Narrator...........

Leonard and his wife Teresa have been distressed for the past two months. The baby would rarely take any milk, the boy wouldn't stop crying and wouldn't sleep for longer than two hours. He neither smiled nor laughed at anything. Hayes was saddest little boy they'd ever come across.

They postponed their trip to Germany having second thoughts. "He's a beautiful little boy Teresa we can't simply give him back." The husband would insist.

Teresa and Leonard have been trying for the past twelve years, desperate for a child but it hasn't worked out for them. Teresa can't bare children and might never be able to do so. When Martha should up on their door steps three months ago, they believed that God had heard their prayers.

They fell in love with Hayes the second they saw him.

But they weren't prepared for what was coming. This baby boy was aware. He knew that his mother wasn't there anymore and he wouldn't stop crying. Day and night.

They thought in a matter of weeks the baby would adjust and perhaps move on but the baby never did.

It was starting to be painful for Teresa, watching the baby cry all day. Nothing she'd do would calm him down. He didn't want shiny things, he didn't care for lullabies or pretty sounds. His eyes were always roaming around searching for his parents. He didn't like it there and Teresa knew right away.

Hayes didn't want them.

"What do we do?" She cried one night in bed with her husband. "I want to keep this baby Leo but he doesn't want me to be his mother." She was in pain. Teresa felt unfortunate. She often questioned everything. Wasn't she worthy of being a mother? Was she not good enough to raise a baby? "We need to return him."

"You remember what Martha told us. This baby's mother is desperate for anyone to care for the child. We can't let this boy fall into the wrong arms." Leo reminded.

"What about his father?" Teresa addressed. "He needs to know he has a son. What if he wants to keep the baby? We can't simply let Martha assume he wouldn't be able to raise his son just because he is young. My cousin Dylan raised cherry when he was 22 years old and he managed. And the mother of Hayes always insisted that the father was a good man. We must give him a chance."

"What about us? Don't we deserve a chance Teresa? It's been twelve years? And still there's Nothing. I love this boy and you want to take that away too."

Teresa grew pale.

"He doesn't want me. I can't force this baby to love us back. Please Leo. Don't make this more difficult that it already is."

Leonard was heart broken and he felt betrayed. He wondered whether he made the right choice staying with Teresa after so long. But he loved her, so much, and it was slowly starting to be insufficient. She simply wasn't enough for him. He wanted a family of his own.

"You know I want to give you a child. But may be Hayes isn't....."

"How do you know that Teresa? How do you know whether Hayes is meant to be ours or not?"

"Because I didn't birth this child." She spoke out.

"You can't even birth any child." He responded in frustration and immediately regretted it. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."

Teresa's heart ached as the tears shed. But she knew Leonard was right. She won't ever be able to give him children.

"It doesn't feel right keeping this Baby anymore." Teresa concluded.

Leonard didn't want to argue with his wife. The atmosphere was already thick and he couldn't look at her anymore. "I'll be in the guest room. Good night."

The next morning, Leonard gave Martha a call. He knew his wife was right. And as much as he wanted to be a father to Hayes, it wasn't meant to be.

"That baby's father wouldn't know how to care for the boy," Martha claimed. "What does he know about children, nothing. He went onto recklessly impregnate his girlfriend and you think he's suited to raise this child. Please, Leonard, reconsider. This child needs a bright future and that young man wouldn't give it to him." She wouldn't allow Hayes to fall into his father's hands. She didn't trust him enough.

"We should let him decide on that. Until he has formally regretted his son, then we'll reconsider keeping Hayes." Leonard stated. "We can contact him, go wherever he is and fix this situation. Based on your previous explanations, the father doesn't even know that Elisabeth is in Georgia prison. What if he has been looking for her? Talk to Elisabeth. Ask her whether she is willing for us to take the baby to his father." Leonard hang up the call.

Martha found herself in a tight position. She was convinced that Elisabeth and the father of her baby are too young, infact, this baby was an accident, unplanned, they wouldn't know what to do. Elisabeth was in prison, and the father is probably an irresponsible person. They don't know any better.

Martha also worried for the child's safety. Nobody was to discover that Elisabeth gave birth in prison. So how does she prevent the father of the baby from showing up in Georgia prison? If he came here 'which Martha doubted', that would jeopardize everything. She needed to come up with a plan to keep the father away. Because whether or not he knew Betty was there, there's nobody capable of setting Betty free. She had no records, no trial, infact, there wasn't even a case. Long story short, There's no evidence to prove Betty was locked up there. To the world, Elisabeth Wilson was never in Georgia prison, no records can back that up. She was placed here against all law. She's being held captive. Nobody can help her.

And if news of her child reach the wrong ears, they will lose that baby.

So When Martha went to Elisabeth's prison cell that afternoon, she advised Elisabeth to make the right decision.

Teresa and Leonard received a call from Martha hours later, "Elisabeth has agreed on bringing the baby to the father."

"What if the father asks about her? What do we say?"

Martha knew she had to protect the baby. So she and Elisabeth agreed to do what was necessary and lie to Enos for Hayes' sake.

"Tell the father that Elisabeth died in labour."

With that lie, Enos wouldn't find the need to come after Betty in Georgia. After all, whether or not he came, it wouldn't change anything. So it's best that they have Enos believe that Elisabeth had died when giving birth. Hopefully that would keep him away. Elisabeth was never getting out of prison. James' father made that perfectly clear.

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Two months had passed and Enos' attempts and efforts amounted to nothing, it went in vain. After flying across continent with thousands of dollars in debt, Enos returned to Tennessee with all hope lost. Enos was convinced that he might have lost Elisabeth forever. He was sure that he'd never see her again. They had taken her away from him, hid her somewhere nobody would find her. That thought tore him open each time.

His father watched Enos break and fall apart. It was the toughest thing Mister White had ever gone through, witnessing his soon get wasted like all his potential. Enos became a shadow of what everyone once knew. He was drowning deeper and deeper into the darkness. Replaying every moment he spent with Betty in his head every single day. He got up each morning, went to the fields and dug a hole.

He was angry.

Digging that hole was the only way to get tired enough to fall asleep. If he didn't dig that hole, he would stay awake the entire night and won't get a chance to see Betty in his nightmares.

Those nightmares, he had considered them the sweetest dreams now. He didn't care that they terrified him to death, watching Betty get taken away over and over again, but as long as he could see those green blue eyes, it was enough.

He saw her remnants every corner of the room. He saw pieces of her in everything he could touch. There wasn't apart of his body that Betty didn't imprint herself. She was in his head, in his heart and in his skin. He felt like Betty was part of him.

Enos ached inside out. He didn't know whether he'd ever recover. And it didn't matter to him. The love of his life was taken away. Separated from him and now he was left there to hold onto nothing.

He'll never be able to correct his mistakes. That was what hurt him more. He knew Betty deserved the world. Most of all, she deserved her peace and happiness. He wanted to give it to her. He wanted to take away all her pain. He wanted her to be filled with new hope and life. But he couldn't do anything. He couldn't protect Betty from her enemies. He couldn't shield her from the suffering.

Enos believed he failed as a human being, he failed as a lover, and he failed as a companion.

All he was suppose to do was love and protect this woman and he failed.

He was disgusted with himself.

Alcohol was his escape. He knew better than that but he couldn't help it. Enos intoxicated himself every single night. And then he'd suffer the hung overs the next morning. He had thrown away the morphine in his bathroom shelf. He wanted the migraines to hurt him. Deep down he wanted his veins to burst.

Enos realized that he was losing himself. But he didn't care.

His father couldn't get to him. Enos listened to nobody and was slowly starting to get violent whenever anybody got close to him. He wanted to be left alone.

Tulipa, Charles' little girl-was nolonger allowed to pay Mister White and his son a visit. She missed Betty and Enos and couldn't understand why she wasn't allowed to see them again. Her young mind was simply to innocent to understand that people change and not always for the better.

Mister White received a confidential and mysterious phone call one night from a married couple who lived in Georgia asking to speak to his son. He was confused as to why those people wanted to talk to Enos, he interrogated them but they insisted that they'd only speak to Enos and nobody else. He wondered if Enos was owing them money. He explained that his son was in no position to answer the call and if they really wanted to communicate with him, if it was that important, then they should come to Tennessee.

It was shocking to Mister White that five days later, the couple showed up in his house, and the woman holding her child in her arms. He grew more perplexed. What was so important that these people would fly cross continent to see his son. He reckon never seeing them before.

His son hated visitors. He wouldn't see nobody and mister White wasn't sure how he'd get Enos to come forward.

He invited them inside, and sat them in his small living room. Teresa noticed that the baby was suddenly calmer than usual. He didn't even cry but remained so settled. That made Teresa less worried. Perhaps, she thought, the baby's father wasn't a bad person.

Leonard and Teresa examined the surroundings. They weren't really impressed and were even alarmed that Mister White, the grandfather to the baby, was on a wheelchair. Making them doubt whether the baby would get the care he needs. They also obsessed that the grandmother wasn't present. So Mister white lived with his son alone, and this other young man who attended to the grandfather.

The house wasn't big enough, but that wasn't important as long as it was safe for a child to grow up in. They didn't want to say anything about the baby until they saw the actual father. They wanted to see what kind of man he was. If he was good like how Elisabeth claimed. So they didn't tell Mister white that the baby was Enos'. They only wanted to talk to Enos face to face.

So Mister white went to Enos in his room. His son was sited by the window, staring outside. He had a bottle of alcohol in his hands, and a cigarette on the other. Mister White was even reluctant in letting Enos know he had guests. But he talked to his son anyway.

"You have guests, a man and his wife." He informed. "They have something important to tell you."

"Tell them to leave." Enos responded simply.

"They flew all the way from Georgia."

Something inside Enos flickered when he heard Georgia. The mention of that place reminded him of Elisabeth. But he didn't care about the visitors. As far as he was concerned, he didn't know any married couple from Georgia and so he didn't care.

"Tell them to leave." He repeated himself.

Mister White didn't want to trigger his son, so he quietly left the room, returned to the couple and told them that Enos wasn't ready to speak to them. The two insisted that it was extremely important that they talked to Enos but Mister White explained that his son was going through something painful and he wasn't emotionally stable to address them.

Teresa and Leonard were disappointed. And since Leonard wanted to keep the baby, he pressured Teresa to leave.

On their way out, Mister White was shocked to see his son arriving in the living room. Enos called the couple back, "You wanted to speak to me?"

Teresa and Leonard turned around to face the baby's father. They observed and studied him carefully. He was a young man, well build and had long black hair. His appearance was generally displeasing to the couple, the tattoos on Enos' body alarmed Leonard. And the young man didn't look well, both physically and emotionally. He wasn't lively , he seemed depressed and it showed all over his sad blue eyes.

But they noticed something that was vivid, That young man was an exact replica of Elisabeth's baby. The eyes, the face, the two looked exactly alike. Leonard wanted to leave immediately but Teresa began to speak, "You must be Enos white. My name is Teresa Harvard. My husband and I have something to tell you ."

Leonard quickly intervened. "We'll come back tomorrow." He wasn't planning on ever coming back. He already distrusted Enos from one single glance. He saw Enos as unfit to raise a child.

Teresa stared at her husband in confusion, "But he's right there."

"He doesn't seem ready to take on the responsibility. We are clearly making a mistake." Leonard replied.

Teresa knew her husband had a point. Enos White didn't seem like a father figure, but she knew better than to judge a person before speaking to them so she whispered to Leonard, "We need to tell him the truth. Let the father decide whether he wants to keep the baby. But he needs to know this baby belong to him."

Leonard couldn't argue with Teresa. So he let her do what she believed was right.

Enos and Mister White were confused on what was going on.

Enos was confused, he never saw those people, and he didn't understand why they were even there.

Teresa walked forward with the baby in her arms. She didn't want to say much, she knew showing Enos and his father the baby's face would be enough to make them aware on what was happening. She uncovered the baby's face and reached out her arms for Enos to look at him. Enos who was only a few feet away felt a knot form on his throat. He hadn't yet seen the child but For some strange reason his heart started to beat faster.

"Go ahead, look at him." Teresa invited.

Enos was slightly hesitant, he didn't understand.

"Why? What's going on?"

"You have nothing to be afraid of Enos. Come closer and meet this baby."

Enos moved closer and closer until he was inches away from the baby. The baby's wide gentle blue eyes landed on his and instantly, without any indication, Enos knew.

Teresa and Leonard has never seen Hayes smile in last two months, but in that moment, they heard the baby giggle, with a huge smile on his face, and his hands reaching out to Enos. They were to stunned to speak.

And Enos, his heart had never beaten that fast all his life. He couldn't move a muscle, paralysed, and just stared at the baby boy. He trembled from the inside, eyes open to the miracle before him. He couldn't even comprehend.

Mister White was so confused and surprised. That baby looked exactly like Enos. No denying that. "How?" Mister White gulbed.

"That's what we came here to tell you, Enos , this is your son." Teresa exclaimed.

"Where is she?" Was the first thing Enos spoke out after minutes of staring into that baby's eyes. Something inside him ignited. There was a flicker of overwhelming hope from deep inside him. He knew that his baby came from Elisabeth. Because unlike everyone else, Enos noticed something in the baby's eyes that everyone else didn't. He saw the green, a band of green just above the baby's iris. It was thin, too thin, but Enos saw it. And that was enough to create a fire inside his heart.

Teresa's eyes turned sad.

She intially hadn't expected for the father to react that positively to the news. He might have not jumped in joyed, now celebrated gloriously, but Teresa saw something In Enos, she saw those tired lifeless eyes turn alive again the instant he saw that baby. She witnessed something grow inside that young man when he laid eyes on his son. It was all over the atmosphere around. The little boy was glimmering with excitement and Enos' eyes carried nothing but pure love and anyone could see it.

But she also realized from the way Enos asked about the baby's mother that he loved her. Deeperly. Because the way he spoke out. There was deep love behind those words.

She was almost jealous of Elisabeth.

But also sorry for her. Because she was face to face with what that young girl was losing. She lost her child and a man who would've done anything for them.

She couldn't even bring herself to lie to him.

But Leonard had to do what was to be done. He had to follow the plan for the sake of keeping the baby safe. So he did what he must.

"I'm sorry." He held his head strong. It was truly hard to tell the news. As much as he didn't like Enos, he knew that Enos actually loved Elisabeth. It simply showed.

Enos paled almost immediately. "Why are you sorry?"

Teresa closed her eyes to hide her tears. She didn't want to lie but they had no choice. It's what Martha and Betty wanted for the sake of Hayes' safety.

"What happened? How is she? Where is she?" With every question Enos asked, he was quickly dreading inside. He had feared for the worst already.

Leonard couldn't find the right words to say it, so he said what he could, "Elisabeth gave birth in prison, she died in labour."

Little did they know that a lie like that could kill a man.

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