A New Life, Part 2 (COMPLETED)

Chapter 22

Tim held onto Maggie as she sobbed into his chest. "Don't cry, we'll find him" he whispered, his heart breaking.

Marcus walked in and handed Maggie a sedative. She tried to refuse but soon gave in. She hadn't slept in 36 hours and Marcus was deeply concerned for her physical and mental well being.

Helping her to the sofa, everyone gathered in the living room. Callie stood up and walked over to her "Mimi, don't cry. Everything will be ok, Uncle Chance will come back, see" she said rubbing Maggie's hand before handing her the picture she drew. Tim looked at the innocent child, such optimism and faith, something he needed right now.

Maggie wiped her eyes, "thank you sweetie" she replied, looking at the drawing. She recognized something about each family member the child drew, but something caught her eye. "Whose this" she asked Callie, pointing to the figure on the side.

Tim looked at the drawing, tears forming in his eyes. The braided hair, the white dress, the smile..the smile that would forever be in his heart.

"That's Ms. Caroline. She told me Uncle Chance was with her and Papa and not to worry" she answered with a big smile.

Tim looked at Heather who had her hand over her mouth, tears flowing. Her and Jake had never told Callie who she was named after, they thought best to wait till she was older and could better understand. Tim bit his lip, trying to hold back the tears, then merely touched the young child's hair. She had brought him a renewed faith that indeed his brother would come back.

****

"Guys..guys..what's going on" Jonathon asked as Austin, Adam and Rob messed up again, stopping the recording.

Austin looked to Adam, "we have to tell him, you know damn well our minds are elsewhere right now,  we're not going to get this right til we get some news"

"I know..I know..but we're on a time restraint.."Adam replied.

Jonathon walked over to the three, "Guys..come on, we've worked enough together, I know somethings not right. This have anything to do with Tim and Chance not being here?"

Rob stroked his beard as Austin stuffed his hands in his pockets waiting for Adam to answer him. "It's...personal" Adam replied quietly.

"Hey, I get it and I won't pry. But, I know you guys, you're a family. I also know you're perfectionists, and what we have here today is not up to your standards" Jonathon stated.

"You have to keep this private, we don't want anything out in the open" Adam began. Jonathon nodded in agreement and sent the rest of the crew off set for a break.

"It's Chance. He ..ugh..he left without telling anyone..we think he went home to Alabama, Tim flew down this morning. I...I didn't want to waste our time or money with you, so I decided to keep our scheduled time" Adam explained.

Jonathon nodded, absent mindedly moving his hand through his beard, "dude, all you had to do was tell me you wanted to reschedule. We're here for you guys, it's not an issue. We know people get sick, things come up, whatever" he told the three.

Adam sighed with relief, " man, I'm sorry. It's just with the uncertainty I thought maybe keeping busy would help. And then the money..well, you know"

"Is there anything we can do" Jonathon asked.

"We haven't heard anything from Tim yet, but once we do I'll be sure to let you know " Adam replied.

Jonathon assured him again about the time and money. He gave each one of the guys a quick hug before they walked off set.

****
Tim looked at the clock, excusing himself to make a call to Jenika. He'd only texted her quickly to let her know he arrived safe.

"Hey baby, any news" she answered on the other end, waving the guys over.

He knew he had to let them all know of the possibility of him being lost at sea, but he didn't want to upset what they were doing, and well, he just didn't know how. Tim immediately asked how the video session was going.

"They can't concentrate, hell none of us can" she said before explaining what had taken place on set. " But you haven't answered my question, do you know anything about Chance, is he really there".

"Baby, get the guys together away from everyone else and put me on speaker phone" he asked her as he walked a bit down the driveway from Maggie's house.

"They're here and we're alone, you're on speaker now" she told him.

Tim went over what little bit Jake had told him..the boat, the storm, the coast guard. They all stared and listened intently, trying to grasp exactly what he was saying. "Timmy, is he....is he sick again. Is that why he went there " Austin asked, his voice shaking.

"We don't know, bud. Marcus hasn't heard anything from any of his doctors. We won't know till we find him" Tim replied.

"How's Maggie holding up" Jenika asked.

"She had to be sedated, babe. She's exhausted from worry and she's been on a baking binge, making all his favorites, nonstop. She..she just buried her face into my chest when I walked in, sobbing just saying please. It's breaking my heart I have no answers for her" he told her solemnly.

"Hey Tim" Jake yelled, causing him to turn back quickly. "Marcus and I are heading to the coast guard station, you coming?"

"Yeah, be right there " he yelled back. "Guys, I've gotta go. We're heading out to the coast guard station, maybe there's some news. I'll call you as soon as I can. Love you Babe "

"Love you too sweetie, be careful" Jenika replied before hanging up. The group just looked at one another, moving closer, hugging and praying that whatever the news would be, they would all be back together, at home, soon.