Michael Darby climbed out of the car first after killing the ignition. His wife, June, followed him with her handbag. Together, they walked towards the back of the car. Andrew unstrapped their two-year-old son, Jack, from his car seat and settled him onto his hip while June grabbed his diaper bag.
It was one of the few days that the three of them can spend together as a family. Michael is a member of the United States Army. When he wasn't at home with his wife and son in Jasper, Nevada, he was called away to fight a war somewhere. June is an ER Nurse at the local hospital. Whenever she's working, she leaves her son with her mother who doesn't live far or their next-door neighbor when her mother's sick.
To celebrate one of the few days they had together, they took their son to the carnival that was in town. For June and Michael, seeing the joy in their son's eyes was well worth the early morning they had to suffer to make sure they were the first people in.
"Did you have fun today, son?" Michael asked.
"Yep!" Jack nodded eagerly as Michael placed him on the ground and grabbed his hand.
"Hey. What's that?" June suddenly asked.
Michael glanced in the direction June was looking at and was curious as well. There was a basket sitting on their front porch. A white blanket was poking from the rims. June went to approach the basket, but Michael gently placed a hand on her arm. He had been in enough battlefields to know that he had to be careful. They didn't know what the basket contained. For all he knew, the enemies he and his mates fight overseas could have found where he lived and left a bomb there to kill him and his family.
"I'll go first," Michael murmured as he placed Jack's hand in June's waiting hand, "Stay with mummy, OK?"
"OK," Jack whispered.
Slowly, Michael approached the basket, each step portraying the caution he took. When he reached the basket, he noticed that the blanket was moving around. This confused Michael. What could possibly be in the basket? There was only one way to find out. With shaky hands, he grasped the blanket. Then he noticed something else.
A letter.
"Honey, I want you to take this letter," Michael said as he reached the hand out behind him.
June bravely stepped forward and took the letter from him. Jack stayed hidden behind his mother's leg as he watched his father study the basket curiously. Slowly, Michael unveiled the blanket to reveal…
"Oh my God!" Michael gasped.
There was a baby lying in the basket. Her blue eyes were wide open as she studied her new surroundings curiously.
"Baby!" Jack squealed excitedly as he ran forward and looked inside, "Hi!"
The baby giggled and grasped Jack's finger when he reached out to touch her. Michael smiled as he watched the interaction between the son and the baby on their doorstep. He knew that when it comes to babies, Jack was a curious boy. Whenever he got to visit June in the hospital, he always asked to go to the nursery so he could play with the babies or the children's ward to play with the other kids.
"Honey, listen to this," June said to Michael as he began to read the letter over June's shoulder.
"To the residents of this house,
We do not wish to abandon our daughter like this. But we feel as if we do not have a choice. People threatening to kill us surround us everywhere we go. When our baby was born, we knew she would be in danger because of them. We could not risk our daughter being found and killed before she could live. So we decided to leave her here on your doorstep. Somewhere she wouldn't be found.
Please take her in and raise her as your own. The reason we're doing this is so she can have a better chance at life. Please don't turn your back on her. You're her only hope.
Her name is Talida and her middle name is Corrie. She is two weeks old and was born July 21. We thank you for taking her in.
Give her the necklace when you feel she's old enough to receive it.
And tell her we love her."
"The letter wasn't signed. I feel sorry for her parents. They felt as if they didn't have a choice," June sighed sadly.
"How long had she been lying there?" Michael wondered.
"Hopefully, not very long. Poor thing must be hungry," June mused as she noticed the way she was suckling Jack's finger, signifying she wanted milk, "What should we do?"
"We're not turning her over to Child Services," Michael immediately decreed, "Trust me. I was in the foster system for four years after my parents died. She wouldn't stand a chance."
"Do we have the things we would need? Changing table, clothes, toys, a cot?" June asked.
"We kept the changing table, cot and the baby monitors from when we had Jack. And tomorrow, we can go shopping for brand new clothes, toys and another high chair," Michael reassured her, "And don't worry about the money, sweetheart. We have enough to support two young kids. Besides, you don't wanna break your son's heart, do you?"
June glanced towards the doorstep and saw that Jack had bonded with the baby named Talida. She cooed when Jack leaned down and kissed her button nose. Michael was right. She didn't want to break her son's heart by saying that they couldn't keep her.
"I guess we finally have the daughter you always wanted," June decreed.
Two figures hiding away saw the exchange between the two about whether or not they should keep the baby they found. After June unlocked the house, she settled her son onto her hip and carried him inside while Michael picked up the basket and carried their adopted daughter inside. They were relieved that they took her in. It broke their heart to leave their daughter on a stranger's doorstep and then watch said strangers take their daughter in and raise her as their own. But this was the only way to keep her safe.
"We must go," the male murmured to the female as he placed a comforting hand on her back.
With heavy hearts, they walked away. They knew that their daughter would be safe. But it didn't mean that they didn't like walking away and missing out on so much. But they had to.
And in a flash, they were gone.