Epilogue One

For months we sifted through all the people who had filed kidnapping reports in 1989. There were over one hundred non custodial abductions in the Orlando area during that time that we found. However, only twelve involved infants. Only. And three children disappeared from Walt Disney World fitting Natalia’s description. It’s been an arduous process for her parents to wait for DNA results. However, we were insistent that no one would come near our girl without confirmation that they were indeed her parents.

She does not know that today, Maria and Jacob Maxwell, her parents, are coming to see her. Natalia doesn’t even know that we’ve found them. We both knew the anxiety would eat her alive. We know our girl well and she would’ve spent days or maybe even weeks wondering if they’d like her. There’s no doubt they will. Dante found out from a conversation with them a few weeks ago that it took them three years to conceive her. They were over the moon and doting parents. Until fate dealt them a nasty hand. At only thirty years old, Maria had a seizure while sitting on a bench while her daughter, Grace, slept in a stroller and Bebe took her and never looked back. The Maxwells never stopped looking for her; however, there was never a single lead. Of course, once the Grants moved to New York, it made the odds of finding her even worse than they already were. Still, every single year on her birthday, they would go on the news and plead with the public for help to find their daughter. The police told them on her fifth birthday that they were no longer considering it an abduction but a murder. She repeated the words they said to her, “At this point we’re considering this a recovery mission,” meaning they were looking for a dead body. In eighty-nine percent of abduction cases, ?children normally died within twenty-four hours of being taken. Still, they never gave up hope. Even after they had two more children, their search for her never wavered.

We sit in the living room waiting for them to arrive. Dante hands her a glass of wine. Natalia smirks at him, “You aren’t drugging me again, are you?”

He chuckles, “No, Sunshine. Not today.”

Our security team enters with the Maxwells in tow and instantly Natalia’s hands shake, so Dante takes the glass from her hand and sets it on the coffee table. Our girl stares at her mother in shock. She knows. We don’t need to tell her this is her mother because it’s like looking into a damn mirror. They have the same long dark hair, slender waist, wider hips. The only difference is a few fine lines around her eyes. She’s an older version of Natalia, but the resemblance is striking.

“Are you?” Natalia asks, knowing the truth but needing confirmation.

She nods, “I’m your mother, Maria. This is your father, Jacob Maxwell. We’ve been looking for you for nearly your entire life.”

The tears are instant for both women. Natalia cries, “I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I should have, but I didn’t.”

Maria goes to step forward and watches Dante and me with caution, “May I?”

“Natalia?” I ask and she nods, “Yes.”

She walks over to our girl, who is sitting on the couch, and kneels in front of her. “Do not apologize. Ever. You were an innocent child. None of this is your fault, and how could you have possibly known? They made sure you didn’t.”

Natalia wrapped her arms around her mother as her father stayed back, watching them, wiping tears from his eyes. And I somehow knew everything was going to be fine. They may have missed twenty-six years together, but nothing will keep them apart again.

* * *

Once her parentsleft and went back to their hotel, we knew we needed to make sure she was okay with everything that had happened.

“Do you think they were uncomfortable with me? Maybe that’s why they stayed at a hotel instead of staying here?”

Dante pulls her onto his lap, “No Sunshine, I don’t think that’s it. They want to make sure they don’t overcrowd you. Remember, Maria said you’d take this at your pace.”

She sinks into his chest as I ask, “Do you think you want to go by Grace or Natalia?”

Turning her head to me, she stares at me with a shocked expression, as if she hadn’t even considered that she could choose what people call her. “Do you think it’ll upset them if I want to continue being called Natalia? It’s all I’ve ever known.”

“Pretty Girl, they are so happy to have found you. I think they’ll deal with the name and I think they’ll understand.”

She gasps, “I can’t believe you guys did this for me.”

I chuckle as I move onto the couch beside them. She runs her fingers across my jaw. “We’d do anything for you, baby.”

A giggle escapes past her lips. “Except let me go.”

I grin, “Except let you go. That will never happen.”