Posted by Lieutenant Nathan Harland (Counselor) in Harland quarters - Where in the universe is Molly Kendrick

Posted by Ensign Chloe Harland (Nurse) in Harland quarters - Where in the universe is Molly Kendrick

Posted by Lieutenant Nathan Harland (Counselor) in Harland quarters - Where in the universe is Molly Kendrick
Posted by… suppressed (1) by the Post Ghost! 👻

<snip>

“What,” Molly opened the door immediately. She did not believe a word of what her Uncle Nathan said but she was also not willing to press her luck with that belief. “When you were gone, Aunt Molly and I shared taking care of the kids. It’s Mara’s nap time. I was just trying to help out,” she flopped on the couch putting her feet on the coffee table. Picking up her phone she flipped through the messages that were coming through. “What do you want to know,” she kept her eyes down at the screen not reading anything she was pretending she was.

Nathan’s eyes squinted as he looked over at Molly as she brought out the phone. Looking over at Chloe he knew he was gonna snap soon if he didn’t get her to start listening.

‘Well I had a long talk with your mom,” Chloe said softly raising a finger to Nathan. She wasn’t sure where Nathan’s head was right now. She hadn’t spent the morning with Delta Shuttles. Molly would get her nap in a bit so that she and Nathan could talk. Right now, Chloe needed to get Molly’s side of things.

“How was old Nicole and Kevin,” Molly rolled her eyes.

“Worried about you,” Chloe took a deep breath. “You wanna tell me your version,” she took a long sip of her coffee. Chloe was not Nate. She wasn’t a therapist or a doctor but she was a mother and a nurse. Both of those job titles got her more information than Nate was privy to at times. She studied her niece. The way Molly was blowing off her and Nathan wasn’t because Molly was one hundred percent annoyed with her aunt and uncle. It was more of a ninety ten split with ninety embarrassed about the topics about to come up and ten with being annoyed by her family. Molly wouldn’t look up but continued to scan her phone waiting for Chloe to lead the conversation. Knowing Nate’s no phone policy in therapy, Chloe decided to warn Molly upfront. “It would help if you put your phone down honey. It makes it easier to talk and concentrate.” As if to back up what she was saying, Chloe set her phone on the coffee table.

“Wait you are serious,” Molly looked at Chloe like she had just announced the most outlandish fact. Seeing Chloe’s phone on the table made Molly uneasy. Without the phone, there was no shield to hide behind or ways to pass messages back and forth. That was how things were done. Glancing at her Uncle Nate, Molly wasn’t sure what to do. For years she had texted him during family gatherings complaining about this or that and he had always responded. Most of the time it was to remind her she was a kid and to stay out of adult grumps. Other times it was a bump to play him in the Yahtzee game they shared.

“Oh I am very serious, I love you hon but it needs to go,” Nathan said as he felt his voice with a slight growl over the very device.

“Just for now okay. Uncle Nate and I have a lot of talking to do but are the stuff true,” she looked at Molly and then down at the table.

“Ugh,” she tossed her phone down groaning loudly. “Which parts,” Molly said getting defensive. Crossing her arms over her chest she stared at Chloe. Molly chewed the inside of her cheek trying to dispell some of her nervous energy. Her Aunt was going to push this probably farther than she wanted.

“Well, we can start with why were you running away from home. Baby your parents love you. Grandma and Grandpa love you. Aunt Meredith loves you even though she can be totally crazy,” Chloe leaned back laughing. As much as she loved her sister, Meredith could really push her buttons. It was the first thing she bonded with Molly over on an adult level.

“Tell me about it. Did you see her last Immediagram post,” Molly picked up her phone and circled around next to Chloe’s chair. Scrolling through the shots she stopped on Meredith’s most recent post about love and the strength of a woman not needing a man which was followed up by the announcement of her being in a relationship. “Nothing is more pathetic than posting all your personal drama on Immediagram yet claiming you are no drama llama zone,” Molly said. “And then she lectures me on how it looks to the family when,”

“Wait! Go back,” Chloe tapped the images trying to move back a few.

“Why,” Molly laughed pulling the phone away laughing. She knew exactly what Chloe had seen and was red-cheeked with embarrassment. Swinging the phone out of Chloe’s reach, her aunt grabbed the back of Molly’s shirt pulling her down in the chair with her so that Molly’s legs draped over the edge.

“What did that say about Uncle Nate,” she laughed. Regardless of what happened to get Molly here, this felt good. Chloe was laughing and happy. Pulling the phone towards her she read the post. “Number one hottest Uncle ever!” read the caption in bold with a picture of Nathan giving a smoldering side glance.

Molly couldn’t stop laughing. “You have no idea how much fun I get made of over this. I took that when he was looking at you at that barbecue two summers ago. I had both of you in it but Diana cropped it out. Now all the girls are begging for where he practices. You have no idea how embarrassing it is to be known as the hot rocker shrinks niece. I mean he is....Uncle Nate,” Molly pretended to let a shiver of revulsion run down her spine as she laughed.

Chloe

“They call me what? Is this why I used to get so many of your friends asking to have private sessions with me? I had like twice a week as for one on one sessions at night clubs and bars when I was there. Honestly I just thought they were all a little weird.” Nathan said as he shook his head as thought about how odd those requests used to sound.

“They wanted you to do therapy at a night club,” Chloe let out a chuckle. While she and her husband were old by a teenager’s standard, she couldn’t deny the fact that since Nate was a musician his coolness factor jumped ten points.

“Yeah, that is why I stopped hanging out with them,” Molly sighed. “They were too immature.” Leaning forward on autopilot to grab her phone Chloe made a slight throat-clearing sound as a warning. Molly had seen Nate yell at the kids during family get togethers to settle down like all the other Aunt and Uncles did from time to time but she was sadly mistaken thinking this would be one of those times he barked something out and then let it go. Stopping mid-stretch Molly leaned back in her seat feeling anxious about the buzzes and beeps emanating from her phone. If the only way to get it back was answering a few questions then that is what she would do. “So if I answer your questions can I get my phone back,” she sounded almost desperate, “and what do you need to know that you don’t already know from Nicky and Kev oh,” Molly avoided looking at Nathan but concentrated on Chloe. Her aunt seemed annoyed but far less annoyed than her uncle.

“Yes but let’s not call them Nicky and Kev on,” Chloe suggested. “They are your parents and whatever is going on they just want the best for you.” Kevin and Chloe were never what you called close but he was her brother and Molly’s father.

“Fine,” Molly grumbled I just won’t call them anything she added to herself. The last thing she needed was to cause more grump in the situation.

Chloe looked at Nathan to take the lead. Yes, it was passive but her head was starting to hurt and she was breaking out in a hot flash from edging too close to not taking her pills. If she didn’t give Nate the lead, Chloe would buckle just to get another pill sending the wrong message to Molly.

“First though… what do you want to move from? You have only two years left of high school and you are off to college. You can do anything, be anything… why run to us hon? We love having you but… it wasn’t the easiest way to get you here. We could have flown you in let you come stayed a little while.”

Nathan Harland

“Because I can’t take my parents anymore,” Molly yelled crossing her hands. “They are self-absorbed and expect me to take advanced biology and calculus and I don’t want to. My Dad decided to become a vegan. There are no snacks and they expect a family night with my boyfriend on the weekend. Who does that? I am not and Diana says it’s weird,” she instantly pulled her feet up to her chest and crosse her arms around them. “Do what you want? If you send me back I will just take off again. Phil and I are in love. He has a job and wants me to move in with him. My parents said I can’t do that but you and Aunt Chloe did?” Molly looked at Chloe for support. “I love him and I don’t care if he is eighteen. There were five years between grandma and grandpa and they are still together so it’s not fair.”

Chloe

“I never said I was going to just send you back right away, we love you… but… hon I think you have a lot of misunderstandings of how things worked. Chloe and I had graduated from Starfleet, we were 22 and both of us had jobs in Starfleet. We didn’t just run off and elope either, it was a few years later before we ever got married. You were our flower girl… and you are always going to be my girl.” Nathan said as he sat next to her as he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her in close as he hugged her.

“That’s not the way Uncle Tommy and Uncle Kevin explain it,” Chloe laughed laying her head on Nate’s shoulder. She enjoyed the quiet moment. Things were always better with her Aunt and Uncle. They always seemed to understand her far more than her own family. “So I can stay,” she raised her eyes to look at him. “I can’t go home. I mean I don’t want to go home,” she said in a softer tone.

“We will work this out with Nicole and Kevin, but don’t for one second forget how much they love you… Aunt Chloe and I know… we know a lot about missing a child hon.” Nathan said with a choke in his throat as he tried to breath carefully. He didn’t talk about Maddie often but he couldn’t help but have some sympathy for his in-laws.

Nathan Harland

“That’s why its perfect if I stay. You can go out or join a book club or take up bowling like Aunt Chloe used to when you were on the Odin.” Chloe stiffened slightly but pressed the coffee to her lips to cover her face. The past needed to stay in the past. The silence was broken by the rhythmic buzz of Molly’s phone jittering across the table. Leaning forward she let her hand hover over it before looking at Chloe. “We are done here right? I can go nap and use my phone?”

“Yeah,” she rolled her eyes as her niece popped off the couch like she was launched. The rambling of a teenager moving down the hall make Chloe let out a small sigh. “That phone thing is going to take some getting used to,” she set her coffee down on the coffee table looking at her husband.

“No I mean for you,” she grinned so that her entire face lit up in a smile. “She and I are in a ton of games. It takes me at least an hour at night to play her.”

Chloe