The minivan came to a halt in front of the sidewalk, and the headlights went out. A moment later, all the van’s doors opened and people began to pour out. It took Naomi a moment to realize there were only six people. The two exiting from the front seats of the van she could recognize easily as their parents, Janette and Russell. The other two couples coming from the back seats were considerably older. She gulped. These must be their grandparents.
“Thought so,” Mark sighed. “Mom, Dad, what did you do?”
“What you told us to do, darling. We told your grandparents.” She made her way up the sidewalk, giving her son a dutiful kiss on the cheek, but her gaze never left Naomi and Beth. She released Mark and came to them in a rush, pulling them into her embrace, much as Mark had done at the barbeque the day before.
“My darlings,” she wept, holding onto them tight. Behind her, Russell came up, gathering all three of them into his arms.
“We truly never thought to see you ever again.” He wasn’t crying, but the words came out broken, his voice thick with emotion.
Their mother drew back, dabbing at her eyes in between patting their cheeks. “Look at you,” she managed. “All grown up and beautiful. My darling, darling girls.”
Naomi struggled a little with uttering the word that for so long had carried the weight of fear and hatred. “M-mom?” The word for her father came easier. “Dad.”
Janette seemed to understand, and cradled her face between both hands, smiling as she touched foreheads. “Not to worry, it will come easier, I promise.”
The older couple, who’d waited some feet away, came forward now, as the small group on the sidewalk broke apart.
“These are your grandparents,” Janette said, gesturing to the couple on the right. “These are my parents, Belle and Graham.”
“And Corinne and Owen belong to me,” Russell claimed.
Everyone laughed at the mild jest, and Naomi and Beth were pulled into long, tight hugs.
“Since it’s about freezing out here, what say we go inside,” Mark suggested. “We can get everyone checked into their rooms, and then take over the lounge for the evening. I presume you got rooms for all six of you?” He asked his mother, with raised brows.
“Of course we did, silly boy.” She patted his arm, and turned to lead the way into the inn. “You didn’t really expect we could tell them the news, and have them sit home waiting, did you?”
“No, I suppose not,” he admitted. “I should have warned them, I guess.”
“Of course you should have.” Janette, who was definitely the tree their apple had fallen from, twinkled over her shoulder at Naomi and Beth.
“While you check in, we’ll get your luggage and pull the minivan around back,” Liam offered, beckoning to Mark.
“Good idea.” Russell dropped the keys into Mark’s waiting hand.
A quarter hour later, everyone had been checked in, luggage was dragged up the stairs to the various rooms, and the entire family gathered in the lounge.
“Mark said only that he’d explain in detail when we got here, but that they know who stole you,” Russell said, settling onto the sofa, his wife beside him. The grandparents took the two loveseats nearby, and Beth and Naomi squeezed together in the overstuffed armchair, grinning at each other. Mark pulled up a chair from the dining room while Liam, with a grin, perched on the arm of the chair Naomi was in.
“We won’t stay long,” Graham said. It took a minute for Naomi to remember he was her mother’s father. “We know you need to get to know your parents, and they you. But we couldn’t stay home.”
“No, they would have had to clap us in chains to keep us away,” agreed Corinne (grandmother, paternal). “We’ll be going up to our rooms shortly, it was a long flight, and we don’t bounce back as easily as we did at your age.”
“Speak for yourself,” Owen (grandfather, paternal) grumbled.
Corinne just laughed before returning her attention to Naomi and Beth. “We do want to hear what happened, however. At least, as much as you know of it.”
Naomi cringed at the prospect of having to relate their history, although of course she’d known they would have to be told. She was rescued by her brother.
“Mom, Dad,” Mark said, his voice rough with pain. “It was Beatrice.”
They looked blank for a minute. Janette was the first to recover. “Beatrice… our neighbor? The red-head whohatedall children?”
“She and her sister. Remember the one who came to visit for a few weeks, not long before… well, before?”
They stared for a long moment, then Janette put her hand to her lips. “I can’t believe it. All this time… and she even helped with the search! I remember she took fliers, posted them in stores. She was so sympathetic. Supportive, when I was so frantic, so devastated.”
“While she was doing that, her sister took them to Florida and raised them as her own.”
