Jessica come home.

This is Jessica:

She may look like a happy meal toy, but . . . this is no ordinary toy. This is my son's daughter.

Kiddo never, ever got so attached to a toy as he did to this one. When he was at that age where most kids glom onto one toy and cherish it above all things, we tried to find that one special toy for him to love. We was just not interested. Then, last summer, Jessica came into our lives via the library reading club. She arrived in a paper-plate-and-tin-foil space ship, a week or so before the Vacation from Hell. And she stole our hearts.

Connal adores his Jessica. He takes her every where. She sits on his desk during lessons and on the table at diner time. She rides in his pocket to hockey practice and Sunday school. He takes her to Cub scouts and Museums, and he holds her up so she can see things. He bought her a dog and made her a bed out of a mushroom box. We video taped Jessica putting her first ornament on the Christmas tree. The first thing he says every morning is, "Where's Jessica?"

Where, indeed?

Today, she slipped out of Ted's pocket. He told Kiddo to let him carry Jessica, to keep her safe. We didn't realize until we got home.

Tomorrow, of course, we will return to the restaurant and the forest preserve where we went today. Ted already called off work. We will search every inch of where we went today.

For now, there is nothing to do. The restaurant is closed, the forest is dark. Ted is pacing around, guilt-ridden and sad. He is feeling the pain of having betrayed his son's trust. For me, I am in tears and working on a very large glass of wine. I have a toy that I loved that much. I know how I would have felt to think my Leo was lost and alone somewhere, perhaps never to be found. Kiddo wandered off to mess with the new train layout. He is being very quiet.

For now, I will say a special prayer tonight and keep my fingers crossed.

Jessica, please come home.

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Edited to add:

Just as I was about to post this, Ted had a flash of inspiration and searched Kiddo's coat pockets. All of a sudden I heard him say, "Oh my God!" Guess what he found.

Kiddo raced up the stairs when we called him, gave the found Jessica a big hug, and whisked her off to play trains with him. Ted collapsed into a chair. I am completely speechless. Wow. Just, wow.