Answer:
This unusual premise was so appealing to "Annabelle Comes Home" writer/director Gary Dauberman that he turned the film's spotlight on 10-year-old Judy Warren (Mckenna Grace), the daughter of paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga).
To clarify, Judy shares this spotlight with Annabelle in the evil doll's third solo movie outing. The real plaything remains secured in a prayer-protected glass case at the occult museum next to the couple's home in Monroe, Connecticut.
"As a parent myself, I’ve thought a lot about Judy and what it must have been like to have parents like Ed and Lorraine Warren," Dauberman says. "You had people who believed in what they did, and those who didn’t."