Six year old Finley Ellis Jamison is playing in the sand with his big sister, sixteen year old Mollianne Bryn Jamison on the beach in San Diego. They are laughing and having a good time when suddenly Mollianne looks up and notices that twenty-one year old Scottlynn Raine Jamison has been gone for a while and is no where to be found or seen.
"Mollie?" Finley called "Mollie? What's wrong?" A worried look is growing on his face. It's not often that his big sister looks scared or worried.
Mollianne shakes her head as she comes back to reality, "Don't panic. I'm sure everything is fine, but I can't find mom and she's been gone a while."
"Mommy! Mommy!" Finley yelled as he looked around the beach frantically "MOMMY! MOMMY! MOMMY!"
"Shhh bubba, it's okay." Mollianne tried to assure him as she put an arm around her little brother "I'm sure mom is fine. Mom's tough and she's strong."
Finley looked up at his sister, "Sissy? What will happen to us since mommy is gone? Will I end up in foster care like you and mommy used to be?"
Mollianne sighed softly, "I don't know, bubba."
After a few minutes of Mollianne looking around for Scottlynn, while having a protective arm around her little brother; an off-duty police officer, who happened to be at the beach, walked over to them after observing them and watching them turning slowly in circles while seeming to be looking for someone that they lost and looking lost themselves.
"Hey I'm Mike, are you two okay?" Mike inquired.
Mollianne looked at him questioningly, sizing him up, and silently wondering if she could or should trust him.
"It's okay. You can trust me." Mike assured the two kids as he took out his police badge, which he carried around even when he was off-duty. "I'm a police officer. I'm off-duty right now though, but I can still help you."
Mollianne nodded, "Yes sir, we're fine. We're just waiting for our mom."
"Well why don't I wait with you." Mike suggested "I don't mind."
Mollianne tensed a little, but tried to be calm and hide it, "No that's okay, sir. We're fine."
Mike squatted down to the little boy's level and looked Finley in the eyes, "Can you tell me what's wrong, bud?"
"Don't talk to him!" Mollianne half-yelled at Mike. Then she closed her eyes almost waiting to be slapped. When nothing happened she opened her eyes, "Sorry! I'm sorry, sir. Just please don't talk to my brother."
"You seem a little nervous. Is something the matter?" Mike wondered as he stood up and looked at Mollianne.
Mollianne shook her head, "No sir, just worried about mine and my brother's mom."
"Excuse me, mister?" Finley stated in a soft voice as he tried to get Mike's attention "What happens to Mollie and I if our mommy doesn't show up?"
Mike took a deep breath, "Well that depends. If your sister is under eighteen then you'll both go into temporary foster care."
"I'm eighteen." Mollianne replied quickly even though it was a lie "I just turned eighteen."
Mike nodded, "Okay well then you both can go home after coming down to the police station and filing a missing person's report on your mom."
"Okay sir. We will." Mollianne told Mike
A little while later upon arriving at the police station when Mollianne and Finley walk in after Mike, Mollianne doesn't see the familiar face of Stefanie Adams-Foster at first, but Stef sees Mollianne.
"Mollie?" Stefanie questioned as she approached Mollianne
Mollianne stated at Stefanie shocked to see her old foster mother that she had almost completely forgotten about.
"Who are you?" Finley asked as he looked up at the woman that seemed to know his sister, but he'd never seen before in his life.
"I'm Stef. I fostered Mollie a few years ago." Stefanie informed the little boy "I think it was around time Scottlynn was pregnant, so you must be her son."
Finley nodded, "Yeah! I'm Finley. I'm six." He puts up one whole hand and one finger on the other hand.
"Wow! You're a big boy." Stefanie exclaimed as she pretended to be shocked. Then she turned her attention to Molllianne, "So Mollie, how are you? Where's Scottlynn?"
"I'm good. How are Mari, J, and B?" Mollianne replied as she completely ignored the question about Scottlynn's whereabouts since she didn't know where Scottlynn is, or how to tell Stefanie that Scottlynn was missing.
"They miss you and Scottlynn, especially Mari. She miss you two the most. She really wanted you both as her sisters." Stefanie explained "Lena and I miss you too. We looked for you and Scottlynn everywhere after you two ran away. For months. We looked for almost two years. We never gave up hope that you two were out there somewhere." Then she swallowed and asked, "Why….Why'd you leave?"
Mollianne directed her eyes down to Finley, "Why don't you go sit on the bench, bubba. You can play on my phone." She handed him her phone and then looked back up at Stefanie after he walked away, "My mom…Scottlynn, she wanted to leave. She didn't want to be in a foster home when her baby was born, and she didn't think that you and Lena would want to keep us. Well, actually her, she didn't think you'd want to keep her after her baby was born. I…I wasn't going to let her leave without me."
Stefanie gave a nod, "Well we did….Lena and I….We wanted to adopt both of you. We would have welcomed Scottlynn's baby as our grandchild." Then she asked again, "Speaking of Scottlynn, where is she?"
Mollianne looked down and avoided the question once again. She wanted to take about other things to keep her mind off of Scottlynn. Off of the sister, who has practically raised her, and who she calls her 'mom'.
"Mollie." Stefanie said to get her attention as she placed a hand under the teen's chin and lifted it slightly, so she was looking up "Where is Scottlynn? Did something happen to her?"
Mollianne sighed, "We can't find her. She's missing. She disappeared." She broke down and started to cry, because she had been trying to be tough for Finley, but she really just needed to cry.
Stefanie hugged Mollianne and rubbed her back, "Shh let it out. It's okay. Just let it out."
"But…" Mollianne started as she pulled away from Stefanie and wiped the tears from her eyes "But she didn't abandon Finley and I. Something happened to her. I just know it, because she would never leave us."
Stefanie nodded, "Yeah, I know. She loves you a lot, Mollie, and I'm sure she loves Finley. It took her months before she would even think about leaving you alone for even a minute, when Lena and I fostered you two. Even if she had to shower."
"She raised me. She had to grow up fast to protect me." Mollianne disclosed to Stefanie. "Could you help find her?"
"Of course, Mollie." Stefanie assured with a nod "I promise I won't give up until I find her."
Mollianne smiled softly, "Thanks Stef. And when you go home tell Lena, Mari, J, and B hi for me."
"I will, Butterfly." Stefanie said to the teen that she still pictured as the nine year old she'd fostered.
"You remembered." Mollianne stated shocked. She hadn't expected the woman to remember
Finley looked up from his game and interrupted the, "Can I come back now, sissy?"
Mollianne laughed slight, "Yes, bubba. You can come back." Finley smiled and ran back and stood by Mollianne's side. She wrapped an around him and spoke to Stefanie, "Okay back to our conversation. I can't believe you remembered that nickname for me. I had forgotten that you used to call my that."
"Of course I remembered. Butterfly was my special nickname for you. I never forgot." Stefanie responded "And Scottlynn had one too. Her's was…"
"Flower Bud." Mollianne interrupted and finished for Stefanie "And Finley was Precious, because we didn't know his gender yet. We didn't know if he was a boy or a girl."
Finley's mouth went agape in shock, "I had a special nickname too? Even though I wasn't born."
Stefanie nodded, "Yeah you did, baby."
Finley smiled feeling so special that he was loved by someone before they even met him.
"Well we better go." Mollianne said as she interrupted the moment. "Bye Stef. It was nice seeing you again."
As Mollianne and Finley turned to leave, Stefanie called out, "Wait! Mollie, do you have someone to stay with?" She didn't want to let Mollianne run out so quickly
Mollianne turned and faced Stefanie again, "Yes, as a matter of fact I do. We live next door to a group home and the lady really looks out for us. She kind of became a mother like figure, the one the Scottlynn always needed."
"Really?! What's the lady's name?" Stef wondered thinking that there's a possible chance that the lady is Rita.
"Rita…Rita Hendricks." Mollianne replied before taking Finley's hand and leaving.
Stef stood in her place shocked for a minute before she was able to return to her desk and start filling out a missing person's report on Scottlynn.
As Mollianne and Finley headed home, the events of the day played over and over again in Mollianne's mind as she drove, even though she was still paying close attention to the road.
Flashback: Six hours earlier -
Scottlynn and Mollianne are the only ones awake. Scottlynn's in the kitchen making breakfast and Mollianne is helping.
"So mom, what are the plans for the day?" Mollianne asked
"I was thinking we could just have a nice relaxing day on the beach with Finley." Scottlynn replied "We haven't been in a while and Finley's never even been before."
Mollianne nodded, "That's a good idea. The last time we went to the beach, we were still foster kids and you were pregnant. We were staying with the Adams-Fosters and they took us to the beach with them. They didn't leave us at their house like all our other foster parents did."
"Yeah that's a pretty good memory. It was fun. From what I recall, you and Mari had a pretty good time trying to make 'the biggest sand castle in the world'." Scottlynn explained as she smiled
Mollianne laughed and then gave a sad sigh, "Do you ever miss Stef and Lena and Mari, J, and B? I miss them, but I miss Mari the most. She was a great sister. She was the first and only experience that I had of what it would be like to have a sister."
Scottlynn gave a nod, "Yeah I miss them too. Stef and Lena were our best foster family, and their kids were so welcoming to us." Then she took a breath, "Sometimes I wish they had been our first placement, but then I think about Finley and how much I love him. I don't think I would have him if we hadn't gone though all those awful foster homes."
"Yeah. You're probably right." Mollianne told her mom as she gave a soft sigh before she heard little feet running through the hallway.
"Mommy! Sissy!" Finley exclaimed before hugging his mother and sister
Scottlynn smiled happily at her son, "Hi baby. Good morning."
End of flashback -
Mollianne's thoughts are interrupted by the sound of Finley's little voice, because while she had been paying attention to the road; she hadn't noticed that she had passed their house.
"Sissy! Sissy!" Finley yelled
"Huh?" Mollianne questioned still a little disoriented and confused "What's up, bubba?"
"You passed our house, sissy." Finley told her
Mollianne glanced at the houses she was passing, "Oh yeah, I have to turn around. I couldn't park from this direction."
As soon as Mollianne can, she turns the car around and parks in the driveway of their house.
"Sissy? Can I go say hi to Tante Rita?" Finley wondered
Mollianne thought for a moment, "Sure. Go ahead. I'll be there in a minute."
Finley nodded, then hopped out of the car, and ran to the front door of the group home that is next door to them. He knocked before opening the door.
"Hi Becka. Hi Kiara. Hi Carmen." Finley greeted with a smile as he saw the girls of the group home. Then he greeted Daphne, who helps out Rita at the group home, "Hi Auntie Daphne, where's Tante Rita?"
Becka, Kiara, and Carmen all smiled back at Finley and waved to him, "Hey little guy."
"Tante Rita is in the living room, baby boy." Daphne informs him
Finley smiled and then hugged Daphne, "Thanks Auntie Daphne."
Then Finley ran into the living room, ran to Rita, and hugged her, "Tante Rita!"
"Hi Sweet boy, how are you?" Rita asked as she hugged him back "Where's your momma and sister?"
"I'm okay, Tante Rita." Finley responded "Sissy's coming in a minute and mommy's missing."
Rita looked confused as she led the boy over to the couch. She sat down and then placed Finley on her lap, "Okay baby, tell me what happened."
"Well…." Finley started