Lost and Found

Time for the Truth

(Eloise's POV)

I rubbed the tears away from my eyes before walking into the garage. The sight of Mr. Sanchez working while Logan swung his little legs from a nearby counter made my lips twitch into a slight smile.

Logan's mouth broke into a toothy grin when he spotted me. "Hi, Auntie!" he called, waving widely to me. Rick helped him down to the floor and the boy engulfed me in a warm hug. I giggled a bit and ruffled his short hair.

"Were you good while I was gone, chéri?" I cooed, lifting Logan into my arms.

Mr. Sanchez smirked. "Yeah, the little gremlin was fine," he muttered, but I could detect the undertone of fondness in his voice. "How was school, kiddo?"

I could feel the pit in my stomach grow. Logan must have noticed my face fall because he put a tiny hand on my cheek. "Auntie, awe ya alright?" he asked with a confused head tilt.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, baby," I reassured him, brushing his bangs back. "How about you go play with Morty, okay? Auntie needs to talk to Mr. Sanchez alone for a minute."

"Okay," he complied before scampering off to find Morty. I closed the door behind him and rubbed my forehead.

A warm hand guided my head to look eye-to-eye with Mr. Sanchez. "Kid, what happened at school today? And don't try to avoid the question."

I chuckled sadly. "You do know me," I sniffled, tears beginning to resurface. "Morty kinda...punched a guy out today."

That earned a shocked expression from Rick, whose unibrow shot up. "Morty did that? Why?"

I rubbed my arm. "He made a dig that he really shouldn't have. He thought Morty and I were dating, and...well....he said that I could do better than him."

There was silence afterwards, so I continued to explain. "Then Mr. Smith picked us up, and told me I couldn't go to school anymore and that I....don't belong here."

I could see Rick's fist clench and his unibrow furrow. "He said WHAT?!"

My vision cloudy with tears, I ran out of the garage and upstairs to where I shared a room with Summer.

"Auntie?" a small voice called, and I turned my head to see my nephew opening the door a crack. "What's wrong?"

I sighed and opened my arms. "Come here, baby," I whispered, to which Logan snuggled his head into my shoulder.

"Auntie, do you miss Mama?" Logan suddenly piped up, looking up at me with those big, brown eyes.

Emily's eyes.

I combed my fingers through his hair. "Of course I do; I think about her all the time, honey," I said with a sad smile.

Logan rested his head on my chest. "Is she...ever coming back?"

I could feel my eyes tear up a little. "I....I don't know, Logan; we'll just have to wait for her," I replied. For once, I was telling the truth; I'd been TOLD that Emily was dead, but...they never found a body.

If there was a sliver of hope that I could give my nephew, it was that she might be alive and she was doing her best to come back to us.

Logan looked down at his hands. "Did she leave because of me?"

My eyes glistened over. "Don't even think that, okay? Your mama loved you more than anyone in the world besides me and your Papa. She would never leave because of you."

"Where is Papa?" Logan questioned, playing with my fingers.

"He's...." I sighed, "he's a part of what's called the Resistance Fighters. They protect the galaxy from the Galactic Federation. He hasn't been able to come home because...well, the bad guys have been taking over more and more planets, so he's very busy. But, before he left, I made your Papa promise he'd come to see us the first chance he got."