There was nothing Amy could say at that point, because there really wasn't a reason to say anything. Will had just told she and Ephram that he wanted to find Madison, and, honestly, she didn't feel the urge to persuade him otherwise.
"So, what do you say, will you help me?" Will awaited a response, which Ephram looked in no hurry to give.
"Please, Dad?"
Amy knew what Ephram's answer would be, because she knew him, the very depths of his soul, and she knew that his love for his son wouldn't allow any more room for disappointment.
"Yes." The elder Brown said finally, his voice slightly choked. "Of course we'll help you, just tell us what to do."
Letting out a breath he wasn't even aware that he'd been holding, Will felt, for the first time since finding out about the whole situation, that there was hope.
"Well, you said that you haven't spoken to her since you tried to get custody of me, right?"
Ephram nodded. "Yeah. I don't even know is she's still in New York or not."
"Could we report her as a missing person or something?" Will asked.
"I don't think she qualifies as missing." Amy interjected, having been silent for the past five minutes. "Just because we haven't seen her, it doesn't mean that no one has. What we need is her contact information."
"Mom's right." Will said, realizing seconds after how good it felt to say that again. "What if we Google her name?"
Ephram smiled, remembering how addicted Amy was to Google when they were in high school. "That just might work."
The three of them gathered around Amy's laptop, Will in front of the keyboard, watching as he typed 'Kellner, Madison' into the search field.
A few seconds later, the results were displayed in front of them, and Will painfully read each one aloud.
1. Get great rates on Kellner, Madsion today at...
That obviously wasn't it.
2. Jacob J. Kellner, the famed English scientist recently discovered...
Nor was that.
3. Dov'e la ragazza di la cucina? Lei non bella ma una cucina perfecto. Lei nome e Anna Madison Kellner...
There was only one displayed result left...
4.Today in California, the up-and-coming band Total Generation was signed to Introcom production by talent agent Madison Kellner-Baines...
Oh, god. That was it. They all knew it. Will clicked on the highlighted link, and the three waited nervously to read the article which followed;
Today in California, the up-and-coming band Total Generation was signed to Introcom Productions by talent agent Madison Kellner-Baines. Kellner-Baines, who has been a talent scout for Introcom for the past three years, said Friday "We have a lot of confidence in Total Generation's abilities, and we think the audience will love their combination of rock and folk." Kellner-Baines will be acting as the band's New York agent until they can find a more permanent formof representation. The band's first album, In Excellence, should be debuting this fall, and is expected to...
"Kellner-Baines? I guess she's married." Will commented, looking at the computer screen solemnly.
"But, from what the article said, it looks like she's still living in New York." Amy said, trying to sound cheerful, but she was still obviously worried about what was to come.
"Let's try putting her name into the white pages search box." Ephram suggested, gripping the back of Will's chair.
Will did so, and as they waited for the browser to react, Eva came into the room, her eyes heavy with sleep.
"Mommy, aren't you coming to say good night?"
Amy's heart nearly broke. With all the confusion, she'd forgotten to put Eva to bed!
"Oh sweetie, I'm sorry. Come on, I'll tuck you in." As they turned to leave, Ephram sopke.
"No, Amy, I'll do it. Besides, it's been a while since I've read you a story, right Eva?"
"Yeah." The little girl said sleepily. "Let's read the one about the detective girls."
"Sounds good to me." Ephram replied, knowing the Eva was likely to fall asleep before he even opened the book.
The father and daughter left the room, and the wait for Madison's possible address continued.
I wish the damn browser wasn't so slow... Will thought to himself.
Amy saw it first. There it was, the key to her son's real mother.
Baines, Matthew J. and Madison Kellner
26 Front Street. Trill Square,
Manhattan, New York
It was painful for Amy, very painful. But then again, she wasn't the first one to have ever experienced pain, was she? No, of course not.
"Amy?"
"Delia? What are you still doing up?"
A nearly fourteen-year-old Delia Brown stood in the doorframe to the garage, where Ephram and Amy were still living with sixteen-month-old Will.
The younger girl ignored the question and moved to sit on the bed next to her sister-in-law.
"Are you okay, Delia? Do you want to talk?"
Something in the look on the youngest Brown's face told Amy that there was a reason that she was still awake. She needed something. Maybe not from her, but from Ephram.
"No, It's okay." But, no, it really wasn't. "I guess Ephram's still not home, huh?"
She and Ephram were finally financially stable enough to move to their own apartment. The place they'd found was a small one-bedroom studio with a laundry room that could be used as Will's nursery once they fixed it up a bit. It wasn't much, but it was good enough, even though Ephram's relationship with his father had bettered significantly in past months,
"No, he has a few things to go over with the landlady before tomorrow, and then he and Bright were going to take some of our furniture over to the apartment. Do you want me to call his cell phone, I'm sure he's got a minute if you..."
"No." Delia said. Then, realizing the tone of her voice, she corrected herself. "I mean, It's not that important. I can talk to him some other time."
"Okay, if you say so." But Delia didn't look like she really wanted to go back up to her room. So, against her better judgement, Amy invited her to stay.
"I'm trying to decide what color to paint Will's room in the apartment, do you want to help?"
Looking at the book with the color samples, the younger girl seemed almost relieved. "Sure. As long as you promise not to tell my Dad that I was up late."
"I won't, don't worry." Smiling for the simple reason that she thought it would somehow help,the blondeput the book of wallpaper and paint samples between them on the bed.
"Now, I personally like the light blue paint with the duck wallpaper, but your brother thinks that ducks aren't masculine enough for a boy. He wants the denim blue paint with the navy blue gingham wallpaper. What do you say?"
"What about this one?" Delia had been flipping pages in the sample book as Amy spoke. She'd stopped on a page in the hobby themed section of the book, which was really meant more for an older child. But Amy's heart melted when she saw what her sister-in-law was pointing to.
A dark blue painted background, with wallpaper that featured tiny baby grand pianos scattered thought its white base.
"Delia, I . . . " She was speechless. "Ephram would love this. I didn't even think about it."
"Do you think so? I'm not sure, he hasn't played much since, well since Madison . . . " Delia began, but she wasn't able to finish the sentence. After all, a part of her was still in shock since she found out about all that had happened between Ephram and Madison. Not to mention the result of which being her nephew.
"I know he hasn't. It kind of stinks, doesn't it? He loves playing so much." Amy said. Even since he'd started giving lessons at the college, Ephram's relationship with the piano was still a little iffy. Maybe it was the fact that he didn't think he deserved the joy he got from music after all that had happened.
"Yeah. I remember when Mom died. He used to play all day. It sounded like the Phantom of the Opera was living with us." Delia said.
Amy laughed slightly, remembering Ephram's 'I hate the world' image their sophomore year.
"I'd say we've got a ninety-five percent chance of the piano wallpaper. What do you think?"
"I think he'll be happy as long as there aren't any ducks." "Maybe we should tell him that we think the pink wallpaper with the white frills is the only one we can afford." Amy joked. "I'd love to see his face."
But when Amy looked over, Delia wasn't laughing.
"I wish you guys weren't moving." She admitted.
"You're gonna miss Ephram, I understand." Amy soothed, putting her hand on Delia's shoulder.
"That's not just it. Ephram's not a kid anymore. He's a father, and he's married to you, and now he won't even be living here anymore. I'm afraid I'll never see him again." Delia continued, tears forming in her brown eyes.
"Delia, listen. I know that all of this happened fast, I feel that way too. But I promise, Ephram will still be your brother. He's not leaving forever. He'd never leave you forever. He loves you too much for that." By that point, Amy had pulled Delia into a hug, hoping that Dr. Brown wouldn't hear her sobbing and think something was wrong.
"I hate Madison, this is all her fault." The brunette said in anger. "I she would've just told Ephram she was pregnant, you guys wouldn't have had to get married and Ephram wouldn't have gone to Europe and he wouldn't have been mad at Dad for so long."
Amy was in the same boat. These were thoughts that she herself had once had, and she knew that ever since Delia had been given all the details about Ephram's situation that something like this was probably going through her head.
"Sweetie, please, don't worry about all that stuff now. I know that it changed a lot of things in your life, but it all got better, too, didn't it?"
"I wanted to marry Ephram because I love him and I would do anything for him. I promise, It had nothing to do with Madison. Ephram's back from Europe and now he's here with us and he's staying here. And as for your Dad and your brother, they'll fix things, they just need some time. Look at how far they've some in the past few months. It's all going to keep getting better, Delia, I promise."
"It's still Madison's fault, though." Delia maintained.
"I know that Madison's not exactly your favorite person right now, but she had to make a really hard decision, and at the time there really wasn't anything else for her to do. She made a mistake by not telling Ephram about the baby, but now she has to live with that for the rest of her life. Feeling betrayed is normal, because I know how much you liked her, but hating her forever isn't going to fix anything, either. We all just have to try and forgive her."
"Thanks, Amy."
"Any time."
It was impossible for Delia to just automatically forgive her ex-babysitter, but she'd learn to deal with her feelings in time.
"Now that we've both been crying like we just saw Ralph Macchio die at the end of The Outsiders, I think I can make you a deal." Amy said, handing Delia a tissue from the box on the night stand.
Not quite understanding Amy's movie reference, Delia looked intrigued. "Let's hear it."
"What if I promise that you can comefor aquality time visit with us overnight for one weekend out of every month, anyweekend that you want?"
Delia smiled immediately. "Okay, but only if I get to play with Will."
"No problem." Amy replied.
As if on cue, Will could be heard crying from behind the wall that separated the garage into two bedrooms and a small living room.
"He knows we're talking about him." Amy commented, getting off the bed to tend to her son.
Amy had experienced the same feelings that Delia was struggling with right now, and even though it wouldn't be easy for her to forgive and forget, it was at least a step in the right direction.
Yes! Chapter ten, let's hear it for me! Okay, enough of the less-than-professional ranting. Review! P.S., Does anyone else think that Reid and Amy have absolutely no chemistry together? Yuck!
-Tessie:)
"Amy?"Yes! Chapter ten, let's hear it for me! Okay, enough of the less-than-professional ranting. Review! P.S., Does anyone else think that Reid and Amy have absolutely no chemistry together? Yuck!