It started off as any regular day. Valerie was getting rushed to the hospital to give birth to her beautiful baby boy. Her daughter, Paige, was left home with the housekeeper, Consuela. Hours passed and Valerie finally gave birth. As she lay on the hospital bed to see her baby, the doctor told her some terrible news. Her baby was a stillborn.

Valerie stayed at the hospital overnight and left first thing in the morning. On their way home they saw an antique store and Valerie wanted to check it out. She saw a beautiful china doll with curly golden locks. She thought, “what a wonderful gift for Paige!”. So she took the doll home.

Valerie and her husband, Chad, arrived home. Paige ran outside to see her baby brother. “Where is he?” she asked. “Your brother went to heaven” replied her father. She stood there motionless. “But, I’ve got a surprise for you!” said Valerie.

Paige looked at her mother questioningly and put her arms out. Valerie handed her the doll. Paige jumped with joy and excitement for the doll. She hugged it super tight. Paige instantly fell in love with the doll.

Weeks passed and Paige and her doll were inseparable. She would take it everywhere. Finally, her mother asked, “What a beautiful doll, may I hold her?”. Paige instantly replied with an aggressive tone. “NO! She doesn’t like you and only I can hold her!”. Valerie stepped back for a second and slapped Paige right across the face.

“Don’t you dare ever talk to me in that tone of voice ever again young lady!” she exclaimed. Paige dropped the doll and it hit the floor. She quickly picked it up and tried to make a run for it, but her mother stopped her. “You’re grounded and I am taking your doll away and letting you think about what you’ve done,” she said. Valerie took the doll and went to her bedroom. Paige just stood there speechless.

Valerie kept looking at the doll and loved the way it looked. She began talking to the doll and the doll was talking to her! She then got up and went the bedroom that would’ve her sons and shut the door. She sat on the rocking chair and was rocking the doll back and forth. Paige heard her mother talking and got up to see who she was talking to. Through the crack of the door, she saw her mother “feeding” the doll with a bottle and singing to it.

“You’re my baby now,” said Valerie. Valerie put the doll in the crib and left the room. Paige quickly ran downstairs into the dining room to talk to Consuela. Paige explained to Consuela how her mother was talking to her doll and pretending it was a baby. Consuela just told her it was her imagination and continued cleaning. Paige heard her doll cry for her and she ran to the nursery.

“Put me on the roof,” the doll said. Paige got the doll, opened the window of the nursery, and got on the roof and placed the doll on the edge. Paige remained on the roof but hid so her mother couldn’t see her. Valerie went upstairs to check on the doll and noticed it wasn’t in the crib. She looked outside and saw the doll on the roof.

Valerie climbed on the roof and was crawling towards the doll. “Now!” screamed the doll. Paige jumped out and pushed her mother off the roof. Valerie fell and landed head first on the concrete outside. Paige picked up the doll and went back inside the nursery.

Chad arrived home from work and found his wife dead on the ground. He quickly called the police and the ambulance arrived in a short amount of time. Valerie was pronounced dead at the scene. Paige just looked out the window as the ambulance took her mother away. She smiled and walked away from the window.

Three days passed and many people went to Valerie’s funeral. Everyone cried except for Paige. She stood there holding her doll really tight. Her father held her hand and they walked to the car so they could go home. As Paige walked away she whispered into her dolls ear, “You’re my baby now,”.