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I hadn’t talked to my “mother” in months but I had sent her a text letting her know the babies were born. Not surprisingly I hadn’t heard a single peep from her. I was starting to realize she wasn’t worth my energy or my emotions and that it was probably best to let sleeping dogs lie. I didn’t want that kind of toxicity around my children anyway.
Thankfully, I still had Charles, who I was starting to really think of as my dad. Even if it turned out that we weren’t genetically related—which we almost certainly were—he had stepped up and filled a void that I hadn’t even known existed until we started talking.
Dante took Lucy into his arms after some encouragement and looked down at her with awe.
“See? You’re a natural,” I said. “Just like Gabe.”
“Yeah, well, unlike Gabe, kids have never really liked me much.”
“I doubt that’s true,” I said with a friendly smile.
Roman sat in a chair nearby, quietly observing and making it easy to forget that he was there at all. He and Gabe had spoken a bit earlier and things had gotten heated. Since then, Roman had been keeping his mouth shut and staying closer to Dante, Ava and me. Gabe had been holding Ari, who was sleeping peacefully in his arms, for about an hour, sitting in tranquil silence and staring at his daughter with such love in his eyes.
“Hold on, Charles is calling,” I said, not moving too far away from my babies. I answered. “Hi there!”
“Hi Bella,” he said. “I know you mentioned two of the babies were coming home and told me to call a few days later. I hope now isn’t a bad time?”
“Not at all,” I said. “Would you like to see them?”
His voice cracked. “I–I would love that.”
We switched to a video call and I turned the camera toward the little ones.
“Ariana is sleeping in her daddy’s arms at the moment,” I said, showing her off on the camera.
“Oh wow, she is precious,” Charles said. “She looks... never mind.”
I knew what he was about to say. He was going to say that she looked like his little Bella.
“And this is Lucia, but we call her Lucy for short,” I said, trying to regain my composure.
“They are so sweet. Ariana and Lucia look so much alike, I imagine it’s hard to tell them apart. Are they identical?”
“No, but they might as well be, right? I make sure to dress them in different colors, but there are subtle differences.”
“Both beautiful little girls,” Charles said, his voice catching. We turned off video calling as he started to get emotional.
“Anyway, I wanted to tell you that I’m ready to talk to my wife and children about what we suspect, and to get the ball rolling,” he said. “As long as you’re ready, that is.”
“I’m ready, yes,” I quickly replied. My life was chaotic with the babies, but I knew that things weren’t likely to calm down anytime soon, and we needed to get an investigation going into what happened. I needed answers, and so did the O’Connell’s.
“Good. I want to talk to my family first, make sure they're prepared for what is to come, but I think they will be very eager to get answers, and to meet you one day, if you’d like that.”
“I would love that. No matter what happens, Charles, I would love to meet your family. I feel like I already know them based on our conversations.”
“They’re going to love you,” Charles said. “I’ll let you go; it looks like you have guests and I don’t want to intrude.”
“You’re never intruding, I love hearing from you.”
I could hear the smile in Charles’s voice. “Good, because I love talking to you. It brings me comfort, even if we aren’t sure yet.”
I was sure in my heart, but I knew that gut feelings weren’t scientific proof. We’d find out soon enough. Eventually, it might mean that my mom, or the woman who had raised me, would be arrested. I had come to terms with that. I wasn’t sure how she would react when she found out that we had discovered that I was likely kidnapped. Maybe she would try to run, but it was anyone’s guess. I really didn’t care; It wasn’t like she was an active participant in my life anyway.
I got off the phone and turned back to the others. Ava was the only one left in the room, and she was holding Lucy. Ari was asleep in the bassinet next to the couch. “Where did everyone go?” I asked.
“They stepped out to ‘talk’,” Ava grumbled. “Which means they are going to argue.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. Lucy was sleeping peacefully in Ava’s arms, and it brought a smile to my face. “Do you want me to go check on them?”
