Missing

The First Night

She kind of stared at us for a second and looked down hiding behind the detective. I wanted to grab her and hug her and tell her that I was sorry, but she seemed scared and unsure. I didn't want to make it worse. I wish I had paid attention when the psychologist was explaining how to deal with this. I half smiled watching her. She looked like Jenn and was sort of shy like her. It didn't look like she was living in a horrible situation in Montana. The detective stepped aside and pushed her forward in front of him

"This is Mary. Mary this is..."

"Her name is Sierra" Jenn snapped

I shot a glance over at Jenn and shook my head

"Jennifer stop."

"I won't have her going by the name of that crazy woman. Her name is Sierra"

"I know that, but just let it be"

I looked over at her and saw that she had backed away a little and I didn't want her to feel uncomfortable right away. Jenn wouldn't budge and kept insisting so I pulled her aside as the psychologist made his way over

"Stop it now Jennifer. She's already scared and uncomfortable don't make it worse."

"You need to listen to your husband. This isn't her fault and she can't help the situation. Right or wrong her name is Mary for the time being. You need to let her decide when she wants to start using Sierra. She may never want to and you have to be able to accept that. She's still your daughter. She's alive, healthy and she's been through a lot this week. Be thankful she's back. Baby steps."

She folded her arms across her chest and sighed deeply in annoyance. This was the last thing I wanted and the last thing she needed. I didn't want to fight in front of her or upset her or anything. We had no idea what she'd been told about us all of these years, if anything, and I didn't want to make her afraid of us.

"Jenn....please. We waited for so long for her to come back and you're acting like you never wanted her to. Think of how your acting in front of her. This is the first impression you're giving her. Please don't make this a bad experience for any of us"

We turned back around to see Noah and JJ had gone over to talk to her. She was actually smiling and I stood back and watched for a few minutes. It was the first time in years I'd felt completely happy. Our family had never been complete. Finally Jennifer went over and smiled and hugged her. I stood back and watched her and suddenly I was nervous. I didn't know what to say. I didn't know what to do. I was suddenly afraid of all of these things. What if she hates me? What if she won't come near me or talk to me? What if she blames me for uprooting her life? I found myself standing in front of her just looking at her. She looked up at me and just stared. You could see she had so many questions in her face. She was also sad and I knew that deep down she didn't really want to be here. I smiled and pulled her to me and hugged her tight refusing to let her go. I was afraid if I let go she'd leave and never come back again

Mary's POV

I followed the detective through the station and into a small room that said "INTERROGATION" on the door. I sat down in the chair next to the table and waited. My heart was racing and I felt like I couldn't breathe. I realized on the plane ride here that I didn't know anything about these people. I kept replaying what my mom had said about my dad being dangerous and it scared me.

The door opened and a man with a clipboard came in to talk. He asked me a bunch of questions about how I was feeling. Was I comfortable doing this? He told me about how my feelings were normal and that it was OK to be afraid. Great...a shrink...just what I needed. But, I guess this was just all part of the process so I went along with it. My phone continually buzzed in my pocket and I wanted so much to answer it. I knew it was Liam. I missed him desperately. The psychologist left and I sat there for a while. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and smiled. Liam had sent me a bunch of messages and a selfie with his new puppy.