by Matt Shaw
“No. I don’t think so.”
“So now what? We’re just going to sit here until Cathy wakes up? You say you gave her something? You sure you got the dose right? What if she doesn’t wake up?”
“She will.”
“Done this before?”
Jeff didn’t say anything.
James tried twisting in his chair to see if he could see Cathy or even the man’s own wife. He couldn’t see anything despite his best efforts. He started to worry about the man’s wife.
“Where’s your wife?” he asked Jeff; panic clearly in his voice.
“Relax. She’s upstairs with the children.”
“What’s she doing?” James panicked further.
“Oi. I said stay calm,” Jeff hissed - annoyed that James dared get upset. “She’s not doing anything. She’s just sitting in with them. Watching them sleep. If anything you should be thanking her for keeping an eye on them for you. She could be down here, ignoring them, but no - she’s offering a free babysitting service for you.”
“Don’t you dare touch my children!”
“Are you listening to me? She is watching them. How does that sound like - she is snatching them away from your house… We aren’t kidnappers. We’re here to help you. We aren’t about to run away with your kids. We just want to adopt two of them.”
James struggled to see the man’s logic. They said they weren’t kidnappers and yet here they were forcing the parents to sign papers (and rights) to two of their kids. It wasn’t the usual way of kidnapping children, granted, but it still had to count as such surely. And then it slowly dawned on James that - with the papers signed by both parents - in the eyes of the law there’d be a good chance they wouldn’t get their children back. The courts would side with the strangers.
He imagined the Judge saying, “Well we have the official adoption papers…”
He struggled against the restraints again. Jeff laughed.
“Good luck breaking through those,” he said as he patted James on the shoulder. He sat down on one of the other dining room chairs and sighed heavily, “It’s getting late and I’m sure you’re as tired as I am. Have you had any thought as to which children you’d like to us to take for you? It would be nice if you had some opinion before your wife wakes up so we could perhaps move things along and get this paperwork signed. Sooner it’s signed - sooner everything returns to normal.”
“How am I supposed to choose between my children?” he asked, a tear rolled down his cheek.
“I don’t know. Some of us aren’t lucky enough to have children to choose between. Maybe you could flip a coin. Or I could see if you have straws in the kitchen… Five straws, two of them short and the rest long… We say the child’s name and pull a straw. If it’s long - they stay. Short - they come home with us. Oh that reminds me - their names - how are you fixed with those because we’d probably want to change them…”
James changed the subject, “Why do you even want children? They’re hard work. They cost a lot of money and sometimes - sometimes - they can drive you up the wall with their arguing and bickering and…”
“See - we’re doing you a favour. Maybe we should take all five off your hands and give you and your beautiful wife A Fresh Start. You might be sad to start off with but… I’m sure you’ll both go on to find your Happy Ever After.”
James realised then that his recently formed plan of trying to talk the man out of wanting children was a non-starter. Clearly the man had made his mind up long ago that - to live a happy life with his wife - he needed kids in his life.
“So come on - you’ve had loads of time - give me two names.”
“I can’t.”
“You can. Concentrate.”
“Can’t.”
“Okay then don’t think about it. Just shout two names. First two that pop into your head.”
“Please don’t make me choose.”
“Then we’ll choose.”
“No.”
“I noticed you have a nice family portrait photo hanging in the lounge - want me to go and fetch it? You can just point to two of the children. Would that help?”
“No.”
“So we will choose then.”
“I need to talk to my wife.”
“You had that chance. You chose to break my trust and force us down this path.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You said. Two names. Give them to me.”
“I can’t.”
“You keep saying that. It’s annoying. You sound like a broken record.”
“Would you be able to choose if the tables were turned?”
“I can’t have my own kids, we’ll never know.”
“Pretend.”
“This isn’t about me. Two names.”
“No. You’ve already said you won’t kill us. You’ve said you won’t kill us and take the children because you’re not kidnappers.”
“Two names or I’ll kill your entire family.”
“What?”
“I’ll make you watch. I’ll start with the children so the wife can watch too and then I’ll move to her before - after leaving you alone for a bit longer - I kill you.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“Look at where you are now. Don’t test me.”
“You want children. If you want children you must love them. You couldn’t kill them.”
“They’re not my children though, are they? They’re yours. Makes it easier to hurt them. If I can’t have them - no one will.”
James couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He struggled against the restraints again. He could feel them cutting into his wrists but that was it. He couldn’t feel them giving. He let out a scream.
“Scream all you want. No one is coming. Two names.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Fuck you.”
“Two names or they die.”
Jeff jumped up from his chair, behind James, and rammed a knife into the wall in front of where James was sitting. James jumped, shocked at the sudden violence and obvious threat he was facing.
“Two names or they die,” Jeff repeated. “I’m not joking and we’re not doing this all night.”
1:45 AM
Dawn was sitting by the twins’ bunk beds with a book in her lap. She stopped reading from it when she noticed Jeff standing in the doorway watching her.
“How long have you been there?” she asked, almost embarrassed.
Jeff smiled, “Long enough.” He paused a moment. “You know they can’t hear you, right?”
“Do you know that for sure?”
Jeff didn’t answer her.
“I remember when I was growing up,” Dawn said, “my Granddad got ill and slipped into a coma. Mum and dad took us to visit him in the hospital. I guess they were worried he wasn’t coming home. Anyway the nurse - she told us to talk to him. Apparently it would help Granddad because he could hear us…”
Jeff laughed, “And you believed that?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“Did your Granddad wake up?”
“After a couple of days. Died at home a few months later.”
“And did he mention the conversations you had with him in the hospital?”
Dawn didn’t comment. She looked back down to her book and shrugged. Jeff realised it wasn’t the best idea to mock his wife - not about this.
“I guess it’s good practise though,” he said back-tracking; referring to reading to the girls whilst they were sleeping off the drugs they’d been injected with. He changed the subject further, “What are you reading them anyway?”
Dawn closed the book and set it to one side out of Jeff’s eye-line, “Just found it out there,” she said. On the landing space was a large bookcase filled with books. The majority of which appeared to belong to the children. “They look so cute when they sleep,” she continued - turning the conversation back to the children.
“Well you shouldn’t get too attached to the twins,” he said,
“I don’t think they’re going to give them up.”
“Can’t you talk them into it? I really want them.”
“I’ll try but I can’t make any promises.”
The pair fell into a comfortable silence. Dawn was watching the children; picturing her life with them. Jeff was watching his wife; worried he wouldn’t be able to get her what she wanted.
Dawn broke the silence, “I think we should go on a holiday.”
“Oh?”
“Just the four of us.”
“Where would you go?”
“We should take them to Disney. All children enjoy Disney. They get to meet the characters and they get to go on the rides…”
“That’s a lot of money,” Jeff pointed out the obvious.
“We could get a loan.”
“Don’t you think we should sort the house first and get the girls some clothes and toys? Bits and pieces to make them feel comfortable?” Jeff obviously liked the idea of taking the girls away - especially to somewhere like Disney - but he had to be realistic too. If they were going to take on two children; they needed to ensure they had everything to look after them. Get the necessities first and then take them on the holidays they deserved. Jeff didn’t want to put Dawn off the idea completely, it was a good one after all. “Definitely something we should consider though,” he said. “Disney and nice beaches somewhere.”
“Maybe you should talk to the mum and dad - find out if they’ve taken them to these places before. Probably best we don’t take them on the same holidays. We don’t want the kids mentally comparing the two holidays, do we?”
“No. You’re right. We’ll get the paperwork filled in and take it from there. Once that’s done we can ask all the questions we want. Might be worthwhile thinking of more to ask,” he said with a smile. After a slight pause he told Dawn, “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“I’m going back downstairs,” said Jeff, “with any luck his wife will be waking up soon.”
“What about him? What have you done with him?”
“I dragged him through to the living room. Plonked him in front of the television.”
Before coming upstairs, Jeff had tilted James’ chair back and literally dragged both James and the chair through to the living room. As James was being dragged backwards, he was able to see back into the dining room. More specifically he was able to see his wife. Cathy was lying on the dining room table with her legs overhanging the edge and her feet just off the floor. James noticed that - just as his were - Cathy’s ankles and wrists were bound with rope. She was unconscious, despite James calling out to her right up until the point he was shut in the living room with the television on at a volume not entirely necessary.
“Did he sign yet?”
Jeff shook his head. “Progress is slow but it is being made. We’re still on track.”
He gave his wife another smile - one which she returned - before walking from the room and back down the stairs; ignoring the cowering dog watching him from the one of the bedroom doorways. Before he walked into the dining room to check on Cathy, he peered into the living room to ensure James was still where he had been left.
“Please - let me go … Let me see my wife!” James begged as soon as he heard the door open. From the angle he’d been positioned, he wasn’t able to see the door, nor was he able to see who was looking in on him - not that he really needed to be told who it was.
Jeff stepped back into the hallway, closing the living room door once more. Jeff walked through to the dining room. Cathy was still on the table just where he had expected to find her. She was still unconscious. Jeff sighed heavily. He’d hoped she’d have been awake by now. They were running out of time; he’d wanted to get all of this sorted before the sun came up. He wanted to start the next day as a proper family; not still trying to obtain a family. He walked over to the side of the table where Cathy’s head laid. He gently touched her face as though hoping to waken her from her deep sleep. She didn’t move. He took a step back until he backed into the dining room chair he’d earlier been sitting on. He sat down without taking his eyes from Cathy. Dawn walked into the room and stood by her man.
“Not awake yet?” she stated the obvious.
Jeff shook his head.
“You shouldn’t have…”
“Don’t even say it.” Jeff knew what she was going to say. She was going to have a go at him for injecting her with the syringe. He hadn’t planned to but - at the same time - he hadn’t counted on Cathy trying to sneak out of the house to raise the alarm. He had done what was necessary. Had he just tried to drag her into the house, she’d have been kicking and screaming and that would have alerted the whole street that something was wrong. “I did what I had to do. Do you want a family or not?”
“You know I do.”
“Then trust me. I did what I had to do. The needle wasn’t full. I’m sure she’ll be awake soon enough and - when she is - we can carry on from where we left off.”
Dawn sat on Jeff’s lap and put her arms around him.
“Do you think I’ll make a good mum?”
Jeff wasn’t expecting the question. They had had a lot of conversations about parenthood - long before they were even trying for a baby. They wanted to make sure they were both on the same page before heading down that route. The last thing they wanted was for one to want it more than the other. As it turned out; they both wanted it just as much as each other. One of the first questions Dawn had asked was whether Jeff thought she’d make a good mum. He’d answered that she’d make the best mother in the world. She didn’t believe she’d make that good a mother but promised him that she’d try her best not to disappoint him or the children they’d end up having.
“You could never disappoint anyone,” he’d told her then and he told her again.
She smiled at him and snuggled in close to his chest.
“You think I’ll make a good dad?” he asked.
She laughed, “I think you’ll be rubbish.”
“Rubbish? Really?” he started tickling her ultra-sensitive ribs as she screamed in response. She jumped off his lap and fell to the floor, laughing. “I’ll be the best dad ever!” he said. “I’ll be a better dad than you’re a mother!” he threw himself off the chair and landed on top of Dawn. The pair were laughing now. They hesitated a moment as their eyes locked. A second later and they were kissing. Jeff pulled away from Dawn and asked, “Are you okay?”
“Why did you stop?”
“You’re breathing really heavily.”
“No I’m not! I thought it was you!”
“Me?”
Dawn laughed, “Yes! I just thought you were getting horny…”
Cathy groaned. Dawn and Jeff both laughed when they realised that it had been her who’d been breathing heavily as she started to come round. Jeff leaned closer to Dawn and whispered, “We’ll continue this later but - right now - I have two children to adopt.”
From the table, Cathy started to audibly panic when she came to realise the position she was in.
Dawn whispered to Jeff, “Try and get the twins. I really want them.”
Jeff gave her a wink, “I’ll see what I can do.”
He stood up and turned to the table. Cathy was staring directly at him - panic all over her face.
“Morning sleepyhead,” he smiled.
2:10 AM
Jeff dragged James back through to the dining room. He had spent the last twenty minutes trying to get Cathy to agree to the adoption process but all she’d been doing was asking where James was and getting more and more upset. Jeff realised the night was not going to progress the way he wanted all the time he kept husband and wife apart from one another.
Cathy burst into tears when she saw James. Jeff had told her that he was in the other room - in a similar position to her (in that he was tied down) - but there was a part of Cathy which hoped it wasn’t the case. There was a part of her which hoped he’d managed to get out and that he was out there -
in the night - getting help for them. Even as she thought it - she knew the likelihood was slim to none and that the stranger was telling her the truth about where he was but, even so, it was a nice thought to have. It’s always good to have a little ‘hope’.
Whereas Cathy burst into tears at the sight of her husband; James looked relieved to see her.
“Are you okay?” he asked. He knew she wasn’t okay in the great scheme of things but he was more concerned about her physical wellbeing at this particular moment in time. He’d worry about her mental wellbeing later when this whole unpleasant situation was dealt with.
Cathy shook her head. She wasn’t hurt but she was far from all right.
Jeff positioned James’s chair so that it was facing the wall in order to stop James from seeing what was happening or - more specifically - what was going to happen.
“Right you’re both awake. You both know why we’re here and you both know what we need from you. So - without wasting any more time - we’re going to need a couple of names. Now, James, you’ve already given us your names…”
“What?!” Cathy didn’t know whether it was the truth or whether Jeff had said James had given the two names just to get a reaction from her. It must have been for a reaction. He wouldn’t have given the names. He wouldn’t give his own children up.
“I’m so, so sorry,” he said.
Lifting her head from the table, looking in his direction, Cathy could see him shaking his head as though embarrassed by what he’d done.
“What have you done?” Cathy asked.
Jeff silenced them both by slamming his hand down on the table Cathy was bound to.
“As I was saying, James has already given the names of the children he is happy for us to adopt so now we’re going to need a couple of names from you too. It would be really good if you’re both on the same page…”
“Who did you say?” Cathy asked - ignoring Jeff completely.
“I’m sorry - I didn’t have a choice…”
Jeff slammed his hand down on the table again. Cathy let out a little scream.
“You give us your names first and then we will compare the two. With any luck, you’ll both give the same name. If you don’t - well - we can either flip a coin or maybe you two will be able to agree once you’ve narrowed the choice down. But - whatever happens - we’re getting two names and two signatures from you tonight. You understand me?”
