Chapter 4: Knife Going In (Part One)
1 year and 5 months later
Sara's P.O.V.
The cab jerked to a halt, waking me from my restless sleep. I peeled my face off of the cool glass and looked outside the window. The snow was drifting serenely in front of my childhood home, snow flurries illuminated in the glow of the lamp above the door. I looked to my left at a squirming Tegan. She was obviously nervous about meeting my mom, Sonia for the first time.
"She's going to love you" I said, resting my hand on her shoulder and squeezing lightly, trying to transfer some of the comfort I felt. In reply, she smiled tremulously at me, and we exited the cab with our baggage. I knocked on the worn red door which swung open immediately, letting a stream of golden light and smells of cookies, the Christmas ham, and of the real tree that my mom insisted on putting up every year- even if she had no company.
"Sara! I'm so glad to see you!" my mother cried and embraced me tightly. We followed her inside the warm house, Tegan carrying the majority of the baggage- but mostly because she packed heavier. My mom turned to face Tegan, who dropped what she was in her hands to extend them to my mom. But instead of shaking it, she just stared at Tegan in confusion.
"Mom" I prompted. "This is my girlfriend, Tegan. Don't you remember she was coming?"
"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Quin." Tegan stammered, awkwardly retracting her hand when she saw my mother didn't intend on shaking it.
"Mom, what's the matter?" I asked in alarm. I watched in horror as my mom looked at me and said;
"Is this some sort of joke?"
"There's no joke." I said, confused. Tegan was looking as uncomfortable as ever, fiddling with her hands and looking extremely embarrassed.
"Care to tell me how you tracked her down, Sara?" Asked my mom bitterly, staring daggers into my eyes with her back turned to Tegan.
"What are you talking about? Track who down?"
"Your sister. Tegan."
"Wow, mom. I think you're confused. This is my girlfriend-"
"Don't say it!" my mother interrupted in a low, tense voice. "Don't you think I'd recognize my own child when I see her?" She was angry, trembling and tears were streaming down her face. She suddenly turned to Tegan and hugged her tightly. Tegan tried to push her away, unsure of what was happening.
Before I go forward, I should go back and explain…
Tegan and I had been together for about five months before I went to Calgary to spend Christmas with my family. Tegan decided to spend the holiday with Morgan's family because she couldn't afford to fly with me after losing her job.
While at my mom's house, I missed Tegan fiercely and wished she were there with me all the time. At first, I talked about her often, but stopped when it seemed to make my mom uncomfortable whenever I brought up her name.
When we got back from vacation, Tegan and I were so happy and relieved to see each other that we decided to move in together right then. Tegan spent so much time at my apartment as it was, so it only made sense.
We rarely fought, but when we did, it was always over something stupid, and we both ended up apologizing at eerily the same exact time. It sometimes felt like Tegan and I were always on the same frequency that no one else seemed to be able to tune in to. And after over a year with her, I finally had a chance to introduce her to my family. I was so excited about the upcoming Christmas, not to mention the surprise Tegan kept telling me about.
But through all of this, one thing kept cycling through the back of my mind. All of our friends seemed puzzled by how much alike Tegan and I looked, even though neither of us saw it that much. But everyone eventually wrote it off as a weird fluke when we insisted we weren't related and came from different parts of the country.
Looking back now, I should've known. I should've seen that the connection between Tegan and I was much, much more than between normal lovers. It was something much stronger than either of us was ready for, running through our very veins. Something the rest of the world may not be ready for…