S. Bodeen - The Fallout

She narrowed her eyes at me. “Yeah.” She flung out a hand toward him. “That turned out so well.”

Eddy sat down on the end of Lexie’s bed. “Don’t you think Mom already has enough to worry about?”

“This isn’t about Mom! It’s about me.” Lexie set a hand on her chest. “I want to know who my real parents are.”

Eddy shook his head. “Your real parents are the same ones I have.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Lexie dropped her hand and leaned her head against the window. “We have the same father who made sure to leave his entire company to you and Eli. That the same one you’re talking about?”

Eddy’s mouth opened slightly, and then snapped shut. Apparently he didn’t have an answer for that.

I sat down on the window seat. “He just did that because we’re the boys.”

She glared at me.

I bit my lip. “I mean, probably that’s why.”

Eddy added, “It was more to do with you being a girl than adopted.”

“Oh, wow,” said Lexie, scorn in her tone. “Now I feel so much better.”

“That’s not what I meant. It’s a lot of pressure, to know we have to run the company. And Dad probably didn’t want you to have to deal with that.”

I shot him a look, trying to shut him up. If the plan was to talk Lexie out of searching for her biological parents, he was being his own worst enemy.

Lexie rolled her eyes. “Maybe I want to know for medical reasons.”

Eddy stood up. “Did something happen when you were… away ?”

I shook my head and saw Lexie was doing the same. She said, “There’s just a lot I’d like to know. What if there’s some medical history I should know about? What if I want to have kids someday and might pass something bad to them?”

“I understand that.” Eddy sat back down. “I do. But you don’t have to do it now.”

She lifted and lowered one shoulder. “Fine, I’ll wait.”

What? Lexie would never give in so fast. Especially not to Eddy, given their current state of animosity toward each other.

“Really?” Eddy asked.

Lexie nodded. “Really. I’ll wait until things calm down.”

“Cool.” Eddy smiled. “I just don’t think Mom could deal right now.” He stood up and looked at me. “Want to play some basketball?”

I shook my head.

“Lex?”

“No thanks.”

After he left, I leaned over and set a hand on Lexie’s arm. “You okay with waiting?”

“I’m not waiting.” Her lip curled. “I’m just tired of him thinking he can tell me what to do.” She sighed. “I really don’t care that much about you guys getting the company. It’s not my thing.” She looked at me. “Don’t tell Eddy that though.”

I leaned back. “You’re still going to go through with it?”

She nodded. “I want to know. Now. I don’t want to wait.” She looked down for a moment as she stroked the cat.

“What? What’s wrong?”

“I think…” She hesitated, then went on. “When we were down there? The last six months or so? I think something was wrong.”

I let out a sharp laugh. “Uh, yeah. That’s an understatement if I’ve ever heard one.”

“No.” She stopped petting Clementine and leaned forward, lowering her voice to a whisper. “With me. I was just so… depressed all the time. Or mad. Or something.”

“Lex, we were all depressed. Or mad.” I smiled. “ Or something .”

Clementine meowed and stood up, then jumped to the floor and went out the door. Lexie bent her knees and hugged them. “What if it was more than that?”

I shook my head. “It wasn’t. It was the situation.”

“Then why can’t I seem to stop crying? What if it is something? Eli, I need to know. I have to know. Will you help me?” Her eyes were shiny with tears.

I looked out the window. The afternoon sky was dark. A lot like the mood in the room. “Eddy wouldn’t agree.”

“I don’t give a crap what he thinks.”

I glanced at her. “I do care. And he wouldn’t like me being involved when he’s so against it.”

Lexie said, “Eddy doesn’t have to know everything you do.”

Didn’t he? I’d missed him for so long. I was so glad to have him back. How could I help Lexie, knowing I’d cause a rift between me and my brother if he found out? I was positive he would never keep anything from me.

Lexie grabbed my arm. “Please.”

I whispered, “No.”

She rolled her eyes and sat up straight against the wall.

I quickly said, “I mean… no.” I shook my head. “Eddy doesn’t have to know everything.” I hoped I was making the right choice.

Lexie breathed out, a look of relief on her face. “Thank you.” She smiled. “Thank you.” She went over to her desk and opened the center drawer, then pulled out a manila folder. She came back to me and held it out. “Here.”

I took it from her. “What’s this?”

“All I know.”

I opened it and pulled out a birth certificate. I quickly scanned it, noting Lexie’s birth date and our parents’ names. I frowned. “Why are they listed as parents? Wouldn’t your biological parents be on there?”

“Believe me, I’ve been online, reading everything about this.” She took a deep breath. “In a closed adoption, the records get sealed by the state of Washington. The judge, or whoever, issues an amended birth certificate with the adopting parents’ names on it.” She pointed. “That’s my official birth certificate. At least, the one Mom and Dad used to get me passports and into school and everything.”

I turned it over. The back was empty. “But how does someone even find their birth parents if the records are sealed?”

Lexie said, “I can get them opened with a court order.”

“How do you do that?”

“I don’t.” She sighed. “Until I’m twenty-one, I need Mom’s consent. But…”

“What?” I leaned back against the window, which was chilly on my back. “Are you still going to ask her?”

“I think there may be another way. I can get non-identifying information right now from the Department of Social and Health Services.” She looked down at the paper.

“What does that mean?” I asked.

Her eyes met mine. “First name, occupation, heritage, education.”

“That could be pretty vague. I mean, suppose your birth father is a white guy named John or Tom or Jim who is… a mechanic or a salesman or a plumber? You know how many men in the country fit any of those descriptions?”

“I know. It’s a long shot. But Eddy was right about one thing. I don’t want to make Mom upset.” She looked around. “But what else do I have to do?”

I nodded. “So we could actually investigate without involving Mom. What information do you need for that?”

“Time and place of birth.”

I pointed at her birth certificate. “Which you have, right?”

She nodded. “Just the county.”

“So you know you were born in King County, and—”

“No. I wasn’t.”

“You weren’t born in Seattle?”

She shook her head. The paper in her hand rattled. “Pierce County.”

I thought for a second. “That’s next to King. Really close.”

“But it could be so many towns. What if I need to know the exact town?” She set the paper down on the bed. “I have to ask Mom.”

I said, “I think we can do this without Mom. Without getting the court order.”

Lexie held out her hands, palms up. “How?”

“Quinn’s birthday is coming up and we can get Mom talking about when all of us were born.” I paused. “I mean, I doubt she’s going to really want to go on and on about a birth in the Compound. So we get her thinking about when Eddy and I were born. Or Reese. And then you. Maybe we can find things out.”