My Life as Liz Jonas

Chapter 34: Gone

NORMAL POV

"I was always told that Kassandra didn't really look like any of her cousins or that she didn't resemble me. I ignored it until she was about 3 when I saw freckles on her face and no one in the family has freckles so I did a DNA test and saw that she wasn't my daughter." Adriana says as the Jonas family exchange looks.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Paul says as Adriana shrugs her shoulders.

"Because I didn't know what to say. I decided to hire someone to look into this and maybe by the time they found out something I would know what to do." Adriana says as everyone continues to look at her completely interested.

"You hired a private investigator?" Paul says as Adriana nods and Joe and Frankie look at one another.

"I was really surprised to see that I got answers quick. It led me to you guys and I saw that Liz was happy and she was being provided with things I would never be able to give her. So I left the issue alone." Adriana reveals as Liz looks at her confused.

"If you left the issue alone how is it that you came to work at my preschool?" Liz asks as Adriana sighs.

"Only a few months passed when I realized that I couldn't leave the issue alone. I had to know who you were so I began volunteering there and I loved it." She says as she takes a deep breath.

Flashback (Adriana's POV)

"We learned about this yesterday, it's nice to share things with each other." I say to the two kids who were fighting over the toy.

"We'll play with it together. C'mon " one of the boys say as he runs away and the other boy follows behind.

Honestly I got this job to grow close to my daughter but I'm actually beginning to enjoy being with kids. Maybe I'll go back to school and get my degree.

"It's such a pretty color!" I hear a little girl say excitedly as I lose my train of thought. I turn to see it was Liz who was sitting by herself on one of the tables that the teachers appropriately named 'The Creation Station'

"What are you drawing there?" I ask her as I kneel down next to her.

"Oh, I'm drawing a picture of my brothers, my daddy and my mommy. We're in the park eating ice cream. We did this yesterday when they picked me up." She says with the biggest smile as I smile back at her.

I look down at the picture and see what looked like 3 boys, a man and a woman. My smile drops as I realize that this was something I could never give my daughter. Siblings, a nice day at the park with ice cream, just last night we I gave her slices of oranges since I wasn't able to buy her a full meal.

"Look I found this pretty color and I'm going to draw flowers with it." Liz says as I smile again. She's very social and has a very active imagination.

Watching her draw I begin to think about what would happen if I were to tell Liz and her parents about the switch. Would they take Kassandra from me since I wasn't able to take care of her correctly? With my record Liz's parents would never let me see her again.

"Liz?" I hear someone say as Liz gasps with excitement and runs to her mom. Once she's in the arms of her mother, Liz begins laughing with so much joy.

"Look what I made mommy." Liz says showing the picture she just finished making.

"That looks so nice." Her mother responds as Liz smiles proudly. "Now let's go get your stuff cause we're leaving." She says as Liz nods and runs off as he mother follows behind.

End of Flashback

"That was the last time I went there. I figured that I shouldn't be focused on the life I was suppose to have and focus on the life I was living but it was too late." Adriana says as she stands up. "I'm sorry I kept this secret for so long." She says before leaving the restaurant.

"Wait!" Liz says as she runs to catch up to her.

"Liz, there's nothing else I can say. You found out the truth and that's what's important. Go enjoy your family because they've given you everything I would never be able to give you." Adriana says as she begins to walk.

"Do you regret anything?" Liz says making Adriana stop. "Do you regret not saying anything? Not being able to raise me?" She asks as Adriana turns to look at her.

"I don't because I wouldn't have been a good mother and frankly I don't think I wanted to be your mother." She says as Liz stands there astonished watching Adriana leave.

NORMAL POV

"Liz, honey, they're ready for you on set." Denise says as she comes into Liz's trailer where Liz is seated on the couch with a blanket wrapped around her and blank look on her face. "Liz what's wrong?" She says walking up to her.

"I...I don't know." Liz says as Denise goes over and sits beside her. "We haven't heard anything from her." Liz says disappointed as Denise sighs.

"Maybe it's for the best. She did say..." Denise begins to say before Liz sits up and shakes her head.

"That's exactly why I want to see her again. The way things were left isn't the way I want to remember her. As crazy as it sounds I actually wanted to have a relationship with her." Liz says as Denise nods.

"I know honey but you have to understand that the feeling isn't really mutual. I'm really sorry." Denise says as Liz shakes her head.

"It's okay. I'll get over it." Liz says as her mom nods. "I'll be out in a minute. I just need to get dressed." She adds before Denise leaves.

Once Liz hears the door close she quickly gets off the couch and digs through her bag. It was the file folder that Joe and Frankie had given her a while back. Opening it she looks at the only existing picture of Adriana and Liz.