The Pink TuTu - chapter outtakes

The Search Goes On (2 weeks later)

Happy Holiday season to everybody! Hope yours went well! Here is the next chapter.

It has now been two weeks since Rosie's disappearance, and the search is still going strong. Aria and Spencer ache for their baby girl, and the family is hoping the police turn up some answers some time soon.

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Two weeks later (July 14 th , 2016)
Days Missing: two weeks, 4 hours, 20 minutes

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*Montgomery-Hastings Residence*

It has been 17 days since their daughter disappeared into thin air at the Rosewood Zoo.

These last 17 days have both been extremely hectic, and have gone by at a crawl.

Spencer and Aria look like themselves on the outside, maybe a little more tired, a little more dark circles under their eyes, but on the inside, they are hollowed out.

Their hearts ache for their little girl; their stomachs can't take food, because of the grief. They have a constant headache from crying so much, dehydrating themselves, and not sleeping.

They have searched everywhere they could think of – the Zoo, the highways around the Zoo, the woods around their house and each of the girls and grandparents' houses.

They looked in every animal habitat at the Zoo, in fear that Rosie may have wandered off for what was supposed to be a moment, and then accidently fell in somewhere.

They searched every vehicle in the parking lot.

They looked in the park close to their house. They searched creeks, rivers, abandoned houses, and buildings.

Nothing.

For 17 days, Spencer and Aria have stayed at home. They took turns staying with Scottie; the little boy needs his mothers.

He does not understand what is wrong, why his mommies are crying all the time; he is just 13 months old.

He probably doesn't even remember his big sister.

Therefore, they take turns. On some days, Spencer goes out to coordinate with the police and the Search & Rescue teams.

However, she never gives the sniffer dogs pieces of clothing with Rosie's scent on them, that is always one of the other girls.

On other days, Spencer is at home, silently crying, hating herself.

If only she had not turned away. If only she had done something different that day, if only, if only, if only.

The police and Search & Rescue groups turn up empty each time they do a sweep of the woods, the creeks, the abandoned houses, the cars leaving town, the places that only a 5-year-old could hide in.

Nothing.

Veronica gave a t-shirt, one of Rosie's favorites, that was left on her bedroom floor, to the sniffer dogs. They searched the woods, trashcans, dumpsters.

The dogs were used everywhere that they possible could be. At the Zoo, the vehicles in the parking lot, the area around the Zoo in case she wandered off and was hiding somewhere around the property.

For days, people grouped together and searched, hunted, called Rosie's name. They ate soup made by some of the volunteers during their breaks.

Spencer and Aria went on TV, their plea for the safe return of their baby girl played on a loop on the evening news and even on the 4 and 6 o'clock morning news.

Nothing.

Ella and Byron come in from out of town. They, along with Peter and Veronica, take care of Aria and Spencer's chores such as, making them dinner and lunch, cooking them bigger meals, or ones that are more mundane like oatmeal.

They help with the laundry. Towels and wash clothes, their clothes, Scottie's outfits. However, there is a basket of Rosie's shirts and shorts, unwashed, for the sniffer dogs.

This is how Aria finds Spencer, on the day that marks 19 days since their daughter disappeared.

She is in the laundry room, folding towels and wash clothes, t-shits and shorts.

Spencer finds something that makes it all come crashing down around her.

A Sesame Street gown.

It must have been mixed in with Spencer's pajama shirts and Aria's yoga pants.

The sight of it causes Spencer's chest to tighten, her heart to beat faster, and the feeling of not knowing where the fuck her daughter is to nearly overwhelm her.

Aria sees it happen before she can process and do anything to stop it.

She sees Spencer shoulders fold in on themselves, see them shake, sees her wife slide down the wall to the floor as she hugs that goddamned gown to her chest.

She rushes over, — nearly falls but catches herself — and slides down beside the older woman.

Aria gathers Spencer in her arms, whispers words as soothing as they can possibly be.

She shakes her head at Spencer telling her she is sorry, this is my fault, if only I had watched her, if only I had not taken my eyes off her.

She tells her it isn't her fault.

She whispers that she loves her and that she knows Spencer loves Rosie.

Aria murmurs that she would never blame her, that it happened in only one second, that it could have been Hanna or Alison or Caleb or Emily or even her, Aria, herself, who was watching and looked away for just one second.

And she holds Spencer as she finally breaks and she prays for a solution, for her baby girl to come back, for this to all be a terrible, horrible, heartbreaking dream.

She wonders when they will wake up.

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And that's it. Next will be their first Halloween without Rosie.

Please comment and let me know what you thought. 💚