Searching for my Identity

Chapter 62 Thoughts and Talks

I thought I surprise my fans with another chapter. I'm so happy for every comment. Thanks for all of your support. Let's see where the next chapter is leading us and a big thanks to my amazing editor.

Rory was at Headquarters with Logan while Grace,  Nathalie, and Norah had a great movie night with their grandmothers. Shira, Lorelai, and Sarah watched the young girls with a loving smile that they had finally fallen asleep after by now the 3rd movie in a row. 

"You can be proud of your girls. They are wonderful, helpful, and have their hearts in the right place," Sarah said. A worried smile played around her lips as she saw Norah hugging her twin sister tightly in her sleep. Grace had her arm laid around her sisters and was asleep next to them with a happy expression on her face. 

They watched the girls in silence for a few more moments, then, on silent soles, they left the hobby room.

 "Thank you, my dear. It must be so hard for you and James. But Norah loves both of you, and the most important thing, for now, is that we stick together as a family now to support Norah through this challenging time." Shira looked at Sarah with a warm smile. 

"That's very true. Norah is an outstanding and unique girl,” agreed Lorelai as they walked towards their rooms. 

"Thank you. I appreciate that. I enjoyed the evening with you guys. Good night Shira, Lorelai." she nodded to them and then disappeared into her bedroom. 

Shira and Lorelai watched Sarah for a moment longer. "I think it's time for me to go to bed now. It's been a long day..." sighed Shira, barely able to stifle a yawn. 

"That's what I'm going to do now. Good night Shira, see you tomorrow." Lorelai smiled. 

After about half an hour, complete silence had returned to the house. Mitchum was the only one still awake to wait for Logan and Rory to return. For a moment, he closed his eyes and tried to sort out his thoughts. He was weary to his bones.  He really felt his age that evening. 

Then, a soft sigh escaped him, and the creak of the door startled him. Immediately he opened his eyes. "You took quite a long time, son. Come get yourself a scotch and tell your old dad how everything went," Mitchum cleared his throat without turning around. 

Norah stopped for a moment and wanted to turn back. After all, she hardly knew her Grandpa Mitchum at all. 

"What's the matter, Logan? Son?" began Mitchum again, and as he turned to the door, a smile played around his lips when he saw his sleepy 14-year-old granddaughter Norah. "Oh, it's you, Norah, sweetie. What are you doing up at this hour? Can't sleep anymore?" he inquired and had to grin when she sheepishly lowered her gaze. The girl reminded him of Rory in such moments, insecure and shy yet brave at the same time.
 
"I had a bad dream and couldn't get back to sleep," Norah said quietly, feeling a little lost. The young girl had no idea what to do now. Just leaving the room, as was her first inclination, seemed to be the rude choice.

 "I understand that. What do you say we get comfortable with a cup of tea and a hot chocolate here?" tried Mitchum to break the ice. 

"I'd love to. Although, I would really love a cup of coffee. It would be very tempting right now, but then I would never go back to sleep..." she agreed with her grandfather with a small smile. 

About ten minutes later, they were sitting in the living room with a hot cup of tea and a hot chocolate. Lost in thought, Norah stirred around in her cocoa cup with the spoon. Desperately, she tried to think about how she should start a conversation with her grandfather. 

Mitchum looked closely at his granddaughter and wondered what was going through her pretty mind. She was probably having difficulties finding any topic to talk to him about, which didn't surprise him exactly. After all, they had only known each other for a few days. 
Norah put her hot chocolate on the living room table and nervously played with her fingers. 
"I imagine you don't know what to talk to me about because you don't know me, do you?" tried Mitchum slowly, reaching for her hand and looking at it. 

"Well…yes, that's true, I suppose.  I'm just afraid that I won't live up to your expectations. I don't even know your world..." she replied in a calm voice. 

"You'd best forget that thought right now, sweetheart. We are all here for you and give you the time you need to get used to the new situations. And your adoptive parents are behind you too, just like Sophie," Mitchum smiled and squeezed her hands affectionately. 
"But you don't have to be afraid of our world. We are here for you, as I mentioned before, and will help you as much as we can, and believe me, your parents love you more than you can imagine." continued Mitchum.  

Impulsively, Norah hugged her grandfather, burying her face on his shoulder as the first tears that burned in her eyes made their way down Norah's pale cheeks. Mitchum knew words were out of place now, and he felt pretty helpless himself at that moment. Usually, he would find the right words to calm the person down in any other situation before it escalated. The only thing he could do now was just let her cry, even if it hurt him to see his granddaughter so distressed and unsure. 

"Grandpa?" she whispered in a tearful voice. 

"Yeah, sweetie?" he smiled at her worriedly.

 "I can't and won't comprehend why I was taken away from my parents.  I just keep looking for an answer," she said, wiping away tears torturously with her pajama sleeve. 

"I wish I could give you an answer to that, Norah. But the Huntzberger name has so much responsibility and pressure attached to it, and it's well known all over the world. But Tristan will get his just punishment. Colin will make sure of that," he tried to calm her down and continued in the next breath; "Colin and Finn were fighting so much about who would be your godfather until your dad stepped in and gave them both the godparenthood for you because Odette was Nathalie's Godmother."

"Wow, Colin and Find are my godfathers? That's so cool, but I couldn't have imagined anyone fighting over me in my wildest dreams. So special..."

"Woah, stop, Norah! You are special. All my grandchildren are innately wonderful, warm, and intelligent. We have long given up hope of ever finding you again, and then your dad finds you in one of Europe's most famous world cities, Vienna. The FBI and Interpol have been searching for you all over America, Canada, and Australia. But no one would have thought to look for you in Europe because they thought they had taken you to the neck of the woods in Canada or America. I, and especially your father, really did everything in our power to convince the narrow-minded agents that they should expand their search radius to Europe as well. It was closed when we finally got the OK from Steven Summers, the former leader of your case. We were all pretty angry and desperate at the same time..." Mitchum finished the story while Norah listened patiently. 

Finally, she got more insight into the whole situation, even if it hurt her indirectly to know what was going on in the minds of her family members at that time.  It soothed her and comforted her to know the extent of their care.  It reassured her to know of their devotion to the search for her. 

"Thank you...thank you for being so honest with me, grandpa. It must have been hard for you to tell me, so thank you." she whispered in a tired voice, laying her mind on his shoulder and closing her eyes for a moment.