Kate decided to go upstairs and check on the kids before changing and deciding what to make for dinner.

Michael and Mason's voices echoed from inside their closed bedroom. She usually knocked before entering but doubted they would even hear over the headsets they were likely wearing.

When she opened the door, she was unsurprised to see them in their gaming chairs, yelling at each other as they passed the controller back and forth. For their 13th birthday this past September, they received a game called Fortnite and have been obsessed ever since.

"Boys," she said loudly, giving them a chance before taking the controller.

She even waited for a minute to see if they would notice her presence. When they didn't, she stepped in and grabbed the controller out of their hands. That got their attention, as they now looked at her like she had just committed the worst crime in history.

"Mom."

"Dude."

She crosses her arms. "How were your classes? Did you two stay online today."

At the beginning of online school, Kate and Stephen let the kids handle the online stuff without constantly checking in because they were old enough to work their computers and manage their studies.

However, Michael and Mason recently proved they needed it when they would only show up for some classes rather than others in favor of their video games.

"Yeah, Dad made us do It downstairs while he was in the living room on his computer," Mason said, not attempting to hide his agitation.

Michael just nodded. "Wouldn't let us go upstairs unless it was lunch or a bathroom break. He did not make Naomi or Nathan do it, just us."

"Your brother and sister know how to manage their time, especially when doing everything online."

She gently tossed the controller back to the boys. "Remember our deal: if your grades fall below a C, we will take away your Xbox. Just because you guys are doing virtual learning doesn't mean you can skip classes whenever you want. That's why we offered you the choice of no Xbox, or you can do your virtual learning downstairs where one of us can be nearby."

Their only response was to mumble as they attempted to return to their game.

Kate slightly regretted buying the game console for the boys in the first place. However, due to the pandemic and the cancellation of their summer activities, she felt terrible that they couldn't interact with their friends in person and could only do so online.

As soon as she left their room, she saw her oldest son, Nathan, come out of his room.

"Hey, Mom, how was work?"

"It was work; how were your classes?" she asked, wanting to get off the subject of work.

"Fine, I got a student council meeting starting soon, so I'm going to grab a snack and a drink before it starts."

Kate was happy that Nate wasn't negatively impacted by COVID, which forced him into virtual learning. He was nominated by his class last year as student council vice president, and as such, he was always busy in and outside of school.

"I'm going to check in on your sister and probably get ready to start making dinner soon. I am thinking of Pork chops and some stuffing tonight."

Nate looked at her as if she had lost her mind. "Good luck with that. She's been in a mood all day. I think she's still upset about the other day, or it's that time of the month with how irritable she's been."

Nate headed downstairs, sighing as she glanced at her daughter's room. She had hoped Naomi would have calmed down by now, but sometimes Kate forgets how much of her stubbornness she inherited.

"Naomi, can I come in?" she asked, knocking on the door, trying not to hit the Billie Eilish poster.

At first, there was no response, but suddenly, the sound of one of Billie Eilish's songs came through the door.

Kate rubbed her head as Naomi used her predictable method to avoid talking when she wasn't in the mood.

"I will leave you alone the rest of the night if you let me in," she bargained, hoping that would do the trick.

At first, she didn't think it worked, but suddenly, the music stopped.

"Come in."

Kate could tell Naomi was on guard by the tone of her voice, so she knew she would have to approach this cautiously.

Slowly, she opened the door and saw Naomi sitting cross-legged on her bed, sketching something in her notebook without looking up at her.

"How were your classes today?"

Naomi shrugs her shoulders without looking up. "It was fine, nothing too exciting."

"I'm thinking of Pork chops and stuffing for dinner tonight."

Kate hoped that offering her favorite meal might help break the ice, but all she received was a hum in response.

She stood firm against the door, hoping the compromise with Stephen would alleviate the tension between them. She was doing her best to let go, but any mother would fiercely protect her children, especially after already losing a child.

"I talked to your Dad last night about the movies this weekend."

This caught Naomi's attention quickly, and she dropped what she was doing to look up, intrigued by what was about to be said.

"We agreed you can go out with your friends without a parent, but either me or your father will take you girls to and from the movies."

Naomi scoffed as she rolled her eyes. "I don't see the problem with me going without an adult. I'll be with a group of friends to make sure I get home safely, and some of them have a car."

Kate took a deep breath, fully prepared for the reaction.

"Listen, I'm sorry you don't like it, but this was the compromise your father and I came to. You get to go out for an evening without an adult, and we feel better knowing you and all your other friends get home safe."

"Mom, I'm not a little kid anymore; I'm 17. I do not need to be constantly supervised 24/7, nor should I have to keep you updated on my every single movement when I'm not in this house. I can take care of myself, and you should know that you are the one who put me in self-defense classes the moment I turned 13."

Naomi's voice grew louder as she ran her hands through her hair in frustration. This caused Kate's anxiety to kick in, resulting in a knotty feeling in her stomach and a lump forming in her throat.

"Na-"

However, her daughter interrupted before she could even finish her sentence.

"I am not stupid like Claire was; I know better than to hold hands with the first stranger that I encounter."

Suddenly, Kate's whole world stopped in place as she felt a hard punch to the gut. Memories of her last words to Clarie came into her mind.

"Stop being a pest, Claire, and let's go."

She let out a bitter laugh as she grabbed the door handle and squeezed it as hard as she could. Kate had to look anywhere but at Naomi lest she say something in her anger that she knew she would regret later. She knew better than anyone how important last words are, especially not knowing if that would be the last time you would ever see them again.

"Mom, I'm so sorry; I didn't mean it like that."

Without saying anything, she quickly turned around and walked away. She briefly locked eyes with a concerned Stephen, who walked up the stairs and heard the last part of their conversation. Not saying anything to him, she just walked to her bedroom and slammed the door behind her.

(Stephen)

Stephen glanced back at his daughter, feeling grateful that she seemed genuinely remorseful about what she had just said.

"You want to explain to me what that was about?" he asked, a bit disappointed over what he had just heard from her, gesturing towards the room his wife entered.

"I did not mean for it to come out that way, but you know how unreasonable she can be. This is not normal, Dad. Most teenagers in the world are not as supervised as we are. How on earth are we supposed to care for ourselves if we cannot go out and be teenagers?"

Stephen had to nod because he knew she was not wrong. When Nathan and Naomi became teenagers, he and Kate struggled with this: trying to find a balance between making sure they knew where they were and slowly letting them go.

"I get it, Naomi, and it sucks, but you know your mother loves you, right?" he asked, sitting down on the chair by her desk.

Naomi nods, sounding a lot calmer than before. "Of course, I know that; there isn't a day that she doesn't say it to us."

"Some of our rules are not fair, and I know it is hard to see it now, but I promise none of it has ever been done with malicious intent. As parents, we want to keep you and your brothers safe, especially after losing your sister. Your mom carries a lot of guilt about what happened, especially now since we're entering the 13th year."

"I do get it to an extent, but that doesn't mean she should project her guilt onto us," she said, gesturing with one hand toward herself and the other out the door toward her brother's rooms.

Stephen couldn't argue with that because he knew it was true, but it wasn't just Kate. He was also responsible for how their family structure turned out, but not to the extreme, like his wife.

"I am responsible as well, not just not your mother," he reminded her, trying to take some of the blame off Kate.

"At least you attempt to back off; she won't," she said, pointing her finger at him.

Getting off the chair, deciding everyone needed to cool down, "Listen, I will talk to your mother, and maybe we can have a serious family discussion where you kids can be heard as well."

"Fine," she said, huffing, obviously not believing him.

He quickly left the room, shutting the door behind him, but he just stood there, pinching the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes. He knew the tension had been building up over the past couple of years with Naomi, and it seemed things were finally reaching their breaking point.

They did not have many issues with the boys, especially Michael and Mason, who preferred socializing through their games. With Nate, their biggest problem was when he started dating his current girlfriend, Miranda. Thankfully, after meeting her parents, they all found common ground when they went out, including curfews.

It was much easier when they were children, and they thought they were handling the teenage years well. However, his conversation with Naomi revealed that he and Kate were blind to the issues.

"Kate, I am coming in," he said, warning her in case she wanted to be alone for a bit.

He took that as his cue when he did not get a response. He saw her sitting on the side of their bed, holding a framed photograph. He smiled softly as he walked over and sat beside her, putting his arm around her shoulder. Kate did not take her eyes off the photo but smiled a little at the contact.

The picture was the last one taken of Claire before her abduction. It was her preschool photo from the fall. Her hair was tied in a ponytail with a large white ribbon, and she wore a SpongeBob SquarePants t-shirt while flashing her pearly white teeth for the camera.

Stephen had to laugh as a particular memory came into his mind.

"You remember how much she loved SpongeBob; she not only could recite the theme song but that FUN song."

Kate chuckled. "I remember all the time at home; it was one of the two songs she had to sing to us no matter what. Even her preschool teacher said how impressed she was by Claire's ability to recite the lyrics perfectly."

"At least you didn't have to wear the SpongeBob suit for her birthday; I could barely breathe in that thing, and having all those 3-year-olds surrounding me. Claire would get upset if I attempted to leave when I needed to take it off."

This time, Kate did look up from the picture to look at him. "She looked exactly like you, Stephen, bushy eyebrows and all."

"No, I see more of you in her than I do me, especially in the smile."

Her face started to fall as she put the picture back on their nightstand, and Stephen immediately knew what she was thinking, so he brought her closer.

"I'm such a bad mother," she said, croaking from all the emotions.

He started rubbing her shoulder. "You're not a bad mother; it wasn't your fault what happened."

"It is my fault; look at how I treated her after the twins were born. I singled her out, and for what? Because she was my only single birth child with no twin to share the blame with. It makes no sense hearing it out loud."

"We were going through a lot leading up to December, the complications from the birth and the big move from one house to another. We were going from three to five kids, all under 5. It got to be too much."

Before Claire's abduction, Stephen would easily say that his relationship with Kate took a major hit in those months prior. Nowhere in their 27-year relationship was as bad as those months were.

Kate shook her head on his shoulder. "It's not an excuse, Stephen. Not for how I treated Claire. Picking on her for every little thing, my temper was shorter with her than the others. I never had the chance to make things right."

"Share some of that blame with me, Kate. Stop taking that burden on yourself; you weren't her only parent. I could have done more, but I didn't. We both handled the transition terribly and are paying the price for it."

Kate gently intertwined her fingers with his.

"Do you think she's still alive somewhere, scared and not knowing how to get home, or do you think God took her?"

Stephen took a deep breath as he pondered the question. He disliked thinking about it because, in both scenarios, he had to come to terms with the fact that something terrible was happening to the child, and he knew what the statistics indicated.

 On the one hand, if Claire had passed away, at least she would be at peace. On the other hand, if she was still alive, he was confident that they could help her reintegrate into the family and assist with the trauma she had endured. In both cases, it is a matter of finding her, and after 13 years, they have had nothing to go on.

"I don't know, but I do know we will get through it together, whatever the scenario is. We made it this far together."

Kate held his hand as they lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

"Yeah, we have; I can't imagine going through this without you. I don't want to lose another kid; I do not think I could handle it again."

Stephen looked at Kate, memories flooding back from the days after Claire was taken. Despite the press blaming Kate for the incident and a couple of hospitalizations, their marriage grew stronger instead of being destroyed. Stephen was thankful for this, as he loved this woman so much that he didn't know what to do without her.

Author's Note

Alright, here's Meeting the Myers part 2, and I hope you enjoyed it. This was meant to give a brief glimpse into the Myers's lives and how they have coped all these years. It is definitely very heavy and emotional because the loss of a child, whether kidnapped or something unfortunate, happens; you change because of it and the way you raise your other children as well that you still have.