Chapter 9: Love

At 3 o' clock Kristin opened the door for her daughter as she swung through. Sutton's head hung low and she looked as if she might cry. The surgeon had basically told her surgery was her only option. He'd explained there was a complete tear to the ACL, damage to the meniscus and some slight damage to the MCL as well. If she wanted to ever play tennis again, she was going to need surgery.

As she came into the house she saw Ted pacing in the living room. When he heard the click of Sutton's crutches on the floor he looked up. It was as if someone had flipped a switch. Suddenly, he was calm and normal, "Hey Sutton, how'd it go?"

Sutton didn't answer and Ted looked to Kristin. She shook her head and Ted immediately understood.

"Don't worry," he said, "you'll get through it and you'll come back better than ever next year."

"Thanks for trying to help, Dad, but I'm not in the mood for cheering up. I think I'm just gonna go to my room and do homework if you don't mind."

"Of course honey," Kristin answered putting her hand on Sutton's shoulder. Sutton hobbled out of sight and Kristin looked to Ted.

"You left in kind of a hurry this morning," she noted, "is everything okay?"

"It will be," Ted stated. There was still tension from last night and he knew that he was the one that needed to apologize. He'd been the jerk, not Kristin, "Look I'm sorry for last night. With everything that's happened I wasn't thinking straight. I was worried about Sutton and I was thinking about Annie. I shouldn't have freaked out like that."

"Apology accepted," Kristin stated, "How was your day?"

"Long," Ted explained, "How was yours?"

"It was fine. Until I found out our daughter needed surgery. Ted, I was more emotional than she was. He said it was her only option and she just nodded and listened. She didn't throw a fit. She didn't demand him find another option. She just nodded."

Ted was silent. It was as if he was trying so hard not to tell her something. She waited, but he said nothing. He nodded, but he said nothing. She waited a little longer, but all he said was, "I'm gonna go talk to Sutton." He moved quickly out of the room, leaving a confused Kristin in his wake.

Emma propped her leg up on a pillow and grabbed her laptop. She had so much homework to do and not enough focus to do it. Her knee throbbed, she was worried about the surgery, and she still had no idea where her crazy bitch of a sister was. She tried to focus on her english essay, but then there was a knock on her door.

"Who is it?"

"Dad."

"Come in."

Moments later, Ted was walking into her room and taking a seat on her bed, "How're you doing, sport?"

"I'm dealing."

"You know no one would fault you if you weren't."

"Why fight it? Everything is messed up and I can't change that. All I can do is move forward and adjust."

"When'd you realize that?"

Emma didn't know what to say. She'd always been that way. She'd moved a lot and there was a point where she just got tired of being angry about it. For as long as she could remember, she had done her best to roll with the punches, "I don't know," she answered, "when I got tired of being angry at the world."

"What do you have to be angry about?"

"Nothing," Emma defended, "I used to be angry because of all of the secrets and lies. I used to be angry because I couldn't understand why someone could just give me up. I didn't feel like it was fair. But, now, I don't think that anymore. I realize how much worse off I could have been. I could've ended up in foster care with parents that abused me. I could've ended up on the streets. I am so grateful for the life you and Mom have given me. I don't want you to forget that."

"I won't," Ted stated, "Emma."

"I won't, Emma."

Ted watched as Emma's expression went from honest gratitude to absolute surprise, and then to paralyzing fear. He could see all of the thoughts running through her head.

"Well don't you have anything to say for yourself."

Emma didn't answer.

"Emma," Ted started, "this secret isn't going to stay buried much longer. It would be in your best interest to tell me your side."

"You wouldn't believe me anyways."

"Why would you say that? Because you lied to me and Kristin for three weeks. Because you are a stranger who has taken over my daughter's life. Emma I have no reason to believe you, but you have nothing else to lose by telling me your story. So start talking."

A cry escaped Emma. Tears burst from her eyes as she explained, "I was in trouble. The only person I could turn to was Sutton. She told me that she'd help me, that we'd figure this out, so I jumped on a bus to Phoenix and met her the next morning. That was when she came up with the idea to switch places. She wanted to follow a lead on our birth mother. It was supposed to be two days, but that obviously didn't happen."

Ted nodded, but he was confused. He looked at her tear-stained face and he didn't know whether it was because she was caught or because this story was true. If it was, what kind of trouble would she get into that the Websters couldn't handle. Why would she have to run?

"I am so sorry I lied to you," Emma stated, "you have no reason to believe me, but every moment I spent with you was genuine."

"How can you say that it was genuine when you were pretending to be someone else?"

"Everything I did, everything I said was exactly what me, Emma, would have done or said. All the times I said 'thank you' and 'I love you.' Every time I came to you or Kristin for advice. That was me asking, not me trying to do what Sutton would do. I don't even know Sutton that well. She found me a few months ago and we talked over video chat, but it wasn't like I learned enough about her to pull this off for very much longer. The only reason I took her place was because it was a lot better than heading back to my foster family in Nevada."

"Wait, foster care? What happened to the Websters?"

"I've been in foster care since I was three," Emma explained, "I didn't even know about the Websters until Sutton found them in California."

Ted was even more confused, "What happened?"

Emma didn't answer right away. She looked hesitant to continue. It was like she was trying to figure out how much information was too much information. Finally she asked, "If I tell you everything I know, do you promise to answer any questions I have about mine and Sutton's birth mother?"

Emma had surprised him. She seemed like a sweet girl, but she knew how to gamble. Ted wanted to know how Emma had ended up in foster care, and she knew it. He wanted to know what she knew about the adoptions, and she knew it. If he wanted to find out anymore from her, he was going to have to oblige. This didn't have to be a power struggle. She'd offered to give up everything she knew, as long as he did the same. It was more important for him to find out what she knew. He could stick to the script. She didn't have one. "A question for a question. I ask you one, you ask me one."

Emma conceded.

"So what happened with the Websters?"

"According to Sutton," Emma stated, "The Websters did adopt me and I did live with them, but then our birth mother showed up and took me back...why did you hide that Annie was mine and Sutton's mother?"

"Annie was...unstable. That part was in fact true. I thought it would be better for everyone if no one knew that Annie was in fact your mother, because it would keep you and Sutton from getting hurt."

Emma nodded in understanding.

"How'd you end up in foster care?"

"All I know is there was a fire about 14 years ago that destroyed the house we were living in and that I've been in Nevada foster care ever since," Emma paused, "Does Kristin know?"

"Know what?"

"All of the secrets and lies. Does she know that Annie is my birth mother? Does she know that you and Alec covered it all up?"

"No," Ted answered, ashamed, "No she doesn't. It's the only thing I've ever kept from her, and I'm not proud of it, but that's how its worked out."

Emma nodded as if she understood that impact lying had. She seemed to know that sometimes it was necessary, but when the truth came out nobody was safe. Tears kept streaming down her face, and that was when Ted realized that the girl he'd known for the few weeks was Emma. Her last question had been about Kristin, not herself. She cared about Kristin and how this would impact her. This wasn't a game to her. Every time she said she loved him. Every hug, every question, every conflict had been her. She might have lied about her name, but she hadn't lied about who she was. Emma was the kind-hearted, polite girl they knew. Whatever anger he'd felt against her for lying and impersonating his daughter had dissipated. He wanted to help her.

"Look Emma," He started, "we don't have a lot of time. The fact is that Alec found Sutton. I don't know how, so don't ask me that. That means that we have to tell Kristin the truth."

"That means we have to tell Kristin the truth," Ted told her.

"I can't," Emma said shaking her head, "She was so open with me and I lied to her. She's gonna hate me."

"If you don't tell her, Sutton will," Ted stated, "Emma, it's not like you can just quietly disappear and let her take it all back. People are going to notice if one day you can't walk and the next your knee is just fine. You have to face this."

"I can't," Emma reiterated, "I tried before the party, I tried during the party, and I just couldn't do it. You know the whole story, you tell her."

"You know you should really learn how to control the volume of what you say."

"You know you should really learn how to control the volume of what you say," Laurel said as she appeared in the room. Emma and her dad looked up at her, surprised. Neither one of them could say anything so she continued, "I was just walking by the door when I heard you guys talking. So all of that stuff last night about not being Sutton was true. You really are her identical twin sister and she really is seeking revenge."

"You told her," her dad said.

"She didn't believe me," Emma defended.

"Well this is just great," Ted started, "who else knows?"

"Just Thayer...and Ethan," Emma explained.

"Ethan knows," Ted exclaimed.

"He was the first person to figure it out," Emma explained.

"Hello," Laurel stated, "you know I'm still in the room."

Both of them seemed to come back to the situation. They looked at Laurel with different looks. Ted looked panicked, but Emma looked upset. It was her that spoke first, "Laurel I am so sorry for lying to you."

Laurel didn't know what to say. She was shocked that it was true. She couldn't believe it.

Ted stood up, "I'm gonna let you two discuss this. Emma if you don't tell Kristin then I will. You have until five to change your mind."

He disappeared from the room and the two girls just looked at each other. Emma was on the verge of tears and Laurel wasn't sure how much longer she could hold out.

"Please say something," Emma begged.

"What do you want me to say? Emma, you lied to me. I confided in you and you lied to me. How am I supposed to feel about that?"

Emma started sobbing, "I'm so sorry."

"You should be," Laurel stated, "You should feel absolutely horrible about giving me everything I ever wanted from a sister."

Emma looked up and Laurel smiled.

"Don't you remember what I told you last night? I told you it didn't matter who you were, because I liked you. Emma, wow that sounds weird, for sixteen years all Sutton did was treat me like the family pariah. She didn't talk to me, she didn't hang out with me. She was a selfish little brat. You come and take her place and all of a sudden I have this incredible sister who listens to me and helps me and doesn't act like she hates me. You tried to fix it. I can't hate you for that."

Emma kept crying, but Laurel knew it was because she was happy. Emma held out her arms and said, "Get over here."

For the first time ever, Laurel approached a sister without questioning her motives. She wrapped her arms around Emma and tried to hold back her own tears.