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" Van." He lifted his head off Avalon's back and looked towards his door as he started to rub at one of his eyes the next morning. Chad was at his doorway, whispering to not wake the sleeping girl. She was still on her side and he had been sleeping with his head on her back. " She okay?" Van sighed but nodded.
" Yeah." He whispered. His hand moved from his eye to run through his hair while his other arm stayed on the bed to hold his upper body up.
" Okay. Does her dad know she's here?" Chad asked.
" Yeah." Van cleared his throat, trying to push the sleep from his voice so it didn't sound like he had swallowed a box of rocks. " I mean, I think so. I'm sure he does."
" I'll make some bacon and eggs than." Chad said. Van nodded and hoped the shock of what Chad offered didn't show on his voice. Chad hardly ever made breakfast anymore.
" Yeah, thanks, Dad." Van said. Chad nodded then grabbed at his wheels to push his chair back before turning and heading away from his son's room. Van laid on his back, bring both hands to his eyes. He rubbed the heels of his palms into his eyes hard while stretching out his legs. Avalon groaned like she did every time she started to wake up. Van dropped his hands to look at her quickly, lifting his head off the pillow then turned onto his side again and cuddled into her back again. " Hey."
" Hey." She said in a half sigh, half moan while she snuggled deeper into his warm bed. She pulled his blankets around her, keeping her eyes shut. Van lifted the edge of the shirt of his that she was wearing so he could run his fingers over her soft thighs.
" You alright?" He asked.
" Yeah. So I was thinking last night, can we go into town today? I want to go to the office of birth and death records. I want to see if they can pull up my birth certificate over the internet." She said, rubbing her cheek into his pillow.
" Oh yeah, okay." Van whispered.
" Once I have that, I'm getting a job, putting the money aside then moving out." She said. Van blinked as an idea started to form in his mind...an idea he would have thought was impossible for him. A thought about a future he might be able to have. Could he...would he dare...
" I'm going to the same thing. I'm going to get a job. I'll put my money back, we'll get a place together." He said quickly before he could let doubts and fears change his mind.
" Are you sure? What about your dad?" Avalon asked. She shifted under the blankets, making Van lay back on his back. She turned and blinked down at him in surprise. Yeah, he was sure. He could do this. They could get a place close to Chad so he could still help his dad when he needed too. He could prove to Gideon that he wasn't a loser. He could prove it to Gideon and himself.
" Yeah, I'm sure. I know of a few places we could rent. If you want too." He said slowly. Avalon grinned and almost collapsed on his chest, hugging him so tightly that Van started to laugh. " I guess that's a yes."
Avalon showered first then got ready in Van's room while he showered after breakfast. They piled into Chad's car then raced into the town with her on his side of the car, kissing against his neck and giggling. Van's own smile was huge. He was doing it, he was planning for the future. He was finally going to make his own life. Sure, it was late coming, way after all his friends but at least it was happening.
The couple pulled into a parking space in front of the court house and kissed hard and fast a few times before they climbed out of his car. They grabbed hands tightly and started up the wide stair case. After they got her birth certificate, they decided they would go around to the businesses in town and start applying for work. They would apply every where and anywhere. They would work any shift, as long as they had money to live on, they could make it.
" I'm so excited!" Avalon said while they walked through the courthouse and into one of the offices.
" Me too." Van said.
" Van, it's nice to see you." Mrs. Pennyworth said from behind the counter. Mrs. Pennyworth was achubby lady in her fifties who always had a smile and a piece of candy for the kids. She was a lifer in town, her entire family had been for generations and generations. She had grown up with Van's dad and knew Van since he was born.
" You too, Mrs. Pennyworth. So we have a question. Can you look on the internet and pull up a birthcertificate for my girlfriend, even if she was born in another state?" He asked.
" Do you know the city you were born in?" Mrs. Pennyworth asked Avalon.
" Yeah, Detroit, Michigan." Avalon answered with a squeeze on Van's hand.
" Alright, let's see here." The gray haired lady turned to her computer and started clicking away at the keyboard. Van bumped Avalon's arm with his, making her smile and return the jester. He gently kicked at her ankle with her laughing and reaching out to pinch his sides. Van grinned and tossed his arm over her shoulders.
" Stop." Van scolded with a grin.
" Than you stop." She said. He let his arm circle her neck so he could pull her closer to him, pressing his lips to her temple.
" Okay, Sweetie. What is your name?" Mrs. Pennyworth asked.
" Avalon Weathervane." Avalon said, turning her attention to the other woman. Mrs. Pennyworth started typing again but soon a frown went over her face.
" Is something wrong?" Van asked.
" Are you sure that's where you were born? Nothing came up when I entered your name." Mrs. Pennyworth said.
" Yeah. I have seen my birth certificate before. That's the city that's listed." Avalon said with her own frown.
" Hmmm...well not according to their site." She looked back at Van and Avalon. " Listen, let me do some digging around and make some phone calls for you, okay? Meanwhile, you can go to the police station and have your fingerprints checked. In some hospitals, after a baby is born and fingerprinted, they turn over those records to the police to have them saved, you know, in case the baby ever gets kidnapped or something. If the hospital you were born at does that, the police will be able to pull you up, tell us where you were born and we can contact that hospital directly." She offered with her smile back.
" Okay, thanks." Avalon said.
" Yeah, thank you." Van said. He gave Avalon a tug and together they started walking. She put her arm around his waist and snuggled into him. " So the police station is just across the street." Van said as they walked. Their steps echoed off the wide open plan of the courthouse and people were rushing around them. Avalon squeezed him with her arm then used her other hand to take a hold of his hand. They rubbed their fingers together as their hands hung off her shoulder.
" You know, I never thought to look at the hospital I was born at. I hope what she said is right because I really need that." She said, starting to worry.
" Don't worry, Av. Even if we can't find it, the cops maybe able to tell us what to do next." Van said.
Normally, Van shy-ed away from the police. He smoked pot, he drank underage, he knew he was what the cops considered bad news. He ran around the lake, didn't work and didn't have the best friends. To say he was turning to the police for help would have made Jason and Flip laugh. Hell, it made him want to laugh.
" How can I help you?" Officer Wilcox asked after Van and Avalon walked in.
" I need to have my fingerprints taken and checked. The lady at the birth records said the hospital I was born at might have turned over my fingerprints as an infant and if they did, you can tell me what hospital it was." Avalon explained.
" We need to get a copy of her birth certificate and she was born out of state." Van said.
" Oh sure thing. Come with me." Officer Wilcox unlocked the half door to let the couple walked into the back with him. " How is your dad?" He asked Van while they walked.
" He's good, thanks." Van said quietly.
" Good. That's good to hear. I see you guys in town every once and while." But I don't stop and say hi because I don't know what to say, he didn't add but Van clearly heard. A lot of people in town didn't know what to say to them so they just didn't say anything at all.
" Will this take long?" Avalon asked.
" Maybe ten minutes, Miss."
And while the officer guided one of her fingers into the ink, he made light conversation. He asked her name, where she was living and how did she like their small town. He pressed her finger into the fingerprint paper and gently turned it from the right side to the center to the left side again. She answered his questions knowing he was asking partly to be nice and partly to get a feel on the people in town. She didn't mind, small town cops didn't have a lot to do.
While they waited for her fingerprint to process, Van and Avalon sat together and talked. She draped her legs over one of his while she rubbed at her finger to rub off the blank ink. Behind her head, Van noticed Officer WIlcox was frowning into the computer screen. He looked at the couple then at the computer then pulled over his Sargent. Van frowned as the Sargent paled.
" I hope that coffee shop didn't find anyone to work there." Avalon was saying as the Sargent made his way over to them.
" Van, I need you two to come with me for a minute." He said when he close. Avalon looked at her boyfriend then the Sargent. She looked at his name tag then his face.
" Is there something wrong, Sargent Miles?" She asked.
" I just need to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind, Miss." He said. " This way, please." Avalon pulled her legs from Van's and together they stood up. Miles quickly escorted them into a small room and had them sit a metal table, side by side. He sat across from them staring at the two papers he had brought in with him. " What did you say your name is?" He asked with a deep frown.
" Avalon Weathervane." She said, casting Van a nervous look.
" Um hun. And your father's name?" Miles asked.
" Gideon Weathervane." She answered.
" And where do you think you were born?" Miles asked.
" Detroit, Michigan." She said.
" Sorry, Sir, but what is going on?" Van asked. Miles sighed and placed the papers, face down on the desk. He nodded and looked at her for a few seconds before he spoke.
" We find your fingerprints in a database." He said.
" Oh cool, that's great. For a minute I thought something was wrong." Avalon said with a smile. Relief swept through her, making her squeeze Van. Finally, she would get a copy of her birth certificate, her very own copy.
" There is a problem. Your fingerprints do not belong to an Avalon Weathervane. They belong to a girl named Gabriella Gibson. A girl born in Avon, Ohio and reported missing when she was four, fifteen years go." Miles said slowly. Avalon frowned and sat back. Van looked at her quickly then back at Miles.
" What?" He asked.
" You ran them wrong." Avalon said.
" I don't think do, Miss. Gabriella and her mother were taken from her house. Her father returned home from work and found the house a mess and two were gone." Miles said. He flipped over one of papers and gently pushed it across the desk.
" From Avon, Ohio?" Van asked as he suddenly remembered the newspaper article they had seen in her attic.
" You are wrong." Avalon said.
" Please look at this picture of Gabriella and see if that's you." Miles said. She let go of Van and snatched up the page. Her heart leaped into her throat, the temperate in the room shot up and she couldn't breath. Her heart started to pound in her ears. The smiling little girl in the picture...was her. Gideon had a few pictures of Avalon from when she was little, only a few because her baby pictures and everything else had been lost in a fire they had when she was four...
" What is this?" Avalon whispered. Miles flipped over the over picture and pushed it over to her.
" Can you remember your mother?" He asked quietly. Avalon picked it up, feeling shock roll through her. Van looked at the picture then at her quickly paling face.
" Is that her?" He asked. " Is that the woman you have been remembering?" Avalon stared the face, studied it hard. The face that had haunted her dreams for years, stayed in her memories no matter how many more she created. The face that she remembered to belong to the woman she called her mother. The face of the woman she had been told left her and her father.
" What the shit is this!" Avalon yelled, pushing the pictures away from her. " Are you seriously trying to say I was kidnapped? Please! I don't know what joke you are playing at but this shit isn't fucking funny!"
" No, it's not and we need to talk to your dad. You two moved into the old Rowe place, right?" Miles said.
" You leave my dad alone!" She yelled.
" Av, calm down." Van said. He placed one hand on her shoulder and the other on her leg to try and sooth her.
" Calm down! Are you serious!" She yelled. " I am not this girl! Run the prints again!"
" There is no mistake, Gabriella." Miles said gently.
" Avalon! My name is Avalon!" She shouted.
" Is your father at home right now?" Miles asked.
" No." Avalon snapped. " No, he isn't. This was a mistake." She shook Van off her as she started to stand. Van scrambled up off his chair as he grabbed her arm. Avalon's face was completely pale. She was shaking and looked like she was going to be sick.
" Okay, calm down, Ms. Weathervane. We just want to find out what's going on. Why don't I get us some coffee, let you talk to Van alone then come back in and we can sit down and figure everything out." Miles said as he stood up.
" Run the prints again." Avalon demanded.
" Listen, this is what..."
" Run them again!" Avalon yelled, slamming her hands down on desk. Van put his arm around her shoulders and brought his mouth to her ear.
" I'll run them again." Miles promised as the boyfriend started to whispered to the girlfriend. She turned away from the Sargent and wrapped herself up into Van. He started to rub her back while he gave the Miles a quick nod.
" It's not true." Miles heard her say he walked out of the room and shut the door behind him.
" What do we do?" Office Wilcox asked. He was almost excited at the news. Nothing happen in their small town and he craved action. Miles rubbed at the back of his neck.
" We need to speak to this Gideon. Take Nick and go bring him in. This girl needs to stay here and away from him until we figure this out. I'm going Avon police." He said.