The entire time we took getting the credit card and grabbing some food felt like eons. Waiting in line at the bank made my insides coil up. Receiving our card at the desk made my stomach churn. Eating food made me sick to my stomach. I actually couldn't eat anything, I was too anxious. Speck tried to ease my senses but it wasn't helping. I wanted to calm down before I saw them, but I was so sure that they wouldn't recognize me and all the work I went through to find them was a waste of time and they wouldn't believe my backstory and everything and either way they weren't going to want me because of my freakish additions.

Yet now I was standing just across the street, staring at the suburban two-story belonging to my biological parents. I felt sweat roll down the back of my neck. My heart pounded, my stomach fluttered, my guts yelling at me that this wasn't a good idea, my mind swirling in anxiety-

"You can do this," I heard Speck next to me.

"C-Can I?" I stuttered, still staring at their front door wishing they would just come out and welcome me into their arms. But no; the saturated blue door stayed shut. Were they even home? What if they think I'm just a solicitor? Or a kid asking for signatures for a cause? Or burglars? Or crazy kids at the wrong house? Or-

"Amber!"

I blinked and looked down at Speck's hard determined face, "You. Can. Do. This." She stared intently into my eyes and I started to realize how shaky I was. She was holding my hands and was still as a tree; I was shaking like a broken lawn mower. "I'm right here," she said, squeezing my hands.

I let out an unsteady breath and lightly nodded, "Okay."

We turned back towards the house and crossed the street, every step I thought I was going to collapse, pausing just before the little pathway up to the door. I stared at it again, but Speck pulling me towards it shook me from my thoughts. She hastily pressed the doorbell button and my thoughts turned to, 'Warning' 'Trap' 'Run' 'Get out of here'- my heart racing, my head swarming - the door opened.

"Can I help you?"

My jaw dropped at the sight of the lady in front of me. It was like looking in a mirror. We shared the exact same blue eyes and strawberry blonde hair. Hers stretched long, combed and perfect, whereas mine was stringier. Her face was different, but the freckles and skin tone were the same. It had to be her, but the more I studied her up and down, she narrowed her eyes as if she was mad at us. "We're already subscribed to The Post."

"Oh- uh-" I stuttered, stumbling with my words.

"Are you Mrs. Griffiths?" Speck piped up, finishing my thought. Thank god she was here with me.

The woman raised an eyebrow at her, "Yes I am. Is there something I can do for you?" Her expression softened and my heart skipped a beat. This was her. My mom. My actual, living, biological mom. I couldn't believe it. She was here, right in front of me. My mom! I started to feel tears in the corners of my eyes.

"Mom?" I whispered.

She froze at my words; her eyes widening at me as if I said the worst thing in the world. Time stopped for a second, but as it slowly crawled back to normal speed, she shook her head, "No- don't do this- not again." Her eyes started to glisten and it was my turn to be surprised.

"A-Again?" I choked out.

"Don't do this to me! Go away!" she stepped back to slam the door on us, but Speck caught it with her foot. She gaped at her.

"Wait-" Speck kept her foot wedged between the door and frame. "What do you mean again?"

"You're not m-my child-" the lady hiccupped, causing all blood to fade from my face. "Y-You're not James-"

"James?" I managed to say with a steady voice. Who was James? Was that- "My brother?"

When I said that word her eyes widened even more, then glistened and just started pouring. Her sobs broke through and she crumpled to the ground, hugging herself as she cried. Speck looked at me, surprised that this was happening. I was too. I was also very confused. What did she mean by again? When she said James, did she mean by brother? Wait- did she already meet him? I watched her as she sobbed, not for sure what to do. If she really was my mother, which I just knew she was, there was no doubt about it, I had to do something.

Moving to sit down next to her in the little foyer of her home, I moved a hand to her shoulder. She jumped, making me jump, and she locked eyes with me. My breathing became heavier as we looked at each other- what was she thinking? Did she recognize me? Did she forget me? Did she even know who I was?

"Y-You're..." she sniffed, looking at my features and trying to piece me together. I gulped. Oh please. Please, please, please recognize me! "Jenna?"

I shakily raised my shoulders, "M-Maybe?"

She blinked several times, trying to register what I was saying. I gulped and glanced at Speck, who just nodded eagerly to tell her what we knew. I let out a shaky breath, ready to continue, but my mom jumped in before me, "Y-You're alive?"

My heart sank. It was true. Everything that they said. My fake parents; they told me that I was declared dead to them. My own parents. My own mother. They told her that I died! But how? Why?

"H-Hi mom," I mustered to say.

She hiccupped and turned away from me. She was still doubting it; I couldn't blame her. Being told your daughter died and realizing she's been alive all this time? How else would she react? But I still wanted to know: how? When?

"A-Are you really..." I blinked up at her as she reached towards my face. I instinctively froze, making her pause before cupping my cheek in her hands. The feeling of her fingers brushing my skin made me shiver, but as she looked at me her eyes changed from surprise to what I could only decipher as upmost compassion, "Jenna... m-my baby girl."

"Mom," I breathed, and then we embraced each other. It was her. My mom. My actual, breathing, biological mom. I finally found her. I buried my face into her shoulder and squeezed harder, my emotions swarming me and I cried. My mom. She was here. I was here. I found her.

"I-I don't know where to start..."

I shifted in my seat. She was sitting down across from me in her own chair, smiling and holding a photo to her chest. Speck was lightly kicking her legs on the couch, and I had to nudge her to stop fidgeting. After our sob fest, she had to go get tissues and Speck and I were left waiting in the doorway. The more I looked around the house, the more I felt out of place. It was clean, nicely placed, and looked like any ordinary, modern-day home. Her couches were a pale cream, and had a dining room placed just around the corner. The carpeted floor made me more cautious about where I stepped. I was like a dirty needle in a pristine haystack.

Now we were sitting across from each other, too afraid to speak up first. I wish Speck would say something, but this wasn't her mom. I hoped to god that she would accept both of us.

"I guess we could... um..." I scrambled for the right words. "They told you I was dead?"

She paused and looked away, obviously thinking. She let out a deep breath and replied, "I-I went into labor weeks before the date, and Tom rushed me to the hospital." Tom. Tom must be my dad. She continued, "When I got there, they said something was wrong with one of you." She rubbed her eye with a light smile, "You wanted out so badly, but... when you were born... you weren't breathing."

I froze and instantly thought of the occasional asthma attacks I get. I always thought it was because of the weird mutations.

"They took you from my arms," she covered her eyes. "They took you from the room. They tried to resuscitate you, but..." She choked on her words and my face fell. Speck took hold of my hand and I weakly squeezed back. That's how I died; that's how they took me from them.

She placed a hand to her mouth, trying to contain her sobs, "You were gone, they wouldn't let me see you, but I knew, y-you were gone." My heart sank at her words. Did I really die? Or were they just lying? I wanted to know every single little detail, to find some clue, but I couldn't push it. It made me sick to see her like this, my mom, having to go through with losing her own daughter.

I tried to swallow my own sobs and asked, "A-And... my brother?"

Her eyes glistened again, "He was born weeks later." She sniffed and rubbed her nose with another tissue, "I never thought I would lose both of you; I never thought somebody would take him- didn't I suffer enough with losing you?" Her body started to shake and I leaned forward to hold her hand. Surprised, she glanced up at me and I gently smiled at her.

"But I'm here now, I'm okay," I comforted her.

She shook her head and turned from me, "That's what James said-"

"You've seen him?" Speck piped in, startling me to almost knock over the plant on the table between us. I shot her a look to not interrupt and she innocently shrugged her shoulders.

"Yes," mom's voice fell, pulling the photo from her chest. I could see that the photo was of a baby swaddled and held to an exhausted mother. That was him. My brother. "But he left- he left us- w-we love him." She hugged the photo once more and closed her eyes.

"Where'd he go?" I asked eagerly.

"I don't know," she sniffled. "He just left in the middle of the day. He didn't even leave a note- He didn't love us." She started to cry again and I leaned over to hold her hand again.

"Of course he did!" I interjected, squeezing her hand in assurance. Who wouldn't? Why would he leave? If he was alive, and was taken by ITex, escaped and met his own birth mom, why would he leave? It made no sense. I looked at her up and down, wondering if there was another side to her that I didn't know about. The thought made me tense up, but I had to keep my cool, "Where would you think he'd go?"

"Probably with those other winged kids..." she huffed, wiping her nose again.

I froze. Winged... kids? I glanced at Speck and she had the same expression on her face as me. He was alive. He did have wings. And he was showing them off with the acrobatic-flying environmental group.