Stolen Lullaby

The Cruelest Irony

*Flashback to Late August*

"Look Grandma's here Lou-Lou!" Taylor hurried to open the front door to let her mother in.

"Hello my darlings, it's so good to see you!" Andrea embraced her daughter and son-in-law.

"Here, let me get that for you" Taylor took her coat to hang up in the closet.

"Thank you" she said before turning her attention to the little person in Joe's arms. "Why hello little lady, Grandma is so happy to see you too" she knelt down a little reach Louise's eye level.

"Say hi to Grandma honey." Joe gave her a little jostle, after a brief moment a big grin spread across her face.

"That's my girl!" Andrea smiled giving her a kiss on the cheek.

They all settled into the family room where they all shared some coffee and pastries. It was good to do some catching up since it seemed like so long since they'd seen Andrea and they missed her. Louise sat in Joe's lap playing with one of her stuffed toys.

"So right now do we have a mommy's girl or a daddy's girl on our hands?" Andrea asked. Taylor thought about it for a moment.

"You know she's actually pretty even right now obviously she still needs me for food since she's still on the boob but she does turn to me when she's upset because I can soothe her quicker. It's hilarious she hates the sound of Joe's singing voice, he's fired from lullaby duty."

"I would like to think her screams are those of appreciation, a baby's way of saying encore." Joe said jokingly.

"She does adore her daddy though, no one can make her laugh like he can. She also likes to listen to him read. She's even likes to listen to him read scripts. She'll just stare at him like Cat in the Hat is the most profound thing she's ever heard." Louise pulled herself up in Joe's lap pulling on both sides of his face for balance.

"Ouch! Careful of the money maker kid, it puts food on the table"

Taylor scoffed and playfully rolled her eyes. The baby ran her hands across his stubble and immediately withdrew her palms, scrunching her face in disgust. She repeated the action as if she make sure she wasn't imagining things. The three adults burst into laughter, Taylor got her phone out to film. She almost couldn't hold the phone still enough to film she was laughing so hard.

"Babe I think she's telling you to shave"

"Whose side are you on anyway Lou-Lou?" he said in mock indignation. Louise gave his cheek a hearty slap before motioning that she wanted to get down. Joe put her down on her playmat and they watched her make a bee-line for one of Taylor's guitar's resting against the wall.

"Nope that's not for you that's a big girl guitar, this one is for you" Taylor got up to turn her around directing her attention to mini toy guitar someone had sent as a gift. Louise strummed her little fingers across the strings.

"mmm!" she hummed with glee at the sound it made.

"Uh-oh are we in for Taylor 2.0?" Andrea laughed.

"She's a music nut already, any kind she doesn't discriminate." They watched as the baby turned her attention to her playschool piano and delicately started pressing the keys.

"She's a real puzzle right now, that's the best thing about being parents. We are loving watching her grow into her own independent spirit. Every day brings something new, we count ourself as so lucky she's ours... We don't want to miss a single moment"

*Present Day*

The police department has arranged for a press conference. There had been rumours that it was going to be a high profile announcement so the media pool is filled with reporters eager to be first with the story.

"I am here to announce that there was an abduction of an infant female last night at approximately 3:30 am. We will confirm at this time that the parents of the said child are Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn. As this is very early in the investigation details are scarce at the time, and though I acknowledge the high profile nature of this case I respectfully ask that he media exercise restraint. A representative Alwyn and Swift families would like to share a prepared a statement they wish to share with the public. It will be their only public statement and they ask that their privacy be respected at this fragile time." He stepped back and Taylor's long time publicist Tree stepped up the podium with the paper statement in her hands. Through the years she had been as close as family to Taylor and having to do this affected her deeply. She quietly dabbed away tears with a tissue before beginning to read what they had prepared.

We could have never of imagined these circumstances would the ones in which we would introduce our daughter to the world. From the moment Louise was born we have taken painstaking precaution to give her the privacy she deserved, we chose to live our lives as public figures, she did not. Yet in spite of our best efforts to keep her safe, our daughter was abducted from our home in Nashville Tennessee in the early morning hours of Sept 6, 2022. We are sharing this photo and information about our sweet baby girl only in hope that someone who has seen her or knows her location will contact authorities. If you are the one who have Louise, please just bring her to your nearest police or fire station and we will not press any charges. If it's money that you want there is no price we won't be willing to pay. All we want is for Louise to be in our arms where she belongs. Our baby is only five months old she needs her mommy and daddy just as much as we need her – Thank you

The police chief resumed his place at the podium. Holding up the enlarged picture Joe and Taylor had previously chosen of Louise it was taken just weeks earlier she was wearing a red sundress dotted with flowers, a giant smile spread across her face with her eyes sparkling, it captured everything she was... pure joy. He began to read Louise's profile and had copies handed to the press.

"Louise Amelie Alywn was born April 3rd, 2022. She is 15 lbs and approximately 25 inches long with blond hair, blue eyes and has an egg-shaped birthmark under her right arm. She was last seen wearing a peach colored onsie patterned with white clouds. Once again if anyone knows anything about her location or has any information that may help with the case please don't hesitate to contact the authorities."

The camera flashes of the press went wild each eager to get a glimpse of the beautiful little girl. Within minutes her image and story were shared all over the world. It was a cruel irony that as hard as her parents had tried to shelter now the only way to keep her safe was to share her with the world.