AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Why didn’t you adopt us both?” I ask, looking back and forth between my mom and dad. “Nova was all alone. She had no one. She’d been there longer than me. She needed a home. I begged you to take her. But you wouldn’t.”
I notice my dad tensing up. My mom is too. Do they finally feel guilty for leaving her there? They should. I’m so pissed at them for doing that, even now. She needed a home. They could’ve taken her. They had money, a big house. But instead, they left her there, crying and begging me not to go. She was left waiting for someone to take her, and then Ted showed up and claimed her, more than happy to take money for her care and use it for himself.
“We’ve been over this,” my dad says. “We weren’t prepared to take another child.”
“What do you mean? You had a house. You had money. And you wanted more kids. So why wouldn’t you take her?”
“Your mother and I don’t have to explain our decision to you. You don’t know the circumstances and you don’t need to. It was our decision, and it was 12 years ago. You need to let this go.”
“How can I let it go when I don’t understand it? You could’ve taken her. You wanted a little girl, and you could’ve had one. She was right there, this sweet little girl, waiting to be adopted. How could you just leave her? I don’t understand it.” I look at my mom. “Did you even consider taking her?”
“Easton, let it go,” my dad says. “We’re not discussing something that can’t be changed. I know it was upsetting for you to have to say goodbye to her back then, but you adjusted. It just took some time.”
“I’ve never gotten over losing her. I just hid it from you, because telling you is pointless. You’d just send me to another therapist who would tell me to forget about Nova. You have no idea how much it hurt when you took her away from me. That hurt didn’t just go away.”
“We weren’t intending to harm you,” my dad says. “We adopted you. We gave you a home. You knew if you were adopted that you and that girl would be separated.”
“Her name is Nova,” I say, glaring at him. “And my name is Sean, or it was before you made me change it.”
“We didn’t make you. You agreed to it.”
“I was six. Do you really think I knew what was happening at that age? You told me it was being changed to Easton so I went along with it. I didn’t think I had a choice. I thought if I didn’t do everything you said, I’d end up back in foster care. You took my name. My identity. My best friend. I didn’t know who I was after that. I still don’t. So if that’s what you were going for, it worked.”
“Easton, that’s not what we were trying to do,” my mom says, grasping my hand, tears welling up in her eyes. “We just wanted you to have a new life, a new beginning.”
“By erasing my past?” I pull away from her. “Erasing who I was? You really thought that would help me?”
“Mom?” Jenna knocks on the door, then opens it and peeks her head in. She looks at me, then at our parents, smiling a little. She loves that I’m in trouble, and loves the drama she just witnessed with the scene in the living room. It’s like one of her reality shows coming to life. Families arguing after a girl shows up, saying she’s my girlfriend. I’m shocked Nova called herself that, but I liked hearing it. I want to hear her say it again, but that’s not going to happen if I don’t get out of here and go find her.
“What is it, Jenna?” my mom says.
“Grandma said the turkey’s almost ready. She wants to know if she should put the rolls in.”
“Tell her yes.”
Jenna looks at the three of us, that slight smile still on her face. “Are you guys coming out soon? Everyone’s asking.”
“We’ll be out when we’re ready,” my dad says.
Jenna opens the door more and walks into the room. “So is it true? Is Easton really adopted?”
“Jenna, this is not the time,” my dad says.
“But it’s true, right?” She glances at me. “He wouldn’t just make that up.”
“It’s true,” my mom says. “But your father’s right. This isn’t the time to discuss this. Go back to the kitchen and help your grandmother.”
“She wants you to help. She asked me to come get you.”
My mom sighs. “Tell her I’ll be there in a minute.”
“Oh, and Easton,” Jenna says. “Paris said to tell you she’s in your room. She wants to talk to you.”
Paris wasn’t even supposed to be here. She showed up this morning with a box of pastries from the fancy bakery she likes, saying they were a gift from her family. Instead of yelling at her for showing up on a family holiday, like they did to Nova, my parents invited her in, then offered to let her join us for Thanksgiving dinner. Paris’ family always has their dinner later in the evening. We have ours around one, giving Paris plenty of time to join us and still be with her family. It was her plan all along. She wanted an invite and found a way to get it.
When Nova saw Paris here, she looked devastated, defeated, like all hope was gone. She thought I’d lied to her. She assumed I was still with Paris. I admit it looked bad. Paris was wearing my hoodie, the same one I’d let Nova wear the night we went to the park. I didn’t tell Paris she could wear it. She just saw it hanging over the chair in the kitchen and put it on, saying she was cold.
I tried to explain this to Nova, but I couldn’t get the words out. Seeing her there, I was shocked and confused about how to explain it to my family, and I froze. It’s like my brain stopped working and I couldn’t talk.
