Mysterious Visitors and Boyfriend Stealers
Chapter 4: The Cat Is Out of the Bag
Friday night arrived quicker than usual for Amy. Maybe that was because of the fun she was actually having for a change! Amy soon found herself at home in her bedroom, helping Nikki get changed for "Amy's" date with David. The girls were having trouble choosing an outfit from Amy's closet, and after debating whether to recruit Maxine's or Lauren's help, they decided not to. The doorbell rang as soon as they had picked out a sleek black dress for Nikki. Amy called down the stairs, "Just a minute!", but Maxine had already opened the door that revealed David in a suit holding a bouquet of daisies. Amy quickly applied Nikki's makeup, wished her good luck, and pushed her down the stairs. Luckily, Maxine did not notice the switch, and Nikki and David were out the door before Amy knew it. She sat there at the window, watching David open the door for what was supposed to be Amy, and couldn't help feeling a twinge of jealousy.
Amy had the urge to go downstairs and snuggle with Maxine, but she wondered whether she could pull off acting as Nikki for a change. Maxine hadn't taken heed to Nikki since she arrived, or so Amy thought. Maybe that was her mom's way of hiding something that she knew about Nikki. Amy was determined to get this out of her mother, and suddenly, she had a plan!
Amy sat down, pulled out a law book, and began to read. She kept checking her watch for the time. Guessing that David and Nikki would have gotten to David's favorite French restaurant by eight, she would call Maxine at around eight-fifteen by cell phone, saying that she forgot something important and that it was necessary for Maxine to go to the restaurant. Maxine would go, somehow, and once there, would notice that Amy was not Amy at all and was Nikki. By her weird expression, David would hopefully get the impression that something was up and ask. Maxine would take some begging, but she would finally reveal her secret. Then, David, Nikki, and Maxine would all come home to Amy. She hoped that there wouldn't be too much yelling at her involved!
It was eight ten, and by now, Amy was extremely nervous. She had not done anything like this since her teenage years, and so she had lost the touch. Amy could hear Maxine in the kitchen, making dinner. Quietly, Amy grabbed her keys and cell, quickly went downstairs and made it to her car safely. She pulled out of the driveway and drove to the parking lot of the nearby grocery store. From there, she dialed the home number. It rung twice before Lauren answered, "Taylor? Is that you?"
"No, it's Mom. Listen, I…." Amy was cut off.
"Mom? Aren't you on a date?"
"Yeah, but I forgot something, so I need you to hand the phone to Grandma."
"Uh, Mom, I'm kind of busy in my room, and Grandma's in the kitchen. Getting her would, like, be a major problem for me."
"Uh, Lauren, is getting up and walking, like, a major problem?"
Ugh, hold on," there was a sigh of impatience in Lauren's voice as she yelled, "Grandma!" so close to the receiver that Amy thought her eardrums would burst.
"Lauren dear, please don't yell at me from your room," Amy heard Maxine reprimanding. Finally, she picked up the phone. "Hello?"
"Mom?"
"Amy? Aren't you on a date? Is everything okay? Are you okay? Is David okay?"
"I'm okay! Look, Mom, we need your help."
"What?"
"Uh, David forgot his credit card, and I—I didn't bring mine with me. David always tells me not to. Can you please bring yours down?"
"AMY MADISON GRAY! What will I do with you? I'm cooking dinner, and Ignacio will be over shortly."
"Please, mom…..it's important," Amy begged.
"Hold on, I'll be right there. You better be glad I'm a nice mom."
"I love you, Mom. You're the best mother in the world."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, stop sweet talking me."
Amy hung up the phone and drove so that she was in viewing distance of the restaurant, but that she couldn't be seen by Maxine. Soon enough, Maxine strode through the doors of the building with what looked like a look of disgust. Amy knew that she was in for it later, so she drove over to Gillian and Peter's to hide out. Gillian welcomed her in, and thankfully, Peter wasn't home. If she didn't know better, Peter would rat out on her….as he did when they were teenagers. Gillian said that she could share dinner with her, as long as she helped Ned with his, as she was attending to Walt's. Amy was okay with that; at least she had gotten out of the house for a few hours.
Back at the restaurant, anyone paying attention saw Maxine walking toward David and Nikki's table. How could they not? Thankfully, only David was there. A menu was hiding his view of anything, so Maxine sat down in Nikki's empty chair without David knowing. Obviously, he thought it was "Amy" coming back from the restroom. He started talking. "Amy, have you decided what you want yet? I think I'm having the classic steak-frites." He looked up. "Maxine," said a surprised David, "What are you doing here?"
"Uh, Amy called saying that you'd forgotten your credit card and practically begged me to come down here and give you mine."
"Oh, right….I said nothing of the sort to her, Maxine. But, come to think of it, Amy's been acting differently since I picked her up. I assumed, well, you get the idea."
"Oh, really, maybe that's why she's acting so much like Lauren now," With that Maxine shrugged and started rising from the table.
"Maxine, since you took the trouble to come down here, why don't you join us?"
"Uh, no thanks, Amy interrupted me from preparing dinner for my date with Ignacio."
"I'm sorry, Maxine. I'll let you get back then." Nikki came back to the table just as Maxine was getting up.
"Maxine-I mean, Mom, nice to you see you," Nikki faltered out.
"Nikki? W-Why are you here?"
"Uh…David invited me."
"Okay, someone's going to have to explain to me what's going on. I invited Amy to dinner," David said, confused.
"David, to be frank, no you didn't. You invited whom you thought was Amy, and perhaps Amy and her twin did not tell bother to tell you otherwise."
"Twin?"
"Yes, David, Amy is a twin. Yes, I had twin girls whom I named Amy Madison and Nikki Marie. However, I just couldn't bring myself to raise twins AND a toddler at once. So, I made sure that Nikki was in a loving home and kept me even having twins a secret for all of these years. Nobody but my husband knew. Peter, Amy, and Vincent still don't know. They assumed Nikki was someone I placed in foster care years ago, someone unrelated to them.
"Okay, I knew Amy wasn't acting herself. Nice to meet you, Nikki." He nods toward her. "But just because I asked you out doesn't mean I'm asking you out again. I still love Amy, even though she didn't tell me she had a look-alike."
Nikki smiles, before saying, "Well, at least I can actually call my true mother Mom now." She helps Maxine up to give her a hug.
"Okay, I am going home. You two can finish dinner, and it'll be on me. Meanwhile, I think I'm going home to murder my other daughter."
"No, let me, Maxine," David smiles.
"Oh give it up, David. You'll do more than murder her…..don't think that I don't know what you two are up to. I'll see you later." Maxine walks out and starts to drive home.
"Excuse me, Nikki, if you don't mind, I'd like to rescue our damsel-in-distress before she is murdered by the witch….even if she did play a horrible joke on us," David walks out, forgetting Nikki has no mode of transportation.
Nikki realizes this and begins to call David back, but doesn't end up stopping him. She smiles and begins to order that steak-frites for herself.
Maxine pulls into the driveway in a pretend state of anger. Inside, she's rather amused, but once inside the house, she yells out Amy's full name anyway. It is obvious to Maxine that Amy is not at home, but even if she was, she couldn't have heard over the usual large blast of rock music that came from Lauren's room. "Lauren! Lauren!" Maxine yells, rushing up the stairs.
Lauren opens her door a crack and is surprised to see her grandmother and not her mother. "Grandma?"
"Do you know where your mother is?"
"On her date, I guess. Why?"
"No, Lauren, she was not on her date. She was—oh never mind, go back to your music."
"Fine, whatever," Lauren gives her adults-are-so-clueless look.
"Lauren! Don't you give that look at me, or I'll smack you one like I did your mother and uncles back when they were twelve."
"You can't spank me!" And, with that, Lauren slams the door, and turns up the music even louder.
After helping Gillian with the dishes and putting the kids to bed, Amy decides to go back to the restaurant and see if her mother, David, or Nikki was still there. She figured that Nikki was there, as Maxine and David would've rushed off without giving Nikki a ride. And sure enough, Nikki was enjoying dinner alone. Amy went up to the table and sat in the empty chair. "Hey."
"Hey," Nikki said, and for awhile Nikki ate in silence while Amy just looked around, trying not to stare at Nikki.
"So, what happened at dinner? I mean, apart from Mom showing up with her credit card, and then Mom and David leaving."
"Well, Mom spilled her secret."
"Mom?"
"Oh, you don't know. Uh, Amy, I'm your twin."
"My what?"
"Twin. Mom had twins, and because she didn't want to raise us and Peter, she put me in foster care. I always knew about her though, and I even sent her letters sometimes. She never told anyone about having twins, though. I hoped she would someday, because I wanted to know my sister."
"Sister. Gosh, that word sounds so strange to me. It's always been Peter and Vincent against me. Wait until they hear they have two sisters instead of one."
"So, you'll accept me?"
"What? I've always liked you, Nikki. That's why I trusted you to go out on a date with my boyfriend….if he's still my boyfriend, that is."
"Yeah, he definitely is. He made it a point to say that he loves you, not me."
"Guess we'd better be heading back. Are you done with dinner?"
"Yeah, but aren't you hungry?"
"Nah, I stopped by Gillian's to hide out and had dinner with her and the kids. Oh, Nikki, don't pay for your food, I'll pay. I feel bad anyway."
"Actually, the card's your-I mean our mom's."
"Oh, okay then. Let her pay." They laughed together, and after Nikki got the receipt, she and Amy got up and walked arm in arm, out of the restaurant as sisters.
David and Maxine were sitting on the den's couch trying to watch TV over Lauren's music when Amy and Nikki walked in. Nikki walked in first, and then, Amy. They squeezed in beside David and Maxine…..naturally Amy sat beside David. David and Maxine didn't say anything, but put their arms around Amy and Nikki. David looked relieved to see Amy and gave her a nice, long kiss which confirmed to Amy that he was not angry. Maxine simply murmured, as she thought, to herself, "My girls….together at last," but as Nikki and Amy heard her, they just turned and smiled at their mother. Now all they had to do was to tell the rest of the family….
THE END
(But still the beginning….)
