The Battle Across The Universe

Chapter 18: "Wow. That's One Nicki Minaj Family, Huh?"

Fawn leaned her hands on the dining room table, and stared at Tyler. "You-you're my brother?" She looked at her mom. "He's my brother." She looked back at Tyler. She stood up, her hands off the table. "So my siblings are, well were, Tyler, Layla, Anna-Marie, and Megan. Wow. This is one Nicki Minaj family, huh?" Fawn sighed. "This is like Dad all over again."

"Fawn -" Marissa began.

"What, Mom?" Fawn asked angrily, whipping her head around to look at her mom.

Marissa stared at her daughter, a bit surprised by her anger. "I was going to tell you –"

"Oh, well you did a bang up job!" Fawn said. "He had to fucking tell me, Mom. Him. One of the two - nooo, three - kids that you had. He had to tell his -" Fawn looked at Tyler. "How old are you?"

"Twenty-one," Tyler answered.

Fawn looked back at her mom. "He had to tell his younger sister about his existence."

"Fawn Rose –!"

"Oh, what now, Mom? You gonna bring out that middle name? 'Cause I'm not fucking scared of you."

Marissa's jaw clenched and her fists tightened. "Fawn. Rose. Young. I was going to tell you, but there was really no point if you couldn't meet them."

"Yeah, why didn't I meet them, Mom? Hm? Tryin' ta pull a Jacob Brin?"

"It's not like that's what I wanted!" Marissa started yelling now. "I couldn't fucking find them, okay? Their dad ran off with them to somewhere where I could not find them. I wanted them back so bad you don't understand. I wasn't trying to be like your father. I was trying to be better than him. I'm sorry that you just found out about your siblings, but that's the way it is."

Fawn stared at her mother, unsure what to say. "Mom... I'm sorry. I didn't realize... What...exactly...do you mean by that?"

Marissa took a deep breath as she tried not to cry. "I was engaged. To Tyler's father. Long ago. But then...one day I woke up with a letter on his side of the bed. Saying that he didn't want to see me anymore and that he had already moved out. I went to go check up on Tyler and Layla...but it was too late. They were already gone... Gone to somewhere that I could never find... And I only just recently found them. Although to be perfectly honest...they found me."

"How'd they find you?"

"Our dad," Tyler said softly. Fawn turned her head to look at her brother. "Our dad...had always told us our mother's name, and he wouldn't let us communicate with her. But he...he passed away a while ago."

"I'm sorry for your loss," Fawn said sympathetically, despite her anger. "I know how it feels to loose a parent. Although...to be fair, I didn't know him my whole life."

Tyler half-smiled. "Wow. Our mom has some taste in guys." Fawn laughed slightly, although it sounded more like she was exhaling with a smile on her face. "But, uh...Layla and I...finally decided to contact our mother. And we found her. We were eighteen when we found her."

Fawn's smile and heart dropped. She felt like she was gonna throw up. "You...you guys were eighteen when you found her?"

"Yeah."

Fawn looked at her mother, her jaw and fists both clenched tightly. "You found them about two or three years ago?!"

"Fawn –"

"NO! Mother... Why the fuck didn't you tell me?! I would've been perfectly fine with it! I know I'm not now, but that's because I'm used to people lying to me! You lied to me! My dad...pretty much lied to me! I wouldn't be fucking surprised if Isabella has been lying to me!"