I woke up in the middle of the night to hear the baby crying. It was my turn to calm it. Something was off though. The baby’s crying sounded different. It just wasn’t the same as before. I got up and went to the crib. It looked like my baby. It just didn’t feel like my baby. I took it out of the crib and started to rock it gently. It fell back to sleep. I decided to sit in the rocking chair with it for a while and figure out what’s wrong. Before I even sat down the answer came to me. It’s not my baby. It was someone else's, but who’s could it be and what happened to mine. I woke my husband up. I guess he could tell I was panicking.

    “What’s the matter” he asked.

    “Does this baby seem like our baby”, I probably looked freaked out because he gave me a look of confusion.

    “Yes. It does look like our baby. Why wouldn’t it not look like ours” he yawned.

    “I don’t think it’s ours. It seems different. Did you hear it cry” I asked him.

    “No” he answered plainly. “Go back to sleep, the baby will sound like ours again in the morning” and he laid back down and started to snore. I thought maybe he was right. Maybe I was just over tired. So I laid the baby back down in the crib and laid in my bed.

    I woke up again at six o’clock to the sound of the baby crying. I didn’t have to move though, it was my husband’s turn. He got up and started to rock the baby. It didn’t stop crying. He fed it, it didn’t stop crying. He changed it’s diaper, it didn’t stop crying. He sat in the rocking chair and rocked it for a while. It stopped crying. I sat up.

    “It still doesn’t sound like our baby” I informed him. He just sighed.

We got dressed, had breakfast and went out shopping. We had to buy new clothing for the baby. While I was picking out shirts for the baby we bumped into an old friend.

    “Hi” she said in happy surprise.

    “Hi” my husband and I said in happy surprise back.

    “How’s it been with the baby” she asked, looking down at the imposter baby.

    “You’ve seen my baby before” I said to her, “you know my baby very well. Does that seem like my baby”. She looked at my worriedly.

    “Why, yes. That seems like your baby. I haven’t introduced you to my baby yet, have I” she asked. Then she turned her walker around and what I saw almost made me cry.

    “That’s my baby” I shouted at her. She backed off, looking at me angrily.

    “Sorry” my husband apologized, “she’s sleep deprived”. Then he turned to me and said, “how about I wake up in the night for the baby and you get some rest”. I got really angry.

    “I am not sleep deprived. That is my baby. You swapped your baby with my baby. Give my baby back” and I lunged at her. She fell down with a thud and I got up and ran away with my baby, leaving the others behind. Then I woke up to the sound of my baby crying. It was my turn to calm the baby. I was glad. That dream was horrible.