The Foster Kid (GirlxGirl)

Chapter Thirty Three

"Rebecca...? Are you there?"

I stared at Dani, raising the phone to my ear. "U-uh yeah," I stammered, "just give me one second."

Dani looked up at me from her seat and asked, "Do you want to take it into the hall?"

I nodded absentmindedly and she spoke again, "Just don't let the door close on the cord."

I walked out into the hallway, letting my body fall back against the wall. I had no idea what to think. A minute ago I had been desperately trying to keep my mind occupied by talking to Andy, and now my mind was anything but unoccupied. "I'm here," I spoke into the phone.

"I thought I scared you away," the woman that had labeled herself as Mackenzie's mom answered, sighing a breath of relief. "Have I got the right person?"

"I should hope so," I mumbled, "because if your Mackenzie isn't the sister that I've been searching for the past few months, I'm going to be pretty let down."

"Oh my god," she breathed, "It's so good to finally talk to you... although certainly not under such unfortunate circumstances..."

"What circumstances?"

"You know, your whole.. situation, with your step-mom and her husband. It's how I found you."

I sighed heavily. Why did everything have to revolve around Brian? "Unfortunate circumstances indeed," I muttered. "I'm sorry, I'm confused. You found me? Have you been looking for me? You're Mackenzie's mom? Does that mean she's adopted too now? Is she—"

The woman chuckled. "Well aren't you cute? I'd love to explain, but I was hoping I could do that in person."

"In p-person?"

"I know me calling out of the blue is kind of a lot to process, and I'm sorry that I haven't had the opportunity to get in touch with you before now, but I thought maybe you'd like to meet your sister."

I swallowed. "Does she.. want to meet me?"

There was a painfully long silence that followed my question. When she finally answered, I found myself feeling quite similarly to when Sara had tried to explain why she kept the truth about my sister from me. "Well, she... she um, she doesn't know that she has a sister."

My voice cracked. "W-what?"

"I know how hard news like this could be— okay well maybe I don't. But I am truly sorry for the way things have worked out. It's just, my husband and I spent ages looking for Mackenzie's sister back when she was only two but she, you, had essentially been, as the adoption agency put it, lost in the system. We just felt that it was better Mackenzie didn't know until we could find you."

Sara leading me to believe that my sister had passed away was terrible, but I was a strong believer of the fact that keeping my entire existence a secret from Mackenzie was much, much worse. The woman spoke again, "Rebecca? Are you still there?"

"I'm here," I mumbled. "I'm pissed but I'm here."

"Oh god I know, I'm sorry. Mackenzie deserves to know... and now that I've found you, of course we're going to tell her. She asked Eric and I a while ago why we never considered having another child and the guilt started to set in after that because I know she wishes she had a sibling—"

I braced myself against the wall, cutting her off. "Uh, go back. She asked you why you never considered having another child? Quick question, does she know she's adopted?"