So, Here I Am

Chapter Sixteen The Truth - The Twins 2

"A.J. is your brother"

Maggie was spent.   Tears were streaming down her face and she was  struggling to keep her breathing under control.   It felt like she was going to have a heart attack, which wasn't completely out of the question at her age.   A.J. is just looking at the Twins, a mixture of fear and dread on his face, not knowing what the fuck would happen next.  Were they going to beat his ass ?   Or worse, would they be angry at Maggie ?

Larry has his head cocked slightly to one side, looking like the overgrown puppy he was, like he's trying to figure it all out.  He has, but he doesn't want to believe it.

Laurent roars as he gets up from the sofa, knocking the coffee table as he does so.

"Bullshit !! Not possible !!.... it can't be possible !!" then some expletives in french, Maggie assumed.

Larry "But mama, she said she was looking after her nephew ..." He was crying now, and trying, unsuccessfully, to hold it together.

Laurent "If you know so much about this shit, I suggest you tell us, NOW !!" He was angry, and hurt beyond words.

Maggie "Are you going to hear it though, Lau ?" she asked, sure there would be selective hearing involved.

"Yes. Go." He was heaving in place, shaking, his eyes virtually black, shining, you couldn't see what colour they were at all.   He looked almost ....demonic, his face contorted in angst and pain.

Maggie took her next millionth deep breath of the night.

"I met your mama when I was an exchange student. I lived in Paris for six months, and we met when she worked at the corner store.  She was there every time I came back to visit, and we became friends.  We would go get a coffee, sometimes lunch.  As we got older, and she was with your dad, she would tell me all about her two little boys that she loved SO much.  But that your dad scared her, and she feared for all your safety at times."

Larry was holding on to Laurent's arm for dear life, as if his own life depended on it, as if he let go, his life would fall apart, not that it hadn't already.

A.J just sat quietly, holding Maggie's hand for support and comfort.   Laurent had his hands clasped in front of him, his white knuckles touching his bottom lip, his body still heaving, staring at her.

Maggie continued.

"We stayed in touch, and as I built my businesses, and became more successful, I found I was in a position to help her, if she needed it.  I let her know that if ever she and her babies needed anything, anything, to get in touch and I'd be there.   After about a year, she called me and said she thought she and you guys were in danger from your dad, that she had found herself pregnant, that if your dad found out, he would kill you all, she was sure of it. He couldn't find out.  So we made a plan.  She hid the pregnancy from him, sent you two to your aunties, like you said, and went away herself, to have the baby. I was with her the whole time.  But what she said next just floored me.  She wanted me to have the baby.  She knew I wanted kids, but couldn't have them.  It would be a solution for all of us, she said. I told her to think about it, but she was adamant.  She said I could give him a good, happy life, everything he needed, a life she couldn't give him.  But her priority was you guys.  If your dad didn't know about the baby, maybe he would calm down, he certainly wouldn't be any worse than he already was, and you guys could live a normal life again.   She did all this to protect you."  Her tears were falling again.

Laurent was visibly shaking now, Larry still holding on to Laurent's arm, sobbing, tears and snot mingling together and falling on the ground in front of him.   A.J was just hanging his head, crying and sniffing softly.