Right In Front Of You✔️

35. I'm fine

"Mom are you okay?" I ask walking into Evan's room. Mom is seated on the rocking chair with my little brother in her hands. Tears are streaming down her face quietly while Evan sleeps in her arms. 

Mom's head snaps up towards me. She quickly wipes away the tears as I walk over to her. "I'm fine sweetie," she tries to reassure me, but I don't buy it. I place my hand on her knee gently. 

Mom sighs giving Evan a kiss on his little forehead. Our little brother has gotten a lot bigger as he's already 8 months old, but he still loves to sleep in either my mom's or my dad's arms. 

Only then I notice a picture laying on my little brother. I take the picture with five smiling people on it from him. Mom protests, but doesn't try to take the picture from me. The five people in the picture seem happy. All five of them have huge smiles on their faces and it's hard not to see how close of a family they are. 

The two boys in the picture have their arms wrapped tightly around a girl who seems around seventeen-years-old. The longer boy is most definitely the oldest and has a handsome face. The somewhat smaller guy on the other side of the girl is most definitely his little brother. The two older people are their parents, it's undeniable. The two boys have the exact same face-structures as their dad and their hair color matches their mom's perfectly. 

The girl, on the other hand, doesn't look anything like the rest of them. With her black hair and blue eyes, she actually looks a lot like me. At that point, the realization hits me. 

"That's you," I whisper staring at the picture with wide eyes. Mom nods her head still not saying anything. "Who are these people?" A male voice asks from behind me. I don't have to turn around to recognize my twin brother. 

"They were my second family," mom tells us before she stands up and puts Evan in his crib. She sits back in the rocking chair and takes the picture back from me. "When I was younger, your grandparents and I didn't get along as well as we do now," mom starts explaining. Kevin and I both sit down on the floor to listen to her story like we used to do when we were younger. 

"Your grandparents couldn't quite comprehend why I lost my belief in God as I got older. I didn't go to church anymore and my parents didn't like that all. They didn't understand me. These people did," she tells us pointing at the people in the picture. "The oldest boy was my best friend. I told him everything. There might have been a time he knew me better than your aunt Megan."

Kevin and I stare at her with wide eyes. There's nobody who knows our mom better than aunt Megan. It's just impossible. 

"What happened?" Kevin asks softly. "The winter before I met your dad, they went on a skiing trip over the holidays. They were gone for two weeks and I was so happy to see my best friend again. I might have had a little crush on him back then." Mom giggles as she strokes the picture cautiously. 

"I had gotten a message he would pick me up after he arrived. Which would be two hours after I got the message. Three hours later, he still hadn't picked me up. I started to become worried and that's when a police officer rang our doorbell." Mom stops to breathe for a moment. 

"They had gotten into a car accident. A bad one. I was lucky to have a chance to see him before he passed away. Unfortunately, the rest of his family hadn't survived either. For his parents, the impact was lethal and his little brother passed on his way to the hospital."

"I'm sorry mom," I tell her laying my hand on her knee. "It's okay, sweetie," she reassures me. "I met your father two months after that horrid moment and he took me out of the dark place I was in. Now, I have a beautiful family." She takes the two of us in a big bear hug.