Chapter 2

"What the…..? Joe, what on earth is this?" Frank questioned his brother.

"I don't know. Frank, what is going on? Is this real?"

"I don't know."

The brothers stood in shocked silence for several moments, trying to sort out their new discovery. They were so bewildered that they barely heard their parents arrive home.

"Frank? Joe? We're home," called out their father.

Several seconds later, their mother appeared in the doorway. "Hi boys. Was everything alright while we were out? Did you both get something to eat?"

Joe turned around to face his mother with tears in his eyes. He grabbed the birth certificate from Frank and handed to his mother. "Mom?" he asked in a quiet, quivering voice.

Laura stood still for a moment and stared at the paper with a shocked expression. She then dropped the paper to the floor, buried her face in her hands and began to weep. Frank reached out and placed his arms around his mother to comfort her. He lead her over to his bed so she could sit, for she looked like she was about to faint. Both boys sat beside her, one on each side.

"Mom? What is this? Is this true?" Frank asked softly, trying not the upset his mother further, but still trying to get to the bottom of this madness. Joe, who had picked up the birth certificate, was still staring at the confusing words that were printed on the paper. A single tear fell down his check, and he impatiently wiped it away. Laura nodded her head in response to Frank's question.

"Why didn't you tell us! You lied to us! Why mom? Why?" Joe jumped up and screamed at his mother.

"JOE!" Frank hissed as he gave his brother an evil look. He turned back towards his mother, his arms still comforting her. "Mom? What happened?"

"Oh, my baby! They took my baby! They killed my baby!" Laura wailed between hysterical sobs.

"Who did mom?" Frank asked. Joe was still enraged and couldn't manage to speak.

Just then, Fenton appeared in the doorway. "What is all the commotion up here? I heard shouting!" Then he caught the distraught condition of his wife. "Laura! Oh my gosh, what's wrong?" He sat next to his wife and held her close. Laura put her head on his shoulders and continued to cry.

"Dad? What is going on?" Joe asked his father. Another tear slid down his face but this time he didn't bother to wipe it away. Instead he handed his father the birth certificate.

Fenton drew in a long breath. "Oh boy," was all he could say.

"Dad, is this true? Do we have a…….sister?" Frank asked, feeling as if he was also on the verge of tears.

"Yes," Fenton sighed, not sure how he was going to explain this to his sons.

"I have a..a..twin?" Joe whispered, choking back tears.

"Dad, what's going on? Please tell us." Franks eyes also began to water.

"Boys, um……well…?"

"Just start from the beginning and take your time Dad," Frank coaxed.

"Well, you see," Fenton started, realizing that he could no longer hide the truth from his sons any longer, "A long time ago, when your mother and I still lived in the city and I was still with the NYPD, I had arrested this man," Fenton took a deep breath as he began to recalled the painful memories of his past that he had kept hidden for so long. "His name was Denis McNelson, and he had killed a police officer who was also a friend of mine. I was the one that got his arrested and convicted. He was sentenced to death and executed months later. His son, Brian, was not too happy with me, and accused me of ruining his 'family life'. Shortly after that, your mother and I moved to Bayport to start a family of our own. We didn't wan to raise you children in the city. Everything was fine for a few years. You were born, Frank, and then a year later came Joe and…Elizabeth," his voice broke when he spoke his daughter's name for the first time in years. Then he regained his composure and continued, "Everything was wonderful for a year. Straight from a fairy tale. One day, Frank, you were two I believe, and that was when you had developed pneumonia. You were really sick, and we were very worried, so your mother decided to take you to the hospital," he closed his eyes, trying to hold himself together, then opened them and said, "Elizabeth was also sick, but it didn't seem like pneumonia. We were hoping it was only a cold, so we had her rest that day. Joe, you went to stay with Aunt Gertrude so Elizabeth could get her rest and so that you wouldn't catch anything either," Tears were now pooling in his eyes. He started to shake as he spoke, "Elizabeth and I were home alone. And then…..Brian….he took her," He choked out. It took him several minutes to calm down enough to continue as he finally succumbed to tears. "He knocked me out, but I recognized him before everything went black. When I came to, she was gone." He buried his head in his wife's hair as he continued to cry. Laura had been sobbing the entire time he recanted his story.

"What happened to her dad? Mom says he killed her," Joe inquired. He had now calmed down and was sitting on the bed with the rest of his family.

Instead of addressing his sons, he turned to his wife and took her face in his hands. "Laura, honey, I have something to tell you. You see, I haven't been quite honest with you. I never told you the whole truth," he hung his head in shame. "Please forgive me."

"Fenton,…what are you…talking about?" she asked, confused.

Fenton still had his head down as he said, "The truth is, we never knew what happened to her. He never confessed to anything. I made up that story about her being killed and her body being washed away in the river so that you wouldn't worry and so that maybe we could forget and move on," Fenton rambled and began to cry again. "I'm so sorry. Please forgive me." He then looked at his sons with sad eyes. "Nobody knows what happened to her."