Safe and Sound (Book 4 of "The Story of Us" series) [Completed]

Prologue - Eyes Open

[Harley - 2015]

Sometimes you expect things to happen, whether it's good or bad. For instance, I always knew that I was meant to be a singer. I've always known that my relationship with Nick would have its ups and downs. I knew once my mother died, that possibly someday my father would find love again. I knew Nick would be a wonderful father if we were ever given the chance to have a child again.

But some things you just never see coming.

I never saw losing my mother or Ella. Finding out that I had a sister hit me like a ton of bricks because I never saw it coming. I never saw my last album that I released without a major label being the biggest record of my career. I never saw that I could love someone or something as much as I loved Sadie and Noah.

I've realized that sometimes you've just got to open your eyes to the possibilities of other things happening in your life, whether expected or unexpected, good or bad. I've dealt with a lot of the bad in my life and I've had some good, unexpected things.

But never in a million years I ever expect what happened this past year to happen.

[/Harley 2015]

[June 2014]

[Harley]

This had been the longest trip I had taken in a while. I was gone for almost a week. A week away from home, away from Nick, away from Sadie and Noah. It killed me, but I had to do it. The album was doing so much better than anybody thought it would and I had to go to Los Angeles and then to New York to do some media.

Talking with interviewers, getting photos taken for magazines, all of the things I'd done since I was 16. All I really wanted to do was be at home, in my bed, with my husband and my little girl and little boy.

I didn't want to leave them, but Noah had a cold and I knew he didn't need to be traveling. He had allergies like Nick and always seemed to be sick with them. He didn't need to go from L.A. to New York and back to Nashville.

It was the only part of being a singer that I hated and the part that I didn't miss while on my break.

"Mama!" Sadie yelled as I walked into the house, tossing my luggage next to the door. I had caught an earlier flight because my father had called the night before asking me to come home as soon as possible. He told me not to tell Nick, which made me even more concerned.

"Hey baby," I smiled, picking her up. She was about to turn three in two months, but she had the attitude of a 10-year-old. "Where's Daddy at?"

"Up," she said, pointing to the staircase. "Noah sick."

"Noah's still sick?" I asked as I walked over to the staircase and began walking up with Sadie. "Noah's gonna feel better."

I put her down, holding her hand as we walked towards Noah's room to see Nick sitting in the rocking chair with him. He smiled, shhing me as he stood up and put Noah in his crib.

"What are you doing here?" Nick asked, walking up to me. He kissed me on the lips and then hugged me and I smiled. I could pretty much get lost in his hugs. "Your flight wasn't due in until eight tonight."

"I got an earlier flight," I said as we walked out of Noah's room. Nick picked Sadie up as I closed Noah's door. "Dad called me last night asking me to come home as soon as I could and said not to tell you. How's Noah?"

"He was fine last night, but we went outside to go over to the guest house for breakfast and they started acting up again," Nick sighed, smiling as Sadie wrapped her arms around his neck. "Probably go back to the doctor tomorrow. But what the hell is Jon talking about?"

"I don't know," I shrugged as we started to make our way back down the staircase.

I told Nick to go to the living room and I would go let my father know that I was home. I was scared it had something to do with his health, but he had promised me it wasn't that at all. He had been taking care of himself good and Nadine had kept him on his diet and exercise schedule.

"Daddy?!" I called out as I opened the side door of the pool house to see him sitting at the bar in the kitchen. "Hey, I'm home," I said, walking up to hug him. "Where's Nadine?"

"She got called into work," he said, hugging me tightly. "Glad you're home."

"What was so important?" I asked as he stared at me, his mustache twitching a little. "Are you sure it's not your health? Why didn't you want Nick to know?"

"Go on back over to the house and I'll be there in a few minutes," he said as he stood up from his stool. "Go on," he said, motioning for me to leave. I'll be there in a few."

I watched my father as he made his way back towards his bedroom and sighed to myself. Usually Jon Harper was relatively blunt when he had something to say or tell. Why did I feel like this was something bad, something I didn't know if I wanted to hear?

After making my way back to the house, I fixed Sadie a sippy cup with juice and walked back into the living room to see her and Nick sitting on the floor playing with her dolls. It killed me to see Nick playing dolls with her. I gave Sadie her cup and sat down on the floor next to Nick, resting my head on his shoulder.

"What's wrong? What did your Dad say?" he asked as I shook my head.

"He'll be here in a minute, but I'm worried," I said as we both looked up to see my Dad walking into the living room with some papers in his hand. "You're worrying me, Daddy."

"Are you sick?" Nick asked as my father shook his head. "Then what is it?"

"I don't know how to come out and say this," my father said as he looked down at Sadie intently playing with her dolls. "Ralph back in Atlanta emailed me a link to an article that came out in the newspaper yesterday."

"God, does this have to do with Blake?" Nick asked as my father shook his head. "Oh, well good," Nick said as I sighed from relief, too.

"It has to do with the doctor that delivered Ella," my father said as I stared at him. "That Dr. McClain that was on call and your regular doctor was out of town," he said as I nodded, watching him as he walked over, handing Nick some papers. "He was arrested the day before yesterday."

"For what?" I asked, looking at Nick as he started flipping through the pieces of paper. "Nick?"

"Selling babies," Nick said, looking up at me. "What's this mean?" he asked, looking at my father.

"Apparently this goes back 10, 15 years," my father said as I stood up from the floor. "They've been watching him for a while and finally caught him in the act."

"The act?" I asked.

"Telling someone their baby died and then turning around to sell the baby, making money," he said as I felt my heart beating out of my chest. "They had a number listed to call if..."

"Are you saying Ella could be alive?" Nick asked as I turned to look at him and then at my father.

"I never saw her," I said as my father looked at me.

"I never heard her cry, but they took her right out of the room," my father said as I sat down on the sofa. "It's a possibility. It can't hurt to look into it."

Nick looked back at me and I could tell what he was thinking. He was scared. I don't think he was scared that Ella could be alive, but more scared of how I was going to react to it. It killed me losing her and sometimes I still don't think I'm over it.

I wasn't sure how I was processing all of this information, but I needed to know if she was alive.

[/Harley]