Disclaimer: I am not in any shape or form, James Patterson.
"Time respects no person,
And what you lift up must fall.
They're waiting outside to claim my crumblin' walls."
--John Cougar Mellencamp
Chapter Two—Max POV
We all sat around the coffee table looking at the files of each other's families. The younger three were basically going crazy about loads of pictures, and information about births and deaths.
After the shock and excitement had worn down, I thought we should take a look at the files all together instead of each of us tearing them open at the same time. Everyone except me, had a very thick, ominous looking manila envelop. Right now I was mentally preparing myself to control my emotions as we looked at Nudge's file together.
We were all scattered around the living room, our attention on Nudge who sat cross-legged on the floor. Gazzy and Angel were peering over her shoulder as she held the envelope in her tan hand. I sat on the right side of Gazzy, and Fang was sitting on the arm of the couch to the left of Mom, and Jeb had positioned himself on the other side of her. Iggy was still in his chair with Ella sitting nearby, and Total and Akila had moved next to Angel. Even Magnolia seemed to be waiting and watching from her spot in the kitchen doorway.
Nudge was practically shaking as she slowing slipped her index finger under the flap and tore open her folder. She wordlessly- for once- took out a stack of papers and skimmed through them, her eyes jumping from page to page as she spread them out on the coffee table in front of her.
I looked around the room. The rest of the Flock was anxious, jumpy. I could tell they wanted to open their envelopes, too. Gazzy quivered next to me.
"Oh my God!" Nudge suddenly shouted, "Look! It's me!" She was holding up a birth announcement, waving it around so much that you couldn't even get a glance in.
She started reading it aloud, but her voice sounded so quick and incoherent. Or maybe I just couldn't bring myself to listen.
I wanted so badly to be happy for them. I wanted, more than anything, to feel the excitement and to see all the possibilities that this would bring, but I could only see one. And that was the fact that this was going to tear my Flock, my family, apart.
Nudge passed around the card and I stared at it. It was weird. I don't remember her as a baby, I was still young myself, but this picture was definitely Nudge. I could tell by the shape of her mouth, the structure of her face, the coloring of her skin. I passed the picture to Fang. He let his fingers touch mine a little too long, as if to see if I was alright. I turned away from his gaze.
Nudge was talking again, and I tried to pay attention and smile but all I could do was "ooh" and "ahh" and offer up a weak excuse of a grin. Nudge on the other hand, was glowing.
She passed another picture of what only could be her mom and dad. I noticed the similarities between them. She looked like the splitting image of her father, but she shared some features with her mom. Her hair looked to be the same color and texture, and they had the same nose. The coloring of her skin seemed to be a mixture of the two.
"Look! I have three brothers!" She looked down at the picture in her hand, "And two sisters! Oh my God, oh my God…" Nudge was practically shaking. I saw her eyes fill with tears and I was trying my hardest to keep my eyes dry.
"Nudge, that's really great," I managed to say, in what I hope was an excited, sincere voice. She beamed at me and it looked like she bought it.
"Max? Can we open mine next? And Angel's?" Gazzy asked, already starting to open the envelope that held both their information.
"Wait, give Nudge a chance to finish."
"It's alright Gaz, I'm done," Nudge said, not even bothering to put the information back in the package. She was holding it in her lap, still looking at the photos.
The Gasman practically tore the envelope in half trying to open it. He gave some papers to Angel and started reading his stack out loud, sounding out words as he went along.
"None of this makes sense," Angel whined, frustrated. I took them from her, my eyes skimming the page as I tried to stay in control of myself.
"Looks like your mom is living in Texas," I said reading the information. "Your dad lives somewhere in Oregon."
"Are they divorced?" Gazzy asked.
"Doesn't say." I was still reading, trying to find some more information.
"Here's a picture of your mom, guys." I handed them the picture and swallowed hard. Angel had tears streaming down his cheeks and Gazzy was trying hard not to cry.
It didn't take long to find a picture of their father, and by that point Angel had her face buried in my shirt, her small shoulders shaking. I rubbed her back and looked at the picture Gazzy was holding.
Gazzy, after all the picture-passing had worn down, had taken the pile of papers and silently put them back in its folder. He sealed it back up, stared at it for a moment, then broke into this huge smile that completely broke my heart.
Fang was next. He sifted through the papers reading and rereading them before he finally said something out loud.
"My mother married, but not to my father," His tone was flat, unemotional like always, but I thought I picked up a hint of something I couldn't recognize.
He looked up at all of us, turning his head slowly, as if taking in the moment. His mouth curved up a tiny bit at the sides in the hint of a smile as he looked back down at the picture in his lap.
"I have a step-sister," He said, his voice a little higher than normal. I bet no one even noticed, "And a younger brother."
"Oh, Fang!" Nudge said running over to see the picture. "Lemme see!"
As he showed Nudge the picture, I could sense something changing. I felt like I was losing in a battle to keep my family together. I knew that this was something that Angel, Nudge, and the Gasman had wanted to find out for quite some time. This was something that all of us had dreamed about before. Finding our parents was our main goal, once upon a time. It had happened to Iggy, and then me. I could tell the rest of the Flock had really wanted to know, just exactly where they came from. At least, I knew the younger three did.
But I had never expected Fang would want to leave. Meeting his parents, definitely. All those times we stayed up late at night, just the two of us, talking, he always said how he didn't care. He had said that he wanted to know who they were but he didn't want any part in their normal lives, any part in living in a world where kids with wings were just a mere fantasy.
But I knew. I had known since the minute he opened his envelope that he changed his mind. He wanted it all. He wanted it more than he thought he did. I don't think he even realized it. All of a sudden, he had left me. After all those times of telling me that he wouldn't do anything to leave the Flock. I knew he had already decided. I knew they all had. Nudge, and Gazzy, and Angel, and Fang.
Iggy was now my only hope. I had to hang onto him. Which is why when Iggy said, after Fang was done looking at the files for now, that he wanted to wait to open his, my heart soared. I felt incredibly guilty, and acted excited for my guys, but I knew that Fang saw right through that. I think Mom did, too.
Which is why, when the Flock were getting their shoes on to go for a victory flight, Mom had put her hand on my shoulder, I flinched away, embarrassed at how selfish I had acted.
"They're just excited, Max," she said softly, when no one was listening, "That's all."
"I know."
"Be happy for them."
"I am happy," I said. "Way happy." I offered up a weak smile.
"But…"
I sighed. I could feel the rush of tears behind my eyes.
"But they're leaving me, Mom. I can feel it. Each one of them."
"You don't know that yet." She rubbed my arm.
"I can tell. I have this gut feeling. I know them, Mom. They want to go, so badly. Even Fang. Especially Fang."
"Maybe not. Jeb thinks you should meet their parents first. To make sure they're all right."
I nodded. That made sense.
"But they're still going to leave me. Each and everyone one of them. And you know what the worst part is?" The tears were really coming now, "I can't even be mad. Not even a tiny bit." I looked at Mom.
"Because I did the same thing. I met my parents, I moved in with you. It's only fair that they get to do the same." I could hear the Flock coming now, their feet padding down the hall.
"You don't know that for sure, honey."
I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand, "Yes, Mom. I do."