This is the last chapter in Mitchie's POV. Originally, I had planned to make it from Shane's POV, but I figured it would make more sense in Mitchie's.
It's been six months since Shane cracked my anonymity. I still can't believe he found me. I thought he'd move on by now, but he didn't. It was just like at Camp Rock.
I took a quick look behind me, and I smiled when I saw Joey, now two, fast asleep in his car seat. I stared out the window at all the trees passing by, and I felt like I had to throw up. I was so nervous about what I was about to do. Shane seemed to sense my anxiety, because he took a hand off the steering wheel and enveloped my hand in his. He gave it a small squeeze, and I gave him a small smile to show him I appreciated it.
The entire trip took three hours, but it felt more like three minutes. My stomach did little flips as we turned off the highway. I saw kids with their parents, at the park, and some kids playing with the sprinkler while their parents watched from the porch. They were innocent little scenes, but they meant the world to me. Shane parked the car and turned to look at me.
"You okay? You sure you're ready?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'm sure." And I was. As Shane got out of the car, I climbed into the backseat and gently shook Joey awake.
"Joey, honey, we're here," I said when he blinked up at me. I unfastened his seatbelt and picked him up, then turned to look at Shane. He was coming back down the driveway, and he opened the door for me and helped me out when he got back to the car. As soon as Shane was out of the way, I looked up and froze. The woman in the doorway dropped the book she was holding.
She had more gray hair than before, and she looked more stressed, but other than that, she was exactly how I remembered her. We stared at each other, not saying anything, but I finally broke the silence after thirty seconds- I couldn't help it.
"Mom!" I cried, running flat out for her. She met me with open arms.
"Mitchie," she crooned in my ear. "Mitchie, Mitchie, Mitchie. Steve! Steve come here! Hurry!"
"What's going on?" he asked, coming around the corner. "What's going on?" He saw me then, and he joined the hug. We were finally together again.
"Mom? Dad? What's with all the yelling?" a new voice asked, coming down the stairs. I looked up to see a girl about seventeen come into the foyer.
"Who's she?" the girl asked, pointing to me.
"Tiff, this is your sister," my mom said slowly, then bit her llip, anticipating what the girl would say.
"Oh yeah! I heard about you," the girl said. "Mom and Dad told me all about you, and how I had a big sister, but they didn't know where you were. I'm Tiffany, your sister."
"Sister?" I asked, shaking her hand.
"Yeah. Mom and Dad adopted me when I was eleven," she said.
"We didn't think you were alive," my dad explained.
"So we decided to adopt, four years after you went missing," my mom finished.
"Okay, well, I'm Mitchie, and this is Joey, my son." Joey waved, the buried his face in my hair.
"Aww! He's adorable!" Tiffany cooed. "Can I hold him?"
"Sure," I said, passing him to her. He fought her for a few seconds, then began giggling for no apparent reason. We all laughed with him, even thought we were unsure about what was so funny.
"I missed you so much," I said when our laughter died down.
"We missed you too," my mom said.
"Even me," Tiffany added. "They showed me your picture, and I couldn't help but miss you. I didn't even get a chance to meet you till now."
"So I'm literally the big sister you never had," I grinned.
"Exactly," Tiffany said, grinning back at me.
"So, uh, any boyfriends I get to chase off?" I teased her, and she blushed.
"Shane, thank you so much for finding her," my dad said.
"Ah, it's nothing,"' Shane said, sauntering to my side and kissing my cheek. "I just ran into her... literally."
"Oh, God," I said, hiding my face in my hands.
"C'mon, you have a lot to tell us, Missy," my mom said, leading me into the house. I smiled, and i could almost imagine that I was sixteen again.