Forgotten

Part 28

I wiped away my tears and after a moment, I regained myself enough to finally speak.  "S-she would have been so proud of me.  I guess... I don't know, I just wish she was here right now so I could share this moment with her.  And with my sister, Maddie.   And I know dad can't be here because..." . That was all I could say.  It was all I could manage to get out.  Because I felt certain that if I spoke even one more word, the flood gates of tears would have opened.  And I didn't know if I could stop them.

She pulled me close and held me in her arms.  After awhile, she finally spoke.  "Babe, I have an idea.   Why don't we find them?  Let's find them for you.  Then you can tell them."

I pulled away from her and and looked at her, completely surprised by what she had just said.  "What do you mean?"

"Well, your mom and sister.  They're still alive.  As far as you know, anyhow, right?"

"Well... yeah.  As far as I know."

"Why can't we find them, then?"

I paused.  And it's not like the idea has never crossed my mind before.   But, I guess until now, I never really had the means to do anything about it.  I was always so focused on pure survival.  And I knew finding them would mostly likely require help.  Which up until now, I never really had.  But, I also had my own insecurities to deal with.  Was my mom still in a coma?  And if she wasn't, would she even remember me?  And would Maddie remember me?  And if they did, would they even want to see me?

"I... I don't know.  It's been so long."

"So what?  It's never too late, Lexi."

-

Nichole's POV:

She immediately looked overwhelmed.  And overwhelming her, obviously wasn't my intention.  At all.  But there were issues that, in my opinion, still needed to be dealt with.  And if left to her own devices, I wasn't sure if Alexis would ever deal with them.  And even though she had improved in so many ways since we first met, she still struggled with her own insecurities.  And ultimately, my goal was for her to become a strong, confident, independent woman.  But, in many ways, I still felt like her past was holding her back and hindering her from fully being the woman I knew she was capable of being.  

And knowing that she had family out their of her own, could help her.  Immensely.  It could be a suppprt system for her.  People that she could lean on.  Talk to.  Go to when she needed help or advice.  And know that she would never be judged.  And would always be loved unconditionally.  

"W-what if they don't remember me?  Or don't wanna see me?"

"Well, I'm not sure what's going on with your mom, since the last you knew she was in a coma.  But, I'm sure your sister would remember you.  And I'm sure they would want to see you."

"But how would we ever find them?"

"I don't exactly know right off hand, but there's ways to find people.  We could even hire a private investigator if we had to."

She didn't say anything.   It was if she was at a lose for words.  But I could tell she was thinking about it.  And processing what I was saying.  And, really, it was in typical Lexi style.  It took her awhile to work through new ideas, to process things, to make sense of things, and to figure out what she thought of it, and where she wanted to go with it.  And I knew her well enough, to let her go, and let her take her time figuring things out.  And to let her make her own decision about where she wanted to go next.

"Hey, it's ok.  You don't have to decide right now.  It's just something to think about", I said, not wanting to put anymore pressure on her.  "Just think about it."