Posted by Ensign Chloe Harland (Nurse) in Harland quarters - Where in the universe is Molly Kendrick
It was quiet in the quarters at 0130 in the morning. Chloe has woken up to go to the bathroom as was typical for someone pregnant. Once up she decided to grab a snack and a quick drink. Standing in front of the fridge, she looked a the list of baby names that continued to grow there. Olivia, Emma, Ava, Isabella, Charlotte, Mia, Amelia: All were contenders except for one with a black line through it.

Nate was the first to strike one Sophia from the list which Chloe thought was hysterical. For being the bane of the department, Sophie Mynah was stuck to his hip like mortar to a brick. Walking by their therapy room at times it sounded like Nate was talking to his own daughter instead of a patient. Chloe traced her finger down the list as she drank a glass of water before bed. Life was good and continued to get better with each passing day. It had only been a week since they had visited Stevenson and found out the sex of their child yet for Chloe it was like a weight had been lifted off her. The loud sound of the comm system going of snapped her out of her daydream making her run to the device. It was a rarity to have both kids in their own beds asleep. In the year following Maddie’s death, Chloe had replaced ate with their children in her bed. The transition of her husband back to his spot was not as easy as one thought it might be especially with Logan. It wasn’t until Nate had moved back home did she realize Logan was waking his sister up to journey to their parent’s bed in the middle of the night.

Activating the comm call, Chloe found the face of her sister in law Nicole, red-eyed and hysterical. Lowering the volume so that only she could hear, Chloe took a deep breath. There was little love lost between Kevin and Nathan. Kevin was the one who tended to throw the most barbs but Nathan wasn’t always innocent about not poking the bear. “Nicole, what’s wrong? Is it my parents,” Chloe instantly jumped to a conclusion. Her mom had recently begun the passive-aggressive guilt trip about being older and not able to see all her grandkids. The outpost was good for her and Nate. One day they would return to Earth but right now Chloe felt that without the pressures of family, she and Nate might be able to patch things up.

“Molly is gone,” she sobbed laying her head down on the desk.

“Wait what do you mean gone,” Chloe looked at the bedroom door where Nate was already in bed. Her gut told her to wake him up but he worked a double today and had the kids most of the night as she worked. He was pulling more of his weight than he should be.

“I didn’t want to call at this hour but Kevin says not to bother you and I don’t know what to do. We have looked everywhere? Did she call you by any chance,” she sobbed loudly forcing Chloe to drop the volume even more.

“No. Did you contact the authorities,” Chloe transferred the call to her PaDD and headed back to the kitchen area. Reaching up into the cabinet she pulled out a few pills from her bottle stuffed on the top shelf. She had bottles of them stuffed everywhere but the thought of her sixteen-year-old niece lost increased her anxiety level tenfold.

“Yes and they are looking but they told us she would be back in the morning. That was ten days ago Chloe,” Nicole said. Her voice was warbling some as she stood on the verge of panic.

“Ten days,” Chloe stood with a shocked expression on her face. She had spoken to her mom every day for the past month but no one thought to tell her that her niece had gone missing.

“No one would let me talk to you. They didn’t want you to worry but the officer just came by and told us that we should prepare that,” Nicole’s voice broke into a fit of tears and hiccuping coughs as she fought to not finish the sentence. Chloe’s stomach dropped as she filled in what Nicole could not say. Stumbling back, she hit the wall and slid down it not able to process all this information.

“Nicole I am coming home,” Chloe said finally finding her words. “I am going to get the kids and be on the next shuttle okay. Don’t worry. We will find her,” Chloe replied slowly standing. “Give me an hour to get some clothes into a bag and I will call you back okay.” Chloe was starting to feel a bit calmer as the drugs started to kick in. Making her way to the bedroom, she found she did not have to be quiet because Nate was already up and on the phone.

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Harland Bedroom at the same time
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“Nate I am sorry to wake you up but I need you to come down to the cafe,” Evie’s voice was calm but firm.

Chloe

“Evie… this better not be about that girl you saw Mathia ‘flirt’ with. I told you being nice to someone doesn’t equal flirting.” Nathan said as he pressed his thumb and index finger over his eyes as he tried to focus on what was being said.

“Fine, fine… I’ll… give me ten minutes,” he said as he pulled himself to the side of the bed as his eyes darted around looking for the pants he had taking over before sliding into bed. Looking up he saw Chloe coming in as he squinted as he tried to have his eyes focus on her.

“Why do you seem so worried,” he said softly as he began to pull the pants on, finding himself off balance slightly as he tried to keep himself upright as he grabbed for the nightstand to settle himself.

Nathan Harland