"You think you're my- but how... wait- the milk carton! I knew it'd work! Mom! Mom!" I heard Jamie, whoever she was, running down a hallway, and handing the phone off to someone, with a hurried explination, of "Mom! It's her! Ads! She's back! She's on the phone!"
"Hello? Addie? Dear, is that really you?"
Somehow, I recognised the voice, and choked out,"Mom?"
"Oh, thank god! Addie, are you alright? Did they hurt you? What happened? Where are you?"
"I'm fine! I'm fine! They treated me okay, like their own kid. I didn't even know I wasn't theirs, until they told me I was "Adopted" right after Kylee saw-"
"Whose Kylee?"
"My sister."I answered automatically. I didn't realize till later how much that must've stung to Jamie. "Anyway, she saw some girl on a milk carton that looked like me, so I suspected..."
"Milk carton? What milk carton?" Suddenly, a third person clicked onto the line, and by the sound of the voice, I guessed it was Jamie.
"Well, what do you think I've been spending my pay checks on, candy? I've been using it for the ad space, to find her."
"Oh, Jamie... since when?"
"Since she was taken. After all, she was and is still my favorite little sister." Suddenly, my heart stopped for a moment. I had an older sister? And one who cared at that! The night was starting to suck less. "So, um... when are you coming home?" she asked. I didn't know how to answer. It was all so... sudden. So I told her just that.
"I don't know. I mean, I don't even know where you guys live, and I don't think my 'parents' would let me just travel across the country, and..." I looked over at Kylee, wide-eyed with anticipation. "There's someone who needs me here. I can't just leave her behind." My mom just sighed, and I was visualizing her shaking her head.
"In that respect, you're just like your father. You want to save everyone. Help the world. My own little superhero."
"And what am I?" asked Jamie, playfully.
"Your my big old trouble maker."
"Hey, um, not to mention Dad... could I talk to him too?" Suddenly, it was dead silent on the other side. "Hello?"
"We're still here. But... your father..." Somehow I knew how that sentence would end. I shook my head, as if doing so would make all the bad things go away.
"What happened?" Was all I could croak out.
"He was fighting in the war, over in Iraq. He was deployed for three years, and nothing happened to him. He thought his luck would hold out, and went back, but..." The moment was bitter sweet. Here I was, finding my family, even if it was over the phone, and yet my 'adoptive parents' had robbed me of the chance of ever meeting my father."
"Wait a second!" shouted Beastboy, interrupting the story. "What war? Iraq? There's no war!"
"I'm talking about in my own dimension, Beastboy. Remember: Earth Prime. Totally different."
"Oh yea..."
"So, what happened after that?" Raven, surprisingly, was very interested in this story. To her, Beastboy's interrupting now, was like him interrupting at the best part of whatever she was reading.
"Would you believe me if I said that the rest of the conversation was pleasant, they picked me up the next day, my fake parents went to jail and my real family adopted Liam and Kylee, Kylee's cancer went away and we all lived happily ever after?"
"Not a chance," Robin said, dead serious. "Nothing's ever that simple. It's not that simple to get a happy ending."
"What do you mean man? I mean, that could've happened, if Karma had woken up from whatever nap it was taking."
"Could we just listen to the rest of her story and find out?" asked an impatient Batgirl. All eyes turned back to Nightmare.
"Well... I talked on the phone to my mom and Jamie for a little bit longer, and I found out that Jamie was six years older than me (19), and that I also had a younger brother, Sean, who was 10. I talked to him for a little bit, and I was surprised to find out he already knew quite a bit about me. He had only been a baby when I was taken, but it seemed like Jamie had told him about me from memory. We realized we had a lot of catching up to do.
"So, again I'll ask, when are you coming home?" Now, I was ready to answer Jamie's question.
"I can't. Not yet. Kylee needs me." I looked over in the direction of her sleeping form, (she had fallen asleep after a while) and sighed. It would be impossible for me to leave, without deserting Kylee. Which I couldn't do. So unless the cancer magically disappeared... "Look. I can't come yet. If I leave, it'll be like I deserted her. I'm Kylee's last hope. If I give up, so will she. And if she gives up..." I trailed off, not wanting to even think of the possibility.
"I see... well, the least we can do is come visit you?"
"Yea! Yea! Lets go see her! Lets go see her!" I heard Sean call out enthusiastically. I couldn't help it. I burst out in laughter.
"Alright, I'll see what we can do." After trading addresses, I realized that my real family had been two states over this entire time. So close, and so far at the same time. "Expect us there tomorow evening. We'll meet you where?"
"At the hospital. Kylee's room. I'll let the nurses know who you all are."
"Alright. We'll be there around eight. Good night."
"Night." I hung up, and to my surprise, I realized Kylee had woken up. I was about to tell her to go back to sleep, when she asked, "Did you tell them?"
I knew what she was talking about, but decided to play dumb. "Tell them what?"
"You know... about the fact that you're blind, perhaps?"
"Uh..."
"They aren't going to reject you for being different," she said quietly. "And if they do, I'm always here for you." All the sudden everything colapsed around me. All the emotions of the day, from the birthday party, to finding out about the 'adoption' to finding my parents, and I sat there shaking while Kylee comforted me. It felt great to have a family, blood related or not."
"Awwwwwww that's so cute!" Shouted Beastboy, causing everyone to jump in surprise. They had all been so infulged in the story to pay attention to anything else.
"SHHHHHHHH!" Shout-whispered the others, and Nightmare continued her tale...
*SO, I KNOW THAT ADDIE'S STORY IS TAKING FOREVER, BUT IT'LL HAVE SOME REAL TIME ACTION SOON! I PROMISE! MORE REVIEWS = FASTER UPDATES!