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

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“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.

“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