Ding dong.
The door slowly opened and my mum stood in front of me. Her eyes were red and wet and she looked like crap as her hair was super messy and she looked so weak and pale.
" Hi, mum " I said dryly.
She started crying and took me slowly into her arms. I let my arms hang beside my body and just tried to focus on what I wanted them to say.
" Clara, never do that to us again, we were worried, so worried " she sobbed. I didn't say anything, I didn't want to say sorry, it's their own fault.
" We missed you so much! We regret everything we've done, we're such bad parents, I'm such a bad mother " she kept crying on my shoulder.
Now I finally spoke: " you're not a bad mother, I'm a bad child "
" No, you aren't! " she finally let go and wiped away her tears as my dad suddenly stood behind her. He pushed her out of his way softly and took me in his arms.
" We're so sorry, Clara " he whispered.
" No need to say sorry, just explain me everything " he let go and their eyes widened. They looked at each other and nodded.
" Come inside and please take Vincent with you, the sweet boy doesn't have to stay in his car " my mum said and I turned around to make a sign to Vince that he could come.
He got out of his car and we all entered the house. We went to sit around the kitchen table and my mum got us some drinks.
" Clara, we will tell you everything, but please, never run away again, we thought something horrible had happened to you "
" But I knew you would come back " my dad added. I just nodded and Vince took a sip from his Coke.
" How do we start this... " my mum said.
" From the beginning? " I suggested, trying to not sound bitchy.
" Hmh " my mum nodded and looked at my dad.
" We used to live in Belgium when you were very little ", my dad started, " your brother played in a good soccer team, I had a great job, your mum had a great job, everything was perfect until we were on a family reunion some day and there was a discussion. But the discussion became a fight. And it never got fixed. Your mum lost her job and we got into financial troubles as I lost my title as manager. The only thing we had to hold onto was soccer. I supported RSC Anderlecht like crazy until your brother died in a soccer game and since then we kind of hated soccer " he paused for a while and I let everything he just said sink in.
Why didn't I remember anything of that family, the fight, my brother, the troubles??? I was so confused and Vincent was too, I could see it on the expression of his face.
My mum waited for him to continue. And that's what he did: " we decided then to move to the Netherlands without saying it to anyone. I found a great job again and you went to a great school and our life seemed to become perfect again. You were little and we wanted you to play an instrument so you played the guitar but you didn't seem to like it... But we wanted a great future for you as you were our only child then "
" I don't even remember I once played the guitar " I put my hands on my head and felt Vince's hand on my leg. It made me feel calm.
" Yeah... Well, at school you met Martijn and he became your best friend for years. He had a positive influence on you so we were glad you had him. When you were 10 and he was 14, we decided to take him to Rhodes. But when we got back you two were playing without being careful so you ran onto the street and a car hit you very badly " he continued.
" Wow " it was really heavy for me to hear all of this at once, but that's what I came for, so I tried to deal with it.
" We kind of didn't know what so we thought it was Martijn's fault so we said he could never see you again " my mum quickly said.
" You shouldn't have done that " I said.
" That must've been so hard for him too and you just shut him out " Vincent said softly.
" We know " my mum looked down and my dad continued: " you got into coma for over 5 years, the doctors never thought you'd wake up, but you did and they called you a miracle "
" I almost lost hope when you finally woke up, the doctors wanted to let you pass away slowly, but we didn't let them because we knew you'd wake up and you did " my mum added.
" But you didn't remember your name or anything else, so we decided to not talk about what happened, we decided to not tell about Martijn, we decided to not tell about what happened in Belgium or that you had a brother because we wanted the best for you " my dad said, taking a sip from his drink.
" Hmh " I nodded, trying to understand.
" So the reason we were shocked by your Martin Garrix posters was that we thought you started to remember " my mum said.
" The same thing when you got home with that RSCA shirt and when you wanted to play soccer, we were scared that we would lose you too " my dad said.
" And - I'm not Marc Finley, I'm Marc Reynolds and you aren't Clara Finley, but Clara Reynolds, we changed our last names "
Wait what. Did that mean that...
" Yes, Ally is your cousin " my mum nodded.
My eyes widened and I understand now why Ally thought my mum was her aunt. She is her aunt!
" And Amy is my cousin too then? " I asked.
" We don't know about any Amy? " my parents looked confused.
" That's Ally's younger sister "
" Oh... Then yes she is "
" They have to know " I looked at Vincent now and he nodded.
" Do I have more family I don't know their existance of? " I asked.
" There's a Henry and a Willi - " I interrupted them: " no way "
" Yes, sweetheart " my mum said.
" Oh my god, they need to know "
" That's all we can tell you, there's nothing more " my dad finished his story.
" Thanks for telling me, I'm glad you found the strenghth to tell me ", I said, " but can I go to Ally's now? And Henry's? " I got up from my chair because they couldn't really say no.
" Of course, dear, but, please come back to live here and tell Ray she can come back too if she wants again and the adoption suggestion is still open, she's free to choose. We were too hard for her, it's not her fault after all " my mum kind of begged.
" Yes, mum, that's a deal " I smiled and took Vincent's hand as I jumped up from my chair.
" I'll see you tonight " I said and we left for Ally's.
Holy shit, I now know my past and I couldn't be any happier.
Once in the car I thanked Vincent for being with me all the time.
" That's because I love you " he said and it made me smile brighter than ever before.
