Chapter 15

We woke up the next morning feeling quite refreshed. I looked into her eyes and got an indescribable feeling fell over me.

"I love you Mark. You saved my life, cared for me when no one else seemed to care. You were always there to give me companionship while we grew up. I cannot describe how being with you makes me feel."

"Jenny my love, words have not yet been invented to describe the feeling I get when I'm with you. Every day, when I wake up and find you lying next to me makes my heart skip a beat. I hope that I awaken every morning with you next to me."

The passion in the kiss that ensued would have melted all of the snow that the yard could have held, if it were January. To say that it was hot would have certainly been a major understatement. I think we would have attempted to go further had it not been for the knock at the door.

"Yes?"

"You better hurry if you expect to eat before we leave," Mom yelled through the door.

"Ok Mom. We'll be down in a moment."

"I guess we better get up Sweetie."

"I think you're right. Last one in the shower is a rotten egg."

She jumped out of bed and ran to the door. By the time I had gotten to the floor, she had her robe on and was out the door. I gave up and took my time getting my robe on and making my way to the bathroom. Once I got to the bathroom, Jenny was already in the shower and ragging on my about being too slow. I stepped into the shower and just had to throw the only zinger that I had left.

"Hey, I may be slow but I didn't have to wait for the water to warm up before getting in."

"Why you..."

I just smiled. We hurriedly finished washing up, getting dressed and headed downstairs for breakfast.

"Well it's about time. We want to get moving."

"Who all makes up this 'we' you're talking about?"

"Jan, Dad's PI and myself."

"Ok. What about Dad and Erin?"

"Erin is going to school. Dad has to go to work. That works out since Erin will need someone home when she gets done with school."

"Ok."

We finished eating just as the PI showed up. The four of us climbed in his big SUV and headed down the highway. It was still a bit early, 9am, so we knew that we would get there pretty early. The PI told us that his name was Dave. We needed to meet with someone in Columbus who should have the address by the time we get there.

I spent the next 2 hours wedged in the backseat between Jenny and Jan. I had my arm wrapped around Jenny and holding her close. She was shivering.

"Sweetheart, are you cold?"

"No. I'm nervous. We haven't seen Daddy in almost 10 years."

"I hope it goes ok."

"Me too."

We held onto each other for the entire ride. It was just under 2 hours, but to the two girls, it must have felt like six. We finally arrived and stopped at what looked like a lawyers' office. Dave and Mom went inside while the three of us continued to sit in the SUV. They came out about fifteen minutes later and got back in the front seat.

"We have good news. We have the address for your father."

I felt both girls jump a bit with joy. I just felt Mom had something more to hit them with.

"We are also in a bit of luck. According to another PI from down here, they are home today. I don't know how they know this, but we'll take anything they can give us."

"How long before we get there?"

"We should be there in about 15 minutes," Dave replied.

Fifteen minutes later we were pulling up in front of a small house in the suburbs. Dave climbed out of the SUV and stopped the rest of us.

"Stay here for a few minutes. I will signal when I want you to join me."

"Ok Dave. I'll be watching," Mom replied.

I noticed that both Jenny and Janice were shaking with anticipation. All three of us watched toward the house as Dave walked up and knocked on the front door. We noticed the door open and someone answered the door. We could see a small discussion when Dave turned and waved us inside. We were out of the vehicle and quickly on our way. Once we went inside, we were led to the living room to sit down. Once everyone was seated, Dave who was still standing started talking.

"Mr. Westbrook, I am here on behalf of these young ladies here."

"What do I have to do with them?"

"James, I am sure that you don't recognize them. Right now, they need you to some degree."

"Mr. Johnson, I don't have a clue what you're talking about."

"You can hear me out in this setting, or we can deal with this in the courts Mr. Parks."

I noticed when Dave ended with 'Mr. Parks, ' the look on his face turned a bit pale. I could tell that Dave saw that reaction as well.

"You know. How did you figure it out?"

"Actually this young man, Mark, is the one who figured it out. Before I let him tell you the details, let me introduce everyone here. I think you will understand once I'm finished." He indicated to the girls that they should stand and pointed to Jenny.

"This lovely young lady is your daughter, Jennifer Parks. The other one, as I'm sure that you can figure out at this point, is Janice."

"My daughters? Oh my God, how you two have grown since I last saw you."

I could tell that part of him wanted to run right over and give them a hug. The other part was uncertain.

"What do you need from me?"

"Well, your wife is in grave condition."

I heard a sudden scream come from the hall. I looked over and saw a woman standing there with a startled look on her face.

Jim turned to her and started talking, "No honey, he didn't mean you. Come here, you need to hear this as well. This is Cynthia. She has been living as my wife for the last 10 years."

"Ok. As I was saying, your wife Lynn is in grave condition."

"How grave are we talking?"

"Daddy, she's been declared brain dead," Jenny replied.

"That would be pretty grave. How does that affect me?"

Dave continued, "That leaves us with two problems. First, as her next of kin, they would need you to deal with the paperwork to have the machines keeping her alive removed."

"She's really brain dead. I never saw this. What's the other problem?"

"Your daughters will no longer have a mother. Just as with your wife, you are their only next of kin."

Jim turned to Cynthia again to see the expression on her face. I knew from what I could see that her expression didn't include any joy.

"You want me to take my daughters?"

"Either that or make some arrangements for them."

"What kind of arrangements are you talking about?"

"Jenny has been staying with Natalie Andrews and her family under an arrangement that your wife had made in early July. What I have been able to determine from the family is that Jenny would like to stay there. I think Janice would like to stay with her sister."

I noticed that Cynthia seemed to have gotten a smile with that last part. Jim turned and noticed it as well. He turned to Dave with another question.

"And what if I decide not to help you?"

"We are here as friends helping friends. If we can't come to an agreement by Friday, CPS will be coming to take Janice into foster care. At that time, we will be obligated to tell them about you and where to find you. When they come knocking, there will be no friendly conversation involved. You will either have to take her in or pay child support while she sits in foster care. If you work with us, you have some control over the situation. Natalie would just like to take both girls in. She might even want to possibly adopt them."

"I don't even know them anymore. They were very young when I left. I don't think that I could be much of a father. Our lives currently won't allow us to take them in either."

"Jim, I don't need your money. Jenny and my son Mark are rather smitten with each other and would not want to be separated. Janice is very close with her sister and would like to stay with me. If they would like me to, my husband and I could adopt them as well. If you can't take them in, work with us and you won't have to. I do think that they would like to get to know you though," Mom said.

I looked at both girls and they were nodding in agreement. Jenny put her arm around mine and was squeezing it like she was afraid to let go. It was starting to hurt.

"I will agree to signing my parental rights over to you. I don't want anything to do with Lynn though."

Jenny suddenly jumped up. "Daddy, please come back to Cleveland with us. Please come and sign for the machines to be removed, Jan and I can deal with losing her sooner rather than later. We don't want it to be drawn out until the hospital can get the courts to deal with it."

"I'm sorry Jenny. I have a new life now. I don't want any part of her anymore."

"Daddy, I understand fully why you left. I have had deal with Mom for the last 15 years and can tell that she was pretty close to nuts. I want to finally say goodbye and move on as well. It could also benefit you as well."

"How could it benefit me?"

"If Mom dies, you and Cynthia can actually get married legally rather than lie about it."

Cynthia's eyes lit up with that. For the first time since we got there, she had something to say.

"Jim, we could actually be married for real. Do it Jim. You will finally be able to say goodbye. No more looking over your shoulder waiting for your past to catch up with you. We could move sooner."

"Yeah, that is a side effect that you do gain. What do you say," Dave asked.

"I guess I'm going to need some time off."

Jenny and Jan both ran over to their father and wrapped their arms around him.

"Thank you Daddy."

"You're welcome girls."

"Daddy, I think I speak for both of us when I say that we would like to get to know you. One day I plan on getting married. I will want my Daddy to lead me down the aisle."

"Let's deal with the bigger issues now. I think we might be able to arrange something though."

"Thanks."

"Jim, are you going to go back to Cleveland with us or meet us back there?"

"It will take me a couple hours before I can leave."

"Then we will expect to see you later tonight."

"Yeah, I'll be there."

We started saying our goodbyes and heading out. Jenny and Jan had stayed back by the house. I was by the sidewalk waiting when I heard a familiar voice from behind me.

"Mark!"

I turned around to see a little girl running my way with a big smile on her face.

"Sarah." She jumped into my arms giving me a big hug. "How are you sweetie?"

"I'm happy now. I missed you."

"I missed you too."

I heard Mom tell someone to call the police. Dave ran over to me. "Mark, are you sure that this is Sarah?"

"Oh yeah."

I looked in the direction that Sarah had come from to see a gentleman running our way. It sounded like he was not too happy with her.

"Elizabeth, how many times do I have to tell you not to run off?"

"Sir, what relationship do you have with this little girl," Dave Asked.

"She is my daughter. Why?"

"Can you prove that?"

"We just adopted her a few weeks ago. We have the papers in the house. Why do you care?"

Dave suddenly pulled something out of his jacket and showed it to the man. I assumed that it must have been a badge.

"I am Lt. Johnson of the Ohio State Police. This little girl was reported as kidnapped from Cleveland almost a month ago. I would recommend that you stay right here for a moment. Once the local officers get here, you will need to get that paperwork."

"Oh my God. I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"If you have the paperwork, my guess is that you were duped. If you were, you could help us put these guys away."

I had walked back up to the house where Jenny, Jan, Mom and Jim were still standing in shock. When Sarah saw Jenny, she called for her. She gave Jenny a big hug. It was about that time that 1 marked and 1 unmarked car arrived. I noticed that they were talking with Dave and the other man. One of the 2 uniformed guys went inside with the gentleman while Dave and the officer in plain clothes came over to us.

"Hello young man. What's your name?"

"Mark Andrews"

"How do you know this little girl?"

"I baby sat for her on a few occasions. I also live only a few hundred yards from her mother."

He looked at Sarah and asked her what her name was.

"Sarah Taylor."

"Thank you very much. Please don't leave yet."

"We're with Dave, so when he goes, we go..."

They walked back over to the neighbor's house. Jim indicated that he had to get things together for his trip to Cleveland and went inside. We sat down on the front lawn and relaxed with Sarah climbing all over me. We knew that we would be waiting for a while, but the wait was going to be worth it.

We finally were allowed to leave around 2pm. This actually worked out fine since Jim and Cynthia were also done with the things they needed to do and were ready to leave. Since Sarah and a car seat would have made the trip home quite packed, Jenny volunteered to ride with her father. I was a little bummed, but Sarah made certain that I was to ride with her. She had to stay in Dave's custody until we returned her to Donna. I gave Jenny a hug and kiss before we left.

We were on the road for about twenty minutes when I thought of the best way to surprise Donna.

"Mom, do you think that we'll have enough time to make dinner when we get home?"

"Of course Mark. Why do you want to know?"

"Let's get home and invite the Taylor's, Jim and Cynthia over for dinner and celebrate. I also want it to be a reunion for Donna and Sarah."

"That sounds like a pretty good idea. Dave, can I borrow your cell phone?"

"Sure Natalie."

Mom punched a few buttons on the phone then waited. It was only a few seconds before she started talking.

"Hi John, how was your day?"

"It went better than we could have ever dreamed. Could you do me a favor?"

"I just need you to call the Taylor's and invite them for dinner. Have them there about 5:30 with dinner at 6."

"I don't want you to tell them why. I'm not going to tell you why until we get home. I will need you to go pick up a video recorder though."

"Let's just say that everyone is going to have a really good night. Ok, love you. See you when I get home." She hung up the phone.

"Ok Mark, it's all set. I think Donna will be the happiest person on the earth tonight."

"No, I think she will be the second happiest."

"Really, who will be number one?"

"Sarah."

"That would be a close one. Dave, what is going on with Sarah at this point?"

"Well, the couple who had her thought that they had a legal adoption. The good news is that with the paperwork they gave us, they are already serving search warrants and arrest warrants on that agency they went through. It looks like we may have busted a black-market baby operation. If that is the case, we definitely will have something to celebrate."

"And there may be others celebrating as well. Who knows how many other kids just like Sarah they may be able to find."

"Yeah Mark, you got that right."

I sat back and played with Sarah for the rest of the trip home. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed spending time with her. She had been missing for about a month. I knew Donna was going to be walking on air tonight.

We arrived home at about ten after four. Sarah had fallen asleep, so I took her upstairs and put her in my bed. It was best to let her sleep. I went downstairs to find Jenny. Jan, Erin and Mom were already working on dinner. I went outside and walked over to Jenny's old house. They pulled up just as I got there.