Restored (The Missing: Book 9) [Formerly Titled Rescued]

Chapter One

Disclaimer: I do not own The Missing Series.

"Would you hurry up in there? It's almost time to go!" Jonah Skidmore shouted into the bathroom that he shared with his little sister and twin brother. With such limited space, he was glad he'd been the first one to get ready.

"Be patient! I'm almost finished!" Katherine snapped back, poking her head out.

"Oh, really?" Jonah mumbled doubtingly, looking at the state of her dark blonde hair. Half of it was hanging freely, while the other half was pinned to the top of her head with a hair clip. To Jonah, it looked like she could still be a while. "Whatever. I'm going back downstairs with Jordan and Kevin."

After walking down the stairs and coming to the end of the hallway, he could see Jordan and Kevin sitting on the couch, reading some children's book together.

"Jo-Jo's back!" little Kevin exclaimed, smiling with his chubby toddler cheeks.

Jonah smiled back at him. At times like this, when Kevin looked so young and innocent, it was hard to believe he'd almost destroyed time as Sam Chase, infamously known as Second Chance, the man he grew up to be in one version of time. But Sam Chase was gone forever now.

The name Second Chance still seemed appropriate, though; Kevin truly was getting a second chance at life. Before he had been de-aged to a baby, he'd been a troubled teenager from an abusive home. That was hard to believe, now, watching the way Jonah's parents so lovingly cared for their third adoptive son. He was truly a Skidmore now.

"Hey, buddy," Jonah said, plopping down beside him. "What's Jor-Door reading to you?"

"Dinosaurs!" Kevin exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air. He chattered on and on about them, remembering a lot of details and pronouncing their difficult names well for being so young.

That didn't surprise anybody in the Skidmore household, though. They knew Kevin was gifted because Sam Chase had been a genius. One of the smartest people ever born. Or at least, that's how Jonah had understood it.

"Katherine's still doing her hair," Jonah complained to Jordan over Kevin's babbling.

"She takes forever," Jordan replied in his deep voice, practically identical to Jonah's.

"Are you guys leaving soon?" Jonah heard Mom ask. He felt the cushions shift as she leaned against the back of the couch.

"Whenever Katherine finally gets done and Chip gets here," Jordan mumbled.

As if he knew he was being talked about, Chip yanked open the front door and let himself in.

"Hey Ms. Skidmore, hey Kev," he said as he entered the living room, stopping to fist-bump Kevin. "Where's Katherine?"

"Right here!" she exclaimed, walking out of the hallway. She paused with her hand on her hip for added effect. Even though she'd grown up a lot, she still had a flair for being dramatic.

Jonah looked over at her. She had changed so much in the three years since their last time travel experience. Although she was still shorter than Jordan, Jonah, and Chip, she'd really shot up in height. To her delight and her brothers' annoyance, people often mistook them for being the same age although she was still just a freshman at fourteen (almost fifteen). And, as she stood before them in a pink fitted t-shirt and skinny jeans, he noticed how pretty she'd become. Not that he would ever even dream of telling her that.

"Hey, beautiful," Chip said, walking up to her and placing his hands on her hips.

She placed one hand on his shoulder and the other on his face, pulling him down for a quick kiss before breaking away.