by Keelan Storm
“So how does it feel? Eighteen and grown up.”
“Uh…” was all she could reply. She didn’t feel remotely different. “Am I supposed to feel grown up?”
“Absolutely not,” Bridgette exclaimed. “You don’t need to feel grown up yet. You’re still young. Enjoy it.”
Annie smiled. “Thanks, Mom.”
“Can we go do poppers out back, Mom?” Chris called out.
“Sure, go ahead. The box is on the table. Just make sure you all put on your jackets.”
All of the kids rushed out of the room, and Annie pulled Jet with her as she followed the kids out back, grabbing her coat along the way. She went to sit on a swing, Jet standing behind her with his hands on the chains. They watched their siblings play in the yard.
“Good birthday so far?” he asked as he gave her a light push.
“So far,” she agreed.
“But?”
“But,” she sighed and turned to so they could share a smile. “It’s weird without Izzy here.”
“She wouldn’t be having a good time if she was.”
“No, I know. But it’s still weird. She’s so withdrawn, Jet. I don’t like it.”
“Tucker, too,” he replied sadly, thinking about how Tucker spent all of his time in his room and the tortured look that was always in his best friend’s eyes now. “He’s not doing well at all. I think he blames himself.”
“Well, that’s stupid.”
“I know.”
“He needs to get over it. It’s not helping anything, and Izzy needs him.”
“And he needs her.”
“Yeah, I know. Don’t get me wrong, Jet. I worry about Tucker, too, but Izzy’s my sister.”
“I know, sweetheart.”
“They are so frustrating. I feel like we’re back to square one when they didn’t even know they liked each other.”
He saw her biting her lower lip. “Give it time, Annie. They don’t need us butting in. We don’t know what they’re going through.”
She sighed. “You’re right. For now.”
“Good. Now can we get back to your birthday?” he asked as he spun the swing around and pulled her against him for a kiss. She shivered in his arms in a way that had nothing to do with the outside air.
The kiss lasted just long enough for Tyler and Chris to yell, “Ew! Gross!” and Tabitha to say, “Leave them alone!” Jet groaned. Apparently, kissing his girlfriend without interruptions was not going to happen anytime soon.
Nearly two hours passed before the families decided to call it a night. Annie stepped over her brother and Chris who had conked out on the floor of the living room a good half hour ago and went to stand at the front door with her mother.
“Thanks for letting Tyler stay over, again,” Bridgette said with a quiet laugh to Helen.
“Oh, it’s no problem. Stef will bring in blankets and pillows for the boys. There’s no sense in you waking him up.”
The mothers hugged. Helen reached over to give Annie a hug, too, and then turned to Jet. “Now, I’m going to go to bed, and when Bridgette steps outside, I expect you to give this girl the birthday kiss you’ve been trying to get in all night.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he answered with a grin. He wasn’t going to argue. As soon as their parents were out of the room, Jet pulled Annie into his arms.
“Finally,” she whispered.
“My thoughts exactly,” he replied as he pressed his lips against hers in an eager and enthusiastic kiss that lasted much longer than it should have with Bridgette waiting to head next door.
Annie staggered out the door, and she shivered. She wondered if it was because it had gotten colder outside or if it was because Jet’s kiss had left her a little heat stricken.
“Annabel, did you park your truck in the garage this afternoon?”
“No. You know Izzy and I always park it in the driveway, Mom. Why?” she asked, not picking up the alarm in her mother’s tone.
“Because it’s not there.”
Annie looked across the lawns then and saw the empty drive. “What? Do you think Izzy took it?”
Mother and daughter shared a look of concern, both knowing Izzy had not been in a state to drive when they’d left. They hurried back home, and panic filled Annie’s lungs when they saw the front door wide open. “Oh, no,” they said together.
Annie wasn’t sure why they rushed inside. The truck was gone, so Izzy obviously wasn’t home, but she still had to see for herself. She ran up the stairs to their bedroom, stupidly hoping to find her twin lying asleep on her bed, but what she saw sent a new kick of terror and panic through her. She stopped in her tracks just inside the room.
“Mom!” she cried out at the top of her lungs. Her mother gasped when she reached Annie’s side, and they shared another look.
“Izzy would never do that to Daddy’s dresser,” Annie finally said, voicing both their thoughts aloud. “Something horrible must have happened.”
“I know, honey, but let’s not panic.”
“Not panic?” “Who is this woman?” she wanted to gape. “Mom, Izzy’s freaked out and taken the truck. We’ve got to do something.”
“Alright, alright, try calling her, and let’s see if we can find what set her off.”
Bridgette went to look through the pile of clothes, drawers, and drywall on the floor while Annie searched around the bed, her phone on speaker as it rang. Something buzzed on the nightstand, and she groaned in concerned frustration.
“She doesn’t even have her phone or purse with her. Or her jacket!” Annie added, the worry in her tone escalating when she saw her sister’s coat lying across the chair by the desk.
This was so unlike Izzy, it was scaring her. Her sister never left the house without her things, and she certainly never vandalized their room.
“Keep looking, Annie.”
Annie bent down to the floor, sifting through the mess. She lifted the edge of the comforter and winced. “Do you think it could have set her off when she realized you confiscated all the medicine? I told you she wouldn’t like it if she believed we thought she might be suicidal.”
“What?” Bridgette asked, standing up to look at Annie and the bottle of Tylenol she was holding. “Oh.” The one word spoke volumes that Annie couldn’t read as her mother’s expression became pensive then fearful.
“What?”
“I don’t think that’s what set her off, honey.”
“What then?”
“Um…”
“Mom.” she demanded in suspicion. Her mother knew something, and she wasn’t sharing. Bridgette hesitated again, but before Annie could press her any further, a glint from the floor caught her eye. “Oh, no.”
“What is it?”
“Look down by your foot.”
Bridgette glanced at the floor and groaned as well. She bent to pick up what they both knew was even worse than seeing the dresser torn apart.
“Can we panic now?” Annie asked sarcastically when her mother held up the ring Izzy had thrown to the floor.
“Okay, now we can panic.”
“Good. I’m calling Tucker.” “He needs to see what he’s done.”
“I’m going to call Chuck and Stef.”
“Tell Stefano to bring Jet with him, please,” she said as her fingers slid over her passcode to unlock her phone. She may not know what their friends were going through, but she did know what her sister needed. It didn’t matter now that she told Jet she wouldn’t butt in. She wasn’t going to stand aside anymore while Tucker broke what was left of her sister’s heart.
* * *
Tucker lay across his bed, face down on the comforter in his favorite pair of basketball shorts. His back, although a lot better at this point, was still a little bruised, and his ribs not yet healed.
He had heard his family come in earlier, and his mother had popped her head in his room to say goodnight. He held back the scoff that had threatened to
escape at the concept of goodnight. There was no such thing anymore.
Sleep, when he got it, was anything but restful. All he ever saw when he closed his eyes now was Izzy lying at the bottom of those stairs, bleeding. Her pale, broken body lying bandaged in the hospital. The wild, agonized expression on her face while she thrashed about on the bed, calling for their baby. The withdrawn, hollow shell that used to be the girl he loved.
If it wasn’t that, it was his daughter. Izzy had never gotten the chance to see her, and for that, he was grateful. The only time he’d held her had nearly broken him. She had looked like them, her tiny, broken body resting in his hands.
Any one of those images would jolt him back awake if they hadn’t prevented him from sleeping in the first place. Putting Destiny in the ground had been hard enough, even with his parents’ advice, but he couldn’t stand to see Izzy so broken, had been too ashamed to look into her eyes, afraid of what he might see.
It was best if he stayed away, even if he was dying to be with her. He’d put her through enough. She didn’t need to see his pain, the pain that he had inflicted on the both of them.
It was all he could feel now, but he didn’t fight it. He knew he deserved every piercing stab to his heart. When he was lucky enough to avoid the horrific, torturing images, there was never relief. The open space in his mind just allowed room for thoughts of their lost child to surface.
How cruel was fate to let him love his child just in time for her to be taken away? The fact that she had never been given the chance to live made it even crueler. She had deserved her chance at life. But it honestly didn’t matter. In reality, she was gone, her mother destroyed.
Tucker lay there in the dark, contemplating this when his phone lit up. He almost ignored it, but then realized that it wasn’t normal for someone to call so late. He stretched an arm out and grabbed his cell from the table by his bed.
“Annie?” he wondered, swiping the screen to answer the call. “Hello?”
“YOU NEED TO GET YOUR BUTT OVER TO MY HOUSE NOW!”
“Annie, it’s almost two in the morning. I’m not coming over there.” “Your sister doesn’t want to see me anyway.”
“I’M NOT PLAYING, TUCKER! GET OVER HERE!”
“Why?!”
“I’M NOT GETTING INTO IT OVER THE PHONE! JUST COME OVER!”
“Arrrrgh!” she could be so frustrating. “Fine!” he snapped, throwing the phone down on his bed. He threw on some warmer clothes and his sneakers before shoving his phone in his pocket to sneak out of his room.
He wondered if his parents would hear him leaving. He hoped so. Then, they could put their foot down, and he could go back to his room and ignore Annie. Sometimes, he really hated the twins’ temper, when Izzy’s wasn’t driving him wild...
But he stopped that thought quick. Izzy’s fire was obsolete now.
“Did Annie call you?”
Tucker stopped on the stairs, startled by his father’s voice. “Yeah?” Since when was his dad psychic about this stuff? That was usually his mother’s department.
“Well, come on. We need to get going,” Chuck urged from the door.
“You’re going, too?”
“Yes. Now hurry up.”
Tucker rushed down the stairs and put on his jacket his father passed to him. He tried to hide his confusion.
“Grab your keys, boy.”
Tucker did as he was told but gave his father a funny look when he grabbed blankets and flashlights from the hall closet. “What’s going on?”
Chuck passed one of each to Tucker and threw the door open, letting the chilling air flood the entry to the house. “Your fiancé is missing.”
“What?!” He could not have heard that correctly. “What do you mean Izzy’s missing?”
“She was gone when Annie and Bridgette got home. She took the truck and left the door to the house wide open but didn’t take anything with her. Not even a jacket. Bridgette said there’s more. We need to get over there.”
That was all his father had to say. Tucker was at his truck seconds later, throwing the blanket and flashlight on the seat before sprinting across the street to the Dearlys’.
Bridgette held the door open for him before he’d even had time to knock and pointed him up the stairs. Jet and Stefano were already waiting up in the girls’ room when he got there, and Annie was up and in his face before he could say or do anything.
“This is all your fault!” she screamed, throwing an arm out toward him in exasperation.
“I know,” he said quietly, his voice breaking. He didn’t know why it did. Annie’s words just assured what he already knew.
“No, you don’t know! You don’t have any idea what you’ve done!” she screamed.
Jet came and pulled Annie back gently. “Calm down, sweetheart. We’ll find her. It’ll be fine.”
“No, it won’t, Jet,” she cried. Desperation was thick in her voice. “He’s destroying her.”
“That’s enough, Annie,” Chuck said from the doorway.
“Stop it, young lady,” Bridgette scolded.
Tucker hadn’t even heard them come up, but it didn’t matter. “No. She’s right,” he said to the group but then spoke directly to Annie. “I know I’ve destroyed her. I hate myself for it, but there’s nothing I can do about it now. The damage is done.”
“I swear, sometimes you can be so dense, Tucker,” she said with disdain.
Sarcasm flowed heavily through Tucker’s response. “Well, I’m so sorry we can’t all be brilliant like you, Annabel.”
“I wish you could be! Then maybe you wouldn’t be screwing up everything with my sister so badly!”
Tucker locked the fingers of both hands behind his neck in aggravation. “Screwing up? Screwing up?! It’s already screwed up! Our baby’s dead! I killed her!”
“You can’t think that way, son,” Chuck said and moved to put a hand on his son’s shoulder, but Tucker jerked away.
“But it’s true!” he snapped. “And Izzy knows it.”
“No!” Annie snapped back. “Izzy does not blame you! She wouldn’t cry for you in her sleep if she did.”
“What?”
“You know what gets me, Tucker? I stepped aside for you. Do you have any idea how hard that was for me? Destiny bonded you two in a way no one else can touch. That’s what she needs more than anything right now, and you’re ignoring it and throwing it away! You’re letting my sister die inside because you’re too stubborn to be here for her!”
Tucker stared at the now crying twin in front of him. Could what she was saying be true? If it was, he had really screwed up. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
Stefano cleared his throat. “I hate to break this up, but this isn’t helping us find Izzy. Bridgette, you said you had more to tell us, other than the dresser, I assume.”
“The dresser?” Tucker looked past Annie for the first time since coming into the room and felt his heart drop when he saw the mess. “Izzy did that?”
“And this,” Annie said, holding up the ring for Tucker to see.
“She took off the ring?” he asked as he took it from her.
“She threw it on the floor.”
“Fuck, I’ve screwed up.”
“Do we know why she flipped out? Did you break up with her or something, Tucker?” Stefano asked.
“No. Never. We haven’t even talked since she got home from the hospital.”
“And that’s why. She couldn’t take it anymore,” Annie interrupted.
“No. That’s not why,” Bridgette said from behind them. They all turned to look at her.
“Then, why?” Chuck asked.
She hesitated but pulled the folded up letter from her back pocket. “She found this in my room. I was going to give them to the girls later today. That’s what Patrick wanted.”
“Daddy?” Annie asked, confused.
Tucker snatched the letter from Bridgette’s fingers and read it
as quickly as his eyes could fly across the pages. When he finished reading, he darted from the room and raced outside for his truck before anyone could ask to see the letter or what it said.
Annie stared after him. What the hell? He was running off with the letter. She hadn’t even had the chance to read it. “What did Daddy say?”
“I think it’s better if you read your own letter, honey. I’m fairly certain that what upset your sister will be in yours as well.”
Bridgette held out the second envelope, and Annie reached out to take it with nervous, excited hands. It seemed too good to be true.
“Annie?” Stefano asked carefully when she had the letter open. She looked up. “If you don’t mind, could you read it aloud? We all need to hear it if we’re going to find out why Izzy’s so upset.”
Annie nodded, stunned, and began to read.
Hey there, Annie!
Happy eighteenth birthday! Wow, if I were there, I’d be feeling pretty old right now, my baby girl now a legal adult and everything. I know the thought of growing up terrifies you, but I don’t want you to worry. You’re young, and you have plenty of time to get there. Don’t rush growing up. Take your time. It will happen when you’re ready.
But in case you’re still worried about it, I think you should know you’re more prepared than you think. You have a desire for reaching out to those around you, and you strive to protect and encourage others in whatever way is needed at the time. These are strong qualities that will serve you well your entire life. Stay true to them and to yourself.
I have always admired your passion for life, your dedication, and your need to protect. All qualities that drew me to your mother, by the way. You are so like her. Keep that in mind when you two fight. You’re both too stubborn for your own good. Handy for that persistent side we have, but try not to push it on your sister too often.
Now, I know you worry about her, and you mean well. You’ve always taken being the oldest so seriously, but remember, Isabel has a mind and dreams of her own, and you should know that she is stronger than you think. Yes, she feels things harder than most, so she falls harder than most, harder than you can sometimes understand, but understand that beneath it all, she is resilient. Her ability to feel so deeply is her greatest strength. Have faith in that. Let her live up to it.