Naia's POV

"Naia Hope Johnson." I repeated, letting it sink in. "Naia Hope Johnson."

"It's a very pretty name." Kelly said and I smiled at him, nodding in agreement.

I thought carefully for a moment, "Johnson. Naia Johnson. I've never really known myself as that before."

"You didn't know your last name was Johnson?" Shay asked, her eyebrows raised.

I shrugged, "I never asked the Samuals, the school never had to use it. Just was never called that. Naia Johnson. It was always just Naia." Gabby put a hand on mine and smiled gently at me.

"I think that it's a gorgeous name. What about you?" She asked.

I nodded, "Yes, I like it. Naia Hope Johnson." I looked back down at my birth certificate and read all the other information that was on it. I wanted to know as much about myself as possible.

"I was born on November 1st at Lakeshore Hospital." I said, then looked up at Gabby and Matt when I read the next part. They looked at me, confused. I felt as if the room was shrinking in on me and raising in temperature. I was sweating, my brain was racing, unsure of what to do. Should I keep reading? Should I rip up the birth certificate?

"You good Naia?" Gabby asked me. When I nodded, she tsked. "You don't look so good."

Shay took my juice box and put the straw in for me. She then handed it back to me. "Here, drink some."

Even though I knew I should have listened to Shay, I set the juice box down on the coffee table and clenched the birth certificate.

"Gabby..." My voice said, croaky and in a hushed whisper. "Gabby..."

"Shhhh, it's okay." Gabby said, wrapping me in a hug. I shook my head.

"Gabby... my parents..." I trailed off but decided that it was all or nothing. I wasn't going to start and not finish.

"My parents and Kristen and Victor Johnson." I said, my voice no longer hushed.

Shay nodded, "Okay..."

"My brother is Nolan Johnson."

The room went silent. Nobody made a sound, never mind spoke.

"Do you think he's still in foster care?" I asked.

The adults exchanged glances.

"I'll call Mandy," Matt said, getting up, "Maybe she'll know some more information."

I nodded and thanked him before looking back at my birth certificate. There wasn't really anything else that was super important. I had a brother. Nolan. I felt dizzy and I must have looked terrible because Shay insisted that I drink some of my juice and wouldn't stop bugging me until I did.

"What if he is in foster care?" I asked Gabby. "How did we get split up?"

Gabby shook her head, "We don't know if he's in foster care or not. Don't get ahead of yourself."

"So he might still be with my biological parents?" I asked. "They wanted him and not me."

Shay held my hand in a comforting tone, "We don't know the full situation, only that you have a brother."

Kelly sat down in one of the two arm chairs and drank his beer. I looked over at him and he gave me a smile. I tried to smile back but it was too forced, and I knew that.

After what seemed like ages, Matt came back and took his previous seat in the other arm chair. I perked up, wanting to hear the information.

"Mandy has been your caseworker since you were first dropped off at the Samuals. Your parents made it very clear to her that though they were putting you in the foster care system, they would answer any of your questions and left a number. Mandy has just been waiting for us to call. About your brother, there is no Nolan Johnson currently in foster care but he could have been adopted." Matt said and took another sip of his beer.

It took me a moment to process what he had just said before I spoke up.

"So...what does that mean?" I asked. "You kind of lost me."

Everybody laughed and even I couldn't help but crack a grin.

"What that means is that I currently have the phone number of your biological parents. Do you want to call them?" Matt asked.

"Right now?" I was kind of surprised. This was all moving so fast. My parents. The ones who dropped me off at that horrible place. The ones that kind of started this whole thing. Did I want to live with them again? I enjoyed my life right now, but they were my parents after all.

"No." I shook my head. "I don't think I'm ready yet."

Gabby and Matt both nodded. "That's okay." Gabby said, rubbing my shoulder, "When you're ready, we'll give them a call."

I nodded to show that I heard but I wasn't really listening anymore.

Was I ready for the truth?