Chapter Thirteen-The Truth Revealed

"Espa....." Marcia shook her son gently,as she glanced towards the front door. Her suitcases were packed with very little.

"Mom?" Espa sat up,rubbing his eyes. "Is Andrew sick again?" He saw her rather anxious expression.

"No....Andy's fine." She smiled,somewhat sadly.

"Then what is it?" Espa glanced at his clock,groaning. It was only a quarter to three in the morning.

"I'm......going to need you to be very strong for me,Espa." Marcia said softly. "I'm.....going to find help for us. It might be a while before I come back."

"Take us with you...." Espa said now, getting out of bed,and moving to go wake Jonathan.

"No. Espa,I can't. We're out of money, and if I take you with me,they might take you away with me and separate you. I want you to stay here." She smiled sadly,touching Espa's cheek. "Please, take care of them, Espa."

"I....will...." Espa said, choking up. It was exactly as he'd seen in his visions long ago. His mother was walking out on them. He watched her walk out of his room. A few seconds later, the door slammed. Espa sat on the edge of his bed,trying hard not to cry. There was no use in it. He had to be the big brother. He had to be strong for them all. As he was finally composing himself, he heard baby Espa Jakkob in his crib, crying. Andrew's own crying followed. He sighed, and went down the hall. With both of his little brothers in his arms, he let himself cry,certain he would fail his brothers,just like their mother had.

"Christien, can you hear me??" Espa took his younger brother's hand in his. The Robas and the Ishtars were at a nearby medical facility. Christien still wasn't awake. Come back to us. I'm sorry I yelled at you.......

"Chris.....please......" Victoria sobbed softly on the boy's other side,clinging to his hand. "You're not supposed to be here,I am!"

"Don't say that...." Jon reprimanded. "Neither of you should've been up there in the first place."

"That's true, but you can't change what has already been." Rishid said softly. He put a comforting hand on Victoria's shoulder. "All you can do is pray that he is alright. "

"He'll get up. He has to." Espa said through clenched teeth. When Christien remained still, he screamed in fury. "YOU HEARD ME,CHRISTIEN THOMAS,GET UP!!!!!" The eldest Roba broke into sobs of sorrow now,burying his face in Christien's blankets.

"Big brother.........." Christien's sleepy voice was barely audible over Tori and Espa's sobbing. He moved his hand,and touched Espa's hair. "Espa........it's okay...I'm here....."

"C-christien........oh thank God!" Espa's sobs turned into a joyous torrent of tears,as he hugged his brother tightly.

"W-what happened?!"

"Y-you fell,Christien....in the middle of the act...." Victoria hugged her friend tightly. I was so scared. I t hought I was going to lose you...." She too,was crying hard. She felt Christien tighten her grip on her.

"I couldn't leave you....." Christien replied softly,stroking her hair. "I love you too much......" He reached out an arm to hug his little brothers too. "I love all of you so much...."

Jonathan glared at him now. "Don't you ever scare us like that again!!"

"I'm s-sorry..." Christien replied,hugging Jonathan even tighter. He and Espa were close, but his bond with Jonathan was even more powerful. He looked up at his eldest brother then. "I still want answers...."

Espa sighed. "I know you do." He hung his head. "Alright." He tried to think of how to answer his brother's questions. Could he get away without telling him about why they had left Pryce's? He doubted it. "I guess I'll start with why we had to leave."

Christien nodded, as Victoria situated herself beside him on the bed. "Okay."

"We were forced to leave after trying to protect you. Lorelai Butler set up a trap that forced us to use all the psychic powers we had to keep you from being hurt. Jonathan doesn't remember it because Dad actually wiped his memory of the whole thing. I was supposed to be wiped too,but Mom didn't want him to. She was afraid Lorelai would come after us again,even if we did leave." Espa sighed deeply. "And she did. I don't think she was looking for a carnival act though."

"Why was she coming after me though?! I was only what,six?"

"Seven......" Espa corrected vaguely. "Christien, you're actually a stronger psychic than the rest of us."

"Whoa........really?" Christien hadn't expected that one. He hardly ever used his psychic powers at all.

"Yep. Why do you think I worry when you get mad?" Espa asked him. "At any rate, Lyle didn't believe us when we tried to explain our actions. So,we had to leave. Mom was afraid Lorelai might do worse to you if we didn't."

"Holy canole..." Jon breathed. "We had to leave just to save Christien.....that sucks! Wait until I see that Lorelai again!"

Christien shook his head. "Don't worry over it, Jon. It's not worth it." He was staring at Espa thoughtfully. "You knew we'd be alone, didn't you?"

"Yeah....but I didn't tell you guys because you and Jonathan were both still young when I first began to see everything." Espa took Christien's hand. "I wanted to protect you from the truth because I couldn't stand to see you hurt the way you did when you realized she wouldn't come back. Once you got over that......" He sighed. "I'm sorry,little brother...."

"It's okay, Espa. I think if I had been you, I wouldn't have told me either." He smiled now, looking around. "Besides, Espa......look what we DO have. I've got the best friend and girl friend anyone could want, I got four brothers who love me. You've got four brothers who love you,and you've got a pretty tight circle of friends too. We don't need her. Not anymore."

Espa looked around at his other siblings. Even Ej and Andrew were nodding in agreement. "Are you guys sure?"

"Yeah! She left us, remember? We don't need her. We have the best brother in the whole world who's ten times better than anyone!" Jonathan replied,as he snuggled Andrew close to him.

"Hey.......Marik and Rishid are pretty good too!" Victoria piped up.

"Yeah? Well,Espa's better." Jon stuck his tongue out at Tori, and everyone laughed. This was an old argument that had started between them months ago.

"Alright, let's not get into that again...." Ishizu said softly, but she was smiling in amusement,as were Rishid and Marik. "Each of you love your brothers equally,as much as the other person."

"Can I get up now, Espa? I hate laying around all day." Christien shifted, and Ej whimpered. The baby had fallen asleep on his lap. on,buddy. Big brother's gotta get up...."

"Are you sure you're okay? That was a pretty hard fall...." Jonathan asked his younger brother,removing Ej from his lap.

"It hurts a little, but I'll be okay." Christien replied firmly. "I wanna get out of here, and go home."

Dear Marcia,

I'd call you Mom,but that title doesn't seem to fit you anymore. Upon talking to the others,we've decided not to let you return. If you do try and contact us again,we'll just have a restraining order put on you. See, the thing is,I saw all this happen,and even when I tried to tell you, you denied me. Well, it pays to play,doesn't it,"Mother"?

Christien wanted to thank you for rescuing him that night at the carnival. That's all he had to thank you for. I don't blame him,really. He barely remembers you. My memory of you is fading too,and I'm really glad. No one needs a memory about a mother who deserted her children,regardless the reasons,or how valid. So I hope you understand when I emphasis: DO NOT CALL OR CONTACT Us.

Sincerely,

Espa L. Roba

Espa folded the letter, and put it in the envelope. Four days had passed since the massive group of friends had returned to Domino. Considering all that had occurred,both Marik and Espa had agreed not to punish the young friends, as long as they never pulled a stunt like that again. He looked out his window now, and smiled. "Pull!" He called out, and watched Victoria go flying toward the vel-cro board he and his brother had built. He laughed at her reaction.

"ESPA! Don't do that!" Jonathan called, but he was laughing. Espa shook his head at the crazy friends now, and smiled. Everything is going to be okay now. I know it. When you've got friends like we Robas have, no one loses. Espa smiled again,and put the letter in the mailbox,before going to make lunch.

(A/n:It's all over,people. I hope you enjoyed this,I sure did. It takes a lot to be able to write a past type fic when you've got almost nothing to go on!)