take it

38

one week later

We had just got the girls stitches out, they were both fully recovered and now we were going to a work Christmas party.

"Chris, is Allie ready?" I asked, peaking my head into Christina's room.

"Uh- yeah she is, she just needs shoes" she spoke, looking out of the bathroom to ensure that I was helping her.

As I carried Allie downstairs, she talked about her outfit and how it was new; she was proud of it.

"Cal, I can tie my own shoes" she mumbled as I set her on the couch, kneeling to watch her.

"You can?" I smiled, amused, knowing she couldn't.

She gave out a nod.

"Tie it, princess"

I watched as she literally tied her shoe into a knot, looking up- purely defeated.

"Look- I'll show you"

I tied it slow, explaining the whole process slowly, looking to her face once I finished.

She blinked at me before I saw a small smile appear.

"Do the other" she mumbled out, making me do the other, showing her.

"Cute" she spoke, a smile prominent on her rosy cheeks.

"Just as cute as you" I smiled, kissing her nose as I saw Christina and Luke coming down the stairs together.

We went to the party, bored out of our mind the entire time.

As a speaker spoke- Christina mumbled to me that she was going to the restroom- leaving with that.

Moments later the party was moving into more of a just social gathering- and we were getting ready to leave.

Christina approached with a smile, scanning our table.

"Where's Allie?" She questioned, making me glance behind her.

"I thought she went to the bathroom with you?" I shot to her.

"N-no she told me she wanted to stay"

So we kept calm, searching the building.

But after thirty minutes- Christina was purely panicked.

Michael told our boss the situation and she immediately got the lights back on and informed security.

I followed Christina everywhere- ensuring nothing happened to her.

"Calum" she whined out, her hand hitting her forehead, her cheeks bright red.

"She's okay baby, she just wandered off and got lost- we're going to find her." I had hope.

I led Christina, I checked the guys restrooms as she checked the girls.

Nothing.

The only other option was outside- and that's when Christina went into a pure panic mode.

"Anyone could've got her Calum-" "no one has her baby." I spoke, praying that was the situation.

"She's safe."

Soon cops arrived, searching with us, which caused Christina to turn into even more of a mess.

She was having anxiety like it was nothing, but she never stopped.

She followed the cops everywhere, answering any questions she had.

Soon a cop brought us to where we were waiting.

"Let's go inside and talk" he spoke- glancing to me- which I knew wasn't what I wanted to see

The five of us went in, Christina sat between Luke and Michael, Ashton and I standing behind them.

I held Christina's shoulders, kissing her head.
"There's no trace of her- which is of course scary and concerning." He spoke slowly.

"But the sooner we find her- the better" he nodded.

"So we're going to send out our search dogs just to sniff the area and see if anything comes up, do you have anything with her scent on it?" He asked.

It immediately hit me.

I pulled her scrunchie out of my pocket, handing it to him.

"Thank you- we'll send them out now."

"What can we do to help?" Luke asked.

He glanced at Christina.

"Keep her here and calm" he mumbled out, shaking all of our hands before leaving.

I rubbed Christina's shoulders, us all looking to her silent form.

"If she dies I can't-" "don't talk like that." Michael immediately spoke.

"She'll come running through those doors in seconds."

Soon we watched the police let the dogs walk in the building, them sniffing everything.

Soon we heard barking, which made Christina immediately stand up.

"We need a key!"