The Lost Child

Chapter 1

"Lake, Michael is here to speak with you!" Sydney calls from the bottom of the stairs.

"Be right there, ma'am!" I call back, exiting the bedroom that I've been staying in for the last two weeks since my parents' untimely deaths in a car crash.

Rushing down the stairs, into the living room where my foster parents and social worker are waiting for me. Stopping to stand in the entryway, looking between the three of them, trying to figure out why Michael is here because I know I haven't been in any trouble at school or here. Sydney and Leonard Smith, my foster parents, are sitting together on the light blue colored sofa, and Michael Warren is sitting across from them in the dark brown recliner, and they're staring back at me. This makes me nervous now because perhaps I have indeed done something wrong.

"Is everything okay? Did I do something wrong?" I nervously ask, picking at my fingernails on my right hand.

"Come sit down next to me, please," Sydney requests with a reassuring smile, patting the empty couch cushion next to her.

Slowly making my way over to the empty spot, I tentatively sit down, facing Michael while looking at my foster parents, trying to figure out what's going on by their facial expressions, and coming up with nothing.

"I have some news for you, and some bad news," Michael starts off with a tentative smile while folding his hands together on his laps. "The man you knew as your dad, isn't your biological father. While searching through your file, I came across your birth certificate, and it was a copy, so I requested your original, and it had someone other than Greg McCarthy listed as your father. The man listed is Ryan Andrew Matthews, do you by any chance know that Greg wasn't your biological father?"

Scoffing at Michael, sassily stating; "No, I have no idea who this Ryan Matthews is, and you must be mistaken. Perhaps you were sent another guy's birth certificate who was born on the same day, time, and name as me."

Michael shakes his head, gently saying; "No, Lake, that isn't what happened. I'm sorry, but this is your new reality now. Your father is really Ryan Matthews, you also have three older brothers, and you'll be moving in with them this afternoon. I need you to pack your stuff, say goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and then I'm driving you to Mr. Matthews house where he and your brothers are waiting for you."

Thickly swallowing as the fear and unknown settles into my brain and body as I turn my watery eyes onto Sydney and Leonard. They're smiling at me, but I can tell by their eyes that they're sad to see me leave. A few tears slip down my cheeks, and Sydney reaches over to pull me in for a tight high which I return as I bury my face into the warm skin of her neck. Breathing her calming scent in through my nose as my eyes slip shut, and sniffle loudly.

"Michael checked with Ryan, your dad, and he agreed that we can have contact with you through phone calls, texts, and visits," Leonard softly tells me as he runs the palm of his hand over the back of my head. "We plan on doing all of these unless you don't want us to?"

"No! I want you and Sydney to do this!" I sob, snapping my head up to look at him and Sydney with wide, watery eyes, and they instantly agree.

"Now, go pack your stuff, okay?" Sydney requests softly, and I nod while wiping the tears away as I stand to head upstairs to my "bedroom" to do as she requested.

Slowly trudging my way up the steps, and down the hall to the bedroom, and grab my backpacks from the closet to pack up my stuff. Chewing my lower lip, trying to process this new information. How in the bloody hell did mom manage to have a new birth certificate done for me with Greg on this, and why don't I remember my biological father or my older brothers?

Twenty minutes later because I'm being slow, I make my way back downstairs, carrying a bag over each shoulder. Stopping at the living room entryway, I silently stare around the house that I can see before landing on Sydney and Leonard who are looking back at me along with Michael. The three of them are softly smiling at me, but I can tell they are sad, and my now former foster parents have tears clouding their eyes.

"Tell Sydney and Leonard goodbye, Lake," Michael softly and gently requests, and I nod as I rush them, dropping the bags along the way onto the floor, and crash into the both of them.

Wrapping my arms around them on each side of their necks, and they both wrap an arm around my waist or back. Tucking my face into Leonard's chest as I let out broken sobs as I tell them goodbye, and they return the sentiment with gentle squeezes of their arms.

"I'll see you soon?" I hopefully ask them as we pull apart, and I nod in agreement before looking over at Michael who gives me a reassuring smile.

"Come on, Lake, let's head out, okay?" he softly asks, and I retrieve my discarded bags, and meet Michael at the front door.

He opens the front door, ushering me out of the house in front of him, and when we reach our respective sides of his dark blue Chevy Equinox, I look back at the house, and give Sydney and Leonard a quick wave before climbing inside.

Thankfully, Michael and I don't speak during the ride to my new home after he told me that the ride will take thirty minutes. When he turns onto a long, dirt driveway surrounded by woods on both sides, I sit up straighter to take notice of my new surroundings. Michael parks in front of a two-level home with dark blue siding, and white trim with a front porch with a two to three person wooden swing off to the side of the porch. There are four vehicles parked across the front of the house. There are two Dodge Ram trucks - one is dark, metallic blue, and the other is cherry red, and there are two SUV type vehicles, but I'm not sure what kind of vehicles these are.

"Welcome home, Lake," Michael says, turning to me with a reassuring smile after parking his vehicle, and turning the engine off.