5. Maliah #3
Her little face scrunched together.
“So, I’m not gonna be the baby anymore?”
The question was so sincere that it nearly broke my heart.
“Oh, baby.”
I pulled her into my lap.
“You’ll always be my baby.”
She didn’t look convinced.
“Even when the baby gets here?”
I kissed the side of her head.
“Especially when the baby gets here.”
She thought about it for another second before finally nodding.
“Okay.”
I smiled.
“Okay,” I said to reassure her.
A few minutes later, I left her room feeling even happier than before.
There was only one person left. And honestly?
She was the one I had been most excited to tell.
A smile touched my lips as I walked toward Maliah’s room.
Out of all my children, she would probably be the happiest for me.
The thought alone made me smile as I walked toward her room.
Over the years, all three of my children have heard the story about the baby I lost before any of them were born.
It wasn’t something I talked about often, but when it came up, Maliah always reacted the strongest. She cried the first time I told them about it.
The one who sat beside me afterward with tears running down her face like it had happened to her.
The one who kept asking questions about the baby.
About her brother. She was the one who hugged me before she went to bed that night.
A small smile touched my lips. Maliah felt everything deeply.
It was that cancer zodiac sign in her. She had always been in tune with her emotions.
Even now, years later, she still brought it up from time to time.
Not because she wanted to make me sad. Because she never forgot.
She knew how badly I wanted another baby.
Which was why I already knew what her reaction was going to be.
Lots of tears, followed by a million questions and probably a shopping list before lunchtime.
The thought made me laugh softly to myself as I reached her bedroom door handle.
Still smiling, I pushed her bedroom door open.
The smile disappeared almost immediately. My eyes moved across the room. The bed was made, perfectly made. A frown settled onto my face.
“Maliah?”
No answer. I stepped further inside. I checked behind the door of the room and even looked inside her massive walk-in closet.
The room looked lived in. Like somebody had been there recently.
Usually when I come in late at night, I peek in on everybody before heading to my bedroom, but because I had to throw up, I jetted up the stairs and headed straight for our bathroom.
Instantly, I regretted not doubling back to check on everyone for the night.
Clothes were draped across a chair. Makeup sat scattered across her vanity.
A curling iron rested near the sink in her bathroom.
Everything looked exactly like she had been in the middle of getting ready for something.
Then left. The feeling that settled into my stomach wasn’t panic, not yet at least. More than anything, I was confused. It was almost nine in the morning, so she had better gotten up early and left.
“Maliah?”
Still no response. My eyes continued moving around the room.
Then they landed on the empty space beside her dresser.
My heart skipped. Her purse was gone and so were her keys.
The smile I’d been carrying all morning vanished completely.
Slowly, I pulled my phone from my robe pocket.
Maybe she ran out for coffee. Maybe she went to breakfast. Maybe…
I opened the location app. The screen loaded. Then stopped.
Location unavailable
My brows pulled together. I refreshed it. Nothing. I refreshed it again. Nothing. A cold feeling spread through my chest. And before I could truly panic, I refreshed it one more time.
But still nothing. The location had been turned off. Every bit of excitement that had been filling me moments ago disappeared.
“Maliah…”
This time her name came out as a whisper.
My pulse immediately sped up. Because something wasn’t right.
I opened the home security app on my phone and ran the cameras back from the night before.
The footage was playing quickly, but when I saw her walk out of the front door, I slowed the playback down.
She got into her car and then backed down the driveway with her lights off.
I fast-forwarded the replay again all the way to when I pulled up.
I was so distracted when I got home that I didn’t even realize that her car was not parked in the driveway.
Honestly, between Malik, MJ, and my cars, we had a lot.
Now I was faced with the reality that my baby had up and left somewhere in the early morning.
Way before the sun had come up. When the feeling started to bubble in my stomach for too long, I turned toward the hallway.
“Malik!”
The scream ripped out of me before I could stop it. It was loud and filled with panic.
“Malik!”