Conceived

Supposedly, after the third insemination Jennifer conceived her child in June, 2007 - after being back with N. Bright 2 months.  As mentioned earlier once the pregnancy was established Jennifer was being watched by the Bright family to the extent that she was constantly under surveillance.  We were suspicious of their motives early on, but kept it to ourselves.

We got a call early February 15, 2008 from N. Bright telling us that Jennifer was in labor at Olathe Medical Center and Jennifer was asking for us.  We went straight to the hospital and was with her and Natalie in the labor room until Owen Bright was born.  My husband held the recorder that chronicled his birth and one of the first pictures in his Baby Book was me holding him.  Jennifer's doctor, Dr. Rita Oplotnik spent a good deal of time stitching her up after the birth.  I only mention this now, because later on in a future Blog you will hear of the lies told in the Court Room about how this day progressed.

I stayed with Jennifer after the birth while my husband went home with Natalie to take care of their dogs.  Sitting in the room with her she told the nurse that I would be taking care of Owen after she went back to work.  When the nurse left, she confided to me that they would be using a "day care" provider so Owen would not get too attached to me and put Natalie's family at a disadvantage.  She also told me Natalie's brother, Danny Bright was living in the basement of their house and that Natalie's mother, Gail Fagen was on her way from Des Moines in the next few days after Owen's birth so she could orchestrate his care with them.   She apologized for this situation, but this is what Natalie wanted.

I sat with her until Natalie and my husband got back to the hospital and we went to get them lunch and dinner later that night.  We left the hospital around 7:00 pm when her friends Jill and Amy came to see her and Owen. 

Jennifer came home the next evening and after that is when things changed for the worst.

Jennifer stayed home for about 2 months for maternity leave.  When I was free, I went and sat with Owen so she could get some rest on many occasions.   I brought food various times.  Got diapers, medicine or whatever she needed.

After she went back to work at the Olathe Police Department, I kept my grandchild at our house almost every weekend so Jennifer could get things done at home.  Natalie was on shift work and was not home on an 8-5 schedule as Jennifer was.  When Owen was with me, I would keep schedules of diaper changes, bottles, etc. for both of them so they would know what he was doing.

During the week he went to Day Care at a place in Olathe, Kansas name Jackie's Day Care.  On the days Natalie Bright had off, she would stay home with him and this is how it went until January, 2009.

Jennifer called Monday,the morning of January 5, 2009 and asked me to keep Owen that day.  I did not work on Monday so I did keep him.  When she brought him over she asked me if I would take care of him all week every week as Jackie's Day Care was reported to the SRS for violations at the facility.  I agreed to take care of him and absolutely loved the idea.  I quit what I was doing and took care of him all the time.  Usually 3 or 4 days a week and most weekends.  Natalie Bright still kept him on her days off which was the same arrangement they had with his aforementioned care giver.  Jennifer and Natalie paid me what little I was making in my other job, so I could maintain some sort of income.

In September, 2009 Natalie Bright started working 8:00-5:00 weekly and the weekends off.  I kept Owen 5 days a week until May 6, 2010.  Jennifer enrolled Owen in pre-school at Goddard School 2 days a week on Tuesday and Thursdays so he could get used to other kids.  I continued to keep him all other days including the days he was sick and could not go to Goddard.  

My girl had great plans for her child and none of it coincided with what Natalie Bright and Gail Fagen and Danny Bright wanted.  For instance, Jennifer told me that she couldn't wait for Owen to get big enough to have a first Christmas Tree and wake up on Christmas morning to find that Santa had been there and left presents under the tree.  She wanted her own traditions to hand down to him.  That never happened.  She was allowed no tree and any and all holiday's were to be spent in Des Moines with the Bright and Fagen families. 

So many of Jennifer's dreams for this little boy would not come true.  I could go on and on about the way her self confidence was broken and then totally shattered by days and nights of criticism by Natalie Bright and her family, but by now you should get the picture. 

I cannot say for absolutely sure when Natalie Bright started having a relationship with another woman by the name of Sarah Tackett, who worked under Jennifer at the Olathe Police Department.  Natalie Bright worked at the Olathe Police Department with Jennifer and Tackett for a length of time then Bright got a job with the Johnson County Sheriff's Department because fraternization within ranks at the Olathe Police Department was frowned upon.  I could go back in my calendars and try to pinpoint the exact time but that is not important.  What is important is that every employee in both Departments were well aware of the situation and that together with the humiliation Jennifer felt at home and at work led to the eventual outcome.  If I could guess when Bright and Tackett got together, I would say at least a year, if not longer, before Jennifer found out for sure what was going on.