A New Hope

Chapter 23: Dress Shopping

It took us about half an hour to get to the dress shop. While Chloe drove there, she asked me a bunch of questions. "So, Chloe, where were you born?" she asked.

"Right here in good old Columbus. My birthday is tomorrow," I said.

"Nice. Do you know anything about your birth family?"

"Woah, right to the personal stuff, eh?"

"Sorry if it's too personal."

"No, it's fine. What I know about my birth family is that I was named after my aunt, I have a twin sister somewhere named Claire, and my birth last name is Burke."

Chloe went silent. "I'm sorry, can you repeat that please?"

"I was named after my aunt, I have a twin sister somewhere named Claire, and my birth last name is Burke."

Chloe seemed to space out for a little bit. "Miss Masters, are you ok?" Baylee asked.

Chloe snapped out of her thoughts. "Yeah, I'm fine. Hey Chloe, what would your full name have been when you were born?" she asked.

"Chloe Michelle Burke."

Chloe hit the brakes. Luckily there was no one behind us. "Miss Masters, are you ok?!" Baylee asked.

Chloe shook her head and started driving again. "Maybe. I don't know. Chloe, I'm sorry to tell you this like this, but you might be my niece. Biologically."

I was drinking water, and I almost choked. "What? Please explain."

(A/N all mentions and/or appearances of Charlie are a crossover to my Fall Out Boy fanfic, Hey Youngblood) "I have an older sister named Charlie. Sixteen years ago, when she was with her boyfriend here in Columbus, she gave birth to twins. She told me she named them after her two sisters: me and our older sister named Claire that died of cancer when she was ten. But sadly, after Charlie got pregnant, my mom and dad basically disowned her. The baby daddy was an alcoholic and a drug addict and had cheated multiple times. He later ended up going to jail. Charlie still wanted to be in law enforcement or the military. My twin brother and I were still teenagers. There was no one to take care of her kids. So she had to put them in the system."

"And you think I'm her daughter?"

"I do. It all adds up. If you're not my niece, this is the biggest coincidence in the history of coincidences."

I was silent for a minute. My head started spinning. Could I have really just found my birth family? After all these years? "Babe? Are you ok?" Baylee asked me.

"Yeah... I'm fine, I just... I'm just a little overwhelmed right now," I said.

Chloe started playing with a ring on her pointer finger. It looked really familiar; I played with my jewelery when I was overwhelmed or nervous too. Baylee put her hand on my shoulder. I put my hand on hers. "I know this is overwhelming," Baylee said.

I stared out the windshield for a while. "How can I find out for sure if you're my aunt?" I asked Chloe.

"My sister Charlie is coming dress shopping. I guess you could ask her. She asked the adoption agency to send her updates on everything in her daughters' lives so one day she could connect with them. When they were ready. If you're her daughter, she'll know," Chloe said.

I nodded. "I want to ask her," I said.

Chloe nodded and pulled into the parking lot of a dress shop. She parked, and we all got out and walked into the shop. When we walked in, Chloe walked up to two women that were standing there talking. One of them had long brown hair and looked a lot like Chloe, and the other had bright red hair and wore a beanie. "Charlie! Thank you so much for coming from Chicago to help," Chloe said to the brunette.

"Of course! I wouldn't miss it! Plus, Pete wanted to visit Josh and Ty, and once he heard Brendon was in town he knew he had to come," Charlie said.

"Speaking of Brendon, I have a couple people I want you guys to meet. Charlie, Nattie, this is Brendon's daughter Chloe and her girlfriend Baylee. Baylee, Chloe, this is my sister Charlie and my best friend Nattie," Chloe said.

I made eye contact with Charlie. I could see a sort of longing in her eyes which told me that she might be my birth mom after all and that she knew who I was. I went up to her and hugged her. She hugged me back and started crying. "Are you my mother?" I asked, tears filling my eyes.

Charlie nodded. "Yes, I am. I am so sorry I didn't contact you. I was going to when you turned sixteen. I didn't want to ruin your relationship with whoever adopted you, and once I found out it was Brendon I definitely didn't want to ruin it."

"Don't apologize. You were young when you had me. And I understand why you didn't reach out to me. I'm just glad I know you now."

"I don't expect to just come in and take over for Brendon. He is your parent now, and I'm not going to ruin that."

"I know, and thank you for that. But I don't want you to just disappear again. Please."

"Of course. We can Skype and call and talk all the time. Maybe one summer you could even come out to Chicago for the summer and stay with Pete and I."

"I would love that."

We separated from our hug and turned to face the rest of the girls. They were all crying. "Chloe," Baylee said.

I ran over and hugged her. "Babe, I found my mom. I'm dress shopping for my aunt's wedding with my mom," I said.

"I know. I know."

I separated from that hug and turned to Chloe. "Hey Aunt Chloe," I said.

"Hey kiddo," she said.

"I'm so glad for you to be part of my life now."

"Me too. Which is why I want to ask you: will you be one of my bridesmaids?"

"I would be honored."

We hugged. I then turned to Nattie. "We never even really said hi," I said.

"Yeah. Hi."

"Hi. I'm so glad to meet you."

"Same here."

"Well, Chloe, let's get you fitted for a dress and get you back to the bus to prepare for the concert," Chloe said.

I nodded. "Yeah. And, if Brendon is ok with it, I want you all backstage with me at the concert later. With your boyfriends and/or fiancees," I said.

"I would love to," Charlie said.

"Me too," Nattie said.

"Me three," Chloe said.

"And I don't think we're giving the boys a choice," Charlie said.

I smiled. I was so happy to have my mother, aunt, and aunt's best friend backstage with me at the concert tonight. It was gonna be a night before my birthday to remember.