• I held Ricky in my hands. He smiled up at me and giggled. He thought I was his mother just like his father.
    “Taralee, you are starting to freak me out.” Matt said placing a hand on my arm. He sat me down in the rocker we placed in the corner of the room. “What are we going to do? Where the hell is our baby?” He knelt down and looked at Ricky, he placed a finger on his forehead, when he pulled it back, and there was blood on it. It wasn’t our imaginations, it really was Ricky.
    “Matt, go call Cris. Make sure she knows everything and tell her she needs to get here as soon as possible. We will pay her extra if we have to.” Matt nodded and hesitated to leave my side at first, but jogged to our bedroom for the phone, then downstairs for her number. After a few minutes he came upstairs again. “She is coming?” I asked. He nodded and placed his hand on his head.
    “God, this headache is killing me.” He mumbled as he started for the bedroom to get some pills. But he stopped mid-walk and turned to me. A smile grew across his face.
    “Matt?” I asked leaning forward a bit.
    “Why is it always Matt you want Rachel. I thought we were destined.” Matt’s voice came out deeper. I knew Joe was in there.
    “Joe. I am not Rachel, I am Tara.” I stood slowly and walked toward him, stopping about 5 feet from him. Ricky wiggled in my arms.
    “Ah, but you are not. You are holding our child, Rachel. How could you do that? Disappear and then come back with a new name and a new man. And look at this place, Ricky can not fit in; this room is designed for a girl. Rachel, you are not trying to turn our son are you?” Joe wandered around, looking as though he struggled to walk. It only made sense; he has been a ghost for some time now.
    There was a knock on the door, Joe’s eyes looked angry. He started to head out of the nursery, I needed to stop him. “Joe, can you get Ricky’s bear?” I asked, remembering the vision. He nodded and headed for the dresser. He stopped when the bear wasn’t there and looked around a bit. I quickly shut and locked the door from the outside. There was no way to unlock it inside, so Joe was stuck.
    I hurried downstairs and opened the door. Cris looked at me, and then at Ricky, her face grew pale white. She hurried in and started pulling out objects from a bag. Four covered bowls, chalk, and a small bottle of water. She set them up and uncovered the bowls. One was filled with water; another has sand and a small candle, another bowl of sand and then a bowl of rocks. I was confused. She shook her head, informing me not to ask. She lit the candle then a stick, which she stuck in the other bowl of sand. She stopped arranging them when she had them in four different directions. Suddenly she stiffened. “Put the baby down and grab a chair quick.” I did as told. I put the chair beside her and waited. “Grab the child and move over to your couch, sit and don’t, I mean, don’t move no matter what happens.” I nodded a bit scared, and then I saw was she was talking about. Joe, in Matt’s body, came down the stairs in rage. “I command you show no harm toward me, in the name of the God and Goddess.” She muttered. Joe growled lowly. “I command you to show no harm toward this family and leave this mans body, in the name of the God and Goddess.” She then tossed some of the water from the bottle at Joe. He hissed and fell to his knees. I watched in horror. “I command you show weakness toward me, in the name of the God and Goddess.” She tossed more water on him, then pulled him to the chair and sat him down. She dipped her finger in the water and drew a cross on Joe’s head, then placed a rosary cross on top of the water and pressed down with her thumb. She muttered words slowly and quietly. It didn’t sound like a language that I knew, but I trusted her. Joe’s body started surging forward. “Tara, I need you to come behind and pull his body back, hold him in place and don’t let him move.” I stood and got behind the chair, locked my fingers and pulled back with all my strength. He struggled, but I held him so he couldn’t escape. “I commend you leave this house forever, leave these peoples lives forever, in the name of the God and Goddess. I cast you out!” She yelled. The struggling stopped and she put her hand on mine. I let go of Matt and sat on the ground. Joe was gone. It was easy to tell, the unsettling feeling he gave when around was gone.
    “Is he gone forever?” I asked as Matt groaned slightly.
    “The evil spirit? Yes.” She said. She looked at Matt and bowed her head in a slight nod before speaking to him, “Drink lots of water and try to not use too much energy for the next few days.”
    Cris looked over at Ricky. “Oh, what a precious baby boy, I think it’s time you go see your real mommy.” She smiled and picked him up, bringing him over to her set up. She placed a cross on his head with the water and mumble in the other language again. Soon Ricky faded and Naria came back to view. I started crying slightly; Matt stood up and held me tight. “Alright, your house should be fine now. Make sure you feed her a little more then you normally would for a few days. And please do not tell anyone about my ritual. I mixed Wicca and Christianity; those two religions would have my head if they knew.” She smiled and handed me Naria. I nodded slowly.
    “Thank you, please stay for dinner.” Matt insisted. But Cris politely declined, picked up her things, and walked out the door.