Deceived

Chapter Four

Chapter 4: Mystery Uncovered

Time: Summer-Fall 2008

No copyright infringement intended.

"Thank God, Liz! Can you clear any of this up for us?" Reba asked.

"Hello, Reba. It's been awhile." She said coolly. "I see that you still don't know how to use a vacuum."

That got a rise out of Brock. "Hey, there's no need for you to attack her like that."

Liz eyed Brock up and down. "Do you want this information or not? Is that any way to talk to your mother?"

"Hi, Mom. How're you doin'?" the other Brock greeted her cheerfully. He was sure that she would verify his claim to be the real Brock Hart.

"I don't understand any of this. Could you please shed some light on what's been goin' on around here? We've got two men who claim to be Brock Hart. They have the same DNA. This is very confusing for the children, your grandbabies. Please help us," Reba pleaded.

Reba's plea and tone pleased Liz a great deal. "What's goin' on around here is that two brothers have been reunited, my sons."

"You are a mother to both of us? We are both your sons?" Brock asked.

"Try to keep up," the other Brock commented.

"Where have you been? We've been in this situation for weeks now and this is the first time you've done anything to set things straight for Reba and the kids," Brock roared at her.

Liz was not happy with Brock's attitude towards her. Mike interrupted. "Nothing is more important than letting her tell us what we need to know. Let her tell her side of the story so we can get some answers."

"Please go ahead, Liz," Reba urged gently.

"I gave birth to two babies, identical twin boys."

"So, it's true. They're twins?" Reba responded.

"Yes, John D and I were expecting one son, but two were born."

Brock's face clouded over in shock. His mother lied to him his whole life. "What did you... How did you..."

Reba saw Brock's face and became angry for him. She knew how close he was to his mother. This was by far the worst thing that Liz had ever done.

Reba held up her hand to stop Brock from speaking. He was struggling with this and she was ready to come to his aid. "Do you want to explain this?" Reba asked Liz with fury.

"John D was never happy about becoming a father. We'd been pregnant before and lost that child. He didn't want us to try again. When I told John that I was pregnant again, I thought that he'd be happy. Needless to say, he was not. We weren't in a good place financially to be having a child. He was always on the road as a traveling salesman. I was alone for most of my pregnancy. I gave birth alone. I didn't know that there were two babies until after I'd given birth. John D returned the next day. He said that we could barely afford one child, let alone two. We gave one of our babies up for adoption. I figured that at least one of them would have the chance at a better life than we could ever dream of giving him. I named him Alexander after John's father."

"What happened after that?" Reba questioned. She wanted all of the answers that Liz had to give, even if it meant dragging all of her skeletons out of the closet.

"It wasn't personal. John chose which one of the boys to place for adoption. I had to agree that we couldn't provide for both boys. I didn't want them to suffer. Alex was given a chance at a better life. At that point, I'd lost two babies so I clung to Brock like a lifeline."