What a beautiful day. I watch as Colt and my father laugh together across the picnic table. My mother is completely immersed in reading a Dr. Seuss book to Madison on the grass.

When Colt insisted we meet with my family today, I had no idea what to expect. He refused to share any of his plans with me, telling me the details were a secret.

I’m not sure why it had to be such a mystery. I’m not complaining. This lunch in Central Park has been lovely. However, spending time with the entire family like this is hardly a covert mission.

“I’m just going to take a little stroll with your father. We won’t be long.” Colt’s fingertips graze against my round belly.

I arch my back and push my newly popped bump out proudly. It took almost six months to finally look pregnant and now I’m soaking up every second.

“You two are going for a walk? Now?” my mother interrupts, looking over at Dad with her eyebrow cocked. “John, it’s starting to cloud in, and we still have to pack up the car.” She nods at the remnants of our family lunch strewn around.

I gaze at the sky, at the fat, gray clouds she’s referring to hovering around the bright blue sky we’ve been enjoying all afternoon. We haven’t been alone, of course. On a gorgeous day like we were having it seems like all of Manhattan crams themselves into Central Park to catch a few rays. From the group yoga session we witnessed earlier across the field, to the hipster moms all pushing expensive strollers, it’s been a perfect day for people watching. Although, with Madison dancing and singing, it’s been hard for any of us to watch anything but her joyful face.

“Don’t worry, Mom, I’ll help you get this all tidied up. It won’t take long,” I reassure her. “Just make sure you guys don’t take too long. She’s right, you can see rain is on its way, and I don’t want to get caught in a downpour.” I look at Colt and my father. It’s nice to see them get along so well now. Since we went to dinner at their house nearly a month ago, family gatherings are becoming a regular routine.

“We’ll be back in a jiffy.” My father rests his hand on my mother’s shoulder gently. “The boy wants to ask me something, and I think it’s only right that I hear him out.” He looks into her eyes, and they share a smile.

I hope Colt and I still look at each other like that forty years from now.

As the men disappear down the path together, I focus my attention on Madison. “Do you wanna play ponies?”

She lifts her hopeful brown eyes at me. I swear, you can never play ponies enough with this girl. I’m pretty sure I could turn into a pony and she would still demand more.

“Sure, you grab them out of your backpack over there.” I point to the little Dora the Explorer bag tucked under the table. “I’ve just gotta go use the washroom, but when I get back we’ll play. Okay?”

Madison’s eyes sparkle with excitement as she lunges under the table to retrieve her toys.

“Mom, can you keep your eye on her for a couple minutes? This baby is kicking at my bladder again.” I hold my hand on my swollen baby bump.

“I’ll do you one better. I won’t just keep my eye on you,” she talks to Madison. “I’ll play ponies with you until Isabella gets back. How does that sound?”

“Yay!” Madison enthusiastically approves of my mother’s plan.

Making my way to the public washroom down the hill, the clouds seem to be rolling in quicker now. Just as my hand reaches the door, the first light sprinkles of rain mist against my face.

Great, those guys better hurry up.

Hopefully Mom just takes Madison to the car. The water reminds me of my uncomfortably full bladder, so I hurry inside to relieve myself.

After flushing the toilet handle by giving it a little kick with my foot, I leave the stall and walk over to the sink. The exit door flings open and a woman walks in, looking like she was just dredged up from the depths of a dirty pond.

“Wow, it must really be coming down out there!” I quickly rinse off my hands so I can get moving and help Mom toss the stuff in the car and get Madison squared away.

“The rain is God’s baptism. It figures you would hide from it, since you whisper Satan’s words into the pharaoh’s ear.”

My entire body shivers as my skin covers in gooseflesh. I turn and stare at the woman. With her stringy, soaked hair and deeply sunk, hollow eyes I hadn’t recognized her.

“Lisa? Oh my God! What are you doing here?” My voice is shrill and echoing off the bathroom stalls.

“Do not take Our Father’s name in vain!”

She reaches in her pocket and my eyes grow wide as she pulls something out in her clenched palm. I look frantically at the door she’s blocking. The only way out of here is behind her. She flicks her wrist and it becomes clear what she’s yanked from her jeans as she opens a switchblade.

“Shit! Lisa, don’t do this. You don’t know what you’re doing. Put down the knife,” I beg, my voice trembling as I back up toward the stall I just came out of slowly.

“You took her from me. You took my child!”

She lunges across the room at me, and I fall backward through the stall door and slam the door shut in her face. My fingers struggle to shut the flimsy lock, but I can’t get my grasp when Lisa is shoving all her weight against the other side.

“You’re trying to take her to the darkness, to steal her away from the light,” she screams and throws herself into the door, managing to crack it open a little.

“Help!” I shriek and my words reverberate around the room. “Fuck, someone help me! Help! She’s gonna stab me!” Tears streak down my face as I try with all my might to keep the metal barrier of the stall door between us, but for someone so wiry, she’s surprisingly strong.

Lisa plows through the door and corners me in the back of the stall, feebly using the toilet to put space between us. I face the wall, trying to protect my belly from her knife and wildly scratch at the wall as if there’s a secret passage out of here I just need to find.

“Lisa, please! I’m pregnant. You’re not just gonna hurt me. You’ll be hurting an innocent child. Help! Fuck! Help!” I scream again, praying that someone, anyone, will save me.

“Your child will be okay. You would raise her in darkness, but I will bring her into the light. I’m going to take her from your belly, and I’ll save her life.”

Lisa lunges across the toilet toward me, and I crouch down and twist around, pushing past her. My head snaps back as she palms a fistful of my hair, but I keep pulling forward in a desperate attempt to escape. She grabs my arm and flings me to the floor, jumping on my back like she’s mounting a horse. My heart races as my senses all narrow down to one purpose: to escape.

I fling wildly, rolling over and knocking her off of my back and the knife skitters across the bathroom floor underneath the sinks. I start to push myself back up to run out of here before she has a chance to reclaim her weapon, but she shoves me down with her foot and knocks my forehead against the stall frame.

“Lisa! What the fuck!” Colt’s voice booms around me, but I can’t move. “Isabella! Isabella! Are you okay?”

I want his arms around me. To know that everything will be okay, but blood is pooling on the floor in front of my face and my vision is narrowing. I can hear Lisa screaming, and Colt’s and my father’s voices meld together in the distance as my sight shrinks inside of a black tunnel. I drop my head to the floor and everything goes dark.