Thank you all for reading the last chapter. Thanks to the three that reviewed as well, you guys are awesome.

Chapter Fourteen: The Truth

Lizzy woke up earlier than both Portman and Fulton the following morning and quietly left the room. Back in her own room she pulled on a pair of jean shorts, a Minnesota Twins tank top, and a dark green short sleeve button up. Then she picked up the phone and called Fulton's home number.

"Reed residence, this is Jim," Fulton's father answered.

"Hey Uncle Jim, I didn't wake you, did I?" Lizzy asked.

"Lizzy? Goodness, how are you, darling?" He sounded shocked to hear her voice at first but recovered quickly enough to sound pleased to hear from her.

Since she could also detect a note of worry in his voice, she had to reassure him she and Fulton were fine. "I'm okay and so is Fulton."

"Good and no, you didn't wake me. It's nearly 8:30 here. Nat and I are having breakfast before she has to go in. One more game huh?" Nat was Natalie Reed, Fulton's mom and by asking about the game he was letting her know he was following the coverage.

"Yeah. I saw Matt last night. Don't try to deny it; he actually spoke to me. I don't blame you for keeping it from me. It was ultimately my father's decision and though he made the wrong one, you had to do as he asked. I'm not mad," Lizzy said softly.

"Honey, we didn't like it and it was very hard on us to keep Fulton from telling you," Nat said. She must have picked up the other extension. "When I heard that you were in therapy for it I got so upset. I tried to talk to your father but he just wouldn't hear of anything against what he wanted." The woman sounded so hurt.

"I know Nat, I don't blame you. Fulton and I talked and we're okay. I wanted to know, I guess that ..." Lizzy wasn't completely sure what she wanted but Jim and Nat seemed to understand.

"We love you, sweetie," Jim said as convincingly as he could. He had to make sure she knew that. Lizzy did even if the topic didn't come up.

"Very much and we have always been there for you and we will continue to be there for you," Nat added, "but we recommend that you tell your father that you know." Though they considered the girl family they knew the right thing to do was to make sure Lizzy talked to her dad or at the very least that they brought the subject up.

"I'll think about it. Why didn't my father just tell me Matt was called up?" Lizzy asked.

"We don't know, sweetheart, he just said it was a decision they made," Nat told her. "Even though your attachment to Matt wasn't exactly healthy, pretending he was dead was probably even worse. You can always call if you need anything."

"I know thanks Nat, Uncle Jim. Love you both," Lizzy said. Lizzy had always called them Uncle Jim and Nat as Natalie said it felt like an insult if Lizzy called her Aunt Nat when Lizzy already had her Aunt Casey. Nat didn't want to insult Casey so she stuck firm on just being called Nat. Lizzy had shrugged and agreed with the woman.

"Of course, darling, and give Matt the chance to explain," Jim said.

"And don't be mad at Fulton," Nat added.

"I will and I won't. Love you," Lizzy said, meaning she would give Matt a chance and she wouldn't be mad at Fulton.

"Love you too," they both answered.

Lizzy hung up then called her aunt and they had a similar conversation, but her aunt reminded her that her dad only wanted what he thought was best for Lizzy. After hanging up with her aunt Lizzy walked back into the hall and saw Charlie coming back from a shower. She smiled and he nodded back then he disappeared in to his room. A few minutes later he came back out and nervously looked at Lizzy. Lizzy grinned and ran to her cousin wrapping him in a hug. "It's not your fault. You did what you were told to do. I can't blame you for that. And I'm not mad at you either," Lizzy told him.

"But you are at Matt. We'll fix that. Come to breakfast with us," Charlie answered.

"Okay."

"That easy?" Charlie asked.

"Yup," Lizzy answered.

"I kinda asked her last night," Fulton said, walking up to them.

"Let's go to breakfast," Lizzy said.

The first fifteen or so minutes of breakfast were rather awkward until finally a girl about Lizzy's age walked up. "I'm sorry to interrupt but you're Fulton Reed, aren't you?"

"Yeah," Fulton answered as their table all looked up.

The girl looked over her shoulder then smiled back at Fulton. "Would you mind taking a picture with me and my friends?"

Fulton looked at Lizzy and Charlie then nodded.

"Would you mind taking it?" she asked, looking at Lizzy.

"Sure." Lizzy and Fulton walked over to the table and Fulton sat down in the middle of the four girls. Lizzy snapped a couple of pictures then she and Fulton went back to their table.

"Well that's a first," Matt said.

"What? That you didn't get asked for an autograph?" Lizzy asked.

"No, that they asked Fulton instead of Charlie."

"Take them to breakfast often?"

"Just the morning after the Iceland game and the morning before your game against Canada." Matt took a deep breath and sighed. "Are you mad at me?"

"Why? Why did you let them tell me you were dead?"

"Lizzy, they're our parents—"

"It doesn't matter. They haven't made a single decision about my life since I was like five. I've always asked you, never them. Mom would have said she didn't care and Dad was never home. When I wanted to transfer elementary schools, I asked you. When I wanted to spend the night anywhere, when I needed a signature, it was always you. Now I can see that it put a lot of stress on you and perhaps I shouldn't have been quite so attached to you but I can't change the past. I just wish I knew why."

"I called that day, not Seth. I wanted you to be the first to know but Dad said you were still in school. Then Alicia picked up. I told them the news about being picked by Dallas and Detroit. When I told them I was going to Detroit, she hit the roof and forbid me from calling or telling any of you about the offer. I asked Dad and he told me it was best to give her some time to cool off. He said I shouldn't call the house and he'd call me when things blew over. I called Chris that afternoon and told him then Seth. Dad called a few days later and told me that Alicia had told you and Ben that I died and the damage was done. He said undoing it would be too complicated and we should leave it be." Both Seth and Chris had already been attending college when Matt had been picked up.

"When did you call about getting picked?" Lizzy asked. Now it was time to find out how it all went down.

"November 29th; he called back that weekend."

"Wait, you called on the 29th?"

"Yeah, my first game was in December."

"I had a game on the 30th of November. Corpus Christi. They had a good team this year. Everyone was expecting them to make the last round of finals. We crushed them like a bug that day. Nine-zip. I finish getting dressed and guess who is right outside the locker room? Dad. I mean sure, Ben is there too but this is the first game Dad had ever been to. He takes me, Ben, and Mom out to dinner and then when we got home, Dad sat me and Ben down and told us you died in a pile up after getting picked for Detroit. It may have been Mom's idea but Dad's the one that told us."

"So Alicia didn't tell you?" Matt asked.

"No, Dad did. Why don't you call her mom?"

"Because she's not. She's not my mom."

"Of course she is. Unless you mean we're not ..." Lizzy trailed off. The last thing she needed was to find out Matt had a different mom who was nicer and more caring than Lizzy's own.

"You are full blood siblings," Charlie said taking Lizzy's hand, "you have the same mom and dad, he just means that—"

"Alicia isn't it," Lizzy said softly. That was one crisis averted. But that revealed a whole new set of questions she wasn't sure she wanted to ask.

"Where do you think Ben and I get our blond hair from?" Matt asked. Alicia had a head of dark black hair and Mr. Jacobs had graying brown hair. Matt and Ben were the only two with blond hair. Chris, Seth, and Lizzy all had brown hair from their dad.

"Grandma Jacobs. Aunt Casey has strawberry blonde hair," Lizzy said.

"True but this shade only comes from Mom."

"Where is she?" Lizzy asked. If her mom had stuck with her dad for 11 years and given birth to all five of his children, it seemed a little odd for her to just walk away.

"In heaven," Matt answered. "She and Dad may have only been married for nine years but they loved each other very much." That didn't make sense. If they had only been married for nine years Matt had to have been born before they married and her dad never struck her as the type to allow that.

"Wait, you're 10 years older than me." Lizzy's brow furrowed.

"We have something else in common. Dad got married shortly after our first birthdays. I was their happy little mistake. Though they loved each other, mom didn't want a marriage based on a kid. Finally Dad was able to prove how much he loved her and they tied the knot, then had four more kids. Mom's family found out when she was pregnant with Chris and Dad's family found out right before his final year."

"Of law school?"

"Yes. Before he started his last year Nonno and Grandma wanted to take him to Italy for good luck. Mom was pregnant and didn't want to go. He finally told them."

"Wait, Seth wasn't born until '77 and they already had Chris." Seth had been born after her father had graduated law school. Lizzy had seen her dad's diploma which said he had graduated in May of 1976. Seth was born a full year later.

"I'm only telling you what they told me." Matt shrugged.

"So Dad had two kids and one on the way before he told his parents he had gotten married and started his own family?"

"Yup, he was scared and actually Mom told them. They knew Dad was in love but they had never met her. She called them to thank them for the offer and decline because I guess she was feeling sick or something and they kinda flipped out. She invited them over and the story came out. I remember meeting them for the first time. They were scary."

Lizzy stared at him for a while then asked a burning question. "How'd she die?"

Matt swallowed and stared at his almost empty plate. "Labor complications. They couldn't stop the bleeding."

"How did you find out, Charlie?"

"Baby pictures. I found them in my mom's closet when I needed my birth certificate last year for the hockey league. Mom explained everything."

Lizzy looked back at Matt. "What else are you doing today?"

"Nothing," Matt answered.

"I will talk to you after the Iceland game. I need to think about all this." By the time Lizzy made it back to the Coliseum warm ups had already started and Lizzy found a seat next to Bombay on the Denmark side.

"You're a little late," Bombay said.

"Breakfast with my brother. Turns out my dad called him a couple days after he told me Matt was dead and told him my mom had told me and my brother Matt was dead. To make matters worse, I just found out my mom is my stepmom."

"Oh," Bombay said.

"Yeah," Lizzy answered.

They watched the rest of warm ups in silence and just as the puck dropped, Charlie sat down next to them. Both of them said hello but that was the extent of the conversation. All through the game Lizzy's mind was half on the game and half on everything Matt told her.

After the game in which Iceland stomped Denmark, Lizzy found Matt sitting on a bench talking to Fulton. Lizzy sat down between them and stared at her hands. "Looking back now, my attachment to you wasn't healthy. Yes, we shared a bond that few siblings ever get to share but I shouldn't have treated you like my father. For the first eight months before you "died" I think I was slowly getting over that. Not being able to see you every day and only being able to talk to you on the phone probably did a lot to lessen the attachment. I'm sure if they just left it that way and maybe made you cut back on your calls I would have grown to treat you like I treated Fulton." Lizzy stopped and thought about what to say next.

Matt looked at Fulton, itching to say something, but Fulton shook his head, knowing Lizzy needed to get everything out. Fulton took Lizzy's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Instead they did what they did and threw me into five months of therapy."

Matt snapped. "They did what?" It was one thing for them to force him to cease contact with his baby sister that he practically raised, but it was completely different to throw her into therapy for something they caused.

"Therapy for five months. My last session was a week before the state champs' battle. It wasn't all bad—it did what they wanted a lot faster than I wanted but it got me over my attachment."

"A 13 year attachment gone in 14 months? That's not good either," Matt said.

"Maybe not. Look, I just want to forget most of everything that happened since November. Is that possible or are you going to make me go on about it?"

"Well if you don't want to talk about the past then tell me about Dean Portman."

"What's there to talk about? He's Fulton's best friend."

"I hear there's a mutual attraction."

"I hear he's cute and kinda nice but aside from Top Gun, hockey, and Fulton, we have nothing in common." Lizzy glared first at her brother then at Fulton, who raised both hands.

"Give him a chance; he might show you what else you have in common," Matt said.

"Leave it alone, Matt. He's a hockey player and I've sworn off them at the moment."

"Because you don't like them or because your last relationship went sour?"

"Because she's competing in a huge international tournament and she doesn't have the time it takes to work on another relationship," Fulton said, defending his best friend.

"You mean I missed my baby sister's first boyfriend?" Though Matt had suggested that his sister had gotten out of a relationship with a guy, he hadn't really expected that to be confirmed. His baby sister wasn't supposed to be dating. She could like guys all she wanted but she wasn't supposed to date them. She was growing up too fast.

"Yes, his name is Dwayne. Do you want to meet him?" Lizzy asked.

"He's here?" Matt asked.

"Yeah, come on." Lizzy lead Fulton and Matt to the rec hall where most of the team hung out when they weren't in school or practicing. Lizzy looked around and saw that most of the team was hanging out on the couches; Adam and Averman were playing air hockey, Goldberg was playing pinball with Guy and Connie watching him, the couple was holding hands, and Portman and Julie were playing pool as Kenny and Luis watched. Lizzy let out her now famous duck call and the team looked at her. Moments later they had joined her near the pool table Portman and Julie were standing at.

"You're Matt Jacobs. Second String center for Detroit and Rookie of the Year."

"And you are?" Matt prompted.

"Meet Dean Portman," Lizzy spat.

"What did I do?" Portman asked.

"You know who he is. You know my big brother." Lizzy's eyes narrowed at Portman. If looks could kill he'd be very close to dead at the moment.

"Wait, that Matt Jacobs? I didn't know that," Portman said. He looked generally confused, as if he hadn't actually known that.

"Sure you didn't." Lizzy rolled her eyes, trying not to get too angry with him.

"Lizzy, I've never seen a picture of your brother. I never put it together," Portman answered. He clapped a hand on Lizzy's shoulder and talked to her in a soft tone, trying to get her to believe him. Matt could tell there was definitely chemistry between the pair but he barely knew the other kid so he wasn't sure if it would go somewhere.

"Fine," Lizzy turned her attention to Dwayne, "Matt, this is Dwayne. Dwayne, my big brother Matt. Turns out my dad lied to me."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Dwayne said, offering Matt his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Dwayne. You were nice to my baby sister, weren't you?" Matt answered.

"Leave him alone, Matt," Lizzy warned. "He was a perfect gentleman."

"He doesn't seem like your type. Every time I introduced you to any of my friends you always seem to like the rough, enforcer type."

"Matt. Shut up," Lizzy demanded. The way her cheeks flamed red, he could tell she really didn't want anyone to know that.

Matt grinned and chuckled at his kid sister. Lizzy sighed and introduced him to the rest of the team. Matt grinned again after the introductions and saw them looking at him inquisitively. For a brief moment Lizzy wondered where Charlie had gone then Matt spoke. "I could give each of you advice to suit each of your talents and get you through this game against Iceland."

"You're not going to," Lizzy said, seeing his look.

"Not specifically no. However there is this one thing that I've found is true no matter what level you play at—high school, college, Minors, or NHL."

"You didn't play college."

"No, but it holds true. Hockey is a really great sport. There are those that are great at it, those that are good at it, and those that have what it takes. 90 percent of the people that fall into those three categories have one thing in common."

"Winning?" Averman asked.

"No, it's not about the points on the scoreboard, it's not about taking down the other guy, it's not even about being the best out there. What did I always tell you, Lizzy? End of every training lesson, end of every game we watched, what was the one thing I told you?" Matt asked.

Lizzy muttered the saying under her breath.

"Uh, what was that?" Matt asked.

"Coach Jack Riley has a saying he tells his players before every game. How'd it go again, Adam?" Lizzy asked, sounding curious.

"It's not worth winning if you can't win big," Adam answered, sounding a bit ashamed.

"Matt changed that saying. It's not worth playing if you can't have fun. He always said listen to any announcer and you'll hear them say "he played a great game today" or "playing baseball", "playing hockey". Playing is all about having fun. You can be the biggest brute on the ice, the best player on the ice, the one that gets along with their team the best but if you're not having fun, the moment that ends, that's when the game is over and it's time to let go."

"Sounds like you've got a really smart brother," Bombay said.

"I always thought so," Lizzy answered, turning to look at her coach and seeing her cousin too.

As Lizzy walked with Matt later that afternoon, he stopped her just outside of the track area. "Lizzy, I love you. I always have and I always want what is best for you. Like Brad told you, you have to let the ghost go. If you're not having fun out there on that ice, I don't want you playing hockey. It's not good for you. Relax. You're overthinking it. I bet you got straight A's this year."

"Are you going to quote a movie at me?" Lizzy asked.

"No, just stop thinking about it and let it come to you. That's how you had the most fun. If you stop thinking about it and it just comes to you, you'll enjoy it again. That's always what I wanted for you," Matt told her. Lizzy nodded and stared down at the cement under her feet. "You're instinctive; that's good. Go with your gut but remember to enjoy playing."

"I will. Thanks Matt." Lizzy threw her arms around her brother and he lifted her clear off her feet. "Can I stay with you when the tournament is over?"

"I have training camp in mid-September and I leave Minnesota at the beginning of September. My girlfriend and I are taking some time for us before I get back into hockey."

"But for August?"

"Yeah, sure." Matt nodded and hugged her tight again. "Remember, fun."

"Thanks." They spent a little longer together and Matt told her a lot about their mom. Lizzy loved every minute of it and realized that things were looking up.

"One more thing before I go."

"Anything."

"Stop growing up so fast, okay? I was gone less than a year and I missed your first boyfriend. The butterflies in your belly. Your first kiss."

"My first kiss was before Dwayne."

"What?" Matt asked looking at his sister, who had become really interested in the pavement. She only nodded. "If you want to talk I'm here but I won't push. Just talk to me okay?"

"I'll call every Sunday, I promise." Lizzy agreed.

Again thanks for reading and reviewing. Same deal stands. Reviews get the next chapter posted, no reviews it uploads in a week. Thanks guys.