Long Lost
The doorbell of the Martin home rang around 6 p.m. on a Saturday evening. Chuck opened the door and smiled when he saw Regan.
"Hey, kiddo," he said, and gave Regan a hug. "Your mom - I mean, Susan - is upstairs."
"Thanks, Chuck!" Regan shouted as she ran up the stairs. It had been a few weeks since Regan and Susan's first meeting, and Regan had become a regular at the Martin home. She and Chuck had gotten along extremely well the first time they had met.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Susan was lying on her bed, her feet propped up on a pillow, running her hands over her now six-months-pregnant belly. There was a knock on the door and she looked up.
"Come in," she said. The door opened and Regan entered. "Hey, this is a great surprise!"
"Why are you in bed?" Regan asked, worry in her voice. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine," Susan replied, and smiled at Regan's concern. "But I had a long shift today and I needed to put my feet up."
"Do you want me to come back?" Regan asked, and Susan shook her head. Susan spied a book in Regan's hands.
"What's that?" she inquired, and Regan relaxed and sat down next to Susan on the bed.
"It's a gift for you," Regan answered, and handed the book to Susan. Susan looked at Regan, then opened the book, which was actually a photo album. Susan slowly turned through the pages and then looked at Regan.
"These - these are your baby pictures," she said softly. Regan nodded and pointed out some of the pictures.
"That's from my first birthday," she noted. "Mom and Dad said I had more cake on me than in me!" Both women laughed. "There are more pictures. I wanted you to see that I have a great life growing up." Susan put her arms around Regan.
"Thank you," she said, her eyes welling with tears. "I will always treasure this." Regan hugged Susan back.
"You're welcome," Regan said quietly. Susan's motherly instinct kicked in and she stroked Regan's hair.
"What is it?" she asked her daughter. Regan looked up at Susan, tears in her own eyes.
"My dad got the job transfer to Boston," she began. "I knew it was a possibility, but...now it's happening." Regan's lower lip began to tremble and the tears escaped from her eyes and fell down her cheeks. Susan hugged Regan tightly. She couldn't believe it. Regan had only reappeared into her life a couple of months before, and now she was leaving? It wasn't fair!
"Shh, it's okay," Susan soothed, fighting back bursting into tears. Regan parted from the hug and wiped her eyes.
"I don't want to move," she said firmly. "I have a life here: college, my friends, my church and youth group, and you. And I'm going to be a big sister! I've always wanted to have a sibling." Susan smiled, pushed Regan's hair back from her face and looked into her eyes.
"Regan, you have a room here. You're welcome to live with us," she said. "Chuck and I will talk to your parents, okay?" Regan nodded.
"They're going to say no," she replied. "They've always been so protective of me." Susan adjusted the pillows behind her back.
"Don't worry about anything," she said comfortingly. "I have money saved up, so if you need that for school, it's yours. I definitely owe you." Regan shook her head.
"Susan, you don't owe me a thing," she stated. A look of surprise crossed Susan's face.
"Regan, I gave you up for adoption! Haven't you ever felt resentful?" Susan questioned. Regan laughed quietly and turned to Susan.
"Susan, you could've easily had an abortion, and I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you. But you gave me life. I can't even begin to imagine what you went through, becoming pregnant at seventeen. I'm sure having to give me up was the toughest thing you've ever done," she said, and Susan hugged her daughter again.
"I have the best kid ever," she said. "And you are not moving to Boston. You're staying here." Regan returned the hug.
"Thank you," she replied. "Now to convince my parents of that." Susan kissed Regan's forehead and rubbed her head.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
One week later, Susan and Chuck walked into the Lakeview Inn, a restaurant in Chicago. They were meeting with Regan and her parents, Brian and Helen Miller. Chuck spied Regan sitting at a table near the patio with another couple.
"That must be them," he said, and comfortingly rubbed Susan's back. Susan had been very nervous all week, especially that night. She hadn't been sleeping well, and Chuck was worried about his wife and their unborn baby.
"Let's get this over with," Susan said, misery apparent in her voice. Even though Regan was a legal adult at the age of 20, Susan still worried that the Millers might persuade their daughter to move to Boston. Susan prayed she would be able to stay in Chicago.
Regan saw Susan and Chuck approach their table and stood. Susan thought Regan looked beautiful: her dark blonde hair was down and pulled to one side with a small clip, and she wore a black floral dress.
"Hi," Regan greeted them, giving each a hug. "I'd like you to meet my parents." Brian and Helen. "Mom, Dad, this is Susan and Chuck Martin. Susan, Chuck, these are my parents, Brian and Helen Miller."
An exchange of "nice to meet you" was said, a bit uncomfortably for all present at the table. Regan and both sets of couples sat down.
"Did you have a hard time finding the Inn?" Chuck began, and Helen shook her head.
"No, the directions you gave Regan were perfect," she said. Brian looked at Susan directly.
"Let's just say what needs to be said," he began firmly. "Helen and I love our daughter. She's the most important thing in our lives. We don't want to move hundreds of miles across the country and not have her be with us."
"Dad, I've told you, I don't want to leave my school, or my friends," Regan began.
"There are colleges in Boston, sweetheart," Helen said softly. "With your grades, you could transfer anywhere you wanted." Regan shook her head in frustration.
"Mom, Dad, you're not listening. I don't want to go to college in Boston. I don't want to live there. I've grown up in Illinois and I want to stay here." Brian rubbed his head, irritated.
"I knew this would happen once you found your - " he said, and was interrupted by a furious Regan.
"Don't you even finish that sentence, Dad," she said, fuming. "If it weren't for Susan, I wouldn't even *be* here! You owe her more than you can ever begin to know."
"Honey, I'm glad you found your birth mother," Helen said gently. "But you can call each other, and visit." Regan looked at Susan and Chuck, who both spoke up.
"Regan really wants to be here when the baby is born," Susan began. "And I'd love to have her. We both would." Chuck cleared his throat and looked at the Millers.
"Brian, Helen, my wife and I can't thank you enough. You've raised Regan with wonderful values, and she's a terrific young woman," he began. "But she is twenty years old. An adult. One who is capable of making her own decisions."
"And my decision is to stay here," Regan declared. "Susan and Chuck have a room for me at their house. Why don't you come over and see where I'll be living?"
"It's in a very quiet and safe neighborhood," Chuck said. "I wouldn't want anything less for my family."
"And what about this family?" Brian interjected. "In a couple of months, you'll have a new baby to take care of."
"I'm very aware of that," Susan said dryly. "And I'd love for Regan to be around when her baby sister is born. I can't wait to see the both of them together."
"I'm so excited to have a little sister," Regan said, a grin forming on her face for the first time that evening. She looked at her adoptive parents. "I've always been obedient and done everything you wanted. I made good grades, I had friends you liked, I'm involved with my church. I've never been in trouble. When I turned 18, I wanted to find Susan, but you were both uncomfortable with the idea, so I waited. Two years. Mom, Dad, I missed out on two years with Susan because you didn't want me to find her yet. I can't ever have that time back." Brian and Helen looked at each other and then down at their hands. "I don't want to make you feel guilty," Regan continued. "What's in the past is best left there. But I have my future here. I love Chicago. I love Susan and Chuck. I want to be here when my baby sister is born. And that's all I have to say."
Brian looked at his daughter. "There's nothing we can say to make you change your mind?" he asked. Regan shook her head.
"No," she said. "You and Mom knew that once I was done with college, I'd be moving out. It's just happening a little bit earlier than planned." Helen reached over and took Regan's hand.
"If it's what you want," she said gently, "then we'll support you." Regan reached over and hugged Helen.
"Thanks, Mom," she replied. "I love you."
"I love you," Helen said in return, and kissed Regan's head. She turned to Chuck and Susan. "Take good care of her, okay?" Susan took Regan's free hand and held it.
"I will," she said. "I've waited twenty years for this." Regan leaned over and hugged Susan.
The next chapter: Regan's new life in Chicago begins.
