Alex Reborn

Chapter 10: Bloody Reality

The appointment lasted longer than Mom had planned. Mom took Jen and me for a quick shopping trip in Kennesaw. Mom bought both of us some new bras and shirts/tops. I was even able to talk Mom into buying me some shirts that I would enjoy wearing. We also picked up some cat supplies for Darth Bane. We got some lunch at a drive-through and came straight home.

When we got home we put the litter box in the laundry room, and we put Bane's food and water bowl in the kitchen. Bane quickly found my room inspected it, then jumped on my bed and took a nap.

"I can't believe Mom let me bring my old cat home; I think I am going to press my luck, you in for a ride to the woods?"

"Sure!"

"Mom, can Jen and I go ride our bikes to the woods?" I asked.

"Go for it, but be back home before dinner," Mom said, with a smile on her face. When we got out to our spot near the river, we hopped off our bikes, took off our sneakers, and dangled our feet in the river.

"Alex, how do you feel? How do you think the appointment went? Did you get your questions answered?" Jen asked.

I thought for a moment, and said, "Jen, Alex is dead. I thought the appointment with Dr. Wade went very well. I did get all of my questions answered, and then some."

"If you are not Alex, then who are you?" Jen asked, out of genuine concern.

"I am Allie, with a new, and improved brain," I replied with a smile. "Wade helped me accept that I am no longer Alex, but I have to accept that I am truly your twin sister Allie. I don't ever want to be called Alex again. If this is going to work, then I am Allie. Thank you for being there for me this past three weeks or so. I know I have been hard to deal with."

"That's what sisters, and especially twin sisters are for. Do you mind if I ask a question about your former life?"

"Sure, go for it."

"What was your childhood like?"

I don't blink or think, "It massively sucked."

"You need to give me more than that, because everyone thinks their life and childhood sucks. I know mine does."

"No, yours does not suck Jen, not even close. I wished I had what you had when I was a kid the first time. Jen, my original parents died when I was six. I didn't have any family so I was in and out of foster homes, and group homes until I left for Harvard. I was able to live with Wade's family a few times. Wade tried to get his parents to adopt me but they weren't able to."

"Why not?"

"Wade's parents were a lot like Mom and Dad. The were two middle class parents, raising three kids, and they were taking care of Wade's paternal grandparents. As much as they wanted to they just did not have the means."

"Oh, I think I understand. What was it like growing up in foster care?"

"I'll put it this way, I quickly learned that the only one I could count on was me, and I had to grow up quick, because I didn't have anyone like you do, and I do now. Wade's family did what they could to help me out, but I was on my own. Mom, and Dad, and Blake can be a pain in the ass, but at least they care, and they show it all the time. Most of the foster families I lived and they didn't care about me. To them I was a paycheck. It wasn't that way in all the foster homes, but most. The group homes were basically juvenile prison minus the being in jail part. So being in foster care massively sucked."

"Oh, Allie, I am so sorry, that kind of explains a few things from a month ago."

"It's alright."