House of the Bakers
I've lost count of all the text messages and calls that I had sent to my brother, but – nothing. No reply. No sign of life. And gradually I really got concerned. What if he had an accident and was in some hospital, unconscious? Would they inform us? But I tried to calm myself with the thought that I would feel if something had happened to him. It has always been said that twins have a kind of a sixth sense and a special connection to their 'alter ego'. But although Davis and I always got along well, we were totally different and didn't have that 'special' relationship. Frustrated, I put the phone aside and looked at the clock. Justin and Izzy had been gone for hours. Also a fact that worried me rather than reassured me. If they were there, at least I would have someone to talk to and could share my worries. When I suddenly heard voices from below, I jumped up from my bed and opened the door. But what I heard then made my blood run cold. The voices didn't belong to Izzy and Justin; they belonged to my parents! And that meant they had returned sooner than expected from Paris. Did they know that Davis disappeared? I opened the door and stepped, without making a noise, into the hall to listen to the conversation between my parents and my grandmother...
"You're back! I wasn't expecting you so soon."
"Brooke had missed the kids and I got a call from Dad that he had a new book for a movie for me. I don't have to unpack, but fly directly to L.A.."
"Your father is impossible! Now that he's retired he still can't keep his hands off the movie business!"
"I suppose that will happen to me as well. That's our life, Mom. It doesn't matter how old you are."
"It's so quiet here. Where are the kids?"
"I'm not sure. Davis has been away all day, and Justin and Izzy left together too. The only one who is here is Jude. He's up in his room doing homework."
I quickly went back to my room and closed the door. From what I could hear, Mom and Dad didn't know that Davis had disappeared. They had returned for some other reasons. What did grandmother say? I would do homework? I went to the desk, opened a random book and notebook and pretended to make my homework. It wasn't long before there was a knock on my door and then my parents entered.
"We just wanted to say that we're back. We didn't intend to disturb you."
"It's okay. You don't disturb me." I slowly turned to them. "How was Paris?"
"Simply wonderful! Just as you always see it in photographs. Your father and I made a lot of sightseeing trips. We also brought some souvenirs with us. But we'll give them to you later, when everyone's back."
My stomach clenched painfully. I hated lying to them, but I didn't know how to tell them that Davis would be gone for a while.
"How did it go here? Did you all get along well and didn't cause your grandmother too much trouble?"
I knew my father was joking, but I didn't feel like laughing. "Everything went well," I hurried to say, avoiding his gaze. I saw his frown and realized he knew I was lying. But fortunately I didn't have to reply, when I suddenly heard a clatter on the stairs and then a short time later my door flew open and Izzy appeared in the door frame. She held a note in her hands.
"We have Lydia's address!" She exclaimed excitedly.
I gave her a warning look and only then did she realize that I wasn't alone in the room.
"Oh... Hi, Mom... Dad...," she stammered with flushed cheeks. "What are you doing here?"
I saw my parents exchanging confused glances and was just about to answer Izzy when Justin rushed into my room. He stopped dead in his tracks.
"Mom? ... Dad?"
"One would think you would have preferred that we stayed away for a few more weeks. What kind of greeting is that?"
"I don't know, Brooke. Something is wrong. Where is Davis?"
I glanced quickly at Justin and Izzy, who had their heads lowered and stared at their toes. These cowards! It was time to fill my parents in. Nervously, I cleared my throat before telling them what had happened. "Davis is on his way to California - to Lydia." I was relieved when Justin and Izzy broke their silence and supported me. So at least Davis couldn't say that I was the only one who had told our parents. But what he had done was worse than a stupid prank. If Davis was in trouble, my parents should know about that.
"Oh my God!"
I quickly looked at my mom. Her face had turned pale and she had clawed her fingers around Dad's arm.
"How long has he been gone?"
Justin shrugged. "Since noon. I went for a jog and when I came back he was already gone."
"At the time you were still on the plane," Izzy added quickly.
"Yes, but you didn't know that. You didn't even try to send us a message. I checked my text messages after we landed. What do you have to say about that?"
"At first we didn't know what was going on, Dad!" Izzy said desperately. "We went to see Sawyer and she gave us –"
"Izzy!"
With confusion I looked at Justin, who shot warning glances at Izzy. The two were hiding something. And I would find out what it was.
"What does Sawyer have to do with it?"
And again my siblings exchanged meaningful glances. After all, it was Justin who told my parents how Davis had decided to follow Lydia after her parents had sent her away to California.
"I knew Haley was against the relationship, but I didn't think she would go so far as to send her own daughter away! I'm going to see and talk to her now!"
"Right now you are too upset to talk to her. Calm down first!"
"You can't be serious, Julian! I should calm down? Our 17 year old son is somewhere out there on the way to California, and you suggest I should calm down!?" She shook her head vigorously. "I don't know why you can stay so calm. But I'm going to do something now!"
I felt a little sorry for my dad, because I knew that my mom could be really stubborn sometimes. Silently, we all watched her as she ran out of my room and rushed downstairs.
"Justin and I were talking about to call the police," Izzy interrupted the silence. "But now that you're back, you could do this yourself."
When my dad nodded and then left too, I turned to my siblings. "Okay, we're alone now. I know you're still hiding something. I saw you exchanging glances earlier. What did Sawyer tell you?"
"Shall we tell him?" Izzy asked Justin.
He shrugged. "For my part, he can hear what Sawyer had told us. It won't remain a secret for a long time anyway."
I was really curious what they would tell me. But what I learned then was nothing that I could have imagined in my wildest dreams.
"Lydia is pregnant," Izzy confessed in a low voice. "And Davis is the father."
