Crescent Moon (Kyle J Simmons)

Curiouser and Curiouser

The next day, it was just Kyle, Mailey, and I. It was the kind of feeling that I would never burn out on. The man I loved and the child I would die for. Even though I had to feed her myself, Kyle always held me in his arms as I did so. Everything was so perfect. At least, in that area of my life.

I kept thinking about my brother. It had been almost three months since I had seen him. Though he tried to get me back in Susan's grasp and almost assaulted Kyle, I worried about him. That day when I saw those pill bottles fall out of his pocket, along with the shameful look on his face, gave me a terrible feeling in my gut. As someone who worked at a pharmacy for many years, I knew those weren't an actual type of medicine. From my distance, they looked like painkillers. Sure, there were some people who actually needed them, but Elliott had two of them in his pocket. I knew from that moment that he had a problem.

I wanted to call him, to check on him. There was a big part of me that said no. But this was my blood. My brother. The man who beat the man who tried to kill me. The person who always made me laugh. The man who gave me away at both of my weddings.

"Hey Mans!" I heard Kyle's voice from downstairs. "I need your help!"

I made my way downstairs and into the living room. That was when I saw Kyle on the couch, holding Mailey, who was sucking on his thumb.

"Kyle, what are you two doing?"

"She's hungry. She's looking for food, but I can't feed her. Every time I try to take my finger out of her mouth, she gets upset."

"I've got a bottle in the fridge," I started walking to the kitchen. "I didn't tell you, but I'm a bit tired of feeding her myself."

I bent downwards and grabbed a fresh bottle out of the refrigerator. I started walking back to Kyle, and then I handed it to him. "Thanks, Mandie."

"She'll like this." I said.

Kyle gently placed the bottle into her little mouth. Mailey's eyes got big when she realized that Kyle was feeding her and not me.  She even had the same facial expressions as him.

"There you go, Mailey. There you go." he was already such a good father.

I felt my phone vibrate, and I didn't recognize the number. "I have to take this."

As I walked out of the living room, I headed outside. "Hello?"

"Manda?" I immediately knew that voice. "This is Adeline. I need to talk to you."

Kyle

Mailey fell asleep in my arms. I couldn't help but notice how much she looked like Manda when she slept. I heard my wife come in.

"What's wrong Mandie?" I asked her.

"It's my brother. He's been on drugs, and now he ran away."

"What?"

"He's been missing for a week. My sister in law called me and asked if he came by-"

"Why would he come by? You rejected him."

"I know but she said he's been saying my name over and over." she grabbed her jacket off the chair and put it on.

"Manda, what are you...where are you going?"

She swallowed hard. "I'm going to see my family."

"What? Are you out of your mind?"

"I know, Kyle. I said that I never wanted to see them again. But there's this feeling that won't go away. I still love them, and I have to protect them. I couldn't imagine losing you or Mailey, and I know your sister would do the same thing if you went missing."