What Sister?
Michelle sat at the kitchen table eating her favorite dessert, rocky road ice cream. As she ate she started to plan out her day. It was early fall of 1995 in San Francisco, and it was Michelle's favorite time of the year. Stephanie walked into the kitchen and saw Michelle sitting at the table. "Hey Michelle, what's up?" Stephanie took a seat at the table and noticed what Michelle was eating. "Michelle, it is nine thirty in the morning and you are eating ice cream?" "Yep!" Michelle grinned as she scooped up a big glob of ice cream. Stephanie rolled her eyes. "Hey Stephanie, will you spend time with me today?" "Michelle, don't you have your own friends?" "Yeah, but they are either out of town, or are busy today." "Well, I guess we can chill for a little while. What did you have in mind?" "How about we play hide and go seek?" Stephanie groaned. "Aren't you a little old for that game?" "No." Michelle gave her sister a sad face. "Okay fine, but just for a little while, deal?" "Deal."
Jesse put his head down in frustration. Becky was coming up the stairs to the attic and saw her husband hunched over the piano. "Jesse, what's the matter?" She asked. "I just can't seem to figure out any lyrics for this song. I have the tune and everything, but the words aren't there." "Oh, don't worry so much about it. You will come up with something, you always do." "Yeah, but I have never had to come up with a song for a million dollars before. This competition is important. If I win it could change our lives forever." Becky sighed. "Jesse, you need to take a break. I don't care if you win or not. Sure, it would be great, but I don't care if our lives change. I am happy how everything is." "Okay, I guess I will go out for a motorcycle ride to clear my mind." Jesse got up and grabbed his helmet. Maybe my motorcycle will help me come up with some lyrics." Becky laughed. "I'm sure it will be of great help."
Michelle hid under the bed in her dad's room. Stephanie will never find me here. She thought. We aren't even allowed to be in this room! Am I good or what? A few minutes later Michelle heard foot steps in the room. Stephanie looked around the room. "Michelle, are you in here? Michelle, I give up you win. Let me know if you are in here." Right then Michelle scrambled out from under the bed. "Boo!" She shouted. Startled, Stephanie fell backwards and hit the dresser knocking over a pile of papers. "Great Michelle, look what you did now. We aren't even supposed to be in here. " Stephanie scolded as she picked up the papers. "I'm sorry. Here let me help you." Michelle picked up some papers. "I wonder what this is about." She asked holding up an old letter. "I don't know, but it is none of our business." Stephanie looked over and realized what Michelle was holding had her mother's name on it. She grabbed the paper out of Michelle's hand. "Let me see that." "I thought it was none of our business!" Michelle mimicked. "It's not, but this is addressed to Mom and Dad." "Oh, I wonder what it says." Stephanie hesitated. "Michelle, we have another sister." "What?" Michelle asked in surprise. "Read it already!" Stephanie read:
June 2, 1980 Dear Daniel and Pam Tanner, It has been a year since the birth/adoption of Chelsea. She is very happy and healthy. We know that this is a closed adoption, but we felt that we must let you know how she is. You probably worry constantly about her, and we wanted to try to relive your worry by letting you know she is okay. We did not enclose any pictures, so you will not grow an attachment towards her, and also because this is a closed adoption. We love Chelsea and are grateful to have her in our lives. God Bless, The Andrews Family
"Stephanie, this bad, very bad." Michelle started to cry. "Why wouldn't dad tell us? Why did they give Chelsea away?" "I don't know, but we are going to find out." "Yeah, let's go tell Dad we know right now!" Michelle said anxiously. "No, not yet. Let's talk to D.J. about this first." Stephanie was enraged. Why would they put a child up for adoption? Why didn't Dad tell us about her? She kept her questions to herself, because she didn't want to upset Michelle anymore. "Michelle, we better finish cleaning this up before Dad notices we've been in here." "Hey Danny, will you listen to my new comedy routine?" Joey asked as he picked up Mr. Wood Chuck. "Not now Joey, I need to figure out what I am going to do for next weeks Wake Up San Francisco." Right then, Jesse walked into the house and slammed the kitchen door. "What's wrong Jesse?" Danny asked. "This competition. I can't figure out song lyrics. I thought my motorcycle or motorcycle ride would help me think of something, but all that did was give me wind burn." Joey tried to comfort his friend. "I'm sorry Jesse, but the song is going to come to you soon. The words will come when you least expect it. Don't think about it and they will come." "Yeah, right." Jesse mumbled. Stephanie and Michelle came flying down the kitchen stairs. "Hi girls!" Joey, Jesse, and Danny said in unison. "Have you seen D.J.?" Stephanie asked impatiently. "Well, she went to the mall, but that was awhile ago, so she should be back anytime." Danny explained. Jesse looked over at Michelle. "Michelle, have you been crying?" "Yes, I have." "Why?" Asked Danny. "Because of Chelsea." "Chelsea?" Stephanie pulled Michelle out of the room. "Well, we got to go. Bye!" Danny looked confused. "That was strange, who is Chelsea?" "They were probably watching one of those new teen shows, and something happened to a character named Chelsea." Joey suggested. "You know TV shows have a major impact on kids today. They can become really emotionally attached." Stephanie and Michelle were in their room when they heard D.J. downstairs. "Stephanie, D.J.'s home!" "I know, I heard. Now, when she comes upstairs let me tell her what happened, okay?" "Why?" "Because I am older." "So." "Michelle, let me tell the story, and then you can add any details I left out." "Fine." Michelle said disappointedly. D.J. came up the stairs and went into her room. Stephanie looked over at Michelle. "Okay Michelle, let's go." They knocked on D.J.'s door. "Can it wait a few minutes?" D.J. asked. The girls waited for a mintue, and then Stephanie impatiently knocked again. "D.J., we need to talk to you right now!" She said. D.J. answered the door. "What is it? Can't it wait?" "No!" Michelle yelled out. "This is very important." D.J. sighed, "Fine, come in." They all sat on the bed. Stephanie held the note in her hand. "So, what was it that couldn't wait?" D.J. asked, annoyed. "Well," Stephanie began, "Michelle and I were playing hide and go seek this morning, and Michelle decided to hide in Dad's room. I went to find her and..." D.J. interrupted. "What did you break?" "No, that's not it. Listen, okay? Anyway, Michelle startled me, and I fell back knocking over some documents. As we picked them up there was one Michelle picked up that caught my attention, and we found out that...well here why don't you read it for yourself?" Stephanie handed her older sister the note. D.J. read the letter, and then became silent. "This is unbelievable." She said quietly, and then questioned what she had just read. "Wait, are you guys playing a joke on me?" Stephanie started to cry. "D.J., I would never play a joke like this on anyone!" "Oh, Stephanie, you are crying. I guess this isn't a joke." Michelle contributed to the conversation. "I think we should find this girl." "Yeah, Michelle, we should, but I am not sure if we can." D.J. picked up the letter to read it again. "Hey, did you notice the date on this? The date reads June 2, 1980. This was written a year after Chelsea was born which means she was born June 2, 1979, and that means I was alive before she was." Stephanie was shocked. "That makes even less sense. Do you remember Mom being pregnant with her?" "Well, I was born in late 1977, so I wasn't even two years old when she was born." Stephanie had an idea. "Hey, do you have any pictures of you as a baby with Mom?" "I think so, but none of them are of her being pregnant, at least not until I was older and she was pregnant with you. They probably didn't take any pictures of Mom while she was pregnant with Chelsea." "So, what are we going to do?" Stephanie asked. "That's a good question. I know we are going to tell Dad about it after time tonight." "No. D.J. he doesn't want us to know." "I know, Steph, but he has all the answers to the questions we have about this." Michelle nodded. "Good point." The girls were finishing putting the dishes away, when D.J. told her dad they needed to have a family conference in the living room. "D.J., is everything okay?" "You will find out in a minute Dad, please get everyone together." Danny left. "How can you guys be so calm about this?" Michelle asked. "Michelle, we aren't." Stephanie confessed. "We are trying to act as brave as we can, but this is really driving us insane. At least it is driving me anyway." The girls finished up in the kitchen and entered the living room where everyone else was seated. D.J. stood in the middle of the room. "Stephanie, since you found the note, why don't you tell them why we are all in here?" "Hey, I found the note!" Michelle pouted. Stephanie got up. 'Dad, Michelle and I were in your room, and we are sorry about that, but we accidentally encountered across a certain letter. It was a letter from the Andrew's stating that their daughter, your biological child, Chelsea, was healthy and safe. I think we deserve an explanation." Danny nervously spoke. "Girls, listen I never told you about this because I knew you would probably never get a chance to meet her and I didn't want you to be filled with questions or anything, and..." D.J. interrupted. "Dad, it is too late for that now. We have questions, and I would like to know why you put her up for adoption after already having me. "Well, your mother and I had you at a very young age. We had just started our jobs and did not have a lot of money. When we found out Pam was pregnant again, we didn't know what to do. We wanted to keep the baby, but we both knew that we couldn't afford to keep her and D.J. We wanted D.J. and the baby to have good lives, and if we kept both it wouldn't be fair for either D.J. or Chelsea. So, before she was born we made the decision to put Chelsea up for adoption. We found a good adoption agency, and they contacted a couple that could not have their own children, and they were interested in adopting Chelsea. We met with them and finalized the paperwork right before she was born. They took her before we even got to see her. We didn't want to though, because we didn't want to change our minds. That is what happened. It wasn't that we didn't love her; it was that we wanted her to be able to have things that we couldn't provide for her at the time." "Why was it a closed adoption?" D.J. asked. "I honestly don't remember." Stephanie was still puzzled. "How come you kept me though?" "You were born almost three years after Chelsea, and by then your mother and I had a stable income and were able to keep you. If Chelsea was born at a later time, even just a year later, we could have kept her. It was the timing of the whole thing. I know though that she was born at that time for a certain reason."
Michelle sat at the kitchen table eating her favorite dessert, rocky road ice cream. As she ate she started to plan out her day. It was early fall of 1995 in San Francisco, and it was Michelle's favorite time of the year. Stephanie walked into the kitchen and saw Michelle sitting at the table. "Hey Michelle, what's up?" Stephanie took a seat at the table and noticed what Michelle was eating. "Michelle, it is nine thirty in the morning and you are eating ice cream?" "Yep!" Michelle grinned as she scooped up a big glob of ice cream. Stephanie rolled her eyes. "Hey Stephanie, will you spend time with me today?" "Michelle, don't you have your own friends?" "Yeah, but they are either out of town, or are busy today." "Well, I guess we can chill for a little while. What did you have in mind?" "How about we play hide and go seek?" Stephanie groaned. "Aren't you a little old for that game?" "No." Michelle gave her sister a sad face. "Okay fine, but just for a little while, deal?" "Deal."
Jesse put his head down in frustration. Becky was coming up the stairs to the attic and saw her husband hunched over the piano. "Jesse, what's the matter?" She asked. "I just can't seem to figure out any lyrics for this song. I have the tune and everything, but the words aren't there." "Oh, don't worry so much about it. You will come up with something, you always do." "Yeah, but I have never had to come up with a song for a million dollars before. This competition is important. If I win it could change our lives forever." Becky sighed. "Jesse, you need to take a break. I don't care if you win or not. Sure, it would be great, but I don't care if our lives change. I am happy how everything is." "Okay, I guess I will go out for a motorcycle ride to clear my mind." Jesse got up and grabbed his helmet. Maybe my motorcycle will help me come up with some lyrics." Becky laughed. "I'm sure it will be of great help."
Michelle hid under the bed in her dad's room. Stephanie will never find me here. She thought. We aren't even allowed to be in this room! Am I good or what? A few minutes later Michelle heard foot steps in the room. Stephanie looked around the room. "Michelle, are you in here? Michelle, I give up you win. Let me know if you are in here." Right then Michelle scrambled out from under the bed. "Boo!" She shouted. Startled, Stephanie fell backwards and hit the dresser knocking over a pile of papers. "Great Michelle, look what you did now. We aren't even supposed to be in here. " Stephanie scolded as she picked up the papers. "I'm sorry. Here let me help you." Michelle picked up some papers. "I wonder what this is about." She asked holding up an old letter. "I don't know, but it is none of our business." Stephanie looked over and realized what Michelle was holding had her mother's name on it. She grabbed the paper out of Michelle's hand. "Let me see that." "I thought it was none of our business!" Michelle mimicked. "It's not, but this is addressed to Mom and Dad." "Oh, I wonder what it says." Stephanie hesitated. "Michelle, we have another sister." "What?" Michelle asked in surprise. "Read it already!" Stephanie read:
June 2, 1980 Dear Daniel and Pam Tanner, It has been a year since the birth/adoption of Chelsea. She is very happy and healthy. We know that this is a closed adoption, but we felt that we must let you know how she is. You probably worry constantly about her, and we wanted to try to relive your worry by letting you know she is okay. We did not enclose any pictures, so you will not grow an attachment towards her, and also because this is a closed adoption. We love Chelsea and are grateful to have her in our lives. God Bless, The Andrews Family
"Stephanie, this bad, very bad." Michelle started to cry. "Why wouldn't dad tell us? Why did they give Chelsea away?" "I don't know, but we are going to find out." "Yeah, let's go tell Dad we know right now!" Michelle said anxiously. "No, not yet. Let's talk to D.J. about this first." Stephanie was enraged. Why would they put a child up for adoption? Why didn't Dad tell us about her? She kept her questions to herself, because she didn't want to upset Michelle anymore. "Michelle, we better finish cleaning this up before Dad notices we've been in here." "Hey Danny, will you listen to my new comedy routine?" Joey asked as he picked up Mr. Wood Chuck. "Not now Joey, I need to figure out what I am going to do for next weeks Wake Up San Francisco." Right then, Jesse walked into the house and slammed the kitchen door. "What's wrong Jesse?" Danny asked. "This competition. I can't figure out song lyrics. I thought my motorcycle or motorcycle ride would help me think of something, but all that did was give me wind burn." Joey tried to comfort his friend. "I'm sorry Jesse, but the song is going to come to you soon. The words will come when you least expect it. Don't think about it and they will come." "Yeah, right." Jesse mumbled. Stephanie and Michelle came flying down the kitchen stairs. "Hi girls!" Joey, Jesse, and Danny said in unison. "Have you seen D.J.?" Stephanie asked impatiently. "Well, she went to the mall, but that was awhile ago, so she should be back anytime." Danny explained. Jesse looked over at Michelle. "Michelle, have you been crying?" "Yes, I have." "Why?" Asked Danny. "Because of Chelsea." "Chelsea?" Stephanie pulled Michelle out of the room. "Well, we got to go. Bye!" Danny looked confused. "That was strange, who is Chelsea?" "They were probably watching one of those new teen shows, and something happened to a character named Chelsea." Joey suggested. "You know TV shows have a major impact on kids today. They can become really emotionally attached." Stephanie and Michelle were in their room when they heard D.J. downstairs. "Stephanie, D.J.'s home!" "I know, I heard. Now, when she comes upstairs let me tell her what happened, okay?" "Why?" "Because I am older." "So." "Michelle, let me tell the story, and then you can add any details I left out." "Fine." Michelle said disappointedly. D.J. came up the stairs and went into her room. Stephanie looked over at Michelle. "Okay Michelle, let's go." They knocked on D.J.'s door. "Can it wait a few minutes?" D.J. asked. The girls waited for a mintue, and then Stephanie impatiently knocked again. "D.J., we need to talk to you right now!" She said. D.J. answered the door. "What is it? Can't it wait?" "No!" Michelle yelled out. "This is very important." D.J. sighed, "Fine, come in." They all sat on the bed. Stephanie held the note in her hand. "So, what was it that couldn't wait?" D.J. asked, annoyed. "Well," Stephanie began, "Michelle and I were playing hide and go seek this morning, and Michelle decided to hide in Dad's room. I went to find her and..." D.J. interrupted. "What did you break?" "No, that's not it. Listen, okay? Anyway, Michelle startled me, and I fell back knocking over some documents. As we picked them up there was one Michelle picked up that caught my attention, and we found out that...well here why don't you read it for yourself?" Stephanie handed her older sister the note. D.J. read the letter, and then became silent. "This is unbelievable." She said quietly, and then questioned what she had just read. "Wait, are you guys playing a joke on me?" Stephanie started to cry. "D.J., I would never play a joke like this on anyone!" "Oh, Stephanie, you are crying. I guess this isn't a joke." Michelle contributed to the conversation. "I think we should find this girl." "Yeah, Michelle, we should, but I am not sure if we can." D.J. picked up the letter to read it again. "Hey, did you notice the date on this? The date reads June 2, 1980. This was written a year after Chelsea was born which means she was born June 2, 1979, and that means I was alive before she was." Stephanie was shocked. "That makes even less sense. Do you remember Mom being pregnant with her?" "Well, I was born in late 1977, so I wasn't even two years old when she was born." Stephanie had an idea. "Hey, do you have any pictures of you as a baby with Mom?" "I think so, but none of them are of her being pregnant, at least not until I was older and she was pregnant with you. They probably didn't take any pictures of Mom while she was pregnant with Chelsea." "So, what are we going to do?" Stephanie asked. "That's a good question. I know we are going to tell Dad about it after time tonight." "No. D.J. he doesn't want us to know." "I know, Steph, but he has all the answers to the questions we have about this." Michelle nodded. "Good point." The girls were finishing putting the dishes away, when D.J. told her dad they needed to have a family conference in the living room. "D.J., is everything okay?" "You will find out in a minute Dad, please get everyone together." Danny left. "How can you guys be so calm about this?" Michelle asked. "Michelle, we aren't." Stephanie confessed. "We are trying to act as brave as we can, but this is really driving us insane. At least it is driving me anyway." The girls finished up in the kitchen and entered the living room where everyone else was seated. D.J. stood in the middle of the room. "Stephanie, since you found the note, why don't you tell them why we are all in here?" "Hey, I found the note!" Michelle pouted. Stephanie got up. 'Dad, Michelle and I were in your room, and we are sorry about that, but we accidentally encountered across a certain letter. It was a letter from the Andrew's stating that their daughter, your biological child, Chelsea, was healthy and safe. I think we deserve an explanation." Danny nervously spoke. "Girls, listen I never told you about this because I knew you would probably never get a chance to meet her and I didn't want you to be filled with questions or anything, and..." D.J. interrupted. "Dad, it is too late for that now. We have questions, and I would like to know why you put her up for adoption after already having me. "Well, your mother and I had you at a very young age. We had just started our jobs and did not have a lot of money. When we found out Pam was pregnant again, we didn't know what to do. We wanted to keep the baby, but we both knew that we couldn't afford to keep her and D.J. We wanted D.J. and the baby to have good lives, and if we kept both it wouldn't be fair for either D.J. or Chelsea. So, before she was born we made the decision to put Chelsea up for adoption. We found a good adoption agency, and they contacted a couple that could not have their own children, and they were interested in adopting Chelsea. We met with them and finalized the paperwork right before she was born. They took her before we even got to see her. We didn't want to though, because we didn't want to change our minds. That is what happened. It wasn't that we didn't love her; it was that we wanted her to be able to have things that we couldn't provide for her at the time." "Why was it a closed adoption?" D.J. asked. "I honestly don't remember." Stephanie was still puzzled. "How come you kept me though?" "You were born almost three years after Chelsea, and by then your mother and I had a stable income and were able to keep you. If Chelsea was born at a later time, even just a year later, we could have kept her. It was the timing of the whole thing. I know though that she was born at that time for a certain reason."