Today the girls and I went to the library. Had to use the bathroom (remember I have three (3) little girls). I had quite the conundrum before me. I would usually take all three in the same stall (baby in a backpack or carseat), but this time I was holding the baby and didn't want to place her on the floor. So, I put her on the diaper changing table just outside the handicapped stall...I strapped her in, and asked Brianna, my three year old, to watch the baby while mommy went to the potty real quick. Kaitlyn, two, was already pulling down her pants in another stall. I asked her to wait for momma to help her cuz I was going to be real fast. And I was...real fast, but heard the baby cry, yelled "Oh, Shit," while pulling up my pants as I opened the door (I didn't take time to flush!). There was no baby on the changing table, no baby on the floor, and no three year old either!
As I am calling LOUDLY after Brianna I'm checking all stalls and find my Kaitlyn still waiting for her boost up. I tell her I'll be right back as I open the bathroom door to an empty lobby area but hear my baby crying. I find her on the floor around the corner all scraped up. I scoop her up and continue looking for my daughter all the way outside asking if anyone out there had seen a little girl. No one had. So, I went to get Kaitlyn out of the bathroom and search other places. As I turned the corner to the bathroom I saw Brianna trying to get back into the bathroom. Assuming she had been hiding from me I asked her if she had pulled the baby off the table and put her on the floor and then hid. She replied, "No mommy, the bad lady did."
We finished up Kaitlyn's potty time while I asked Brianna a few questions about this 'bad lady' not sure I really believed her. She said, "she had dark hair like Daddy and Bubba (Joseph)." I asked if she could recognize her if we saw her again, she thought she could.
I know I didn't have all my wits about me because I just wanted to get my babies home and out of dangers way. Once in the car I questioned more, without offering details. Originally she said the bad lady put her in the bathroom, but I had checked all the stalls on my way out and knew she hadn't been put in a stall. It ended up being the Boy's bathroom which coincided with me seeing her trying to get back into the girl's bathroom.
I questioned my own thoughts as I suspected a possible abduction gone bad. Could it be my three year old had actually pulled the baby off the table and was trying to cover up? The more I replay the situation the more unlikely I realize those thoughts were. Brianna can barely walk two steps with her "big" baby sister let alone open the door by herself without difficulty. The time it took for me to open the stall door after hearing the baby cry was not long enough for her to even carry the baby across the bathroom floor, at least I would have caught her trying to open the door. I think someone had taken them, heard me coming, and put the baby down and the three year old in the men's bathroom, either ran out the exit 10 feet away or hid in the men's bathroom until all was clear.
After I got home I did call the library to report the situation and see if they had any serveillance equipment that might have caught the incident. They said they did not have any surveillance, the assistant manager was empathetic to my situation and was glad the children were all safe. ME TOO!! She suggested we fill out a police report which we did, even though there was nothing they could do since there was no suspect and the "witness" was too young to question successfully. The officers said there could be a few scenarios: the three year old did it and created the story, a concerned person seeing two children without obvious adult supervision may have thought they were helping and then decided it was none of their business, or a possible abduction aborted. I still stick with the abduction gone bad theory.
Long story short...I am glad to have my babies home safe and sound. I will never do that again! And I think public places like the library should have surveillance equipment covering all exits (this would have covered the bathroom door as there was an exit not 10 ft away from where I found the baby on the ground). I wish I knew for sure what happened, but I'm gut-wrenched when I think of what might have been. Be ever vigilant, and hug your little ones close!!
