A young mother is petrified when a mysterious ghostly baby suddenly appeared in her newborn son’s crib.

The day Erin and Patrick Halloway came home with their son, they swore they’d do anything to keep him safe. Before his birth, they had researched the best and safest products for his nursery.

Little Sam’s nursery was a dream come true of soft blues, palest lemon yellow, and lavender. His crib was ergonomic and state of the art, his mattress was anti-allergic, and over his crib hung a mobile with a tiny nanny cam so Erin and Pat could keep an eye on Sam all night long.

Of course, as soon as Erin was home from the hospital, all their relatives and friends came over to visit and to meet little Sam. Among their visitors was Patrick’s great-grandma, Siobhan.

Siobhan was delighted with Sam and immediately declared that he looked exactly like her own grandfather George, who had the gift of seeing fairies.

Erin smiled politely and the elderly woman tenderly cradled Sam and caressed his cheek. Sam opened his eyes and yawned. “Why,” cried Siobhan. “He’s got the LOOK!”

“What look?” asked Erin, itching to take her baby back into her own arms, but afraid to seem rude.

“His eyes, they be the color of the moon! You’d best watch out the fairies don’t steal you baby and leave a changeling!” Seeing Erin’s shocked expression, Siobhan’s granddaughter, Patrick’s mother, decided to intervene.

“Away with you then, Grandma Siobhan, and don’t you be scaring the young ones with those Old Country stories!” she cried. But Siobhan clucked her tongue and kept muttering about the full moon and changelings.

Superstition leaves us vulnerable to fear.
Erin and Patrick were relieved when the family finally left and they could get back to enjoying their baby. Unfortunately, they had just finished changing little Sam’s first nappy when Pat’s phone rang.

Saying some not very nice words under his breath, Pat answered it then hung up and turned apologetically to Erin. “I’m so sorry, Erin,” he said. “I know I’m supposed to be on paternity leave, but this is our biggest client…”

“It’s OK, Pat,” said Erin gently. “Sam’s tummy is full, he’s clean, and I think he’s ready for his first sleep in his new bed. I’ll take the monitor with me and go down and sort out that pile of presents the family brought!”

Pat gently kissed the sleepy Sam’s tiny feet and hugged his wife. “I’ll be back, and if you need me I’ll be here in ten minutes!”

Erin lay Sam down on his bed, made sure the nanny cam and the night light were on, and went downstairs to tidy up. There really were too many presents! She decided that she and Pat could put some of the gifts away and bring them out in a year or two — maybe three.

Who gave a newborn a set of Legos, or a tricycle? Erin could understand the excitement though, Sam was the first grandchild on both sides of the family and they had waited for a long long time for him.

Erin and Pat had married eight years before, and even though they were both determined to start a family right away, it just didn’t happen. Doctors told Erin that because she suffered from endometriosis, in vitro was their best bet — but the first three procedures just didn’t take.

Then when Erin had gone to the clinic for the last procedure, the doctor had examined her, frowned, called the nurse, and insisted on an ultrasound. Then he grinned. “Congratulations, Mrs. Holloway! You don’t need me. You’re pregnant!”

The next nine months had passed in a blend of excitement and anxiety, but finally, Sam had been born healthy and so beautiful!

Erin heard a tiny sound from the nanny cam monitor and picked it up. A scream lodged in her throat. The monitor showed her baby lying on his side, stretching his little legs, but next to him facing him was another baby! Erin’s hands were shaking so badly she could hardly hit Pat’s number on speed dial.

“Pat…” she whispered hoarsely. “Come home, come home NOW!”

“What?” asked Pat. “Erin, are you OK? What’s wrong? Is Sam OK?”

“There’s a changeling, a ghost… Come QUICK!” cried Erin, and ran upstairs. But there was no changeling and no ghost baby in the crib next to Sam who was sleeping peacefully.

Erin looked again at the monitor, and there it was! A pale blue, eerily glowing baby who looked a lot like Sam! Then she heard Pat’s footsteps on the stairs. “Erin!” he cried. “What’s going on?”

Shaking, Erin handed Pat the nanny cam monitor and saw the color drain from her husband’s face. Pat took two steps and bent over his son’s crib, but there was no ghost baby…

Pat looked at the nanny cam monitor again, then at the tiny camera suspended in the mobile, and grinned. “I’ve got it!” he whispered, and gently pulled back the undersheet in Sam’s crib.

Printed on the mattress in palest blue was an adorable illustration of a sleeping newborn. “There’s your fairy changeling!” said Pat. “And serves you right for listening to grandma Siobhan!”

“But…It’s only visible on the nanny cam!” cried Erin, flushed with embarrassment.

“This nanny cam is state of the art, with night vision, so it picked up a trace of phosphorescence in the print under the bedsheet,” explained Patrick. “As you can see there’s no ghosts, ghoulies, or changelings, no matter what grandma Siobhan says!”