Sharon was cooking breakfast, when the doorbell rang, she rolled her eyes and walked to the door, this always happened when she was cooking.
She opened the door, standing there was an Asian girl with reddish brown hair. She was tall and lanky, she was wearing a tank top and jeans. Though, something was off. She looked scared to be here?
"Um, Hello, are you Sharon McGee?"
"Yes?" said Sharon, confused.
"...The mother of Molly McGee?"
Sharon froze. A part of her thought that this was just a sick prank. But looking at the girl, she could tell it was Molly.
It was her!
Mol… Molly?" Tears started to appear in her eyes.
The girl started to cry as well, "Mom?"
Sharon stepped forward to hug her daughter.
Molly was suddenly jerked backwards.
Sharon took another step trying to hug her daughter, again the girl was jerked backwards.
"Mom, what's going on?" Said the girl, in a slightly stressed tone.
"Molly, relax, it's okay. I promise I'm not going to let you go again."
Sharon took another step forward trying to hold her daughter, the girl was jerked back, all of a sudden something seemed to start pulling on Molly.
"Mom, something's trying to take me," Said the girl crying, "Don't fail me again."
Sharon reached out to grab her only to feel something invisible holding her back, she fought back against the invisible force in a desperate attempt to hold her baby.
To no avail.
Behind Molly, the sky turned dark.
Sharon kept fighting, Molly was starting to rise into the air.
Sharon was so close! As Sharon almost reached her, Molly went flying into the clouds. Sharon watched as her daughter become a small speck and vanish, once again.
"No," said Sharon, her heart shattering, "No, No, No!"
"NOOOOOOO"
…
"NOOOOOOO"
The next thing Sharon knew she was sitting up in bed, in a cold sweat.
Looking around the room, it was dark.
It had been a dream, a twisted reflection of what had been all those years ago.
She instantly felt a hand touch her shoulder, she flinched away from it.
"Sharon…" said Pete sitting next to her.
The woman took a breath, and looked at him, "I'm okay, It was just…"
"It was about that day she disappeared, wasn't it?"
Sharon looked at him and exhaled, "Yes."
Pete looked at her worried, "You've been having them a lot recently."
Sharon laughed, "Yeah, I have it's just… It's…"
"It's her isn't it." said Pete, gesturing to the ceiling with a quick glance.
"You can say her name Pete," said Sharon "Molly."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
Sharon just looked at him, he was looking at her in that kind way he always did when someone needed help, she remembered the first few days after Molly had been taken, he never blamed her, even that time she broke down next, yelling at him, demanding he blame her.
He never did.
Pete loved even if she was responsible for losing their daughter.
"She can't be her."
Pete sighed, "I know."
Sharon couldn't deny that there was a possibility that the ghost girl whose house they had recently moved into was their daughter, but there were so many reasons Sharon wanted them to be false.
It all could be one big coincidence, Sharon could just tell her and Molly might just one day come out of the blue, and it would make things awkward for the ghost girl.
Or maybe the ghost girl would bond with her and follow them forever, and it might cause her father to go on a rampage.
These were the excuses she told herself.
The real reason was because it would admit to the horrible truth.
Molly was gone.
Her daughter was gone and had been replaced by a ghost and…
Before Sharon could even feel the tears well up in her eyes, she felt Pete's arms wrap around her, she held him in return.
"It wasn't your fault."
Pete always said that when Molly was on her mind, whenever she thought about how alone and scared Molly must be. He always comforted her.
It lasted a second before he let go of her, "Are you going to be okay?" Pete said, with concern in his voice.
Sharon nodded and lay down again.
She felt her husband's arms wrap around her, Pete wasn't strong but when he did that, she always welcomed it, the man had a habit of making her feel loved.
The wonderful moment was ruined by Scratch floating through the ceiling.
This might not sound like much, but the blue ghost had the ability to end any intimate moment instantly.
Sharon turned and gave him a glare, "What are you doing here?" She barked, narrowing her eyes.
"This is my house! I can go where I want!" barked the ghost back, "Whatever. I hate to say this, but I need your help."
"With what?" Asked Sharon.
"Molly's death day party."
"Is that supposed to be a birthday party for ghosts?"
"Yes, yes it is." relieved that he didn't have to explain this to two flesh bags, "To celebrate a ghosts' death, we get a cake and do the usual birthday."
"Do all ghosts have them?"
Scratch shrugged, "No, but Molly got upset because her human friends get to have a birthday and I made it up to get her to stop being so sad. And, I need one of you to keep her distracted while we prepare the party."
"How do we keep her distracted?" Asked Sharon.
"Take her out somewhere," said Scratch impatiently, "take her out while you work, just do something."
Sharon was quiet for a second, before nodding.
"Okay, I'll do it." said Sharon.
"Well too bad someone has to do it and… What?"
"Sharon, are you sure?"
Sharon nodded, "Sure. It's just spending the day with Molly. I'll keep her out of the house, doesn't sound that hard."
Scratch laughed, "it isn't really I just need her out of the house, so we can surprise her, just for tomorrow at Three, I'm bringing some friends, and her human friend will be there, Darryl will inform you in the morning," the ghost flew through the ceiling.
Pete turned to Sharon, "What are you planning?"
"Nothing, I'm just going to spend the day with her, maybe go to a movie or something then deliver her to the party, doesn't sound that hard."
Pete just looked at her for a second before sighing and laying down again,
Sharon however looked at the ceiling for a few minutes, wondering if she could handle spending the day with Molly.
…
The moment Molly opened her eyes, she smiled her widest Molly smile, it was her death day, the best day ever!
It wasn't her real death day, she didn't know when that was, but the day her dad found her was better than nothing.
Most would find it morbid that they celebrated this day but not Molly.
To her, it was the day a kind ghost found her and took her in, at first she had celebrated with just him. A few years later she had Libby and Andrea, and now she got to spend it with her new human family.
She flew over to scratch and hovered about him, the older ghost didn't move
"It's too early." he grumbled.
"Can… Wait." said Moll barely holding back her joy
"Fine," said Scratch grumpily.
Molly then Molly explored, in a shower of fireworks and sparkles.
"IT'S MY DEATH DAY." said the girl in a shout of joy. She then started to sing "It's my death day" to no real tune.
She didn't see the old grumpy ghost smile, he couldn't believe it had been thirteen years already, he would be the first to admit that Molly wasn't the best ghost, she tried not to scare anyone and occasionally knocked on a door, but he had to admit she was the best thing to ever happen to him.
"Okay, kid enough, We should probably go downstairs to see the pests."
Molly gave a squeal and floated on down, she headed to the kitchen to see Pete frying bacon, Darryl was looking at his phone and Sharon was just sitting at the table waiting.
"Morning McGee's" said Molly in a way that would make most morning people annoyed.
"Morning Moll." said Darryl.
"Morning Molly."
"Pull up a plate, we've got bacon and sausages coming up."
"Actually before we start eating I wanted to say something quickly."
"What is it?" said Darryl pretending not to know.
"It's my death day," said Molly cheerfully.
"What?" said Pete confused, "Already?"
Molly shook her head "Yeah and I want you guys to celebrate it with us."
"Thank you, Molly." said Sharon politely.
"All of a sudden Scratch floated down from the ceiling and turned to Molly, "Sorry kid, but We need you out of the house."
"Really why?" said Molly upset.
"Well, We have a spider infestation,"
Molly's instantly Molly's eyes were full of fear, "A what?"
"A spider infestation yeah it's really bad, You probably should-"
Before he could finish Molly zipped out of the house, Scratch laughed, "Works every time, Sharon, you know what to do."
Sharon stood up and walked to the door, "Just gotta keep her entertained for six hours doesn't sound that hard."
…
Sharon exited the house and saw Molly floating by the car.
"Did he say "Works every time?""
Sharon nodded surprised, "Yeah how did you…"
"He's been using the same excuse since I was five."
"Oh so you're not afraid of spiders?"
Molly shock her head, "No I'm terrified of them, Little crawling monster," she said bitterly.
"Huh" said Sharon.
"What?" Asked Molly
"Oh nothing, it's just Pete has the same phobia, anything small with more than four legs scares the hell out of him."
"Well when it comes to spiders he's right, when I still slept on a spider hammock one laid its eggs in me."
"Ugh," said Sharon disgusted.
"Yeah now I sleep on pillows, Anyway, when does dad want me back for the party?"
"Five, So what do you want to do?"
"Umm, Well I usually hang out with…"
"Hey Molly." said a voice from behind Sharon, the woman turned to see two girls walking together one was wearing a green sweater and had messy hair and the other was wearing a pink jacket and had perfect dyed hair.
"GIRLS!" said Molly flying towards them, she wrapped them with a wide hug.
"Okay, That's enough, It's your death day, let's not make it anyone else." said the blue haired girl who was struggling to breath.
Molly let them go, "You girls helping dad?"
"Yeah," Said the girl with perfect hair, "I'm not letting your dad ruin it this year."
"It wasn't that bad." said Molly
"Molly, the balloons were black, the music was from last century, and the cake said world's best Administrative assistant."
"In all fairness death day cakes are a little hard to get a hold of," said the messy haired girl.
"I'm taking the party away from him," the girl then looked at Sharon, "Sorry aren't you Darryl's mom?"
"Yes I'm guessing you Andrea?"
"And I'm Libby, nice to meet you." said the girl with messy hair.
"Let's go Libby, I've got a party to save." said Andrea determined, "See you Molly," with that the two girls rushed inside the house.
"So Molly, Where do you want to go first?" asked Sharon
Molly floated there a second, and then smiled, "I, Molly McGee, for my first death day treat, want to wear a dress."
Sharon did not expect for the ghost to say that.
"Okay… I was kind of expecting…anything else?"
"Well duh, I've never worn any clothes in my life, it's my birthday and I want to try on a dress."
"Okay ignoring the creepy implications of the first half of that sentence I just saw those two girls run in doors, wouldn't they let you borrow something?"
"No, if Andrea discovered I was interested in anything fashion related…well she'd haunt me more than dad."
"And the other girl?"
"Too tall, and I'm not the biggest fan of green."
…
"How do I look?"
Sharon looked at the ghost hovering in front of her, she was wearing a purple dress, a light purple belt around her middle, they were currently sitting in a dressing room at the nearby clothing store.
"Nice," said Sharon.
Molly looked in the mirror, there was a small smile on her face, "Yeah it is, wish I could do something about my hair though."
Sharon looked at it, Molly hair was more like a lump of her body, however that's when an idea entered Sharon's head.
"Close your eyes."
Molly looked at her confused but did so.
Sharon stood up and took the ghost girl's shoulder-length hair, she tied it into a ponytail.
"Okay, open your eyes."
Molly turned her head in the mirror and gasped, "IT LOOKS SO CUTE!" the ghost girl exclaimed, she flew at Sharon hugging her.
Sharon fought off a laugh, she found herself hugging the girl.
"You're welcome Molly, now come on, we've got to pay for a dress."
…
The two had gotten ice cream, however, as she walked away from the counter with triple chocolate mint, Sharon swore she heard the server make a crack about her weight. Whatever anger she had felt vanished when the next ice cream he served exploded in his face.
After they had seen a movie, Sharon felt awaked being in a movie full of adults taking their kids to an animated movie, to everyone else it looked like she was on her own, but Molly enjoyed it.
As they left the theater however Molly then realized something and asked Sharon to drive her to the park, giving no details of what they would do there.
Sharon had to be honest, the statue was impressive, Sally Tugbottom the founder of the town star standing in a heroic position.
"So why did you bring me to this statue?"
I want you to meet my hero, Sally Tugbottom, the founder of the town." Said Molly looking at the statue with wide eyes.
"Oh," said Sharon looking at the statue, Molly must have come to see the statue as a mother figure for not having one for so long.
"HEY AUNT SALLY YOU IN?" Shouted Molly,
A pink face popped out of the statue, "Well Molly McGee, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be celebrating your 13th death day?" there was an accent to the ghost's voice.
"I am, I just wanted to introduce you to Sharon, one of the humans who's living with me now."
Sally looked at the human and gave a nod, "Nice to meet ya."
Sharon waved, "Nice to meet you."
The pink ghost laughed as she phased through the statue, Sharon noticed that she has a pink bandana around her neck, though it appeared to be a part of the ghost's body.
" So Molly, got any big plans for your death day?"
"Speaking of that," said Molly, her voice taking on more of an adult tone "I believe you promised me something, on my fourth death day."
Sally sighed with pride, "Nine years ago, I still remember it like yesterday, you were always wanting a hug, or a story or a bear ride," Sally then put her fingers to her lips and whistled.
Sharon wondered what was happening when all of a sudden she felt small, she turned to see something massive behind her, it was large, and it was furry, but it was also translucent. She looked at the face of the thing, and she instantly knew what it was.
A bear.
Sharon's mind finally kicked into gear, and she swung at it, her fist went through the bear's face.
She stood there for a second embarrassed, the ghost bear looked at her just as embarrassed.
Molly however flew at it and hugged the head.
"BEAR!" the ghost girl.
Letting go of the girl the bear licked her.
"Okay Molly you get to ride him for a few minutes, unsupervised."
Molly let out a squeal and flew up to the ghost bear's back, "I'll be quick."
She looked at the beast, "LETS GO!"
The bear charged off into the nearby forest, Molly cheering along as they did.
"Are they going to okay?" said Sharon worried
"Eh they'll be fine, What's the worst that can happen." said Sally shrugging, "So tell me what's it like living with Scratch?"
"Well it hasn't been that bad, mostly because Molly's been standing up for us."
"Yeah that's her."
Sharon looked at her for a second and decided to ask, "So, does anyone know where Molly came from?"
Sally's eyes widened briefly "No." she said quickly.
"Really?"
"Yep, and quite frankly I don't want to know, discovering a baby like that!"
Sharon froze, "A baby?" she said her voice full of concern
Sally froze for a second, "Sorry slip of the tongue, I said girl."
"No you didn't," said a voice from the statue, a green head popped out of it, "You said a baby, Don't you remember her? She was the most adorable baby ghost ever."
Sally looked at this new ghost with fury in her eyes, "Ezekiel!"
Sharon looked at this new ghost, curious "How long ago was this?"
"Well I first met her around… what thirteen years ago? She was adorable… and then she cost me everything."
"Okay," said Sally, her annoyance now focused on him, "She did not cost you everything, She and her friends helped uncover the truth about what you did and how you took credit for my good deeds, her and friend and secondly, you ruined everything yourself."
"Sorry, but I don't know that much about ghosts, but they don't usually age?"
All of a sudden Ezekiel froze and then turned to Sharon worried, he then turned to Sally who'se stare would have knocked him did if not for the obvious.
"Um yes… well…" Ezekiel stuttered.
Before Sharon could ask another question there was the sound of a stomping coming from behind them, covered in leafs and bits of sticks were Molly and the bear, the two ghosts and one human looked at them.
Molly had a sheepish grin on her face, "Sorry!" she said.
Sally sighed, "Don't worry about it Molly, I'll clean him up, you should get going you don't want to spend all day here with me."
Sharon was about to ask another question when her phone rang, picking it up she read the name on the screen, Darryl.
She answered it, in the background she could hear yelling "Darryl is everything okay?"
"Yeah sure, just Scratch and Andrea are fighting, over what the best color for the balloons, Black or yellow."
"Do you need me to come home?"
"No, said Darryl, "Actually we need you to pick something up, I'll pass you to Libby."
After a second a new voice was on the phone more quiet than her sons, "Hello?"
"Libby, it's Sharon what do you need?"
"I left Molly's present at home, I'd ask my mom to bring it, but she can't leave the store could you go there and pick it up?"
Sharon stood there for a minute, Sally had taken the bear and her brother away and was starting to order her brother to start cleaning the bear.
She looked at Molly and shrugged, "Yeah, I'll pick it up, See you at home." she disconnected the phone.
"Molly do you know where Libby live?"
"Yeah above her moms shop, why?"
"We just need to pick something up, come on let's go."
…
Molly and Sharon stood outside the store, "Okay Molly you hover around while I talk to Libby's mother.
Molly nodded, Sharon opened the door and Molly followed.
Book Marks the Spot was slightly busy today, there were a few people sitting down reading and a few more were drinking coffee, at the counter there was a middle age woman with a muffin in her hand, she was looking down at a book, Sharon walked up to it, the woman saw her and Sharon swore there was a look of shock on her face, it was quickly replaced with a smile.
"Hello, welcome to Book Marks the Spot, can I help you?"
"Yes, I'm Darryl mother, I've come to pick something for Libby."
The woman just nodded, "Oh Darryl's mother, I'm Leah, it's nice to finally meet you, Libby's said so much about him."
Sharon nodded, "Yes well I've heard about Libby, all good, I didn't know she lived at a bookshop though."
"Bookshop, café. Anything to keep the windows open," she stepped out from the counter, "could you keep an eye on the counter while I get the gift?"
Sharon nodded, "Sure."
Leah walked out of the front door.
*She seems nice."
"Yes, and she left her muffin unguarded," Said Molly who reached out to grab it.
"Molly!" Sharon said shocked, "What are you doing?"
Molly turned to Sharon with a serious look on her face, "Seven years ago Libby and I were having a tea party, Leah came into the room to check up on Libby, during this we were eating the most beautiful mouth watering cookies ever, and while Libby was looking away she took it from me."
Sharon was starting to get a little worried over this, "Okay."
"From that day on," continued Molly, "I vowed to make sure Leah Stein-Torres would never have finished a snack ever again."
"Okay but other than that you like her?"
"Oh yes," said Molly back in positive mode again, "It's just you know, she stole my cookie, No if you don't mind."
Molly opened her mouth at a ninety degrees angle, and was about to throw it down her throat.
Sharon grabbed the muffin away from Molly, "No."
"Oh come on," Whined Molly, "It can be my deathday present."
The girl grabbed onto her Sharon's hands trying to pry the cupcake away,
"Molly, No this is childish, you won't do it."
"Oh, Come on I…" Molly looked down "Hey is that you?"
"What?" said Sharon looking where Molly was, it was at the book which Leah had been reading, on it was a picture of her, thirteen years ago, alongside it was the picture of the baby that was in the front room.
Eyes widening in terror, Sharon grabbed the book and closed it, she read the title, "Mysterious Cases of missing people Vol 6"
Sharon sighed, another one.
"Why were you in that book? And why was that picture of Darryl there?"
Before Sharon could react the doorbell signaled the return of Leah who walked behind the counter, her hand extended to give Sharon a gift, "Here you go, so it is-" she looked down and saw the closed book, a frightened look appeared on her face.
"I am so sorry," said Leah, hoping that she would fix things with that magic word.
Sharon looked at her and nodded "No it's fine, It's just a book and…"
"I was just reading it, I figure that McGee might be a common name and-"
"Don't worry about it," said Sharon saying words like they were second nature to her now, if anything Leah was one of the more polite ones.
Molly was watching the two women, not knowing what was happening.
"It just I had a hunch that Darryl McGee might be connected to Molly McGee and-"
"NO." said Sharon raising her voice, but too late.
She looked at Molly who floated there terrified, "Molly… McGee?" she said her voice quivering.
Sharon took the gift, "I'm sorry I need to go."
Before Leah could react Sharon was out of the door, Sharon drove into the nearby Alleyway to calm down, she tried to control herself.
"Who was Molly McGee?" said a shaking voice from the Alley entrance.
Sharon turned and saw Molly floating there, the ghost looked lost, Sharon swallowed.
"She was my daughter." the woman said crying to control the tears that could start flowing from her eyes, "around thirteen years ago, she was taken and… She's missing."
Molly just floated there for a second, "Oh my god, That means… You could be my mom?"
Sharon was quiet for a second, she dreaded the reaction from Molly.
"THAT'S FANTASTIC NEWS!" said Molly in what had to be one of the most inappropriate reactions ever in the history of Ghost-human relations.
Sharon looked at her confused, "What?"
"I mean, I always wanted a mom, and now I can get you to stay forever!"
Sharon just stood there, in the midst of a deep shock she tried to figure out what happened, this…was not what she expected. At all.
"I mean now you can help me with my hair, We can celebrate Christmas, Oh there's missing death days, you can introduce me to your family.
Sharon just looked at the ghost, she was happy about this? What was wrong with her, Sharon felt her fists start to clench.
"Oh and we can go to the movies, We can watch really sappy movies together and…"
"Stop it." said Sharon.
"Oh and we get matching hair cuts and go to the park and buy cute dresses and…"
"Stop It." Sharon repeated trying to fight back the tears.
"And then when you die I can…"
"STOP IT!" shouted Sharon, her voice set Molly shocking Molly, "Just stop talking."
"What's wrong?" said Molly confused by what she had just said.
"All of this, All of it is wrong," She turned around trying to reduce her anger" Just stop talking."
"Why Mom is-"
"Don't you dare, call me that." said Sharon still looking at the wall.
"But…"
"I don't want to be your mom." she said.
There was silence, Sharon turned around to see the ghost standing there, her eyes wide her face shocked, in seconds tear were appearing in her eyes. The ghost turned around and flew into the wall behind her.
Guilt slammed into Sharon like a sledgehammer, tears started to appear in her eyes, "No Wait," she whimpered.
She cursed herself, she was about to start looking for the ghost when, when she heard a terrified high pitch scream.
In less than a second ran out of the alley, the building next to the Bookmarks the spot was empty, she then ran to the next building across, it was a pawn shop full of junk.
She opened the door and started to look around, the shop was a mess, who ran such a messy place.
Sharon started to look behind, anything, she looked into an old chest, and empty wardrobe and nothing.
She felt her heart pump, Molly could be in trouble, she didn't know what trouble a ghost could get into, but she needed to find her, she briefly thought about looking in the next shop when she started to hear muttering.
"Nonononononno." said a small scared voice from somewhere in the shop.
Sharon slowed down and looked around, "Molly?" she called out.
Nothing.
Sharon slowly walked around the room, she was reminded of the times DArryl tried to hide when he was in trouble.
"Molly, I'm sorry."
She could hear the tearful sobs close to her, coming from the suit of armor, she looked at the chest plate and opened it.
Floating inside was Molly curled in a ball here eyes closed, she was covered in spiders, around eight of them to be exact, eight small terrifying little demon spawn.
One of them was resting on a web in Molly's chest.
"Oh," said Sharon.
She reached forward and picked up one of the little monster and flung it to the floor.
Slowly and methodically she did it to each of them.
After a few minutes Molly was almost clear of spiders.
She took the last one from the ghost's chest and placed it gently on the ground.
Turning back she saw the ghost was still curled in a ball muttering to herself, like she was too scared to move.
Sharon felt her heart fall, this was her fault, she reached inside and tried to hold on to the ghost, he arms went through her.
Sharon continued to look at her stumped if she could do anything to help, she took a deep breath, "Molly, I'm sorry."
She could hear the sniffing coming from Molly, "I'm sorry." said the ghost, getting rid of the spiders brought back from her frightened state.
"You don't have to be, It's my fault, I shouldn't have reacted like that."
"I should have just kept my mouth shut." whimpered the ghost.
Sharon kept quiet for a minute Molly knew the truth, but not fully, she needed to know what happened that day.
"It was my fault."
"No it was-"
"I was the one responsible for her going missing."
Molly looked up her eyes full of tears and ectoplasmic snot, "What?"
"I was tired that day, so I decided to get a nap, the windows to Molly's room were open, and I just closed my eyes, an hour later I opened them, I went to her room and… She was gone."
She had always blamed herself for that day, it was her fault
Molly uncurled herself and slowly floated out of the armor, hesitantly, "Did you try looking for her?"
"Yes, the police they looked around the whole state for her, they had a few leads but…" Sharon froze, trying to avoid mentioning the conclusion, to ignore that obvious result in front of her.
She closed her eyes, trying to fight back the memories, that were threatening to return, She remembered waking up and hearing the silence, she remembered preparing Molly's bottle, and then walking to her room.
She still remembered the scream that escaped from her lips the moment she saw her baby missing.
The worst past was that everyone, Pete, Her mother, the Police, they didn't blame her.
Why were they so blind.
She was a monster, she failed her daughter, and everyone tried to be nice to her.
She was starting to get lost in her grief, the bitterness and the self-hatred flowed through her.
That's when she felt the two arms wrap around her.
Sharon opened her eyes and saw something small and yellow holding her, like a magic spell the grief left her.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry for everything that happened to you."
Sharon hugged her back.
"It's okay," said Sharon, whispering like she would to her Molly when she cried.
They stood there for a few minutes until…
"What's going on here? Did you open that armor? And why are you hugging the air?"
Sharon and Molly turned to see a man standing there, he wore a top hat, a jacket with a white shirt underneath, this was followed by shorts and sandals, there was a key around his neck.
"Oh," said Sharon, embarrassed to be caught here crying, "Yes sorry and…"
The man jumped onto a chair with great speed,"That's where I kept my Black Widow collection in there. Why would you open it?"
"WHY WOULD YOU KEEP BLACK WIDOWS IN A SUIT OF ARMOR?" shouted Sharon.
"BECAUSE THEIR GLASS CASE IS BEING CLEANED!" shouted back the man."
…
A few minutes later Sharon was sitting in the van next to Molly, the ghost was looking at her fully engaged in what Sharon was telling her.
"They spent months looking for her but nothing, after a while the police had other things to look for, they still try, and we get calls from new detectives, but…nothing."
"Oh… So do you really think that I…"
"I thought it could be the case at first, and You said you were a baby ghost back then but… I don't know." said Sharon unsure how to feel.
Molly looked at her, "Dad said… He found me floating around small and scared, I've always wondered what could have happened to me?"
The two sat there looking at each other, the silence sat between them, as if a confirmation of what could have been the truth.
"I don't think we can just jump to conclusions," said Sharon, trying to apply any sort of logic to this situation.
"Yeah, I mean, the chances of you being my mom, has to be like one in a million." said Molly.
They say in silence again, it was painful.
"I wouldn't mind if you were my mom," Molly said quickly.
"Really?" said Sharon.
"Yeah," replied Molly, "You're smart, you're nice, you know how to do my hair, that's kind of what I wanted from a mom."
Sharon found herself smiling, "Honestly if My Molly's still out there, I'd be happy if she was a fraction like you."
Molly smiled back, Sharon felt her heart grow warmer, she still couldn't get the idea that this ghost could be her daughter, but maybe that didn't matter, maybe she should just appreciate who was sitting down next to her.
Sharon then heard her phone chime, picking it up she looked at the text, "Party's ready."
She turned to Molly, "Are you ready?"
Molly nodded.
…
Sharon exited the car, she walked to the back door and opened it, Molly wearing her new dress floated out.
"How do I look?"
Sharon looked at the ghost, she saw the delighted smile, the hopeful look in her eye, for a brief moment she saw the baby held all those years ago.
"You look wonderful," said Sharon, holding back the tears.
They walked to the door, and to the living room.
SURPRISE!" shouted a chorus of human and ghosts, Sharon recognized the humans, Sally Ezekiel, Geoff but there were two she didn't know, a tall green ghost, an ice skater ghost,
Sharon noticed there were yellow and Black balloons hung all around the place.
It gave the party a strange bumblebee theme.
"You guys really surprised me," Molly lied, she flew to the rest of the party.
"Where did you get the dress from?" Asked Libby.
"Sharon brought it for me, I Love it."
"You let her buy you clothes but turn me down whenever I offer?"
"Well yeah you kind of have a habit of going overboard."
"Me, Overboard?" Said Andrea offended.
"Yes, remember the tank top you gave me." Said Libby flatly.
"Well it's better than wearing a sweater in summer, I'm not carrying you if you faint again" replied Andrea.
Pete walked over to Sharon smiling, "Did everything go alright?" He asked
Sharon nodded, "Yeah it's fine, we had a few problems, but I'll tell you later."
She turned back to Molly standing there talking to her friends, in another lifetime, that could have been her Molly talking and having friends, despite that Sharon smiled, thinking about her Molly hurt, but that didn't mean that this Molly was not important.
She smiled and held her husbands hand, maybe she could get use to this.
…
It was several hours later when all the guests had left, when Scratch had decided to leave the cleaning of the house to the humans and floated upstairs, he was going to try and catch up on his sleeping, working on this party had been hard.
Eventually there was a knock on the attic door, Scratch groaned and opened it, Molly floated through carrying her gifts, a book from Libby, a bracelet from Andrea and that dress.
Scratch did not like that dress, she was a ghost they didn't need clothes…unless their bodies seemed to take on their clothes.
"Thanks dad," said Molly.
"Sure, just dump that stuff anywhere," Scratch groaned.
Molly placed the dress underneath her pillows then turned to her father, "Thanks dad, I love the party."
Scratch floated to his hammock and smiled, "You're welcome kid, now if you don't mind, let's get to sleep," he lay down expecting to fall asleep.
Molly floated to her pillows and lay down.
Scratch closed his eyes and tried to will himself to sleep.
"Hey, Dad."
Scratch groaned, "What kid?"
"Did you know the McGee's had a daughter?"
"They did?" said Scratch, only slightly interested.
"Yeah, she was taken and… well, her name was Molly."
Scratch eyes opened, her turned to her concerned, "Kid," he said a hint of surprising symphony in his voice.
"I mean I talked it over with Sharon and we both admit it's unlikely but…"
"Molly!" he said sharply.
The ghost girl stopped talking, Scratch floated next to her, Molly could see a gentle look in his eyes, she had seen in his eyes only a few times, but always made her feel just as sad.
"Kid, don't do this."
"Do what? I mean I could be-"
Scratch cut her off, "I don't want you to get hurt kid, I don't think you could handle discovering how you died, heck I'm scary, and even I don't want to know about it."
"But Dad I-"
"How will the McGee's react?"
"They'd be…" Molly trailed off.
"They'd be heartbroken." said Scratch sternly
Molly sighed," Yeah you're right," she hugged him and closed her eyes.
"I'm sorry kid, but personally no matter what, I'm glad you're a ghost."
The glow happened again, as it did every time Scratch performed this small little ritual, he tried to keep a smile but dashing his daughter's hopes like this made it hard.
…
Three hours later when Scratch listened to Molly's snores, they were always quiet, looked over her.
"Thirteen years," he said smiling, it felt weird to smile, but when he saw her at peace, he couldn't help it.
He rose from his hammock and flew through the window, outside he headed to the backyard, The McGee's had not done that much with it since they had invaded, and thus they hadn't done anything with the tree out back, it was old and mangled, it had always scared Molly, which made it the perfect hiding place, he flew up to a squirrel hole, which hadn't been used for it's intended use for years.
He reached in and pulled out a wooden box, it had been protected from the weather over the past thirteen years, he opened in.
Inside was a small yellow blanket.
He took it in his hands and let it fold out, he saw the letters stitched on in the right corner.
"Molly M"
Scratch looked at it and slowly looked at the house.
It might be just a big coincidence, but he could risk it, he couldn't lose her.
He packed the blanket in the box and back into its hiding place.
Scratch silently floated back to his room. Starting tomorrow the McGees would know what hit them.
...
Magidarkness: Gracias.
CoolSkelton91: Well he says he found her as a ghost and Scratch would never lie would he? Also she's a ghost and has been for 13 years and finally She'd never do that, I mean she loved her dad and nothing will ever come between them...or will it?
Monkey Lover 911: Thank you.
VRM: No, Leah has no idea Molly exists other than as Libbys imaginary friend.