[ doce ]

Several weeks went by without them hearing anything from Jessica, and Valerie assumed her words of anger had only been an empty threat.

Their day started out like any other. They got up in the morning, had breakfast, and Valerie helped Leon change into his clothes for the day. Valerie and Toni had moved in together since the trial had ended, and they had moved into a bigger apartment. Valerie's mother was feeling better from her illness and was able to return to her job.

Still, Valerie continued volunteering at the daycare.

The girl with long blonde hair began to worry when the sun went down, everyone was gone at the daycare but her and Leon, and Toni was nowhere to be found. He was always on time to pick them up and then the three would spend the afternoon together. But Valerie dialed his phone number various times and it kept taking her straight to voicemail. 

She feared something had happened to him.

As it got later into the night, she decided to call a driver from her house and she would wait for Toni at their apartment. Maybe he was just running late, maybe there was a lot of traffic, that was what Valerie told herself. 

She closed up the daycare and locked the front doors only when she saw her driver pull up in front of the building. Valerie picked Leon up in her arms, whose eyes were droopy and tired. She made her way towards the waiting black car that belonged to her family when she heard the screeching tires of a car pulling up behind hers. She barely had time to glance over her shoulder when a group of people dressed in black ran up to her. They were all wearing black masks to conceal their faces.

Valerie quickly set Leon on the ground and stood in front of him protectively.

Their attackers said nothing to her, and one pushed her to the side. Another struck her on the side of the head with the barrel of his gun. The blow had broken the skin and she could feel a small trickle of blood falling down the side of her face. In that moment, Leon began to cry and she pulled him into her arms, holding him close.

"What do you want?" She asked her attackers bravely. But Valerie was trying to make time. She knew they couldn't see her driver inside the car due to the tinted windows, but she also knew he was probably calling the police. "If you want money, you can have all of it.Take my purse." She reached for her fallen bag on the sidewalk and tossed it at their feet.

Still, they remained silent. 

One of them pointed his gun at her while the other got closer and took the crying child from her arms. Valerie tried to resist for a few moments until another pulled her away.

Now there were tears streaming down Valerie's face. "Please don't take my son." She begged.

"Mama!" Leon cried, his little arms trying to reach for Valerie.

"I'll give you anything you want." She insisted.

But they paid no attention to her. They only left her on the ground, crying into her hands. The group dressed in black returned to their vehicle and sped off into the night. 

The police, as well as an ambulance arrived minutes later. But it was too late.

Leon was gone.

-

The police tried to question Valerie, but she had fallen into a state of shock. Instead, they had the ambulance take her to a nearby hospital to assess whether there had been any damage done to her. But the only damage she felt was on the inside. Valerie felt guilty about losing Leon. How would she face Toni now?

Since they thought it was a kidnapping, the police assumed they would be communicating with either Toni or Valerie to ask for a ransom. And they were optimistic that they would be able to save the child. 

Toni arrived at the hospital as soon as he got the news. He had been at football practice and had gotten held up by a few of his team mates when he asked them which was the best way to propose to a woman. And when he was on his way to the day care he had realized all the time that passed and tried to call Valerie. That had been when he arrived there to find detectives on something that looked like a crime scene. They had informed him that his son had been kidnapped and that his girlfriend had been taken to the hospital.

Toni's heart broke at the news. He had just won the custody battle for Leon, and was trying to start a family with Valerie, only to have it ruined so quickly.

He rushed to the hospital to see her, and then he would have to call Jessica to give her the news.

She was Leon's mother after all.

When he arrived, he was allowed into Valerie's room almost immediately. She had been sedated to keep her calm, and there were needles hooked up to her skin.

"Miss Greene is fine." The doctor informed Toni. "She was just in a mild shock after what happened, but she will recover well. And the baby she's expecting is fine as well." He added, patting Toni on the shoulder reassuringly. Though Toni felt all but reassured at that moment.

Still, he was surprised at what he heard, "She's pregnant?"

"Yes," The doctor nodded, "And the baby is healthy."

The doctor then excused himself and left the room, leaving Toni there with Valerie, who was still unconscious.

-

Valerie finally woke up from her sleep a few hours later. And when she saw Toni, she only had to look in his blue eyes to know he had been crying. The tears quickly escaped from her eyes as well. And it was her sobs which drew his attention to her and let him know she was awake. 

"I'm sorry, Toni." She cried. "Its all my fault. I should have been more careful, I should have done more to keep them from taking him."

Toni sighed, "It wasn't your fault. You couldn't have known this was going to happen."

She shook her head. "I offered them money, everything I had at the moment. And they didn't want it. They took him from me."

"We'll find him." Toni got up from his chair on one side of the room and cut the distance between them. Holding her hand in his, he gave it a light squeeze and said to her, "He'll be back with us soon, liebe." Just how soon, he didn't know. But he was determined to do everything that was in his power to get his son back.

Valerie was required to stay in the hospital over night to keep her in observation, and Toni stayed by her side. He had called Jessica that night and devastated, she took the first flight to Madrid.

In the morning, when Valerie was released from the hospital, Jessica was waiting for them.

"You're so irresponsible!" She yelled accusingly at the blonde who looked a mess. "How could you let them take my son?"

Her words seemed to trigger a fresh wave of tears from Valerie's eyes. But Jessica didn't care.

"You probably planned this, didn't you?" She hissed, her words full of venom. Jessica had heard from other nurses in the hospital that Valerie and Toni were expecting a child of their own. That had made her even angrier than she already was. "You probably wanted to get Leon out of the way to replace him with your new child."

"That's not true." Valerie swore through her tears. "They snuck up behind me and took Leon away, I tried to stop them. I do take responsibility for not being able to defend him properly. But I didn't plan this. I love Leon."

"I know, liebe." Toni wrapped an arm around Valerie's shoulders and pulled her close. She buried her face into his chest and he shot Jessica a glare. "Leave Valerie alone, Jessica. She's already stressed enough as it is."

Jessica let out a sarcastic laugh. "So, my son is out there, possibly in danger, and I'm supposed to have consideration for her? How about some consideration for our son, Toni? He got kidnapped, and you're here acting like he doesn't exist. Or did you forget about him now that she's going to give you a child too?" 

"I didn't forget about Leon." Toni said firmly.

Valerie sniffed, her eyes red and her face blotchy from all the crying. "I'm sorry he's gone. I'm so sorry."

"A sorry won't get my son back to me." Jessica spat. She was doing everything in her power to make Valerie feel worse than she already did. "I knew this was a bad idea, leaving him with you two. But as soon as we find him, I'll appeal to have the judge give me custody of my little Leon."

When Jessica walked away, Valerie couldn't help but feel that Leon's mother knew something more.

-

well isn't jessica an evil bitch? i hope you're liking the story beause its super close to its end. i really enjoyed writing this one. its one of my fave football player fics i have written because i like making the stories dramatic, like mexican soap operas. trust me, those have so many twists and turns that if you miss like ten minutes of it, you dont know wtf is happening.

anyway, enjoy the new chapter.

-clary xx