Grace
I sit on the couch, flipping through the pages of a book, unable to distract myself from my thoughts. I go through this problem every year, and it drives me crazy that there's nothing I can do about it.
Louis walks in the room, mumbling something to himself. "You know, we still haven't chosen a name for-" he stops in his tracks and looks at me. "What's wrong?"
I sigh, setting my book down on the couch before he sits down next to me. "It's my mom's birthday, and I can't even spend it with her." Louis frowns and I instantly regret how I worded my sentence.
"I'm sorry. I didn't think that through before it came out."
"It's fine, don't worry about it." Even though he said that, it doesn't make me feel any better. "Continue with what you were saying."
"Every year, I get even more angry. She didn't stick around to see me or Lexi grow up, she said that she was gonna visit and she didn't, she just doesn't care. I don't get it. I love the twins so much, I could never do that to them."
"That's what makes you different than her. You may be her daughter, but that doesn't mean that you're anything like her."
"But she also said that she's been with her other children, meaning that I have other siblings that I don't even know about. Actually, I have that on both sides. My dad doesn't care too much either."
"I know how you feel. I have family that I don't talk to, and it sucks. I have a sister that I barely know, my dad has never cared about my life unless it meant that he could get money out of me. My mother and step-dad did everything they could to make sure my siblings and I had a good childhood. I'm sure one day, our families will realize what they're missing. Then, we'll make sure to give them what they gave us."
Marley and Jacob come into the room, laughing loudly, and I hear footsteps behind them. I watch as each of their faces are being licked by a dog, still laughing like crazy. The dog Louis got for Valentine's Day still doesn't have a name because none of us can agree on one. We've had so many name ideas for it, but there's always one of us that doesn't like it. At this point, I'm about to name it "Dog." The other one, Lucy, was his mother's, and she wanted him to have it after she was gone because she knew how close they were.
"We could do that, but I think that it would still bother me." I shrug, watching the twins roll around on the floor with the small puppy.
"Why?"
"I don't know. Maybe it's just the fact that she's missed so much in my life and doesn't seem to care or make an effort to fix that. Like she said she would be come to my wedding, that she would see me before I had the twins, and once I had them. She still hasn't come here. She hasn't even called me."
"Do you know any of her other children? You could try contacting them and see what they know." Louis suggests, standing up before walking into the other room. When he returns, he has his laptop in his hands.
"I guess I could try that. I think I know one of them, I don't know if I have his number though."
"Could always see if he has any social media." Louis says, sitting on the couch and opening his laptop. "Do you have any clue of what he or any of her other children look like?"
"No, all I know is his name."
We spend the next half hour searching for information on my brother, hoping that he knew something about our mom. I sigh, looking away from the computer screen.
"I give up. There's no way I'll ever find someone that I don't know anything about."
"That not true. What about her? Does she have any social media? You could see if they're friends on Facebook and message him."
"True, but what if it's not the right person?"
"You never know unless you try." Louis says and I type my mother's name in on Facebook. I click on her profile and scroll through her friends, trying to find my brother. Surprisingly, I find a profile that could be my brother's.
"See? And you were ready to give up."
"No one likes an 'I told you so.'" I look up at him, smiling. He shrugs and watches as I scroll through my brother's profile.
"Why don't you send him a message?"
"What would I even say?"
"You could start off by asking if he's her son, to make sure that you're talking to the right person." He laughs lightly. "Then you could introduce yourself and say that you were curious as to what's going on. Maybe see if there's a way that you guys could meet, if you wanted to."
"I want to know my family, and I would like my children to know them too."
"Then you could say that." He says and I nod, continuing to scroll through his photos. I click on one and my eyes widen as I recognize the little girls next to the boy, who I'm guessing was him.
"What's wrong?"
"Those girls are me and Lexi." Louis looks over at me, but my focus stays on the picture. I notice that there's a caption on the picture and read it, frowning at the words. "This was not too long ago. He says he's looking for his sisters that he hasn't seen in years, and wants to get to know them."
"I guess you found the right person." Louis says, reaching down for the puppy trying to jump onto his lap. She starts licking his face all over and he laughs.
After I read that post, I decided to send him a friend request and message him, making sure he knows who I am and what's going on with Lexi and I. I press send, instantly growing nervous, unsure of how he would react. It shows that he's currently online, so I could get a response anytime now.
"Mama, Jake hit me!" Marley runs over to me, trying to climb onto my lap.
"Did not!"
"Jacob, don't hit your sister. How would you like if she hit you?"
"I'd hurt."
"That's right, so don't hit her." My phone buzzes in my lap and I look down to see a notification from Facebook. When I open it, I see that it's a response from my brother. He said that he's in the area and would be willing to meet up, so we could talk about what's been going on in person. I send him a quick reply, saying when I'm free so we could meet up.
Hopefully, this will all work out and I'll get to know some more of my family members, along with what's been going on with my mother lately.
