Lost & Found

Chapter 6

The following Saturday was Savana's gender reveal, and Lindsay was having a hard time keeping it a secret. She teetered each time she saw Savana.

"You don't have to keep it to yourself any more, Linds! We'll know today!" Savana said with excitement. She was also anxious to find out. As someone who spoils surprises for herself and likes it that way, she had a hard time not pestering Lindsay about it.

Lindsay, on the phone, squealed, "Oh, I know, I'm just so excited! What are you wearing?"

"Mikey and I decided to wear black, why?" Savana turned as she stepped into some maternity leggings.

She could almost hear Lindsay's eyeroll as she said, "It's not a funeral, guys!"

"Hey," Michael poked his head in, "Elise is wearing pink, so there."

"Whatever," Lindsay laughed, "See you in a bit." She hung up.

Savana bit her lip with excitement as she rubbed her bump in the mirror. Michael walked up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist, "You excited, baby?"

"Of course I'm excited, Mikey! We get to know finally!" She smiled, turning towards the little feet that ran into the room behind them.

Elise patted Savana's belly and smiled, "Baby!"

"You're going to find out if you're going to have a brother or sister, baby girl!" Michael grabbed her hand as Savana fluffed her skirt.

"Speaking of which," Savana turned to look at the clock, "We've got to get going. Lindsay's going to flip shit if we're late. I think everyone's there already."

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"Okay, everyone! It's time to reveal! Savana, Michael!" Lindsay nearly shook with excitement. The party was Harry Potter themed, and Lindsay set it up to have yellow be a girl and purple be a boy. It went accordingly with Savana and Michael's houses.

The plastic cauldron was set in front of the expecting couple, so were two large bottles of clear liquid labeled Amortentia and Felix Felicis, two potions in the books.

Everyone counted down, including Elise, who did her best. They poured both at the same time. It took a moment for the concoction to bubble up, and once it did, the bubbles formed all different kinds of yellow.

Both Savana and Michael smiled excitedly, looked at each other and hugged as everyone screamed around them. Savana's dad was holding Elise and bounced her as he smiled cheerfully, telling his granddaughter that she was going to have a baby sister.

"It's so weird though," Savana sat on the couch at the old house, "I could've sworn it was a boy."

Michael shrugged, "It really was a 50/50 chance of either option, so." He picked up his beer and sipped.

"Well, what'd you think it was then?" Savana said quickly.

Before Michael could answer, the doorbell rang and the whole house somehow went silent. Richard, Savana's dad, stood up and offered to answer it.

It took a moment before he walked back in, almost solemn. "S-Savana, this is Nicole. She's your-"

Savana, recognizing who it was, turned back around in her seat, "I know who she is, dad. You don't have to introduce me." She crosses her arms as she locked eyes on Elise, who played with Ashton and Liam on the floor. "What brings you here, mother?"

"I wanted to see how my daughter is! Why else would I be here?" Nicole walked over and looked at her group of friends, trying to seem non-accusatory.

Savana quickly scoffed, "Nicole, it's been twenty years. You aren't here for me, now what do you want?" She leaned into Michael as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

"Alright, fine!" Nicole said with a sigh, "I wanted to meet my little grand baby and see how my new grandson is!" She reaches over the couch and rubbed Savana's stomach.

Lindsay and Sierra sat up, "She's having a girl. We just did the reveal, like, half an hour ago."

"Oh, mother knows best and I know that it's a boy." Nicole shrugged off the girls' protests and went to sit by Elise.

Liam looked at Savana, who shook her head. Liam picked up Elise and took her away from Savana's mom. "Hey! That's my granddaughter! I'm her grandmother and I have a right to her!"

"In order to be a grandmother, you first have to be a mother," Savana stood up, "You failed miserably at that, so why should I let you anywhere near my baby girl?"

Nicole stood up, still pretending she was a good person, "I was just hoping I could have a relationship with Faith."

"Her name isn't Faith," Michael interjected, "Her name is Elise."

The woman gave him a disgusted look before rolling her eyes, "And who are you to be telling me what her name is? I'm her grandmother and I would know better than you."

"Better than her father? I don't think so." Savana said, "Her name is fucking Elise and she will never have a relationship with you. You couldn't even handle having one with your own daughter. Instead, you ditched dad when I was 5 months old and married some other guy. Now you have, what? Three kids with him that you lived with and loved every day?" Savana shook her head, "Go ask one of them to give you a grandchild because you will never, ever see my girls again. Speaking of which, you need to leave. Now."

"But I hardly got to talk to Faith!" Nicole hissed at Savana as she practically pushed her mom out the door, "I am your mother and you will listen to me when I say that I want to see my granddaughter on a regular basis."

Savana stood at the threshold with her mother on the other side of the door, "Even if you were my mom, you'd be the worst mother to ever exist. You're a terrible selfish person. I can't believe you think you can waltz in after twenty years, say 'I'm your mother', and truthfully think that I would happily accept you into this family. You can forget it."

"But-"

"As far as I'm concerned," Savana spoke sternly, "I don't have a mother." She shut the door, and some of the boys watched Nicole walk away.

Savana sat down quickly on the couch next to Michael. Elise climbed up in her lap and sat, facing her, "I'm sorry you had to hear mommy yell like that, baby. She's a bad woman. If you ever see her near you, scream as loud as you can, okay?"

Elise nodded. She brought her little hands up to Savana's cheeks and looked at her face, she nodded to herself before looking into Savana's eyes before saying, "Love mama." She looked over at Michael, who leaned over to be closer to them, and pulled a piece of his hair over to hug their necks, "Love dada."

It brought tears to both of their eyes, but when each of them pulled away from the hug, Elise only noticed Savana's tears. She took her open palms and tried to wipe Savana's tears away.

"Mommy loves you so much, baby. And you make both mommy and daddy so proud and happy every day." Savana sniffled.

"Baby!" Elise looked down, almost as if she'd forgotten about it. She patted Savana's tummy lightly.

"Yeah, E," Luke said as he sat down on Savana's other side, "Baby sister." He gave Savana a quick side hug, like an older sibling would give a younger one.

Sierra smirked, "Better be careful, Luke. You might spur some rumors online."

He rolled his eyes as he leaned away from her to rest his elbow on the armrest, knowing the tabloids would never see how he treats her. She's like a little sister to him, and he knew that if a picture ever did leak, there would be hell to pay.