by Amy Patrick
He turned to Nic. “If you’re worried about medical history or anything, Macy’s always been exceedingly healthy.”
“Oh no, sir. It’s not that.” He launched into the fabricated story. “My family has a tradition of keeping a very detailed family tree. They present younger family members with their own updated and hand-painted version of it whenever one of us gets married. I thought it would be nice to have all of Macy’s lineage included—for the sake of the children we may have someday. And I know my parents would appreciate it. They’re from a very old European line, and they love genealogy.”
Mom’s brow furrowed. “Well, we’ll try to help, but you realize… this path may not lead to any sort of prestigious family name, right? I hope your parents will be accepting no matter what you may find—if you can even track her down.”
He nodded vigorously. “Of course. Nothing could change the way I feel about Macy—I am already committed to her for life. My parents have no say in that, though I’m sure they will love her when they meet her.”
Well, that one was a bit of a stretch, but I realized he was trying to set my parents at ease, which I appreciated. My father nodded his head, apparently satisfied, and went to his desk in the corner of the den. He opened one of the lower file drawers and bent to shuffle through it. When he straightened again, he held a large envelope. Bringing it back over to the sitting area, he handed it to me. The paper was a faded yellow color and felt dry and brittle in my hands.
“That’s all we have,” he said. “Your birth certificate is in there, along with some documents from the lawyer who handled the adoption and your file from the hospital—one of the nurses made a few notes on it because your biological mother left without checking out. I don’t know how much it will help.”
“Thank you,” I said, still staring down at it. “I’ll open it later, after we catch up.”
Mom smiled, apparently relieved I wasn't diving into the envelope’s contents immediately. I hoped she wasn’t hurt by my request, but either way, there was no help for it. It was literally a matter of life and death. We had to do anything necessary to find my birth family, and my real family could never know why.
Mom stood. “Well, why don’t you come into the kitchen with me and Lily? We’ll get some dinner started, and Nic and your dad can chat a bit.”
I glanced over to him, checking his reaction. He nodded to let me know he was okay with that, and I rose to follow Mom and Lily. As I left the den, I heard my father’s voice.
“Now, what do you do for a living, Nic? Or are you still in school?”
“Actually, I’m retired,” he began to explain. “From a career in professional sports. But I plan to go to architecture school…”
Good luck, buddy. I chuckled as their voices faded from hearing. Before they were done, my father would no doubt know Nic’s exact worth in cash and investments, making sure he could “afford” a jobless wife, rent, and tuition. Of course I had no intention of staying jobless forever. Once Nic and I were finally able to settle down in one place, I’d find something. I had even flirted recently with the notion of taking up gymnastics again. First things first, though. We had a world to save.
“So,” Mom dragged out the word. “Nic is very handsome. And so tall. He’s not like anyone you’ve ever dated before. He’s not like… anyone I’ve ever seen.” I could see the wheels turning in her head, trying to work out what it was about Nic that was so different.
“Is that what drew you to him?” she asked.
“Not really,” I said honestly. “I didn’t even really like him very much at first. I mean, of course I liked the way he looked, but really, I just wanted him to leave me alone—until I got to know him better.”
“Did he get on one knee and propose?” Lily asked, giddy at the idea of it.
“Even better. He arranged for a serenade by a flash mob at midnight—on Love Street in London. And he gave me my ring… in a cupcake!”
She squealed and clapped, and my mind flashed to Olly. The similarities between the girls were striking—starting with their sweet hearts. Olly. I hoped she was okay. I knew my blood had healed her from the virus, but the situation with her mother and grandmother had been very strange…
My blood healed her.
I looked down at Lily sitting in the automated metal chair that had been part of her daily life for nearly two years now. Overwhelmed with love and gratitude, I hugged her, fresh tears springing to my eyes.
Why had I not thought of it sooner? Maybe it was because the permanence of her spinal injury had been sunk so deeply into my heart and brain where it had solidified into rock-hard guilt. I had not realized until this very moment what my nymph heritage could mean for my little sister. My blood had kept Nic from bleeding to death. It had healed Dr. Schmitt’s head injury after he and Nic battled. It had been successful at cleaning the Plague virus from Olly’s blood in the lab. Could it also heal my sister’s severed spinal cord? It was definitely worth a try.
Standing again and facing my mom across the kitchen counter, I debated how to bring it up. If all else failed, I’d ask Nic to sway my parents into following my request.
“Hey, Lily,” I said, grinning excitedly. “I want to show Nic my yearbooks and some of our old photo albums of you and me as babies. Would you go to my room and get them for me?”
“Sure.” She wheeled around until she faced the hallway to our bedrooms. “I’ll be sure to show him the ones of when you got your braces on. And cut your own hair,” she teased.
“Not those,” I pleaded as she giggled and rolled away. “Don’t you dare, you little stinker.”
As soon as she was out of sight, I turned back to my mother. “Mom? I recently learned about a new therapy for injuries like Lily’s. It sounds really promising, and I think we should try it.”
Her hands stopped in mid-motion, the knife she’d been using to chop lettuce hovering in the air above the cutting board. She darted her eyes at the hallway where my sister had disappeared.
“I’m sure it’s interesting, honey, but you know the doctors have tried everything there is. They say what she has is beyond repair. It would take a miracle.”
“Well, maybe this is it. Maybe this is the miracle that will work. There’s no risk in it—according to what I read.”
She gave me a wary grimace. “What is it? Not snake venom or anything, I hope.”
“No. It’s pretty simple, really. It’s just a transfusion from someone else. Someone with exceptional health—like me.”
Her head started moving in a dismissive gesture. I could tell her hopes were already dashed. “Macy, she had countless blood transfusions after the accident, during all her surgeries. From several different donors.”
“But they weren’t me. We didn’t try my blood.”
“Because you’re not a blood relative. And from what I remember, you’re not a match for blood type.”
“We’ll be compatible,” I said, confident in my statement. Nymph blood was compatible with anyone, human, Elven, or otherwise.
“I’m not sure what good it would do—and it could do some harm to her morale. I don’t want to get her hopes up only to have them come crashing down.”
“Okay,” I said, giving up trying to convince her. My poor mom had been through too many ups and downs with Lily. She didn’t have enough hope left to try again, but I had enough for the both of us. We’d have to go with the Sway method.
“I’m going to go by the blood bank before I leave town and have some drawn and earmarked for Lily anyway—in case you change your mind and want to try it.” Which she would as soon as Nic got through with her.
Her expression grew alarmed. “When are you leaving town? You’re staying at least a few days, aren't you?”
“I wish we could. We’ll spend the night, but Nic and I have to fly to Europe tomorrow. We have to tell his parents about the engagement as well. We’ll be back before too long.”
The cover story once again. In truth, we had to leave immed
iately in search of my biological family—wherever that might lead. It seemed to placate her.
“So we’re the first to know?” She smiled.
I walked around the counter to hug her. “You’re the first. And no matter what I find out about my birth mother, you will always be first in my heart. You are my real mom.”
A sob shook her shoulders as she held me close. “Thank you, honey. I hope you've always believed you are our real daughter. You were my first baby girl and always will be.”
Over dinner we talked and laughed. My parents and Lily really seemed to like Nic, and I was proud for him to get to know them. They were good people. I really did intend to come back soon, as I’d told Mom. It was nice to be here. For the first time in a long time, I felt like I belonged somewhere.
Sitting there with them all, soaking up the love and togetherness, I realized I’d blamed myself for Lily’s injury much more than they had ever blamed me. They forgave me. They loved me. I had my family back. And I had Nic. My heart was whole.
But it wasn’t enough for me to have a happily ever after ending because the lives of my human family—and the rest of the human world—were all still at risk. This happy interlude had to be a short one. I had a job to complete.
“Well.” I pushed back from the table and stretched. “It’s been a long day. I think I’m about ready for bed.”
“Me, too. Thank you so much for the delicious dinner, Mrs. Moreno.” Nic followed my lead and took his plate from the table to the kitchen sink.
Mom shooed us both away. “No, no don’t do that. You’re exhausted from traveling. And this is why God created dishwashers.”
“Actually, the first commercially successful dishwasher was invented by Josephine Cochrane in 1886,” Lily corrected.
“She collects facts about female inventors,” I explained to Nic then turned to Lily, creeping toward her and pouncing. “Who invented the first noogie?” I put her in a loose headlock, rubbing the top of her head with my knuckles.
She giggled and slapped at me, wriggling the top half of her body in an attempt to escape the “torture” administered by her older sister.
“Nic,” she shrieked. “Save me.”
He laughed and got into the game, coming up behind me and lifting me from the floor. “I will save you, Lady Lily. I’ll put this little nymph in her place.”
I stiffened in his arms, and Nic froze, realizing what he’d said.
Of course it meant nothing to my family. My parents kept laughing. “Just carry her right on down the hall,” Mom said. “I’ll come back in a minute to help you settle in. Macy, Nic can sleep in your room, and you can take the other twin in Lily’s room.”
“Okay, Mom,” I said, thoroughly relieved at their lack of shock or suspicion.
Nic actually did carry me all the way to my room. Once inside the door, he set me down and kissed me. When the kiss ended, I was breathless and filled with bubbles of delight.
“That was a little too early—carrying me over the threshold,” I said.
He smiled against my lips. “I’d like to do other things out of order as well. If we weren't in your girlhood bedroom with your parents right downstairs, I might try my luck and see if you’d let me. I’m running out of patience.” He pressed me tightly against him, one hand on my lower back and the other threading through my hair as he kissed my neck.
I giggled. “Well, you’re going to have to find some extra, because you know we can’t. We have to be careful… just in case.”
Pulling back, he gave me a baffled look. “In case of… pregnancy?”
“No silly. In case… you know… in case we can’t find the nymph sanctuary, and the healers really do need me to…”
I didn’t finish the sentence because his expression had turned so harsh and forbidding. All flirtation and seduction attempts abruptly ceased. “That’s not going to happen, Macy. We’ll find your people.”
“I know. But if we can’t…”
“If we can’t, then I will always be there for you and try my best to make up for the loss of the humans in your life. I’m not letting you sacrifice yourself, so you can put that idea out of your mind.”
“You can’t stop me, you know.”
“The hell I can’t,” he growled.
I looked up at his angry-yet-frightened face, and my irritation over his bossiness faded. He loved me. I’m sure I would say the same thing to him if he was the one with the “miracle blood.” And he had a huge stake in this whole thing as well. If something happened to me, he’d be mate-less for eternity. And he would never even have the experience of bonding with someone, even once. That alone was enough to drive a healthy nineteen-year-old male out of his mind.
Stretching up on my tiptoes, I planted a soft kiss on his mouth. “You’re right. We will find them.”
Dad walked into the room and stopped abruptly. “Oh. Didn’t mean to interrupt. I brought your bags.”
I smiled at him, stepping out of Nic’s embrace. “Thank you. I was just showing Nic around my room.”
Dad looked away, obviously embarrassed. “Yeah. Well, I hope you’ll be comfortable in here tonight, son. Looking at that bed, I’m afraid your feet may hang off, but the couch wouldn’t be any better.”
“It’ll be fine, sir. Thank you so much.”
Dad nodded. “Macy, I’ll uh… put your bag in Lily’s room.”
He darted away again, and I giggled. “I guess now I really should show you around.” I padded to the door of the attached bath and opened it, flicking on the overhead light. “Bathroom’s in here. Turn the shower tap all the way to the right for hot water. There’s an extra blanket and pillow in my closet. And my diaries are all locked, so don't even try to peek.”
He snapped his fingers and hung his head. “Che due palle. There go my reading plans for this evening.”
I laughed. “My reading plans involve the contents of that envelope. Let’s hope there’s something helpful in there.”
Stepping close to him again, I wrapped my arms around his neck and said, “Goodnight, sweet prince.”
He grinned warmly, bending to kiss my neck and then my forehead and the tip of my nose. “That sounds like something from a faery tale.”
“We’re in one, aren’t we? All we need now is a pair of sparkly shoes and a happy ending.”
“And you shall have it, piccola—all of it. I’ll do everything in my power to make you happy forever.”
I left him with a kiss and went to Lily’s bathroom to get ready for bed. In spite of Nic’s vow, there was no way I could ever be happy if I failed to stop the Plague and allowed all the humans to be wiped out. Pulling my toothbrush from my backpack, I looked at the yellowed envelope sitting inside it, and my belly bottomed out. Those documents could literally be the difference between life and death for my family.
When I emerged from the bathroom, Lily was transferring from her chair to the bed.
“Need help?”
She rolled her eyes at me. “As if. I’ve done this, like, a zillion times. I don’t even think about it anymore.”
I wished she didn’t have to think about it ever again. Hopefully the transfusion would make that possible. Going to the twin bed parallel to hers, I pulled back the covers and slid under, leaving on the lamp so I could see her beautiful little face.
For a moment, I thought about ignoring the impulse to tell her what I was thinking—my impulsiveness had led to trouble in the past—but I decided in this case, it would do more good than harm.
“Lily, can you keep a secret?”
Her eyes sparked with instant delight. “Of course. What is it?”
“Well, I’m not exactly sure how to say this, but… I believe in magic. I didn’t used to, but now I do.”
Her grin was so big it wrinkled her nose and turned her eyes into straight lines of pure bliss. “Me, too. I always did, though. Did you find magic in Europe?”
Thinking of Nic, I smiled. “I did. And I think some magic is going to happen fo
r you. I think you’re going to walk again.”
“You do? But Mom and Dad say it’s impossible.”
“I know. But magic makes anything possible. There’s a new treatment you’re going to have, and I put every bit of magic I could find into it. I believe it will work.”
She nodded vigorously. “I believe it, too.”
“Good. Now let’s get some sleep.”
I switched off the lamp on the night stand between our beds.
“Macy?” Lily’s voice sounded younger in the dark, the way it had when she was very small and looking up to me as I read to her at bedtime—usually from Peter Pan, her favorite book.
“Yes?”
“I missed you a whole lot. I love you, Macy.”
“I love you, too, Tiger Lily. See you in the morning.”
When her breathing had slowed and evened, and I was sure my sister had fallen asleep, I switched the lamp back on and crawled to the end of the bed where I’d dropped my backpack. Retrieving the envelope, I opened it and withdrew the documents from inside.
I’d seen my birth certificate before, briefly, when I’d had to produce it for gymnastics meets, but I’d never paid much attention to it. Now I combed over it in detail. Because I was adopted, I had an amended birth certificate, with the name of my biological mother and father replaced by my adoptive parents’ names. There was information about the date and place of my birth on it, but nothing about my birth mother.
Next, I read through my official adoption papers. Again, only my parents’ names, and the one they’d given me, appeared in them. The date and place of my birth, etc. etc. There was a bit of information noting that I’d become a ward of the state briefly while a search was conducted for my birth mother. It said she had left the hospital without an official release and left a note behind, asking that I be given to a good family who would love and protect me. There was an asterisk beside two typed words— “Note attached.”
Flipping the remaining pages so quickly I dropped the whole stack, I finally located the small rectangle of paper. On it were scrawled a few words.
Please take care of my daughter and find her a good family, one who will love her and protect her always. Someday when she is grown and asks about me, please tell her I love her and that I’m sorry. - F
