of Grandma’s chair, and looked at the side of her face as he said, “It’s hard for us never being able to meet them either.”
Grandma looked back down at her tea and nodded. Then she finally raised the glass and sipped at it. If it was cold, she didn’t show it.
“Your mother is very fragile right now. We don’t want to have her fall back to that place she was in not long ago. She doesn’t need any more stressors in her life right now. Because of what you two did she’s been torn up all day. She hasn’t even left her room except to use the bathroom,” Grandpa stated.
“I know,” I responded, feeling the weight of my actions on my shoulders.
He moved his arm from behind Grandma and reached both hands out across the table. He took my hand in one, and Ella’s in the other. “Don’t you think that that John Symmes fellow deserves to be left alone? Your mom chose her wrecked marriage over sharing a life with him, you girls, and the babies. And even now that she’s ended things with your father she still hasn’t contacted him.” He squeezed our hands in his to emphasize his point, but my mind had traveled elsewhere.
John Symmes.
Grandpa had just given us John’s last name without even realizing it. Maybe he thought we already knew it, or maybe he just accidentally let it slip. Whatever the reason was, I didn’t care. I was too busy trying to keep the excited grin off of my face, and from the looks of it, so was Ella.
Grandpa continued to berate us with the errors of our ways for another half an hour or so before he gave us one more disappointed look and excused us from the table. I hung my head in shame as I stood from my spot and exited the room. Ella followed me up the stairs, and once we were in the hallway I glanced over my shoulder and grinned widely. She was smiling hard too. I didn’t want to risk being overheard by our mom, so I took her by her wrist and pulled her into her room, shutting the door behind us.
As soon as the door was closed, Ella whispered, “John Symmes.”
“I know!” I whisper yelled. “Everything is falling into place.”
Chapter 14
I pulled the car to a stop in front of an average sized two-story home and cut the engine off. Grandpa had allowed us to use his car to get out of the house for a while after our conversation. He thought we were headed to meet some friends at the diner we used to hang out at, but instead we were parked outside of John Symmes’ house, not knowing what to do next. We hadn’t really planned what to do once we had gotten here. The idea of us just walking up to the front door, ringing the bell and demanding to see the twins just didn’t seem appropriate.
Earlier, after our conversation with our grandparents, we had rushed upstairs to search the yellow pages using his last name. Thankfully, since he had a pretty unique last name, we had only found one person in the area with a match. Not wanting to wait any longer, we had scribbled the address down and been on our way. Now we sat staring at the house.
“Why do I feel like this is such a bad idea?” Ella asked, staring out the passenger window with wide eyes.
I unclicked my seat belt. It felt restricting now that we were parked. “Normally when something feels like a bad idea, it is.”
Ella leaned back until her back was pressed against her seat and let out a deep sigh. “Yeah, well, we can’t turn back now. This is exactly what we wanted. Our little brothers, or little sisters, or brother and sister are behind the walls of that house, and we need to meet them.”
I glanced over the house again. It was crazy to think that this is where the twins had been growing up since they were born. This was their home, and it wasn’t more than a few miles from the house that Ella and I had grown up in until we had moved across the country. We were so far, and yet so close.
“What if they aren’t even home?” I wondered aloud. There was a silver truck
Grandma looked back down at her tea and nodded. Then she finally raised the glass and sipped at it. If it was cold, she didn’t show it.
“Your mother is very fragile right now. We don’t want to have her fall back to that place she was in not long ago. She doesn’t need any more stressors in her life right now. Because of what you two did she’s been torn up all day. She hasn’t even left her room except to use the bathroom,” Grandpa stated.
“I know,” I responded, feeling the weight of my actions on my shoulders.
He moved his arm from behind Grandma and reached both hands out across the table. He took my hand in one, and Ella’s in the other. “Don’t you think that that John Symmes fellow deserves to be left alone? Your mom chose her wrecked marriage over sharing a life with him, you girls, and the babies. And even now that she’s ended things with your father she still hasn’t contacted him.” He squeezed our hands in his to emphasize his point, but my mind had traveled elsewhere.
John Symmes.
Grandpa had just given us John’s last name without even realizing it. Maybe he thought we already knew it, or maybe he just accidentally let it slip. Whatever the reason was, I didn’t care. I was too busy trying to keep the excited grin off of my face, and from the looks of it, so was Ella.
Grandpa continued to berate us with the errors of our ways for another half an hour or so before he gave us one more disappointed look and excused us from the table. I hung my head in shame as I stood from my spot and exited the room. Ella followed me up the stairs, and once we were in the hallway I glanced over my shoulder and grinned widely. She was smiling hard too. I didn’t want to risk being overheard by our mom, so I took her by her wrist and pulled her into her room, shutting the door behind us.
As soon as the door was closed, Ella whispered, “John Symmes.”
“I know!” I whisper yelled. “Everything is falling into place.”
Chapter 14
I pulled the car to a stop in front of an average sized two-story home and cut the engine off. Grandpa had allowed us to use his car to get out of the house for a while after our conversation. He thought we were headed to meet some friends at the diner we used to hang out at, but instead we were parked outside of John Symmes’ house, not knowing what to do next. We hadn’t really planned what to do once we had gotten here. The idea of us just walking up to the front door, ringing the bell and demanding to see the twins just didn’t seem appropriate.
Earlier, after our conversation with our grandparents, we had rushed upstairs to search the yellow pages using his last name. Thankfully, since he had a pretty unique last name, we had only found one person in the area with a match. Not wanting to wait any longer, we had scribbled the address down and been on our way. Now we sat staring at the house.
“Why do I feel like this is such a bad idea?” Ella asked, staring out the passenger window with wide eyes.
I unclicked my seat belt. It felt restricting now that we were parked. “Normally when something feels like a bad idea, it is.”
Ella leaned back until her back was pressed against her seat and let out a deep sigh. “Yeah, well, we can’t turn back now. This is exactly what we wanted. Our little brothers, or little sisters, or brother and sister are behind the walls of that house, and we need to meet them.”
I glanced over the house again. It was crazy to think that this is where the twins had been growing up since they were born. This was their home, and it wasn’t more than a few miles from the house that Ella and I had grown up in until we had moved across the country. We were so far, and yet so close.
“What if they aren’t even home?” I wondered aloud. There was a silver truck
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