Thanksgiving

Chapter 6

My heart drops and Christian rushes to Ted. He attempts to peer through the glass block but is apparently unable to see anything. "Where?"

"He's gone now." Says Ted, shrugging his shoulders as he turns nonchalantly and walks to the living room.

I look at Christian quizzically as he opens the door and peers out. "Hello?" He yells. "Who's there?"

I know he's keeping the door as closed as possible to protect me but I want to look too, so I go to the front living room window and look out. I see no one. Christian walks to my side. "Really? In front of the biggest window in the house? That's where you head?"

I put my hands on my hips. "I wanted to look too."

"We have a panic room for a reason."

"Seriously? This could have been a four-year old's imagination. I'm not rushing off to the panic room every time you think there might possibly maybe be a threat," I say. "Besides, our property isn't fenced in. People could come on from almost all sides. Not that I like the idea, but it's the way it is."

"Sir, Ma'am." Says Taylor interrupting us from behind, holding an envelope in his gloved hands. "I've opened the box. I couldn't find any information on the box as to who shipped it. The metal detector didn't detect any sort of metal so I felt it was safe to open. However, I've decided gloves would help if there are fingerprints. I'll lay the contents out on the dining room table for you to look at."

"Taylor," Says Christian dismissing him. "And Taylor, can you check the ground cameras? Ted claims he saw someone in the driveway."

"Yes sir," says Taylor as he exits the room.

I roll my eyes and Christian's mouth flattens. "Don't tempt me baby," he says. His palms still get twitchy when I roll them.

Seeing as Ted and Phoebe are being entertained by the television, we walk into the dining room and look at the contents from the box. We both stare disbelieving. Dozens of pictures of a child. The first grouping show images of a newborn baby boy. So new his umbilical cord is still attached. Pictures of him being weighed, pictures of him being swaddled in the typical white and blue striped hospital blanket. The next group show what may or may not be the same child but a little older. Maybe 5 or 6 months old. Now the baby is drinking from a bottle and taking what might be his first bites of solid foods. The next group are older still. The likeness to the last group nearly confirms that it's the same child – now taking his first steps. The progression continues until the child appears to be about 4, standing in front of a small Christmas tree, smiling a big bright grin.

"Who? What?" I say as I look at the pictures and to Christian.

"I have no idea," he says as he looks bewildered, running his hand through his floppy hair and rubbing his neck.

There is nothing in the images to indicate where or when the pictures are taken. The child seems clean and healthy in each image.

I carefully turn one over to see if they are dated from the printer but find they are copies. I look closely at the newest image and then at Christian and back again. "Christian, if I didn't know any better – this is the boy from the store. Look at his eyes, and he has the same hair. Maybe Taylor can confirm. Do you mind if I take a picture of this one and send it to Kate?"

Christian nods and I pull out my phone and snap a photo of the image. Texting it to Kate I ask her what she thinks of the child in the image without guiding her to a specific answer.

"Taylor!" Yells Christian startling me, making me jump.

"You CAN'T be doing that!" I say holding a hand to my chest as I smack his arm.