Chapter 1

We've Been Siblings Since I Was Born

"Are you sure they are not related, Margaret?" Jesse Newport asked his old foster mother. Jesse had been at the foster home since the age of six and he was now twenty-eight. Being off on his own and sometimes visiting the home was a great relief for him. Margaret Shakur, the owner of the foster home, and him were sitting in the living room while the foster kids were outside playing under the supervision of Margaret's husband, Sanjay.

Margaret was shaking her head slowly. "I have no idea if they are related. Rachel and Ricky look so much alike and even some of the potential parents have noted their likeness. Maybe they are related. We might never know." The woman was looking out the window onto the children playing in the yard just outside the window. She was intently watching two particular children. One was the thirteen year old boy by the name of Ricky Underwood. The other was the twelve year old girl, Rachel Evans. Both of them had the same dark brown hair and the same brown eyes. They even had the same snotty attitude sometimes.

Jesse stared at Margaret. "Maybe you should get a DNA test done. With a DNA test, you will be able to find out if the two are related." He could see the uneasiness in his only mother's face. "It is just a suggestion. If you want, I could do the test for free. After all, I am qualified in that area."

Margaret glanced at Jesse and then turned away quickly to look back out the window at the two young children. "Whatever you need to do, just do it."

Five months had passed since Jesse and Margaret had talked about a DNA test. Jesse had asked Rachel and Ricky to come into the house and had taken a blood sample from each of them. He had then taken the samples to his lab and did the necessary procedures. Now Jesse was back from the long, tiring test. He wanted to make sure he got it right and that everything was correct.

Jesse, Margaret, Rachel, and Ricky were now in the kitchen. Jesse had a diagram sitting in front of him, explaining it to Margaret and the kids.

"Here is Ricky's DNA and here is Rachel's DNA. What you do is compare the two sets to each other to see if there are any similarities between them. See, there are a few similarities and I believe these similarities are from a common ancestor," Jesse sat back and pondered this thought. "Do any of you know who your parents are?" Jesse pointed at Rachel and Ricky.

Rachel was the one that spoke up first. "The only thing I know about my mother was that she abandoned me here and that her last name was Evans. My father died about a year or two after I was born and he was William Belle. He knew of me, but never cared about me." The young girl fell silent. She looked over at Ricky who was sitting next to her, a look of disbelief on his face.

"The only thing I have to say is that my father is in jail for child abuse and being a drug addict. His name is Bob Underwood. I really do not like to talk about him," Ricky said, angrily staring at Jesse. His face was turning red from the anger sweeping through him.

Jesse stared back at Ricky, ignoring the mounting madness in the young boy. "Do you know anything about your mother? What she looked like? Possibly who she was?" Jesse was praying that Ricky would know. He even wanted to know if the two kids sitting in front of him were actually brother and sister.

Ricky thought for a moment, trying to find any memory that said anything about his mother, his birth mother. "The only thing I know is that she had long dark brown hair and the most beautiful shade of brown eyes I have ever seen. They are the same eyes that I have. In fact, they are the same eyes you have, Rachel." Ricky turned to look at Rachel. It was true. Rachel had the same eyes as Ricky and their unknown mother.

Writing down this bit of information, Jesse was deep in thought. "The two of you are most likely related through your mother. Most likely you two are half siblings. I need to do more research before I confirm it, though." Jesse got up to leave, beckoning to Margaret to follow him.

Margaret followed him. "What other research is there that you have to do?" she said furiously, but also quietly.

Jesse held up one hand, knowing that he had to tell her to stop before she started to get too loud. "Margaret, I have to go through birth records of the two years when Ricky and Rachel were born. The records have a list of women who gave birth. If I look through them, I might find the same woman twice. That woman could possibly be their birth mother," Jesse finished, sadly looking into Margaret's eyes. He turned towards the door and left.

"Claire, did you find anything yet?" Jesse asked. His business partner, Claire Adams, and he were sitting in their DNA testing laboratory on their laptops. Jesse was determined to find out if any of the women listed for 1991 and 1992 matched the information Ricky and Rachel had given him.

Claire, a beach blonde twenty-five year old, was sitting with her back towards Jesse, her laptop on her desk. She groaned with anger and impatience. "No. Not yet, Je…" Claire leaned forward to look more closely at her computer. "Jesse?"

Jesse wheeled his chair over next to Claire. "What is it? Did you find something?"

Claire pointed at a name on the screen. Renee Evans. It was under the year 1991 and it was at the local hospital. "She has the same last name that Rachel gave you and it is the same year that Ricky was born in. Do you think this could be their mother?" Claire looked at Jesse with anticipation.

Jesse shook his head slowly. "It could be. Go to 1992 and see if she is listed again."

Claire did a few clicks of her mouse and scrolled down slowly through the list. Both of them were looking for Renee's name. "Right there!" Claire said quickly, taking her hand off her mouse and pointing again at the screen.

"Yes! We found her," Jesse glanced over at Claire, seeing the huge smile on her face. He was so happy to be able to say she was his partner. Claire's quick eye was very helpful in every case such as this one and it had once again solved another case. "You know, I am so happy we are working together."

Claire gave Jesse the 'what do you want?' look. Jesse had been trying to get her to go out with him for about two years, but she always refused. "Jesse, I have told you so many times. No. We are working together, not dating."

Jesse put on his best seductive smile. "But, Claire? Why not? We would make the perfect couple." Jesse stood up and pushed his chair towards his desk, out of his way. He slowly stepped towards Claire, turning her chair so she was facing him. Jesse bent down and kissed her fully on the lips.

Right away, Claire's hands shot up to Jesse's neck, wrapping them around him, pulling him closer to her.

Jesse wrapped his arms around Claire's tiny waist, pulling her out of her chair. His hands explored her body, one hand going to her skirt, going right up underneath. He laughed silently when he heard Claire's breathing coming out in short gasps. Jesse always had that effect on her. "Now, what are you thinking, Claire?" Jesse asked, knowing that she wouldn't be able to think clearly.

"Take me," Claire gasped. "Right now."

Margaret was cleaning up the table from dinner. The younger children had already gone to bed and the rest of the kids were in the living room, watching TV. As Margaret was putting the last dish in the dishwasher, there was a sharp knock on the front door.

The middle-aged dark haired woman quickly put the last plate in the dishwasher, closed it, and walked towards the door. She opened the door. "Jesse!" Margaret hugged the young man standing right outside her front door. "Did you find anything?" Margaret asked.

Jesse was smiling one of the biggest smiles Margaret had ever seen. She screamed a little and hugged him again. "Ricky. Rachel. Please come here," Margaret said, popping her head into the living room.

Ricky and Rachel both pushed themselves up off the sofa and followed Jesse and Margaret into the kitchen.

Jesse motioned for them to sit down, taking one of the chairs himself. Once all of them were seated, Jesse started talking about the procedures he took to get to the answer to the big question circling in his mind. "Kids, in other words, turn to each other and say 'I love you, sibling.' You two are actually half-siblings, but still brother and sister none the less." Jesse beamed at the two children sitting in front of him.

Ricky and Rachel both looked at each other. "I knew it," Rachel whispered quietly, thinking only she could hear herself talking, but the other three burst into laughter.

"Well, sis," Ricky started. "I guess we knew all along we were siblings and, look, we are. I love you, Rachel."

"And I love you, Ricky." Rachel reached over to her brother and gave him a big hug.

This is my first Secret Life of an American Teenager fanfic. Please read and review. I would love to hear what you guys think of it!