From Mystery to Romance

An Emily Chapter: A trip to New York

After a lot of convincing our parents, we were finally able to get plane tickets to New York.

"Lyla we're coming to New York!" I say as Xander and I were taking our seats.

"What? What about North?" Lyla asked.

"No, she's staying here. Xander and I have some questions to ask you." I explain.

Lyla groaned, "Fine, but hurry."

"Hey, I'm not driving the plane!" I say.

Then Lyla hung up.

I sighed in my seat, "Do you think Lyla was ever going to be a good mother for North?"

Xander sighs as well, "I don't know. It seems like she's going through a lot of stress now."

I stare out the window until a hand holds mine. I look at my hand to see Xander holding it, "We're doing the right thing. Finding North's family was the thing she always wanted from us."

I smile then blush a bit and look out the window. 

And for the whole plane ride, I looked at the clouds with Xander's hand in mine.

________________

It was our second day in New York. Xander and I reserved a hotel to stay in. It was six in the morning and Xander and I was going to meet Lyla at Starbucks. Not the most professional place to talk about adoption, but Lyla instead.

Xander and I arrived waiting for Lyla to come in the door any second now.

We stared at the door not very patiently hoping Lyla was going to enter.

Finally, she did.

Xander and I both got up.

Lyla ran to our table, "You two have some explaining to do."

"Oh, we have some explaining to do? You're the one who left North!" Xander yelled

"Hey!" I held my hand up so they both can stop talking, "Lyla, take a seat." 

Lyla glared at Xander, "So, your Xander?"

Xander rolled his eyes, "Isn't it obvious?" He leaned over to me, "You start the conversation. She likes you."

I roll my eyes to Lyla, "So, we know that your parents didn't accept North or her sister. But we still have some more questions for you."

"Go on," Lyla said.

"First off, where's Rockie?" I ask.

 Lyla sighed, "After we gave up on North and South-"

"Who's South?" Xander asked.

"North's twin," Lyla explained.

That explains why North is named North.

"Anyway," Lyla continued, "After we gave them up, Rockie started to see me in a bad way. It's not my fault my parents didn't want my daughters, though. I wanted them more than ever."

Xander groaned, "Get to the point."

"We broke up," Lyla said, "After college, he moved somewhere without telling me."

"Alright, well, do you know anything about South?" I asked.

Lyla shook her head, "I lost contact with her."

"What's her parent's name?" Xander asked.

Lyla hesitated but then said, "Andrella Rider. She wasn't married then."

I took some notes. I needed to focus on every little detail Lyla said. Each word she said, lead to more ways to find South.

"Xander, try to find her on social media. Maybe we can find her." I said.

I never knew Social Media was going to help us with something so important.

"I found a couple of profiles. Do you know what she looks like, Lyla?" Xander asked.

Lyla shook her head.

Xander sighed.

"Look for photos of girls who look like North," I suggested.

Xander went straight to it.

Xander gasped.

He showed me a picture he found.

There were three people in it. One of them was a lady with brownish-reddish hair and green eyes. There was a boy who had long blonde hair and hazel eyes.

And then, South. She looked exactly like North, but instead of hazel eyes, they were blue eyes like her mother's.

Lyla snatched the phone from me and almost cried at the sight.

"My baby," I heard her whisper.

Xander pulled the phone away from her.

"Does it say anything about where she lives?" I ask.

Xander checked, "Oh,"

"What?" I asked.

Xander started to chuckle. A sheepish smile appeared on his face.

He finally looked at me, "You're going to hate this place, Emily."

I made a weird face, "What? Where is it?"