“Hi,” was pretty much all I could choke out.
He smiled. “I love you. Marry me Madison.”
I didn’t hesitate for even one second. I just blurted out “Yes! Absolutely yes!” as I ran into Jackson’s arms.
I held him so tight, afraid that if I let up even a little, he would disappear.
After a minute or two I stepped back from Jackson and looked him right in the eyes. “How could you leave me and the babies like that? I’m really mad at you.” I was upset, but was trying not to be too harsh on him. I understood why he left. But, he had to understand that he couldn’t leave every time I got cranky. That would happen a lot.
He looked me right in the eyes. “I know and I’m really sorry. I was terribly hurt when you said the twins were yours and not mine. I just couldn’t stay here and have you bring that up over and over while the girls were growing up.” He was sincere. “I have had a lot of time to think about it and I really am sorry. I know you were exhausted and cranky and said things you didn’t mean.” His eyes never left mine.
He sounded like he meant it and I just couldn’t stay mad at him. “I’m sorry too,” I said. I was in tears by then, because he was back and I had missed him so much. I knew he meant his apology. “I swear that I will never, ever, ever, say anything again, ever, about the girls not being yours. They are yours and mine and we are going to have a great life together.”
“Yes we will,” he responded with a smile. “Now, let’s go see our girls. I’ve missed them.”
Chapter 25
Sarah and Adam were less than enthusiastic about us getting married.
“I thought you were in love with Ethan?” Sarah asked me. Not really a question, as much as a dig at Jackson and I getting married.
“Ethan’s not here now, is he?” I replied. I quickly looked over at Jackson and said I was sorry. That’s not exactly how I meant it to come out.
“You two are cousins. It’s disgusting,” Sarah said, as she dramatically scrinched up her face to prove that she was disgusted.
Here we go, I thought to myself. “Sarah, Jackson is not really my cousin now, is he?” I set a look of determination on my face. What was coming was not going to be pretty.
The look on Sarah’s face, and Adam’s for that matter, were just priceless. They obviously had no clue that I knew. They were speechless, so I continued.
“What? Didn’t know that I knew you weren’t my biological mother? I’ve known for quite some time now.”
“Who in the world told you that?” Sarah almost shrieked it out.
“Really? You’re going to try to deny it? Come on, just tell me the truth. For once in your life, tell me the truth.” I stared her straight in the eyes and never blinked once.
“I told her,” Jackson said.
Adam and Sarah looked at each other, then back to us. I don’t think they had any idea that Jackson knew either.
“I overheard people talking about it a lot of years ago. I’ve known since I was a child,” Jackson added.
I realized at that moment that they had not denied it. The guilt was written all over their faces. That’s when I knew for a fact that it was true, and I was furious.
Sarah stared me down for what seemed like an eternity, but was in reality just a few seconds. Then she changed. Her shoulders sagged, her head drooped just a little, she looked at her feet. She knew it was all over. The lies, all of it. Their elaborate ruse was at an end. Now that I knew, there was no use in continuing to argue about it.
“Madison,” she started to say, but I interrupted her.
I put my hand up to stop her. “Don’t bother. I know what you’re going to say. You couldn’t stand for anyone to find out that Adam got the housekeeper pregnant. You couldn’t have kids of your own and figured this would be the perfect chance for you to have a child. You decided to lie to everyone, even Jackson and the police. Am I about right? I could have you thrown in jail!”
“Madison!” Adam finally jumped in. “Stop this right now.” He touched my arm to try to calm me down and I jerked it away from him. “You are right. We did lie, both of us. It wasn’t just her. Abbey needed the money and we desperately wanted a child. It worked out perfectly for all of us.”
“It didn’t work out perfectly for me! You had no right to take me from my mother. She was broke and probably had no choice but to take your money. She obviously wanted me, which is why she came back and took me from you.” I was getting louder and louder the angrier I got.
“Maddie, stop..” Jackson started to say, but I didn’t let him.
“No.” I looked directly at him. “This isn’t about you. You don’t get a say in this.” He knew I meant it. Jackson just walked over to the nearest chair and sat down, and kept his mouth shut. I wasn’t mad at him and he knew it. He knew that this was my chance to get it all out in the open, and that’s just what I did.
“Abbey could be dead, or in jail for kidnapping because of you. Did you force yourself on her?” I was staring directly at Adam and wasn’t about to back down.
“Of course not! It wasn’t like that at all. Please sit down so we can talk about this.” He gestured toward the nearest chair.
I just stood my ground and they didn’t press it.
“Look, Abbey seduced me once and got pregnant. It happens. Sarah found out.” He looked over at Sarah and she turned away. I could tell that she was still hurt by his betrayal after all of these years.
“We decided to raise the baby, you, as our own. Abbey didn’t have the money to raise you, so she agreed.”
“You mean you didn’t want any of your fancy pants friends to know that you were diddling the housekeeper. Is that about right?” I didn’t mince words.
“Yeah, something like that,” Adam answered back meekly.
“I still don’t understand why you had to lie to me and everyone else?”
Sarah spoke up. “Well, we had already made everyone think I had given birth to you. My name was even on your birth certificate as your mother. Our family doctor helped out with that one. So, when you disappeared it would have gotten a lot of people in trouble if we had changed our story at that point. So, we just left it alone. Then when you were returned to us, we were afraid that if we told you, that you would have told everyone else. You were so angry when you first came here.”
“If Abbey agreed to all of this, then why did she take me?” I wanted to know. It was a valid question.
“We don’t really know,” Adam responded. “She had quit not long after you were born, then when you were two years old she came back and took you in the middle of the night. We never heard from her. In fact, we were never absolutely sure it was her that took you, until you were found living with her parents.”
I looked back over at Adam. “I want to find my mother, and I want you to help me,” I said it matter-of-factly, not really asking him.
“Madison, I don’t think that’s a good idea. Everyone thinks she’s dead anyway,” Adam responded.
“Well, until I know for sure, I want to try. Will you help me or not?” I looked at him, without blinking.
Adam and Sarah looked at each other and agreed. It was silent, but obvious to me.
“Okay, I’ll help.” He seemed defeated.
The next day I called Sam Perez. “Hi Sam, it’s Madison.” No last name required, he knew who I was. We had been in touch off and on during the more than two years I had been living at the estate.
“Madison, how are you! I heard you had a big birthday recently.” Sam really seemed happy to hear from me.
“Yes, I’m finally 18 and can do what I want. You know what’s funny though? I actually like it here now. I think I’ll stay.”
“I’m glad to hear that. So, what’s on your mind?” Straight to the point, as usual.
“Well, I have some big news, and I need your help. Can you come out here? Please? It’s really important.”
He hesitated just for a second. “Well, sure. I’d be happy to. I want to see those ba
bies anyway. Tomorrow morning okay?”
“That’s great, I’ll see you then.” I hung up the phone and went to check on the twins.
The next morning, Sam arrived around ten, just as I was about to put the girls down for their morning nap.
“Wow, they are just beautiful, Madison,” Sam told me. “They’ve gotten so big since I saw them last.”
“I know. I can barely keep up with them now. Hold on a minute while I put them in their cribs.”
I waited for them to fall asleep, which took about 30 seconds. They were pretty good babies, rarely gave me any trouble. Oh how I adored them. I stood watching them for a few minutes. So much had changed around there in their short lives, though they were completely unaware of any of it. They didn’t really know Jackson at all. He had left shortly after they were born. I wasn’t too worried about it though. They would love Jackson in no time. They loved everyone. It didn’t even matter if they were complete strangers on the street. They would wave and smile at them all. They were people magnets. I knew I was way too young to be a mom, but I couldn’t imagine my life without them.
When I got back five minutes later, Sam and Jackson were talking. They both turned to look at me when I walked in. They both were smiling.
“What?” I asked, feeling conspicuous. I looked down at my blouse to make sure there wasn’t something on it.
“You’re getting married! Jackson just told me. Congratulations!” Sam exclaimed. He was grinning from ear to ear and seemed genuinely happy for us.
“Thanks,” I replied. “We’re really happy about it.”
Once we sat down, I spent the next hour telling Sam about my life there and about Abbey. I told him everything, about Abbey being my biological mother, Sarah’s fake pregnancy, them paying Abbey off to disappear, all of it. Sam was shocked, to put it mildly. I then asked him to help me find Abbey. She was my mother and I desperately wanted to find her.
“Of course, I’ll be happy to help.” I knew he would work really hard to make it happen.
“I just want you to understand something. Abbey may not even be alive. I worked very hard on trying to find her for a while after you got here. That tapered off, of course, as other cases came my way. But, I never completely stopped working on the case. I haven’t gotten any new leads in a while though,” he told me.
“I know. I just need to know for sure, one way or another,” I replied. I didn’t expect much, but I figured if anyone could find her, it would be Sam.
“The reason I think she may not be alive is that you have been here for more than two years now and she has made no effort to contact you. She has to know that you were found. It was national news. She would have to be living under a rock to not know that you are here.”
“Even if she felt she should wait until you were 18, she still hasn’t contacted you since your birthday. She is either dead or terrified that she will go to jail for kidnapping. I’m afraid she is going to be extremely difficult to find.” Sam was just being truthful with me and I appreciated that, even when it was so hard to hear.
“I know. You will still try to find her, won’t you?” I asked, sounding a little desperate I’m afraid.
“Yes, I definitely will. Just try to be patient, this may take a while.” He patted me on the hand, trying to be comforting.
“Ok, thanks.”
I was never known for my patience and didn’t know how in the world I was going to wait. What if it took months, or heaven forbid, years, until I knew if she was alive or dead? I had waited all these years already. I just didn’t think I could possibly wait any longer. But, really, what was I going to do about it? Sam was very good at his job. If he couldn’t find her, then she wasn’t going to be found. I would do my best to get through the waiting no matter what. Besides, I had other things on my mind to keep me occupied.
We all sat around and chatted for a while, until Sam had to leave.
“You are coming to the wedding, right?” I asked him.
“I was wondering when you were going to get around to inviting me,” he said with a smile. “I wouldn’t miss it.”
Chapter 26
Planning a wedding has got to be the most stressful thing anyone could possibly do. When I agreed to get married, I don’t think I knew what I was getting myself into. There are flowers, a cake, decorations, catering, music, invitations, my wedding dress, not to mention the guest list, and more, all to be dealt with. It’s actually quite mind boggling. And the cost, unbelievable. A wedding and reception are so expensive. I didn’t like spending that much money, just seemed horribly wasteful to me. Why, oh why, didn’t we just go to the courthouse and take care of it in a very simple way? I would have been just fine with that.
My parents, that’s why. Especially Sarah. There was no way on earth she was going to let me have a wedding that she couldn’t invite all of her snooty friends to. Her life revolved around showing off to her friends.
So, there I was. Working myself to death to have her party. One that I didn’t want. And, with twins to take care of at the same time. Jackie and Rosie, my little darlings. They were almost a year old then. Not quite walking, but trying really hard. Luckily I had help from Jackson and the staff at the house. Otherwise, I would probably rip my eyeballs out from all the stress. I tried so hard to not be stressed in front of Jackson. We had a great relationship and I didn’t want my usual way of handling things to ruin it. I loved him so much.
The wedding went off without a hitch. Luckily Annabelle was not around to cause any trouble that time. Jackson was gorgeous in his tux and the twins were angels throughout the entire ceremony. Grandma and Charlie had volunteered to watch them. Everyone that I loved was there and I couldn’t have been happier.
The reception was fabulous. I was having so much fun, maybe too much, when I realized I was getting overheated and lightheaded in my beautiful wedding dress. I told Jackson that I was going upstairs to change. I walked out of the ballroom and decided to take a detour out the front door to just get a few minutes of fresh air. I had been going non-stop since early in the morning and I was exhausted.
It was a crisp, clear night, and I decided to walk in the rose garden for a few minutes. I just needed a bit of time alone. It was all lit up and so beautiful. Everyone was inside enjoying the party, so I had the garden all to myself.
As I walked toward my favorite bench, there he was. I could hardly believe my eyes. Ethan. I stopped dead in my tracks and gasped. He jumped up the second he saw me.
“Ethan! Wha..” That’s all I got out.
“Madison! Oh my god, I missed you.” He ran to me and hugged me like he would never let me go. I could barely breathe. I did not hug him back. Did he even have any idea what day it was? I was wearing a wedding dress after all.
I pushed him back away from me. “Why are you here?” I gasped, as I tried to catch my breath.
“Look at you, you’re gorgeous.” He looked at me from head to toe. It was kind of embarrassing.
“Ethan, answer me. Why are you here?”
“I missed you, that’s why. I love you.” He sounded really sincere.
Oh god, not today, I thought. I had no willpower when it came to Ethan and I had to get out of there fast.
I started to turn away and run, when he caught me by the arm and turned me back around. “Please, Madison, I want to talk.” He sounded a little desperate at that point.
“Ethan, there’s nothing to talk about. I’m married now,” pointing at my dress.
He looked me up and down again. “I know. I can see that.”
“I have to go,” I told him.
“Madison, just give me five minutes. Please.” Damn, he was cute.
I knew I shouldn’t have, but I did. I had to get some answers. “Okay, five minutes. And I mean it. Not a minute more.”
His smile was so big, that it made me smile too. I really did miss him.
“I want to start by saying how very sorry I am for the way things worked out. It really wasn’t my fault,
but I’m sorry anyway.”
“How is it not your fault? You left me alone and pregnant with no word at all from you. It was a horrible thing to do to me.” I was starting to get mad. How dare he say it wasn’t his fault.
“I know. I’m sorry.” He looked down at his feet.
“You already said that. I don’t have much time here.”
“Okay, okay. Let me explain. Remember the day you told me you were pregnant?” he asked me.
“How could I forget?” was my sarcastic answer. He overlooked my attitude.
“Well anyway, I went home and told my dad. He actually was really great about it and said that we would work it all out. Then, the next day he said he quit his job at your ranch and we were moving to Texas. He has a sister there and wanted to be closer to family. I protested of course, but I really had no choice. I was underage and had nowhere else to go.”
I stood there quietly, listening to his story.
“I wanted to call you, but he wouldn’t let me. He said that Adam had come to see him and said that we were to have no contact with you at all. My dad said Adam threatened him. My dad was afraid of him and agreed. So we moved. A few days later my dad said Adam called and told him that you had a miscarriage, so there was no reason at all for me to ever talk to you again.”
I started to interrupt to correct him, but he stopped me by putting his hand up, palm toward me. Kind of a rude thing to do, but I let it go.
“Please Madison, let me finish.” I shut up and let him talk.
“I figured you didn’t want anything to do with me after what I did to you. I just couldn’t bring myself to call you, even when I had a chance to.” He bent his head down and didn’t look at me then.
“A few days ago I found out that Adam had paid my dad to leave. It was a lot of money and I was furious. I called my friend, Dustin, you remember him?” I nodded. “I wanted to see if he had seen you around. Well Dustin told me that you were getting married. I was shocked and had to talk to you. I had to tell you how I feel. Unfortunately, I got here a little too late, obviously.”
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