STF

Shipwide Side Sim: Catching up with Lucas Holloway

Posted Feb. 16, 2019, 12:51 a.m. by Colonel Calvin Harris (Commanding Officer) (Jerome Davis)

Posted by Captain Molly Wright (Chief Intelligence Officer) in Shipwide Side Sim: Catching up with Lucas Holloway

Posted by Colonel Calvin Harris (Commanding Officer) in Shipwide Side Sim: Catching up with Lucas Holloway

Posted by Captain Molly Wright (Chief Intelligence Officer) in Shipwide Side Sim: Catching up with Lucas Holloway
Posted by… suppressed (29) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Even though Molly’s quarters were just like those of any other officer on board the Dresden, her choice in ‘décor’ was not the most traditional one. To the right, the wall leading into the small dine-in kitchen was lined with multiple unopened crates. To the left, there was a small standard Starfleet issue sitting area — it had a couch, an armchair, and a coffee table. Besides the crates, the only other personal items in the room were a small pile of books that sat on the table, and what looked to be a modern rendering of an old Earth photo album. Among the books were two of Erin’s yearbooks, and piled on top of the album were a few pictures of Erin as well. It looked like a small side project Molly had been recently working on.

Lucas smiled as he saw the yearbooks, he had each of the yearbooks the girls had been in a bookshelf in his home office along with tons of pictures from their childhood and a few others from important moments clearly taken with a telephoto lens. Although Lucas had long ago resigned himself to watching his beloved nieces grow up at a distance, he did his best to keep up with their lives… if even at arms reach.

Alongside the books there was a single framed picture. This one of a happy couple laying on the grass of what seemed to be a park. Lucas would be able to recognize both people in the picture — one clearly being his oldest niece, and the other the Dresden’s CO, Colonel Calvin Harris. Apart from that, everything else in the room was as Starfleet issued as they came.

The air felt caught in Lucas’ throat in the moment he saw the picture, stunned that one of his oldest friends was involved with his niece. He wasn’t… upset… more surprised at this unexpected turn of events. He knew the highlights of Calvin’s romantic past… his lost loves… and was one of a handful of people to know of his fling with now Lt. Colonel Devri Hudson following his divorce from Vanessa.

Walking inside, Molly didn’t wait for the doors to shut behind her uncle. Instead, she stopped on her tracks, turned to her guest, her arms crossed over her chest in a clear defensive stance. “Do you really think you can just waltz back into our lives?” She started in an aggressive tone. “You didn’t bother taking us away from dad when you had the chance, and after we left you didn’t seem too keen on looking for us either.” Molly paused for a second, but resumed shortly not giving Lucas time to respond. “Some of the best times we had were when you came to visit. I thought you were fond of us… it seems I was wrong.” She paced the small hallway as she talked. “And now… I find out that our family owns Holloway Heavy Industries! That you of all people had the resources to search for us! You…” Molly sat down on the couch, her voice cracking. It seemed that suddenly, everything she had bottled up inside for years was finally coming out. She shook her head. “Mom and dad fought about money all the time… after she died…” Molly glared at her uncle as if she had remembered something new. “Hell! Maybe she would not be dead if they weren’t so broke! Maybe dad wouldn’t have gone so hard into drinking if mom hadn’t died in the first place! If he didn’t need a dead end job to single handedly take care of his two infant daughters!” For the first time in her life, Molly found herself almost freeing her father from blame. She had found someone else to place it upon. “You… you could have changed everything… but you didn’t… Why the hell are you even here? Why do you even care?”

Molly

Lucas let Molly vent and get it all out of her system and then, methodically, Holloway responded to each question. “OK, first and foremost…” Lucas began with a sigh, but in a tone that was still a loving, caring one. “… I didn’t fly halfway across the Sector after personally requesting… hell… demanding an injunction from the President of the UFP to keep that lunatic from throwing your ass in prison for the rest of your life under some delusional belief that you would welcome me with open arms. I’m not stupid Gracie.”

Pausing, knowing that her next question was the one that had haunted him for years, Lucas patiently continued. “Don’t think for one second I didn’t want to come for you and your sister… because I did. I have and still do love you both more than you could ever know. I knew you were in San Francisco before you even tried stealing that bread off the cart at the Market. The only reason I didn’t come for you before was the fact I was in Grad School… in dorms… at NYU. I couldn’t have taken you on if I wanted to and certainly never knew Peter was as much of a prick to you girls until he was crying on my dorm room floor after you had left.”

A pang of guilt hit Molly, but only for a second, at the thought of their father in tears over their departure. For the first time in her life, she considered the pain her actions might have caused. But she shook the feeling away. After all, he was the reason why they had left in the first place. And she knew that she had made the right choice. Her brow furrowed slightly as she wondered how did he know about the bread stealing episode… but she let her uncle continue.

He wiped a tear from his eye and pushed on. “Gracie, again, I have never… ever stopped loving you girls… and our days together at Central Park have been some of the best of my life. I’m sorry Gracie… cause you’re right… I should have never left you in that mess and when it comes down to it, it is a shame I have carried all my life.”

Molly remembered those days fondly, and as he mentioned them, a small hint of a smile ghosted her lips.

Then came the hardest topic she could have raised. “Molly, your Grandfather’s personal physician, the doctor that attended to mine and your dad’s birth, beamed immediately to the hospital the night your sister was born and did everything in his power to save Mary’s life.” More tears came as he continued, his voice cracking. “You didn’t just lose your mom, Gracie, I lost the closest thing I had in this world to a sister. Your mother’s loss weighed on every member of the family because honestly… I think dad finally realized the impact of cutting your parents off. It was not something in my power to fix at the time and by the time it was, the two of you had found a great guy that loved you and did a hell of a job with ya both. I did what I could, I blocked any chance your dad might have had to interfere with the adoption, made sure Robert had whatever financial resources he needed to care for you girls, and when time came for tuition… I made sure your schooling fully funded. But we were always there… when you graduated from C.A. Riley, from the Academy… I watched… in person. I have never missed a Bruins event where Erin cheered and when she graduated last spring, I was there too. It was the least a failed uncle could do, be there to watch the two of you accomplish amazing things.”

As he spoke, Molly too was struggling to hold back tears. But to no avail. Her eyes glistened slightly as she understood the lengths that their uncle had gone through to still be in their lives.

Holloway closed his eyes for a moment before adding rather breathlessly. “I came because I care… I came because the President of the Federation contacted me when this mess hit the fan… I came because I have let you down enough in this life and I intend to do everything I can to help. Whether or not you want to ever have anything to do with me or your grandparents after this is up to you.”

Lucas

Questions flooded Molly’s mind and she sat down on the couch. Their grandparents had cut their parents off? Their uncle had been financing all the schooling they had done? Plus, he had been present at every major event in their lives? Molly seemed lost for a second, and Lucas would be able to see it in her frame. “So that’s why we never talked about them…” Molly muttered under her breath as if a sudden important realization had hit her.

Finally, Molly spoke again, almost as if she had regained her voice. “What do you mean, your parents cut my parents off? Does that mean…” He would almost be able to see her thoughts coming together. “… does that mean dad had money too? And that’s why we struggled so much? Why did they cut him off? What did he do?” Anger flashed in her eyes as she spoke.

“The day your father got bounced out of Fordham for poor grades…” Lucas began. “… he came home to find your mother in hysterics. 18 years old… together with Peter for less than six months, and she was pregnant… with you.” Holloway ran a hand through his hair before continuing. “Our father was livid to say the least. Your dad had a pregnancy scare with a girl his junior year of high school and dad told him in no uncertain terms that if he didn’t keep it in his pants and screwed up again, he’d be cut off. When he told them about Mary, common girl from a blue collar family in the Bronx, dad had had it. Although they met your mother several times, they made it clear that they thought they were being childish and the day they found out about you, took them out of their will.”

Molly didn’t know what to feel. In part, she felt guilty, knowing that everything that had happened had been because of her. Because she existed…

“If you’ve been at all those events… at my graduation… at Erin’s games… why didn’t you come and say hello?” For a moment, Molly’s expression saddened. “I… we would have loved to see you… why didn’t you say anything?”

Molly’s uncle sighed. “Gracie, don’t think I didn’t want to but…” He took a deep breath. “… by the time you were in high school, I thought it would be… inappropriate… to just stroll in like everything was perfect.”

“As for the funding…” Her face softened. “I had no idea… thank you.” She smiled at her uncle for the first time. Her eyes still watery. Speechless, she walked towards Lucas and, in an uncharacteristic gesture, wrapped her arms around the only family that, in her mind, she had left. As she did so, the interaction took Molly’s mind back to the past. To the days spent playing and laughing with her dad’s brother, and to the last time she had hugged him before they ran away.

Tears flowed from Lucas as he held his niece for the first time in nearly twenty years. It was a moment he had dreamed of and had longed for for so long that if it wasn’t for the seriousness of the visit, he’d have thought it a dream. “You’re quite welcome Gracie.” He said in a soft, cracked voice.

Sitting back down on the couch, Molly smiled briefly, as she pondered on whether to ask the question that had crossed her mind many times during the last eighteen years. With a sigh, she tried to speak as casually as possible. “So… is Dad still spending six nights a week at Mickey’s?”

Molly

As Lucas sat down across from Molly in the chair, the question hit Lucas like a ton of bricks and Molly would see its impact on his face as he looked away and took a slow, deep breath.

His expression… his expression told her everything she needed to know.

“Gracie… honey…” Holloway pursed his lips and then, with effort, pushed on. “… your daddy‘s gone baby.” He looked back at Molly, tears in his eyes. “Peter jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge 17 years ago. It was the night of what would have been your mom’s 29th birthday and a couple days after his lost his job with the Port Authority because of a goddamned failed sobriety test.”

Molly gasped slightly at the unexpected news. In her best days, she had hoped that her dad had found love again. A family that loved him and that he loved in return. A family that had made him a better man. Worth him giving up his drinking for. On her worst days, she wished he still roamed the streets, living the life he had built for himself. But she had never wished him dead.

Seventeen years… that had been a year after they left. The pang of guilt struck her again. It had been her. Her choice that had ultimately killed her father. She felt dizzy… sick… she could feel the world spinning around her and she closed her eyes. She couldn’t breathe. Getting up, Molly paced in the small hallway again, hands in her head, trying to straighten her thoughts… and fighting back tears.

Holloway could barely face his niece. “I…” His voice cracked. “… I’m so sorry you had to find out like this Gracie. Your dad was never the same after you & Erin left. He was a madman in his efforts to find you but… refused to go to the NYPD over fears he’d be arrested on child abuse charges. He had completely quit drinking for a while… totally focused on finding you girls. He even went to dad, who blew him off… for multiple reasons, the first being that by the time he did… Robert had you two and dad thought it best for his grandchildren not…” Lucas’ jaw clinched in anger. “… not to grow up with a loser for a father.”

Molly didn’t have words for the whole situation. She wanted desperately to believe her dad was a good man, but she found herself agreeing with her grandfather’s words. She thought about San Francisco, about the happiness she had been given growing up… all the opportunities she had had… all the while, her family stayed painfully behind… and in the meantime… in the meantime her dad killed himself.

“Your dad had his vices, Gracie…” Lucas continued. “… but he was a good man that just…” There were tears once more, this time for his lost brother. “… just couldn’t handle the challenges life put in his path. But he did love you girls… very much. It makes me sick to think of the life you all would have had had our parents not been so stuck up. I might still have my brother… and you girls… the family you deserved.”

Lucas

Shaking her head, Molly sat back down, tears streaking her cheeks. “No…” She said faintly. And then repeated the word more assertively. “No.” She looked at her uncle. “We had the family we deserved, Uncle Luc… Erin did, at least.” She fell silent for a moment, as if trying to figure out the words she wanted to say. “It’s my fault… all of it… You said it yourself… dad was cut off of the family because of me… because I existed. If it wasn’t for me, mom and dad would have lived well, maybe they still would have had Erin, and they might had had a good life.” She looked down at her shoes. “And then…it was my idea to run away… the decision that ultimately killed my father.” Molly’s tears stopped. She felt numb. “I guess I deserved the beatings after all… It was my existence that took everything away from him… his family, his wife, and lastly, his daughter.” It was clear that Molly was not referring to herself. “I deserved it.”

Molly

“Now don’t you go and start…” Lucas quickly chided his niece. “… cause every word out of your mouth just now tells me just how much you didn’t understand and wouldn’t have even if we’d have had this conversation last month, last decade or even the day your dad died.” Holloway dried his eyes and looked Molly in the face. “Gracie, nothing… not a goddamn thing… that happened to you, your sister, your mom or your dad is your fault and I never wanna hear that nonsense out of your mouth ever again.”

His tone was fatherly and not mean, but firm and insistent. “Your mother died because a worthless ass doctor didn’t do his job. My father sued that piece of garbage into the ground and made sure that bastard lost his medical license. It didn’t bring Mary back but it made damn sure no other family went through what ours did. Your father’s death was due to the damage a near lifetime of mental illness can take on the human soul. Peter was given every chance in this life and pissed it away… every damn time!”

Molly’s gaze was steady on Lucas’s as he spoke. It was clear that the affection and respect she had for him were almost to a fatherly level. And to a certain extent, her uncle had been almost more of a father to her than her father had ever been.

Lucas unconsciously cracked the knuckles in his right hand as he drew it closed. “Your mother nearly left him more times than I can count and don’t even get me started on the nights you & Erin slept at my dorm with me because of Peter’s drinking. The only thing your dad ever did right by that girl was to not abandon her. They were kids Gracie, stupid… horny… lazy kids that ended up with a baby and instead of taking an easy way out, they pulled together and pushed through.”

Molly pondered her uncle’s words. She remembered the nights. And even though she pretended not to know why they were staying at a university dorm with their uncle instead of staying at home, Molly had always known very well why the sudden sleepovers happened. She wondered how many midterms and finals, her and her sister had barged in on… For a moment, she wanted to argue that they should have taken the easy way out. It had been a lot less complicated for everyone. But instead, she kept her silence, letting her uncle continue.

“As for the man that raised you…” Lucas continued. “… had he not found you when he did, arrangements would have been made to bring you two back to Chesterfield. But after Robert became determined to raise you… we collectively thought it for the best. Honestly Gracie, had you girls came home to Chesterfield, mom & dad would have probably had a nanny raise you till you were both old enough to be shipped off to TJS and that would have been that. Robert, in my opinion, gave you girls the life you deserved.”

Lucas

Molly raised an eyebrow. “TJS?” She asked curiously.

Lucas chuckled. “Sorry, mine and your dad’s junior high… a boarding school called the Thomas Jefferson School. Oooold money kinda school.”

Molly thought about what would have been like to go to a boarding school… she had her own experience at C. A. Riley, but she was sure it would not have been the same thing.

Finally, Molly sighed. “Maybe you’re right… it’s just… it’s hard to think that it was not my fault when mom being pregnant with me was what triggered everything…” Thinking back at her own life and at the recent events, Molly shook her head. “… and for what?” She continued. “It’s not like I’ve done anything good with my life… Erin is set to be a brilliant scientist. Maybe she’ll change the world some day… but me? I’ve done nothing worth of notice… look at where I am… I thought I could change something being in Starfleet and all I managed to do was to be kicked out of my ship and now to serve as some sort of scapegoat for someone with delusions of grandeur… I can’t seem to do anything right…” She sighed again. “Maybe mom and dad should have taken the easy way out…” Molly paused for a moment. “I know what you’re going to say, Uncle Luc… but… it just feels like mom and dad’s death would be justified if I had done something important… but I’m pretty sure that if I died tomorrow, the universe wouldn’t miss me…” Her eyes darted to the picture of her and Cal. “I’ve disappointed more people than I helped in this life.” As she spoke, she reached forward and lowered the frame to face the table. It was just another reminder of yet another person that she had hurt by being around.

Molly

“I’d miss you…” Lucas said with a sad tone, the thought of the loss of his niece nearly making him sick. “… and…” He added with a soft smile. “… I’m pretty damn sure Calvin would miss you too. How long have you & Raven been together anyway, Gracie?”

Lucas

For the first time, a soft smile crossed Molly’s features, only to quickly fade away, as the last question left his lips. Molly looked at her uncle, an eyebrow raised quizzically. Then she shook her head. “I shouldn’t be surprised that you know him… after all, you seem to know everyone today…”

Lucas gave a slight smile and simply shrugged. He wondered, if that shocked her, how floored the young woman would be once she realized just how much he really /did/ know.

With a soft scoff, Molly continued. “Calvin wouldn’t miss me.” She stated dryly. “I don’t know what that FCIS Agent got through his head, he believes I am guilty as charged. Even if everything goes for the best, I doubt I can ever get his trust back.” Her expression was visibly saddened by the thought.

“I somehow seriously doubt that.” Holloway said with not a drop of emotion.

“Calvin was assigned as the Marine Commander of the Montgomery, four years ago. That’s when we met. He eventually became the Turing’s Marine Commander when I was made Captain. He was always a good friend… was there when I needed him the most, and supported me through some of the hardest times…” For a second, her smile was back as her mind recalled distant memories. “Commander Harper… his daughter was our Chief of Security. He dated her for a while before she was killed… and I tried my best to be there for him.” Molly shrugged. “When I was kicked out of the Turing, he was there… he left because I did.” She scoffed slightly again. “A year later, when I came back from the Farm, he was the first person I visited, and seemingly the only person that truly understood what I had been through. I thought he was just a womanizer that gets laid with everything that walks, but turns out he can be sweet and caring when he wants… I found someone in him I never knew was there… and one thing led to another… we were together for two years. And now… now he’s gone.”

“Calvin Harris is callus, stubborn as a damn mule and…” The man locked eyes with his niece and continued flatly. “… and the biggest goddamn flirt I’ve ever met.” He paused and then continued. “That being said…” Lucas smiled softly. “… Cal is a reasonable enough person once he cools that hot head of his off. And knowing him as long as I do, if you had Calvin Harris for two years… and you don’t do something incredibly stupid like giving up without a fight.... he’ll come around. Trust me on that.”

Indeed, her uncle knew Calvin, for she had never heard a more accurate description of the man.

“How do you know him anyway?”

Molly

“We first met…” Lucas replied. “… through his father when Calvin was brought in to advise on the design of a new Marine LAC. It was a rather long term project and honestly, spending that much time with a guy like Cal… your either love him or hate him. Let’s just say that Calvin Harris is one of four people I trust with my life.”

Lucas

Molly let out a small scoff that almost sounded like a sigh. Reaching back to the picture frame, she took it in her hands and stared at it for a moment. “I know the feeling… I hated the guy during the first half of his time on the Monty.” She placed the picture back on the table. “But… he’s pretty great.” She smiled a sad smile at her uncle. “I hope you’re right about him coming around. I mean… I hope I’ll be clear enough of this mess to even be able to ask him for another chance.”

Looking back at Lucas, a hint of despair tinted Molly’s tone. “I didn’t do it, Uncle Luc… I didn’t deceive anyone… I didn’t use my connections or… or… anything to rise through the ranks. I didn’t plan on killing Tomas… I didn’t lie to anyone.” She covered her face with her hands. “And I sure as hell didn’t use my relationship with Calvin to try and steal the Dresden.” She paused and looked up at her uncle once more. “It was… it was horrible… They tortured us… they almost killed us… And then the shuttle–“ Her voice faltered. “I confessed… I was desperate. Calvin had stopped believing in me… I felt like I had nothing left. So I confessed… I don’t know what to do.”

Molly

Lucas stepped forward and wrapped his arms around his niece, patting her back. “I know Gracie, I know. Mary and Robert raised you better than that.” The absence of Peter’s name was pointed in that moment. “You were under duress and the tactics used against you should have never even been brought out considering the circumstances of your escape from that madman. I can assure you, when this is all said and done… you won’t see a day behind bars… though that bitch will be buried under the prison if I have anything to say about it.” The last few words were a vicious growl and Molly could feel the man’s trim form tighten in response to his anger.

Once again, her uncle’s embrace took Molly back to the past. To the happy days she and Erin had spent playing with Lucas in Central Park, or whenever he came to visit. His arms emanated a protective feeling that only him had ever managed to evoke. He and her mother… The two people that had made Molly feel safe since the moment she was born. For a moment, she listened to the relaxing sound of his heartbeat, as she had done so many times before.

After a few moments, Lucas sighed and pulled back from his niece. “Gracie…” He looked her dead in the eye. “… have you ever seen Ashley Newton before, do you remember obnoxious jackass from anywhere?”

Lucas

Molly shook her head. “No… I never saw her before. I knew Tomas… he was one of the members of my squad during training. Newton is FCIS. I never dealt with them before.” She paused. “Tomas wanted the Dresden’s command codes. He was the one that wanted to steal the Dresden. But without him it’s my word against that of a dead man. And there’s no way Newton will ever believe me. It is weird though… something that she said… the closest ship to me was Ryan’s… my training partner. This is all too much of a coincidence for it not to be planned… it’s like everyone I stumbled into was connected to my past.” Molly paused. “But connected by whom? At first, I thought that who ever planned this was targeting Calvin… but the more I think about it, the more I think they were targeting me. But why? What did I do?” She shook her head. “I guess that’s a question we’ll leave for our meeting with Commander Harper, no?”

Molly

Molly’s uncle looked in deep thought as he processed what his niece had said. After a moment, something dawned on him that hit so hard it looked like electric shock. “Gracie…” Holloway began. “… what kind of facility did that bastard take you to again?” It was clear the man’s keen intellect was chasing something now and he eyed his niece as he awaited her answer.

Lucas

Molly raised an eyebrow at Lucas’s question. “It was a Starfleet Intelligence base. A deactivated one. Inside there was standard Intelligence interrogation room… two rooms side by side, glass wall between them, and a shuttlebay to access the base… why?” She asked.

Molly

An almost… smirk(?)… washed across Lucas’ face. “I wondered as much from the SITREP Naniette (OOC: UFP President) gave me before I left Paris. Gracie honey, as I’m sure you know, Intel is not really my cup of tea… but I can give you two things to think on for our meeting with Commander Harper. First, try pulling the Thresher’s flight logs… they’re an integrated part of her Flight Control Systems. While I didn’t get the contract to build’er, bastards at Command refused to allow us that honor but they sure as hell used the Mark 9-Alpha FCS (OOC: Flight Control System) and the Mark 9 Series tracks every damn input in the Flight System down to a five click grade. Meaning…” He smiled wickedly. “… if Newton’s ship made unexpected course corrections in the last 30 days, it’s in her Black Box.”

Molly sighed and shook her head. “That’s all very well, uncle Luc… but… even if I wanted I wouldn’t be able to access them… not with this whole mess hanging over my head. I would be the last person in a position to access any kind of information. I’d be surprised if I still have access to this ship’s computer, let alone one as powerful as the Thresher. Maybe Harper can request that information… I don’t know…”

“I am well aware of that Gracie…” Lucas smiled softly. “… Commander Harper’s, however, are perfectly fine and under the direction of the Federation Council and President Bacco…” He tapped the folio on the coffee table. “… he has all the authority he needs to pull the logs and have the clearances… so far as the Mark-9 goes… to pull all the data he needs.” Holloway gave her a confident nod.

“Now…” He continued. “… as for the facility, I don’t know the details of how Intel builds their bases and to be honest…” Lucas scowled hatefully. “… if this is how they treat their own, my ass doesn’t want to know! My only question is… are Intel Interrogation Suites the same as Fleet’s? I mean, don’t they have recording systems, video & audio, comm loggers and bio-signature trackers that all record to a central terminal?”

Lucas

“They do. But the base was deactivated. I doubt Tomas would have engaged any of those systems when he was going to do something that could have got him in an awful lot of trouble. Not to mention… FCIS has been all over the place already… if they find anything… they’ll probably destroy it.”

“I can assure you…” Holloway snorted. “… FCIS barely has clearances to find their ass with both their hands. Let me talk to Cal and this… Ryan fellow… and see what we can dig up.” He smiled reassuringly.

Molly fell silent. For a moment, her tough exterior cracked and Lucas would be able to see the same scared kid trying to be an adult he had seen so many years ago in his dorm at NYU. Finally, glancing back at her uncle, her eyes pleaded as she spoke. “Uncle Luc… please don’t leave me alone until this is over…”

Molly

“I’m not going anywhere Gracie…” The man across from her said matter-of-factly. “… if the base had the same sort of terminals they have in traditional bases, they’re hardwired into the power grid. If the lights are on, sorta speak, the system is collecting data. I would make the assumption that you are quite right that SOB killed the up-link, but the on-site terminals should have… at the very least… a rolling 60 day window of data before the data is recorded over. The only way to completely power down those systems would be to hook-up another power source. I’d bet the entire company that there’s a whole terminal down there with all you need to clear your name.”

Lucas

For the first time since Lucas had first came on board, Molly’s face lit up with a smile. “I hope you’re right.” She told her uncle.

The prospect of him talking with both Cal and Ryan was not lost on her. She wondered what her uncle knew or didn’t know and what Cal might tell him. “Just… in the interests of full disclosure… and in the interests of you hearing this from me rather than from Cal… me and Ryan… we have a past. We got a little closer than just training partners at the Farm… this was before Cal, but… he might have some interesting remarks to make about it. Just thought you should know, if you speak to them both.”

There was a chuckle that escaped Lucas this time. “Gracie, your a grown woman… and a beautiful one at that… not the freckle faced kid that used to steal and hide one or both of her Uncle’s shoes so he would stay longer and play with you more. Both Ryan and Cal were lucky to have you, for how ever long they did. And knowing your boyfriend, I can only imagine some of the… opinions… I might hear. That said, I will keep both boys on the straight and narrow…” He grinned widely. “… you are my niece after all and I would prefer to keep the racier parts of your love life barred from my head… thank you very much.” Lucas winked and tapped the side of his head twice. “There’s still a sweet, innocent pair of little girls up here and I would prefer to keep them as innocent as possible for as long as I can!”

Molly smiled. She remembered hiding Lucas’s shoes to prevent him from leaving. Keeping him around meant more time to play, but it also meant a smaller chance of her father lashing out on her or Erin. The memories were bittersweet, and for a moment she wondered if her uncle had understood fully the reason for her actions.

With a more reassuring prospect on the table, Molly tried to change the subject while she had her uncle to herself. “So… what else is new in Holloway land? Wife? Kids? Any cousins I should know about?”

Molly

“You’re kidding right!?” Lucas laughed. “I was close, once… long ago.” He looked momentarily solemn. “It didn’t workout though I wished it had.” Then seemed to cheer once more. “Nothing else for a long time. I’ve spent most of the past few years running the company… a few dates here and there… but I think your old uncle might just be tiring of the dating scene.”

“Oh come on!” Molly protested. “If I can have someone interested enough in me, a good looking man like you surely can as well.” She smiled. She meant every word, and Lucas would be able to see some worry looming behind her gaze. “You should talk to Erin. She grew up to be a matchmaker. I’m sure she could set you up with someone.” Molly chuckled and her expression was briefly playful before turning slightly saddened. “You shouldn’t have to be alone. Besides, you’re going to need someone to do your job a few decades down the road…”

“As for Mom & Dad, they’re fine… retired to Aspen little over two years ago.” Holloway sighed softly. “Just a big, empty house in Chesterfield now. Me and the Estate Staff are all that’s around anymore. Had the Head Housekeeper and her family move into the Pool House last month… damn thing’s the biggest place they ever lived in and it gives Rachel more money for the kids.” A warm smile grew on his face before he chuckled. “Dad about had a stroke when I told them I’d let them move in but Mom calmed him down pretty quick. Told him how nice it was to know there were kids playing in the halls again. Dad’s still pissed but he’s backed down.”

As Lucas spoke, a proud smile settled on Molly’s face.

“There’s two full apartments in the West Wing…” His smile radiated love. “… I hope you and Erin will visit when you can. That place should have already been yours by now and it’s halls are missing something without the rest of the Holloway clan not popping in from time to time. When this is all said and done, promise you won’t be strangers anymore?”

Lucas

Molly nodded. “I’m sorry I never reached out, Uncle Luc… I was angry… and to be honest, I wouldn’t have known how to reach you even if I wanted.” She sighed. After the conversation she felt guilty. “Erin… she was too young when we left. Robert is the father she remembers and…” Her voice faltered. “… and I am glad. But…” She looked up at Lucas. “… you were more of a father to me than any of them ever were. Leaving you behind was the hardest thing I’ve done in my life…” Reaching out across the couch, Molly hugged her uncle once again. It was almost as if she wanted to make up for all the years lost, all the time they had missed. Tears fell down her cheeks as she buried her head in his chest and memories came rushing through her. His clothes felt the same against her skin, and he smelled exactly the same way she remembered. Suddenly, she was transported back to those afternoons in Central Park, all those years ago. The smell of his cologne mixed with the smell of the fresh grass under their feet. Erin played happily in a little blanket, looking through curious eyes to a pile of sticks and leaves she had gathered. Molly sat next to Lucas as he taught her about rainforests on a book about Biomes he had brought her. Now that she thought about it, she had left that book behind when they had left New York City, but somehow it had found its way back to her together with a few more items that she still held on to in San Francisco. The thought brought a smile to her lips, even if her face was still buried in her uncle’s chest.

Lucas knew, he had honestly always known, why his beloved niece always hid his shoes. There were times the anger with his brother had nearly spilled out but under most circumstances, he controlled it. The night the girls had run away, such control could not be found and resulted in Lucas kicking his brother’s ass all over his apartment in a rather uncharacteristic fit of rage over what Peter had done. As he thought of that night, Molly’s head buried in his chest… one of the most powerful and influential people in the Federation wept over his niece… holding her tightly and swearing to himself a silent oath to never, ever lose his family again.

Finally, Molly sat up again, wiping her eyes from the tears. Her brow furrowed as a thought crossed her mind. “Wait a minute… what do you mean, ours? We were never around… we are hardly family anymore… at least as far as your parents are concerned.” The lack of use of the term ‘grandparents’ would not be lost on Lucas. “How— Why would it ever be ours?”

Molly

“Gracie…” Lucas smiled softly. “… Holloway Industries was never supposed to /be/ mine. I literally got the company by default when Mom & Dad struck Peter from the will. I may be President and CEO, but only the title of President is mine outright.” Holloway smiled a… suspicious… smile as he looked lovingly at his niece. “Gracie, ownership of this entire company, upon the death of your grandparents… transitions to the complete and rightful ownership of their only living grandchildren.”

To the complete and rightful ownership of their only living grandchildren. The words echoed in Molly’s mind for a moment, meaningless, as if her brain was actively trying not to process them. Until they finally dawned on her. Her eyes opened in surprise and she blurted out the only confused words she could muster. “Wait… you’re saying that…” The sentence trailed off drowned in confusion.

He paused for just a moment as the shock sank in. “That’s right…” He smiled. “… I am but a caretaker and guardian of the Holloway Estate, as I have technically passed the bar of having children of my own. Your grandparents… which they very much still are… wished for the company to stay in perpetuity of the Holloway line. It was their choice to name you and Erin as dual owners, 45% each, of Holloway Heavy Industries… Erin as CEO and yourself as Chairman of the Board. Both posts have been, and Mom & Dad agreed that they rightly should remain, hereditary positions held always by a Holloway… per the Bylaws. The day I step down as Executor of the Holloway Estate, you and your sister will both become two of the wealthiest citizens of the United Federation of Planets.”

Lucas

Molly’s expression was frozen, as if she was a holotransmission with bad reception. “But…” Her thoughts were rushing in her mind and her mouth couldn’t work them out fast enough. Finally, after a moment of silence, Molly tried to speak again. “Uncle Luc… I can’t speak for Erin but… I can’t… I don’t know anything about business or how to run one. I mean… Holloway Heavy Industries is… huge. I’m a Starfleet Officer… I’m… I’m an Intelligence Officer. I’m sure that wouldn’t even be well regarded… I mean… it’s a pretty shady organization.” She paused for a moment. “More than even I thought it seems like.”

There was a slight chuckle that escaped Lucas, he had expected a similar response. Hell, he had the same reaction when his father had handed over the reigns of HHI a quarter century before. “Gracie, yes, it can be a bit of a learning curve but the company has been run… in a rather cookiecutter fashion for over a hundred years. Every other generation or so, an heir like me comes along and shakes things up a bit where as my grandfather focused on cranking out high quality copies of previously appeared Starfleet designs and leaving heavy R&D to the Fleet.” Holloway shrugged. “In short, the job is what you choose to make it.... and nothing more.”

Suddenly, Molly’s expression grew angrier. “Not to mention, your parents… they cut dad out of the will because of me,” she poked her chest with her index finger “because of that, dad had to find a worthless job, mom died, and I…” Molly’s voice cracked as her eyes teared slightly again. With a deep breath she continued. “They caused me to run away from home. Alone. With my baby sister. At ten years old. To the other side of the country. I was homeless! I didn’t know what to do! There were days I didn’t eat so that Erin could have something in her stomach! They never knew misery in their lives. They could have changed all of that in a blink… and they never did. And now they want us to return and run the company? To drop our lives and make sure their empire doesn’t crumble? Uncle Luc, I love you and I respect your position in the company. Taking it was your choice. But I wouldn’t feel right taking the job and the money that could have prevented my mom’s death and my dad’s alcohol induced violence. Your parents… they killed my parents… their son… your brother… and I don’t want anything to do with them.” Getting up from the couch, Molly disappeared through the bedroom door.

It didn’t take but a few seconds until she was back with a PaDD in her hand. Tapping on the screen she handed the PaDD to her uncle. “These are my body scans from a few hours ago. The last ones our Medical team took before I left sickbay.” She zoomed in on the ribs and on her left arm, pointing at some particular uncharacteristic dents in the bone. “These are old fractures that never healed correctly, because they healed on their own. And by the time Robert got me and Erin to Starfleet Medical it was already too late to do anything about them.” She scoffed softly and a dry smile appeared on her lips. “Whenever I’m back home and the weather changes, I’m worse than an old person with rheumatism.” Her smile disappeared. “I will forever have to live with these, and while they might have been dad’s doing, they were caused by your parents’ decisions. How can I run their company and take their money, when they took it away from my parents because they were pregnant with me?”

Molly

The expression Molly got from her uncle was a cold, harsh one that would make even the hardened Intelligence Officer cower ever so slightly. “Molly Grace Holloway…” Lucas’ icy tone snapped. “… don’t you dare ever speak of your grandparents that way again! My parents aren’t saints by any measure of the imagination and yes, they made their mistakes in how they’ve handled this whole situation for years…” Holloway glared at his niece. “… but before you go making harsh and shortsighted comments and decisions, I think there are a few things you should know.”

The moment Lucas’s words snapped out of his lips, Molly knew she had crossed a line. She backed away ever so slightly, her eyes showing the fear and guilt for a split second. Her mind not even registering the surname he had used. Molly clearly hadn’t meant to push him this far. Silently, she listened.

“First and foremost, while I loved your father… my brother was an entitled, over-sexed, alcoholic jackass!” Though very measured, Molly knew quite well that she had crossed a line with her uncle. “My Dad didn’t cut Peter off because of you. Your father lied through his teeth to paint the situation more in his favor and it appears to have worked in glorious fashion… probably the only successful thing the man did in his entire life. Your father knocked a girl up Senior year of high school and with no regard to anyone but himself, stole 10,000 credits from the family’s private account to make the ‘problem’…” He air quoted. “… go away. The child had been aborted for six weeks and Dad only found out about it after the girl’s father tried to sue /my father/ accusing him of bribing his daughter to ‘protect the family’! It was actually Peter that did it in a panic. Before your mother and father got pregnant with you, Peter had been pissing away a /very/ expensive education at Fordham and was bounced from the school for poor academic performance. You’d think banging the top tutor at the school throughout your entire Freshman year would keep you off Academic Probation, not Peter. It was a fairly significant scandal and a huge embarrassment to the family.”

Her heart did a double take at the mention of another woman, another baby, an older sibling she never got to have. For twenty nine years she had held on to the silly belief that her mother and her father had been each other’s first love. She had never known anything about their previous history… not even how they had met in the first place. Her world shattered around her, her viewpoints shifting as her uncle spoke. The anger and hatred towards her own father, returning in large waves.

“Dad cut your father off after Mary got pregnant, utterly pissed that he could be so irresponsible to be involved with three different girls, knock up two of them, basically bribe a 16 year old into an abortion to protect his inheritance, then get kicked out of one of the continent’s best colleges in a period of barely two years time.” Lucas rose to his feet and began to pace, trembling in anger.

Molly knew she had been an accident. A baby that had come in at an inopportune time. But in her mind her parents had always decided to stay together regardless of having a baby on the way. She had never known she had been an unwelcome one. A burden caused by a man who went around sleeping with different women, and that was too irresponsible to even take a shot to keep this from happening. Her head was spinning. She felt sick. Tears fell down her cheeks as she realized for the first time exactly how much not wanted she had been.

“Mom and Dad insisted on taking care of you and your mother, knowing damn well Peter couldn’t… /your father/…” Lucas snapped. “… refused any help after Dad had told him he was cut off. Your grandparents did everything short of hiring a lawyer to take you from Peter to try and help.” His fists clinched, Lucas looked on the edge of yelling but controlled himself as best he could. “You know who told your mother she was /a/ Holloway, not just a coincidence… ME!” Tears rimmed his eyes, more hurt than anger at this point. “He knocked up that poor girl, married her out of obligation more than anything else I suppose, and his little brother had to tell his wife the fortune he has pissed away. Mary did the best she could, but Peter made sure that… with the exception of me… the Holloway clan was purposefully kept away from his family.”

She wondered how hard life had been for Mary… why she hadn’t left… how scared she must have been. The loss hit her again. There was no day that went by that she didn’t wish to be able to tell her mother that she was okay… to show her how much she had achieved, how much she appreciated her… Closing her eyes, Molly propped her elbows on her knees and held her face in her hands. Finally, one of them came to rest near her neck, where under her uniform the small cross her mother had gotten her for her confirmation rested. The biggest irony being Mary hadn’t even been there to see it.

“Gracie…” Tears now streamed down Lucas’ face. “… your grandparents have spent the last three decades separated from their only /living/…” That phrase would now mean so much more. “… grandchildren. The last 18 years, in a self-imposed exile due to the shame they had in how they handled the situation.” Lucas then sat on the coffee table and took Molly’s hands in his. “Gracie… honey… this company has been yours since you were hours old. The original revision of my father’s will was dated the day of your birth. This had nothing to do with buying your love… honestly, your grandmother doubts she’ll ever see you in this life, because of the lies your father fed into your head. It was about doing what was right. Holloway Heavy Industries was founded over 400 years ago, at the dawn of the space race. You might hate them, you might never want to see them, but… baby…” Lucas squeezed Molly’s hands, a glowing smile now on his face. “… you /are/ a Holloway, and the Chairmanship of this company isn’t a bribe Gracie, its your birthright.”

Lucas

Molly squeezed her uncle’s hands and looked back up at him. Tears still streaked her cheeks. “I’m sorry.” She managed to say. “I’m sorry… I didn’t know. I thought…” She gulped. “I didn’t know I had been that much of an accident… that much unwanted… I’m sorry… I didn’t know about all that happened… dad… your— my grandparents…” With a sigh, Molly cleared her throat. Resolve suddenly in her gaze. “I want to visit.” She finally said. “I want to meet them, uncle Luc. After this is all said and done… I could maybe go with you. For a week or two. I have some leave I haven’t taken yet. And I’m sure Calvin…” Her voice faltered slightly. “… I’m sure he wouldn’t mind. But I need to sort all of this out first. And Calvin to come around after that… Will you stay on board until then?” There was a pleading tone in her eyes and in her voice.

Lucas smiled warmly and, wiping the tears from Molly’s cheeks, kissed her forehead then hugged her tightly once more. “I know they would love to see you Gracie. And as for staying…” He looked back into her eyes. “… I’d love to.”

For a moment, Molly paused as if she was fighting back tears. Squeezing Lucas’s hands tighter, a sob escaped her throat. “I miss… I miss her, uncle Luc. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t miss her. I wish she could see Erin… that she could see the amazing woman she has become. All I have of her is a book and faint memories. It was all I took from home when we left. Her battered copy of A Journey to the Center of the Earth and the necklace she wore… the one that has our names on it… I gave it to Erin… I thought she should have it. Everything else stayed behind… all the pictures… everything. I kept this…” Molly fumbled with her collar for a second before taking out a thin golden chain with a small golden cross on it. “It’s from my confirmation. Mom picked it for me… but she was never there to give it to me…” Molly sobbed again. “I don’t know what’s right or wrong anymore. But… you knew her. You knew my mother. Can you tell me about her?”

Molly

“I miss Mary too honey, more than you know.” There was a fleeting moment of eminence sadness in his eyes as he spoke, the kind of pain that could never truly be put into words. “Your mother was a good woman, kind beyond all imagination with the utter patience of a saint. They did grow to love each other over the years, but those closest to them knew that they were probably on borrowed time before…” A single tear ran down Lucas’ cheek and he looked for a split second like he’d seen a ghost before he smiled lovingly at her once more. “… my God, you do look like Mary. Seriously Gracie, you could’a been her twin.”

Molly could see in her uncle’s eyes a different pain than hers. The pain of losing someone very close that one remembered very well. Borrowed time… The expression surprised Molly. Had she thought about divorcing her father? For a second, Molly wondered what would have happened if she hadn’t passed away and she and her dad had gone their own separate ways. But there was no point in entertaining the thought for long.

Lucas reached into his suit pocket and pulled out a small cherry box. Barely larger than a stack of two decks of cards, its rounded polished top engraved with the letters ‘M.G.H’. “I gave this to your mother…” Lucas began. “… on your parent’s first anniversary. As you got Grace from your mother, I thought it fitting that you should have it. Go ahead…” He smiled. “… open it.”

Molly took the box in her shaking hands, trying her best not to drop it. It was curious… something she had never noticed before, but with her original name, her and her mother shared the exact same initials.

The box’s lid squeaked softly and the second it was open, Molly would see the bright smile of Mary Grace Holloway staring up at her from a small, wallet sized photo. And yes, the resemblance with her mother was striking, as Molly felt as though she was looking… hauntingly… at a photo of herself her Senior year at Starfleet Academy.

Another sob escaped Molly’s lips as the picture came into view. It had been a long time since she had seen a picture of her mother. Nineteen years to be more exact. She had struggled to hold the memories in her mind… her face, her smile… and now it all came back to her. All this time she had been so angry to stare at her father’s eyes every time she looked in the mirror, that she had never noticed that she had her mother’s smile… just like she had the same hair, the same lips, nose and freckles…

Gently she touched the picture with her index finger, almost as if she wanted them to pass through the paper into the great beyond and touch her mother’s face once more. The longing in her heart was devastating.

“Your mother was barely 22 in that picture…” Lucas continued. “… if you look under it, there’s a data stick containing probably every photo and video ever taken of your mother from the day I met her… I was a witness at their courthouse wedding… till three days before…” He sighed, clearly brokenhearted. “… before your sister was born. It…” The tears started again as his voice cracked. “… it also has the only picture of Mary holding Erin. I…” He held composure well but Molly could tell this was very difficult for him. “… I took the picture. Seconds later… they took Erin and handed her to me as Mary passed from this world.” Drying his tears on his hand, he trembled as he said softly. “Mary was my best friend… I knew I had to take that picture because she wanted it… wanted Erin to know her mother held her… one time.”

“My God…” The words left her mouth in a whisper as Molly realized what her uncle had just given her. Tears streamed down her cheeks once more as she remembered the fateful day. That evening, Molly had helplessly watched as her mother fell down the stairs. She had talked to her and tried to make her stand but to no avail. The next thing she knew, she was being pushed inside an ambulance and both had been rushed to the hospital. She remembered the blood, the doctors working around her… Her grandparents running to her and taking her away from her mother, while Mary was taken inside. They told her that she was going to get to see her baby sister that night and Molly remembered how excited she had been. And then… a serious looking doctor came into the room… followed by her uncle who hugged her tightly and tried to explain to her that mommy was not coming home. Molly remembered walking in, hand in hand with Lucas to see her baby sister. Her mother was still on the bed… she was resting. Her small hand reached out and held on to her mother’s for a second. Twenty-three years later, and the coldness of her skin still plagued her nightmares.

Gaining some level of strength, Lucas continued. “That there…” He pointed to the small gold necklace. “… was your mother’s Confirmation necklace. She wore it every day… I know she’d want you t have it.” His warm smile returning. “And I know she’d be damn proud of you both.”

Lucas

Molly slowly placed the box on the coffee table next to her uncle, as she held the necklace between her fingers. It was a slightly more elaborate version of her own, but with the same elements — the thin gold chain and the gold cross.

Looking at it, she remembered the necklace. Molly used to play with it whenever her mother carried her in her arms. For a second she placed the gold chain back on the box and reached behind her neck, taking off the one she carried. After a few seconds, her mother’s necklace disappeared inside her tunic.

Lucas had a warm glow as he saw Mary’s necklace where it belonged, around her eldest daughter’s neck. That fateful night, the same simple piece of jewelry had been in Lucas’ hand as he told his niece the most terrible thing anyone would have to tell a child… that their mother was gone. Lucas had taken the thin gold chain from around Mary’s neck moments after the duty Chaplain had administered Last Rights, after watching his sister-in-law… and honestly probably the first person he’d ever truly loved… take her last breaths. It had been one of the worst days of his life and he had suffered much of his most intense pain alone. He hurt for his nieces, who would never truly know their mother. For Mary’s parents… for his parents, a daughter lost in the most tragic of ways. For his brother, losing his wife and mother to his only children yet never knowing that within months, Mary had planned to leave him for good. Leave him… for Lucas. It had long been discussed, but both he & Mary respected the status quo. Yet, over the years, their friendship had blossomed into something more… and while they would have never crossed that line while Mary was still Peter’s wife… they knew that, once the dust had settled… they wanted to at least give it a try. But, it was never to be. A handful of kisses were all he had shared with a woman Lucas quietly swore he’d love till his last breath.... even if he were the only one to ever know it.

Molly took her own chain. The one that her mother had picked for her so many years ago but had never seen her wear it. Reaching forward for one of her uncle’s hands, she turned it face up and placed the necklace on his palm, closing his fingers around it. “I want you to have that one. Dad told me on the day of my confirmation that mom had picked it for me. I want you to have it. As a token of appreciation, and as something to remember me by.”

It took every thing in Lucas not to openly bawl as he closed his hand around the small, sparkling cross and tears poured down onto his shaking hands as he looked at the tiny gift Lucas knew meant so much to his niece. “I hope I never have to just “remember” you ever again Gracie.” His voice cracked.

“I don’t know if you believe… mom certainly did. Sometimes I feel guilty that I don’t. I can’t understand what God that would let this happen… Maybe one day I will…”

“Oh Gracie…” Lucas sighed heavily, his eyes still rimmed in tears. “… I have never been a very strong man of the Faith but I can tell you, your mother was and to be honest… knowing that gave me comfort in the years since Mary left us. That, if right, she got to watch you girls grow from wherever she is now and knew that you were alright.”

After a moment of silence, she looked up at Lucas once again. “I wish mom had married you instead.” There was longing and sadness in her voice. “You were there when no one else was… Even when I couldn’t see you. You taught me how to tie my shoes, and how to tell the time… You taught me most of the things I knew growing up…” She wiped a tear from her face. “For all that’s worth… you’re my dad.”

Molly

Lucas crumpled onto Molly’s shoulder, tears soaking it as he raggedly breathed and held Molly tighter than he had in years. “Oh Gracie…” The man sobbed. “… you will never, ever know how much that means to me. How hard it was to let you and your sister go. It was like losing a part of my very soul.” Lucas leaned back and in an instant, both niece and Uncle were back in time. Central Park Zoo, Molly had just dropped her ice cream and was terrified of the trouble she’d be in when her dad got back from the bathroom with her sister. Her Uncle Lucas dropped to one knee, his hands holding her face as to where he could dry both cheeks with his thumbs. He gently shushed the scared nine year-old and, wiping the tears away, kissed her forehead gently. “We are a family Gracie and families love… before all else… we love.” He then walked her to the stand and got her another ice cream just in time.

Molly held her uncle as he sobbed heavily onto her shoulder. Molly’s own tears sprinkling the back of his suit jacket. She might never know how much her words meant to him, but she knew for sure that they meant a lot. And she meant them. Every single one of them.

As the two were again back on the couch, light-years from that day… that park… Lucas’ hands did the same wiping away of tears, the same holding of a much older niece’s face and with a cracking voice, Lucas said once more. “We are a family Gracie and families love… before all else… we love.”

Lucas

As the words left his mouth, Molly’s mind went back to that same day. To the ice cream fallen on the ground, and to the terror she had felt within her, when Lucas uttered those same words. At the time she hadn’t fully comprehended the meaning behind them, but now she saw how the man before her lived by them. It was her turn to sob, as her arms wrapped around her uncle’s neck, hugging him with the same urgency a daughter would to a father. “Thank you.” She managed to say between her tears. “Thank you for everything you’ve done for us. For being there… for taking care of us both in person and from the distance… Thank you for giving us all the opportunities you could. You were the only bright spot on our lives in New York City… You made our days more bearable. I wish we hadn’t lost so many years. I’m so sorry…” Molly’s words were muffled as she never lifted her face from his shoulder. “I… I love you, Uncle Luc… and I meant every single word I said… And now that you’re here, I promise… I’ll never let you go.”

“Gracie…” Lucas’ voice cracked as he squeezed his niece in a tight hug, his head resting against the side of Molly’s as he struggled through his own emotions. “… you will never know… how much that means.” The elder Holloway sobbed. “I have hated myself for years for not fighting for you girls, for not putting my foot down and saying enough was enough…” Lucas shook from the wracking sobs as he spoke, pouring out his heart for the closest thing he’d ever had to a daughter. “… you girls could have been spared so much heartache… so much pain. Your dad might still be alive…” He gasped. “… your mother… at least you girls would have been alright. But…” He kissed the side of her head and continued to hold on, hold on for dear life. “… but you & Erin wouldn’t be the amazing young women you are today. Change one thing and you or your sister could have been spoiled brats.” He then chuckled softly. “Well.. not anymore than you two were to begin with.” He hugged her tightly once more.

Finally, Molly moved back and wiped the tears from her face, sniffing as she did so. “Thank you for coming for me. And thank you for the box… and everything in it. The pictures… I’ll send them to Erin. She should have them too. The only thing she has is that necklace… The one I was talking about… With our names on it… It’s safe in San Francisco, but… For as much as it pains me to say it… I don’t think she will ever have the same connection. Part of me understands why. Part of me wishes I could have raised her better… but I tried my best with the tools that I was given. And ultimately, Robert did a much better job than I could ever have done.”

The mention of the Mother’s Necklace caught Lucas by surprise, leaving him momentarily breathless. He had paid for the necklace himself weeks before Erin’s birth as a gift for Mary after she told him her new daughter’s name… Erin Leah… with Erin a nod to her Uncle’s middle name… Elliot. The inverted initials of his own first & middle name. The words would stay with Lucas forever ‘How I wish she was yours’. The loss of Mary and the near loss of Erin nearly killed him and, long before his brother, Lucas had… for the only time in his life… seriously contemplated ending it. The memory of that little redheaded baby, his baby as far as he would ever be concerned, in his arms that night… the only person that could calm her after Mary was gone… had broke through the pain and Lucas left the cold, dark Brooklyn Bridge the Christmas Eve after Erin’s birth never to return. He never told anyone he had ever gone there that night and it was something that had always haunted him… that his brother leaped from the bridge not ten feet from where he had stood on the edge of forever a half decade before.

“Stop that Gracie…” Lucas shook his head slowly. “… you gave everything you could to your sister and did better than anyone else, including your Uncle, in looking out for her. And…” Lucas sighed. “… I have long prepared myself for that possibility, certain Erin & I would never have the relationship you and I have. That’s my own goddamn fault, not yours.” The pain at those words radiated in Lucas’ eyes, like putting the words out into the universe acknowledging the loss of one’s own child.

There was resolve in her eyes when Molly looked back at her uncle. “Before we head down to Missouri, I need to stop in San Francisco. I want you to come with me to the courthouse, if you could. I realized mom and I share the same initials… and I want to change my name back. I think it’s time for me to close this chapter of my life… I was angry and scared… and I didn’t want to be tracked down. I wanted to erase my dad from my name. Using mom’s maiden name felt both like making a statement and finding some closeness… but in the end, she was a Holloway too. And more importantly, so are you. I was born a Holloway. I think I should die one.”

Molly

The tears flowed once more from Molly’s uncle as he hugged her tightly again and then smiled the brightest smile Molly had ever seen on another human being. “It would be my honor Gracie. You name the time and place, I’ll be there. Your Grandparents will be over the moon.” He paused for a moment and smiled. “Either way, your mother would have died a Holloway no matter what… she wore our family name like a badge of honor. She would have wanted it for you. This is your family, always.” Lucas beamed at his niece.

Lucas

Molly smiled as the sudden happiness in Lucas’s expression seemed to fill the room. It had been a long time since she had seen him this happy. He had never been the same after her mother’s passing. None of them had…

An inquisitive eyebrow rose in Molly’s face as her uncle’s words processed in her brain. Either way, your mother would have died a Holloway what exactly did he mean? She wore our family name like a badge of honor. Oh… Molly’s smile subsided slightly as she tried to picture her own mother, proud of the family name. A possibility that had never occurred to her before. She reached for the little box with Mary’s initials and for a second, she lost herself in the old picture inside it.

After a long silence, Molly finally spoke. “How could she be proud of the Holloway name when her father-in-law strip them both from the fortune and made everything more difficult for them? Why would she wear it as a badge of honor? She was married to the family’s screw up that got drunk and beat her up. How did she manage to…?”

Molly

Holloway froze momentarily. He knew in that second he had slipped up… screwed up and let show a secret he had had no intention to share. Thinking quickly, Lucas replied cheerfully.

“Your mother…” He began with a bright smile. “… knew damn well that the judgement handed down against Peter had actually nothing to do with her, or for that matter… you, and she was keenly aware that her children would be the heirs to one of the largest fortunes in modern history. Mom & Dad had their disagreements with certain ways Mary raised you…” Molly’s Uncle suddenly paused and burst out laughing.

“Hell! When your mother announced at Christmas Dinner… in front of God and everybody… that she intended to have you Baptized into The Roman Catholic Church… Jesus… I thought your Grandmother might strike her down where she stood! I bet you being less than a month out from being born might likely have saved her from my Mom’s wrath.”

Holloway ran a hand through his hair. “As I said, they didn’t always see eye to eye… but Mom & Dad respected Mary, way more than I think even she realized and certainly more than Peter. She always knew you and Erin would be cared for… Peter was the only one left in the dark on that one.”

Lucas


Posts on USS Dresden

In topic

Posted since


© 1991-2024 STF. Terms of Service

Version 1.15.9