently pull him over to me. He snuggles right into my side and starts crying. Oh, poor boy, I hope you won’t shed too many more tears. I can’t say this out loud though, I know he just needs this.
When Carter tries to put Sofia down, she latches on to him and refuses to let go. Tears immediately come to my eyes seeing her refuse me. I can’t imagine what my poor girl went through, but I won’t push her.
“Sofia,” Carter says lightly. “Can you please sit with Mommy Elizabeth, so I can get your baby brother?”
“I don’t want to,” she whispers back to him.
“Sofia, baby,” I try. “I’ve missed you so much. Can I please give you a hug?
“No,” she replies and digs deeper into Carter’s shoulder.
I can’t push her, I know, but goodness, my heart is shattering all over again. I decide to go a different direction.
“Isabella, Felicia, do you want to come up here and sit with me?” I ask the other two girls.
“Yes,” they both scream and run up to the bed. Carter reaches down and gently lifts each girl and they immediately snuggle up to me. I see the struggle he has only being able to use one arm, but my amazing husband makes it happen.
“I’ve missed you all,” I say as I kiss each one of their heads.
“We missed you, Mommy,” Isabella replies as Felicia just starts crying.
I’m trying to hold my girls as tight as possible but being in a hospital bed and having Isabella, Felicia and Oliver surrounding me, it’s not easy. Never mind the tenderness I’m still feeling from having my stomach cut open.
Oliver stopped crying, but still hasn’t moved from his spot by my side. That’s fine with me. He’s going to need so much from all of us.
Sofia pops her head up and looks at the picture in front of her. I see the struggle in her innocent eyes. She looks like she wants to be a part of the snuggles but is still leery.
“Is that why you didn’t want us?” Sofia asks as she points to Kaleb.
“Sweet girl,” I tell her, “I’ve always wanted you. I’ve always wanted all of you.”
Now I understand her hesitation. They were obviously led to believe we didn’t want them. That’s the farthest thing from the truth.
“My heart hurt every day you girls weren’t here with us, I love you.”
“We love you too, Mommy,” Felicia says and snuggles in closer. “I knewed you didn’t give us away. I told you so!” The last part she yells in Sofia’s direction.
“Oh, my baby girl,” I say as I look at Sofia again. “I love you so much and would never want you anywhere but with us. I’m so sorry this happened.”
At that, Sofia dives out of Carters arms and lands directly on my chest and starts sobbing. Thank goodness Carter was fast enough to grab Kaleb as he must’ve sensed her actions coming. I don’t let out the pain I feel in my body from her diving onto to me because the pain she’s been feeling in her little heart is so much more important.
“I love you, Mommy,” she cries harder. “I’m sorry I wasn’t gooder. I promise to be better.”
“Oh, my sweet girls,” I cry as I hold all three of them to me the best I can. “You’ve always been the best things that came into my life, I’m so happy you’re home.”
“He’s perfect,” Carter whispers in awe at his newborn son. “You’re perfect,” he says as he looks up from our son’s face and into my eyes.
“We’re all perfect,” I say as I look at my family, whole again with a bonus child to love and cherish.
EPILOGUE
CARTER
SIX MONTHS LATER
IT’S BEEN A GRUELING six months for our family. Elizabeth has had her hands full with Kaleb, and Oliver attached himself to her side immediately. You can clearly see Oliver was just as desperate to have a real mother as my girls had been.
All four of the children have been seeing psychologists since the day they came home. We knew they would need it, desperately. It appears it’s helping them, but there are still days that are a bit rough.
It seems Andrew and Maggie tried to convince the girls that we no longer wanted them. My children were denied food and a decent place to sleep until they started to believe that we didn’t want them anymore. They were also put on ‘diets’ as Maggie told them they were too fat to be her children. My children were never heavy but with her telling them that for so long, it took a while to get them back into a routine and being happy with themselves when it came to eating.
We also found out that Maggie never really took care of any of the children. Andrew was the only caregiver, if you could even call him that, and when I say the children, I’m also including Oliver.
Poor Oliver, we found out, was conceived through IVF. Maggie had been saving old condoms from when we were together as it had been her plan to trap me into giving her all my worth from the day she met me. She and Haley were the ones who had devised this scheme and recruited Felicia into their mix when they needed a lab to get their dirty work done. They’d been freezing my sperm in hopes of one day getting one of them knocked up.
When Maggie found Andrew as newly single after I sold her apartment, she put her plan into motion. Andrew fell for her lies, hook, line and sinker. I would feel bad for him, but he’s been as much the villain as she was. When I found out the things he did to my wife, and then him running away with my children, any sympathy I would have felt for him went right out the window.
Haley was with the duo and our children when we finally caught up with all of them in Colorado. They’ve all since been extradited back here to New Jersey to stand trial for kidnapping our children.
Yesterday was that trial. We made sure to be there, front and center in the courtroom to watch them all get their dues.
When Felicia turned state’s evidence, it was clear the trial was going to go faster than either Andrew or Maggie thought it would. Seeing the look on their faces when Maggie’s supposed
best friend took the stand was priceless. Felicia is the only one who seemed at all sorry for the hand she had in all of this. She never realized how truly sick and demented her friend was. It was because she had grown a conscience that Andrew and Maggie had run with the kids in the first place. She was tired of Maggie’s games and was going to let everyone in on the truth at our custody hearing. She’s tried to contact us to apologize for her actions, but we’re not ready to hear it. I have a belief that one day she’ll be able to turn her life around. She’ll be doing some time, but not as much as the others. She’ll be able to start her life over on the outside in just a few years.
Haley’s sentence was much worse. She was convicted of three charges of aiding and abetting in a kidnapping and will serve life in prison. She tried everything she could to get out of it, even going so far as to claim that Andrew and Maggie had kidnapped her, but the courts weren’t hearing any of it.
Andrew and Maggie were both charged with three counts of first-degree kidnapping and will serve three consecutive life sentences. They’ll likely never see the outside world again, and believe me when I say, the world is much better for it.
They also had all parental rights stripped from them and will never be allowed to see any of the children again. That is, unless, the children want to see them when they reach the age of majority. Honestly, I don’t see that happening. I do plan to tell the four of them the truth when they are old enough to be able to handle it. I have collected all the articles and transcripts for them to read through when they are ready. I don’t ever want them to think that I would make anything up., I want them to have the truth and the evidence behind it.
Today was the day we went to court to have Elizabeth officially become the legal mother of my oldest four children. She’s always been their mother at heart since the day she met each one of them, but today she was made their mother by law.
