⌈ 𝘉𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘯 𝘙𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘦, 𝘓𝘈 ⌉ 𝘈𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘭 17, 2003 ⌊ 9:04 𝘗𝘔 ⌋

Clara Stephenson placed her hand against the glass that separated her from the newborns on the other side. A lone tear rolled down her face as her face mirrored a cold stare.

Tears welled in her eyes at the pain she was experiencing. Her lower half aches like any other mother who gave birth, except it wasn't the same.

Clara had gone through 16 hours of painful and tear-filled birth, but her baby was still born. Flashbacks flooded Clara's mind as she remembered her sobs that rang through the room as she held her baby. She refused to let her go, but deep down she knew her baby was gone.

Clara had struggled with infertility for years, and multiple rounds of IVF finally gave her her miracle baby. This was the first baby she had carried to full term, also the first she was able to physically hold.

Tonight was a peculiar night as the hospital was full. They were running out of beds as time passed, and the less "important" cases were discharged. It was wrong, but it just had to be done.

The doctors gave Clara time to mourn, but she was soon given discharge papers and was urged to sign them before the night ended.

Clara blew out of breath as she suddenly remembered her husband, Shawn Stephenson. Shawn was a trucker who was currently making his way to the hospital. He was of course clueless to the face that the couple had lost their baby. More tears trickled down Clara's face as she remembered how excited Shawn had been for the baby.

"Hello?" Shawn answered the call from his wife.

"Shawn, my water broke, you've gotta hurry!" Clara frantically said, shuffling to collect her things so she could head to the hospital.

"Ok baby breathe. I'm on my way."

Shawn was all the way in Pennsylvania after finishing his trucking route. The way back was a good 20 hour drive without traffic. Shawn blew out a sharp breath and prepared himself for this journey.

"Ok, I love you Shawn. I can't wait to meet our baby girl."

"Me too baby. If I'm not there, kiss her for me."

Clara made her way to her room as dragged her feet and sulked. She sat on the hospital bed and stared at the blank beige wall. Brahms' "Lullaby" played over the speaker every couple minutes, haunting her.

The song played each time a baby was born. To Clara this felt like a neverending nightmare. Her lip began to tremble as she felt a cry coming upon her. The cry was broken by the ringing of her phone.

"Hello?" she answered with a shaky voice.

"Baby, you good?" Shawn asked, a little worried.

"Yeah, just in pain a little."

"Is she kicking or just contractions?"

"Oh um-" Clara cleared her throat, "She's out now."

"Shit! Baby, I'm sorry I missed it. How is she?"

"It's all fine Shawn."

"Who does she look like?" Shawn asked as Clara could hear the excitement in his face.

"She looked like you." her voice cracked.

"Looked?"

"L-looks, they took her for a little bit to run a few tests."

"Ok, well I'm still about 10 hours out. Traffic is crazy out here."

"You should stop and continue tomorrow. I don't want anything to happen to you."

He was all Clara had, even more now since her baby was gone.

"I think that's a good idea, I'll call later."

"I love you."

"I love you more, kiss babygirl for me." Shawn said before hanging up.

When the disconnected sound of the phone rang, Clara slowly began breaking down again. She limped her way to the bathroom connected to her room and stood in front of the mirror.

She stared at herself in the mirror, almost disgusted at what she saw. Her hair was a mess as it was all over the place with some pieces sticking to her face. The mix of dried and wet tears on her face, along with the red nose made her look almost sick.

Clara turned on the water and splashed some on her face. She slowly looked back up at herself, specifically into her eyes. She needed to think, and think quickly.

Shawn was expecting a baby to be here when he did, then it clicked. A decision that shifted everything, something that affected manys lives.

Clara's mind shifted to the babies on the other side of the glass. There were 4 total, 3 girls and 1 boy.

Clara exited her room and headed over to the nursery. Deep down there was guilt that was starting to form, but it soon faded as her selfishness took over. She looked through the glass, taking in each individual feature of the children.

The boy was immediately eliminated, no other reason than he was a boy and she gave birth to a little girl. The other babies both had fair skin tones and were of other ethnicities.

Lastly Clara's eyes landed on the last girl. The world seemed to stop as her plan seemed to be able to come true before her eyes. The little girl had the same skin tone as Clara's own child. Her mind was made up, as a smile stretched across her face.

With her plan carefully planned out in her head, she walked down the hall keeping an eye out for cameras and staff. Clara looked both ways before slipping into a supply closet.

Clara looked in the room digging through boxes until she found an extra pair of scrubs and a mask. She discreetly walked back into her room, and took a shower in order to look more presentable.

On the other side of the hospital was a happy couple who had just greeted their newly born twins.

Serena and her husband Jayceon Brooks were surrounded by their already 3 sons and family from both sides. The twins named Tylear Blaine and Saris Reign Brooks, had entered the world surrounded by so much love and happiness that radiated around the room.

Serena held her little girl, her first daughter. After 3 attempts and 3 boys, her fourth pregnancy granted her dreams of a girl.

Serena felt like this was the turning point in her life, her happy ending. All her dreams had come true. She could only go up from here.

Little did she know.

While everyone cooed over the new editions Clara finished her shower and now looked a lot better. Her once wild frizzy hair was pulled into a sleek low bun.

She put the scrubs on and a mask to hide her identity. She hoped she could do this successfully and avoid being completely seen by the cameras.

She walked out and made her way to the nursery. Once she made it she walked in immediately putting on gloves to prevent fingerprints.

At this point Clara was paranoid her plan wouldn't work. She wasn't going to take any risk at all.

The room was empty but Clara spotted the charts still near the clear bassinet.

She picked up the chart where the baby girl once laid. At the top the little girl's name was written.

Saris Reign Brooks

Clara stared at the name immediately becoming obsessed with it. She skimmed through the chart seeing the baby was in room #704.

She put everything back how it was and made her way to the room. She walked in peeking since no one saw her yet.

She observed the mother and father in the room. The man was sitting on the bed with his wife and back facing the door.

To Clara's view she saw the mother holding a baby with a blue hat and she instantly thought she messed up. She furrowed her eyebrows trying to figure out what was going on.

Maybe this was a sign. It wasn't meant to be.

She knocked on the door, getting their attention. The man stood up, turning around revealing the little girl.

Clara's mind took this as a good sign. They have two babies and she had none. It was nothing to take one, they still had another.

This sick illusion went through Clara's head.

She walked in and started talking with a sweet voice.

"Hi I'm Nurse Maggie and it seems we ran into a little problem."

The mother's face instantly dropped as a look of worry flashed across her face. "What's wrong?"

"Oh no need to worry, but one of our machines malfunctioned while taking your little girl's hearing test so we'll have to redo it."

"Oh ok, how long will that take?"

"Not long at all. A max 30 minutes."

Clara said this hoping it was enough time to get out of here unnoticed.

The mother nodded as Clara walked over to the man gently taking her out his arms. She looked down at the baby's large brown orbs and instantly fell in love.

"She's just so cute isn't she." Clara cooed, rocking the baby.

"Thank you." the mother said.

"We'll be back shortly." Clara carried the baby to the nursery, again ensuring that it was empty.

She slipped the little hospital band off the baby's wrist, placing it in a bassinet. She was aware of the alarm going off if she walked out the hospital with the bracelet.

She got a box out of the corner of the room placing several blankets within the box. She placed the sleeping baby inside the box putting a thin blanket on top.

Clara soon realized she had a little amount of time to get up and out without raising suspicion and keeping the baby silent.

She walked at a normal pace but still somewhat rushed. She went into her room, signing her discharge papers before grabbing her things from the room.

She successfully made her way out the hospital and into her car. Clara placed the box in the passenger seat, before letting out a huge breath. She removed the thin blanket from the top, revealing a fully awake baby. She started the car before taking off, she smiled that she had done this in little to no time, leaving her plenty of time to get away.

While Clara drove, a panicking Serena was at the hospital.

"Where is she?"

"Baby calm down, I'm sure there's just a line to wait." Jayceon tried to calm Serena by rubbing her back.

He was trying to be strong, but he was having the same worries. Serena nodded, breathing in and out trying to calm herself down.

A nurse knocked on the door. Both of their heads shot up looking at her.

"Hi I just wanted to check on y'all. Make sure you are doing okay."

"I'm fine. Do you have an update on my baby?"

"I'm sorry, update on what?" The nurse looked at them confused.

"A nurse came in saying there was a malfunction with the testing machine and she needed to take her hearing test again."

"What was the nurse's name, may I ask?"

"Ummm...oh! Nurse Maggie. That's what she said."

"I'm sorry ma'am we don't have any nurses of that name. Are you sure that was her name?"

"Positive."

The two parents started to feel sick as they saw the concern in the nurse's eyes. The nurse rushed out the room and shortly after the intercom blared.

CODE PINK! CODE PINK!

The two parents made eye contact both crying at this point. On the other hand Clara had made it home safely and called Shawn to let him know they were released.

She walked into the house she and her husband lived in immediately going up to the nursery.

"Look baby, this is your room."

Clara sat in the rocking chair rocking the baby trying to decide on a name. Shawn and her never could agree on one.

She thought back to the name on the chart. It was beautiful and she couldn't think of anything better. This was the least she could do for the "parents'' or as she loved to call them the surrogates.

"Hi my little Saris. Mommy loves you." Clara cooed.

Saris stared at Clara as her little face slowly turned red and she let out a loud wail.

--

*Time Skip*

⌈ 𝘋𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘴, 𝘛𝘟 ⌉ 𝘈𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘭 17, 2010 ⌊ 2:55 𝘗𝘔 ⌋

"Happy Birthday to you."

"Happy Birthday to you."

"Happy Birthday dear, Sarisss."

"Happy Birthday to you."

Ironically the Stephensons were singing at the same time as the Brooks family.

The Brooks family all let go of purple balloons in memory of baby Saris, wherever she was.

Newly seven year old Saris blew out the candles on her cake. Her mom and dad by her side.

It has been officially seven years since Clara took Saris. She kept it a secret, not telling a soul.

She successfully obtained a social security card and birth certificate after working some magic and making it seem as if Clara's real child had only died for a couple seconds before coming back. Clara rarely thought about the baby she lost anymore.

She was so used to the lie she slowly started to believe it. She truly believed that she carried Saris and gave birth to her after 16 long hours.

As soon as Shawn had made it home to meet his new baby girl, Clara had proposed the idea of moving. This pulled Saris even farther from her real parents, making it difficult for the baby to be found.

As much as Shawn loved his daughter, he always questioned Clara about her since she looked nothing like him. Saris had a similar skin tone to Clara but still looked nothing like him or his wife. Every time he'd ask Clara she would shut him down and change the subject.

Shawn had had enough and decided to get a paternity test himself. When he took Saris for her yearly checkup last week he requested a test. The call for results would be soon and he was on edge. His phone rang and he looked at it to see that it was the doctor's office.

He excused himself and took the call outside.

"Hello Mr. Stephenson?"

"This is he."

"We have your results."

Shawn nervously ran his hand down his face as he waited.

"According to the tests you share 0% of DNA with seven year old Saris Stephenson."

Shawn hung up the phone furiously. He stormed back into the house immediately packing all his things. Right now he was acting out of impulse and did the first thing he thought of. Leaving.

His first thought was his only thought and couldn't believe his wife cheated. He wasn't mad at Saris only her idiotic mother. She had him raising another man's child this entire time.

He soon finished when he heard Clara come upstairs.

Saris saw her mother storm up the stairs and soon heard yelling. She was very confused since she never actually witnessed her parents arguing.

Saris went upstairs and into her room to cry. She felt as though her birthday was ruined and it took a toll on the little seven year old.

She heard her mother crying and soon the door slammed. Saris's father busted in and closed the door behind himself and locked it. She heard her mother attempt to open it as she pounded on the door.

"Saris come here."

"Yes daddy?"

"I need you to be good for your mom. Okay I have to leave."

Saris sniffed, nodding.

"Come here babygirl." Shawn said with his arms open.

Saris went in and gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

Shawn pulled away grabbing a pencil from Saris's desk and a piece of paper. He wrote down his work number.

"Ok princess this is my number you have to hide it. Okay?"

Saris nodded as Shawn gave her instruction on how he was gonna give her his new number once he got one. He gave Saris one more kiss goodbye and left the room.

That was the beginning of change for Saris.

☼ ☼ ☼

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This has been edited. Including updated format and added details. I don't have many comments throughout this book but the few I have get deleted when I edit (I think).

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