Prodigal Son; Malcolm Bright

28.00

Celine Wilson

We were working crazy hours trying to put all the pieces of the puzzle together with this case. It was difficult trying to balance that and constantly worrying about Paisley, who had been staying with Jessica, but we visited every day. We had just exited the station when we were approached by a man.

Man: You must be Malcolm & Kadence?

Celine: Who are you?

Man: Jack, from CPS. We received an anonymous tip that your daughter isn't in a stable environment due to the actions of her father and we'll be conducting investigations, until then she isn't permitted to be around you Mr. Bright

Celine: This has to be a mistake

Jack: Is it not true that while under her supervision your infant daughter wandered onto an unstable balcony...at a crime scene? Has she not been kidnapped, and he didn't report it? The list goes on-

Celine: He's a good father

Jack: Listen if you're unable to follow the statute then we'll have no choice but to take the child away

Malcolm: That won't be necessary

Jack: We'll be in touch

I stood there in disbelief over what was happening. Malcolm gently grabbed me by the shoulders forcing me to look at him.

Malcolm: Don't worry, we're going to figure this out, you just go over there and give her a kiss for me

He walked away before I could argue and as soon as I got to Jessica's I told her what had just happened. Paisley was luckily upstairs sleeping, Jessica immediately called Malcolm and he walked through the front door confused to see me.

Malcolm: I thought you said she'd taken Paisley home

Jessica: I lied

Malcolm: I can't be here

Jessica: Malcolm stop this is ridiculous

Malcolm: I'd rather her have her mother than neither of us

The doorbell rung and Jessica opened it, and it was Jack. I rolled my eyes as he entered the house.

Celine: I see you're making your rounds

Jack: I was coming to see if I could interview you Mrs. Whitly

Jessica: Is this the man?

Celine: Yep

Jessica: You listen to me. My son is a good man and an even better father-

Paisley suddenly ran down the stairs crying and was immediately running to Malcolm who looked panicked as she got closer, but he couldn't turn her away.

Paisley: I had a nightmare

Malcolm: It's okay Bugs, let's go for a walk

He glanced over at us before walking her away, and Jack now had a softer expression on his face.

Jessica: You're supposed to help children but look at what you'd be taking her away from. You really think she needs that

Jack: My apologies, you won't have any more trouble from me

That was one of our worries walking out the door, but we still had more to deal with. I was tired, we all were. But we could only take things one step at a time. I went to go and talk to Malcolm who'd just put Paisley back to sleep.

Malcolm: Did I ever tell you about the time I had a night terror in front of Paisley? It's when I first learned the effect she had on me

Celine: No, I don't think you did

Malcolm: Well I woke up in a panic as I usually did and I expected her to be scared, but she just looked at me and calmly crawled over and laid on top of me. I calmed down almost instantly; pretty sure I fell back asleep before she did.

I smiled; we were going to get through this. Even if things had to get worse before they got better, which they did. Malcolm went missing and I was driving myself crazy. I left Paisley at Jessica's house because I couldn't deal with the "Where's daddy" questions.

I couldn't go to work because everybody looked at me with pity and I hated it. I was just stuck.

Malcolm Bright

Life wasn't exactly the best right now. John aka the junkyard killer was holding me hostage, and to top it all off he'd stabbed me. I sat there listening and I swear I could hear the sound of my mother and Ainsley talking to Paisley, it was only after hearing her heels I realized I wasn't hallucinating. I was being held captive in my own home, and I couldn't let him get to them.

I did what needed to be done and broke a portion of my hand in order to get out the cuffs and stop him. After everything, all I could do was hold Paisley while my mom went and called 9-1-1.

Malcolm: Ainsley

Ainsley: Yea?

Malcolm: Call Kadence

After some time, Kadence showed up and walked towards the ambulance I was sitting in with Paisley. She grabbed my good hand and smiled slightly.

Celine: I'm really glad you're okay

Malcolm: Me too

I refused to stay at the hospital for any longer than I needed too, and that mean Celine forced me to come and stay with her. It was better than my mother's overprotectiveness and it came with Paisley.

She'd come home from work and we'd just be there waiting on her. We were eating dinner right now and I looked up at her, and she met my eyes.

Celine: What?

Malcolm: I just realized we've never even been on a date

Celine: Well that doesn't matter now that you're seeing Eve

She looked at me knowingly before taking Paisley to get ready for bed. We definitely still had some things to figure out, but I was glad things were finally back to some form of normalcy.