The journey to the Bings flashed past in what felt like seconds. Danny sat in the back seat hunched over, his hands clenched tightly together. A mix of nerves, uncertainty and dread was making him feel very ill. MJ had tried to make conversation, but quickly realised Danny wasn't going to respond. She had shrugged and turned the radio on, a pop song Danny didn't recognise filled the car.
"Here we are" MJ told him as they pulled up on the side of the road. She parked the car and turned in her seat to look at him. "There's no need to be so nervous" She told him, unbuckling her seatbelt. "They're your family after all"
They're your family after all.
The words seemed to reverberate against his skull. He had a family, albeit a tiny, dysfunctional one made up of him, his mum and the dog back home in London. To him family were people he knew, he trusted. The people waiting for him inside that house were his family biologically but nothing else. They were still strangers to him.
MJ opened the door to let him out and he followed her up the path almost in a trance. She gave him a small reassuring smile and rang the doorbell. The house seemed quiet, but he was dreading all the people he might have to meet.
The door opened almost before MJ had stopped pressing the door bell. Monica smiled at them kindly and stood back to let them in. She took Danny's suitcase off MJ and placed it at the bottom of the stairs, then led them to the back of the house and into the kitchen.
When Danny had been here last the kitchen had been clean, but now it was totally spotless, Danny was sure everything from the floor to the marble countertop had been polished.
Danny's mum always cleaned and organised when she was nervous or anxious, he guessed Monica was the same.
"Would you like a drink?" Monica asked both of them.
"Actually I've got to get back" MJ said, checking her watch. "I'll be back tomorrow morning, there's a few matters we still need to discuss. But now's not the time."
She stood up and quickly said her goodbyes, then left Monica and Danny alone.
Danny stood awkwardly at the kitchen doorway, not knowing what to do. He was wondering where everyone else was.
Monica regarded him with a knowing look. "Sit down Daniel, are you hungry, thirsty?"
He hadn't eaten lunch and had barely touched his breakfast, but felt too nervous to eat. He shook his head.
Monica seemed to deflate slightly. She probably just wanted something to do. She moved towards the tap and pulled out two glasses, filled them with water then sat down opposite Danny.
"Chandler, Jack and Erica have gone to to grocery store" She said. "They should be back by now actually. We needed some stuff for dinner, with everything going on I've fallen a bit behind."
Danny nodded and fiddled absentmindedly with the glass in his hands, swirling the water around in slow circles. He still hadn't spoken. He knew he was being rude but he couldn't bring himself to say anything. What do you even say to your long lost mother? Monica seemed to be having the same problem. She bit the corner of her lip and studied him for a second.
"The twins just came back from college, they arrived last night… Both of them are really excited to see you. They couldn't believe it, it took Joey, Ross your dad and I to explain what happened before they believed it."
She continued to talk about what and where the twins were studying but Danny wasn't listening. His mind had fixed on what Monica said.
Your dad and I.
His father was John Haddigan. A man he hadn't seen since he was five. A man who most likely played a large part in his kidnapping, but a man he could remember. He taught him to ride a bike and play football, did fatherly things with him. He wished he could remember Chandler doing those sorts of things with him, but he couldn't. Chandler was still a stranger.
"Are you ok Daniel?" Monica had stopped talking and was looking at Danny with a concerned expression. He nodded, feeling slightly overwhelmed.
"It is Daniel? You don't prefer Danny or Dan do you?" She asked.
Danny shrugged. "Most people call me Danny, I respond to anything though." It was the first time he'd spoken since he arrived. Monica smiled.
"You know I had that name picked out since I was 14? I always thought if I had a son he would be called Daniel. Jack was named after my father, then when we had you we figured that having sons named Jack and Daniel might make us sound like alcoholics" Danny smiled "Matthew means 'gift of god', which is why we chose it, it suited the situation and you, but we kept Daniel as a middle name, I'm glad you remembered it - at least I assume you must have, or else…"
Danny shuffled in his seat uncomfortably. Why had he kept one of his names? They were saved from an awkward pause by the sound of the front door opening, then almost immediately an almighty crash.
"Jack!" A female voice exclaimed. "What did you do?"
"What did I do?" Said a male's voice, slightly muffled and very sarcastic. "I thought I'd just facepalm the floor Erica, thought that might be a fun thing to do."
"I told you to tie that lace up" A third, familiar voice said. Chandler.
Monica rolled her eyes and stood up to investigate the commotion, noticing Danny's unsure expression, she gestured for him to follow. He stood a couple paces behind her, not leaving the kitchen. A boy with a shock of light brown hair was sprawled on the floor, a girl with similar features stood over him, rolling her eyes. Jack and Erica. His brother and sister.
"No are you ok Jack? Just I told you so? Honestly…this family" His grumbles became quiet as he picked himself up off the floor. Grimacing, he wiped down his trousers and shirt. "Hey why is there a suitcase-"
Realisation hit him and he looked to Monica. His eyes flicked to where Danny was standing behind her and he froze, a look of disbelief on his face.
Jack's hazel eyes were glazed with a sort of shock at Danny, and his lips were parted with unspoken emotion. Erica was gazing at Danny with yearning, her brows pinched in emotion.
There was a long pause.
Erica was the one who recovered first. A slight gasp passed her lips as she took a step towards him. She seemed torn between a desire to embrace him and give him some space. One hand came up, trembling, to her mouth.
When she spoke her voice was choked with emotion. "Oh my god"
Danny smiled slightly and before he knew it was in Erica's embrace. After a minute or so she let him go, and he was almost immediately engulfed in a big bear hug. Jack was almost a head taller than Danny, and easily picked him off the ground. He was too taken aback to return the hug, but Jack didn't seem to notice. He put him back on his feet but didn't let go.
"Oh my god it's really you." He said with a grin. "Mom and dad said but I didn't believe…"
Behind Jack Erica gave him a watery smile, which Danny timidly returned. "Matthew…You look exactly the same, just older" She wiped a tear from her eye "So much like Dad"
"Poor guy" Jack commented, receiving glares from his parents. Danny smiled.
"Hey Danny" Chandler said, carrying a bag of shopping under one arm and using the free one to ruffle Danny's hair. The casual greeting was a far cry from the emotional mess he was when they met yesterday. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Monica looking at the scene with misty eyes. For some reason that made him uncomfortable.
Erica put a gentle hand behind his back to lead him into the kitchen behind her parents. Jack went back into the hall to pick up everything he had dropped when he'd fallen earlier. As Erica went to help her parents put away the shopping Danny hung back. They were chatting and joking with each other, sending Danny small smiles and looks occasionally but otherwise acting as if everything was completely normal. This was probably for their sakes as well as Danny's. He knew they were trying to make him feel at home but he couldn't help but feel anything but.
Jack came in a minute later, he dumped the bag of groceries on the counter and grabbed an apple that Chandler had just put away.
"What's for dinner mom?" Jack asked through a mouthful of fruit, Erica shot him a look of disgust but didn't comment.
"Burgers and fries. And don't talk with your mouth full" Jack rolled his eyes at his mother and made a great show of swallowing the food before asking what time they would eat.
"Around 7, we'll eat outside if the weather holds." She glanced out the window and started folding the empty bags. "Jack, Erica, show Danny where he'll be staying"
Jack took another bite of his apple and gestured at Danny, Erica was already halfway up the stairs with Danny's suitcase. Chandler made a movement as if to follow, but stopped when Monica sent him a look. Danny squirmed uncomfortably, but followed Jack upstairs. He didn't need to be a genius to know exactly what, or who, their topic of conversation would be.
A grinning Jack led Danny up the stairs and into a wide hallway. Much like the one downstairs, framed photos adorned the soft cream walls. They were mostly of Jack and Erica, but a couple featured other children around the same age as the twins. He guessed they were cousins, or close family friends.
"That's Erica's room" Jack pointed to an open door on the left.
Danny looked through the doorway, it was definitely a girl's room. The walls were painted a pale blue, there was a double bed against one wall, a large window on another with a desk covered in make-up right underneath it and a suitcase lying open on the floor with clothes, books, jotters and various other things lying all over the pink bedding.
"And you said I make a mess," stated Jack as he looked into his sister's room, "Would have been better if you left the suitcase closed."
"Oh shut up, I'll get everything done," pouted Erica, who had just appeared from one of the rooms further down the corridor.
"Anyway, this is my room" He led them to the room opposite Erica's. Jack' room was similar to his sister's. Suitcase on his double bed, opened and with many of his possessions scattered around the surrounding area. His desk was also under the window, but unlike Erica's had only a sticker covered laptop on it. The walls were painted a dark blue, where a number of posters had been pinned up.
"Your's is no cleaner than mine!" Erica exclaimed, peering round the door.
"It's an organised mess, stop criticising my methods." Jack must have seen something on Danny's face because he looked at him and added. "We've just come back from college, we don't normally keep all our stuff in suitcases."
He grinned and followed his twin back into the hallway. "Anyway come to us if you need anything, wake us up if you need"
Erica snorted "Come to me, Jack sleeps like the dead."
Jack rolled his eyes and shoved his sister playfully.
"Bathroom" Erica said, pointing to the door next to her room. "Mom and Dad's room is the one at the end of the corridor, guest room is the one opposite. That's where you'll be staying. And that's your room…well your old room at least." She finished awkwardly.
He looked at the door at the end of the corridor. The name 'Matthew' was written on the outside in big wooden letters, each one decorated with a different cartoon animal. He'd had something very similar back home when he was little, except the letters spelt out 'Daniel'. He walked slowly towards the door, aware of Jack and Erica's gaze. He stared at the letter 'M'. It was slightly bigger than the others and had a monkey painted on the front. He felt a stirring of a memory, something about it was familiar.
He turned the handle. It was a large room, made to look even larger by the small size of the children's furniture. The walls were painted a soft blue, cloud stickers decorated them. Bookshelves lined most of one wall, a collection of children's books and small toys filled the shelves. In the corner there was a white rocking chair, hanging above that was an aeroplane mobile. A toy box stood at the foot of a toddler bed, covered in some oversized lego bricks and toy cars. He wandered past the toys and to the bed. A small teddy bear lay on top of the soft, white duvet. He picked it up. The bear was wearing a blue and navy striped t-shirt, one of the bear's ears was tearing along the seam and the t-shirt had a couple of small holes near the bottom.
"I see you found Baba bear" Monica was sanding in the doorway. Wait, Baba bear?
"Baba bear?" Danny asked, clutching the bear and looking over to Monica. Chandler had joined her at the door and they shared a look.
"Do you recognise it?" Chandler asked "It would make sense, you loved that thing."
Danny studied the bear, it was strikingly similar to the one he had back home, just a slightly bigger, and with a blue top instead of a green one.
"Well yeah…" He breathed a laugh and looked up at Monica and Chandler. "I had a bear just like it when I was little, called it Baba bear Junior."
Monica's eyebrows almost disappeared into her hairline.
"I got him when I was three, a couple weeks after I was adopted. Apparently I kept asking for Baba bear…neither of my parents had any idea what I was on about, and I didn't like any of the stuffed animals that they had got me. Wouldn't sleep with them or anything…Dad took me to a toy shop. They had like a huge wall of stuffed toys and let me pick out any stuffed animal, because I was so set on having 'baba bear'. I picked out that bear and called it baba bear junior."
Chandler and Monica both looked shocked and slightly upset. He understood that, why would he remember his stuffed toy so well, but not his family?
He studied the bear some more, struck by just how familiar it was. At the door Monica had whispered something to Chandler, who had walked to the other side of the corridor with he twins. Monica came inside and shut the door, she ran her fingers along the bookshelf.
"I kept everything just as it was when…" She looked down.
Danny stood by the bed suddenly very awkward. He started shifting his weight from one leg to the other.
"For years this was the only place I could find any peace, the only place I could just be. " She walked over to him and placed a gentle hand on his arm. "We can go through everything soon, clear out all the baby stuff, make it yours again."
He nodded, then shrank back.
Monica stood there for a few seconds, her hand still outstretched. She gave him a sad smile and turned, leaving the room.
MJ came just after breakfast the next morning, she smiled kindly at Danny when he greeted her but couldn't hide the tired and stressed look on her face. She sat down at the kitchen table, politely declining Monica's offer of food and logged onto her iPad.
Monica sat down next to Danny as Chandler sent Jack and Erica upstairs. He then sat down on Danny's other side.
"Ok, quite a lot has happened since we met yesterday. I'll try make all this as quick as possible." She pulled up a picture of a large, bald man with a huge forehead. He looked to be in his mid-40s. His head was disproportionately small when compared to the width of his muscly shoulders and to Danny's eyes at least, he bore an uncanny resemblance to a thumb.
"This man is Todd Carson, he's the man who is down as your father on your adoption certificate Danny."
A prickle of fear shot up Danny's spine, though he couldn't explain why.
"He was arrested on a DUI charge in February 2012 in Rochester. These pictures are the mugshots from that arrest. We put them out on national TV last night, asking anyone to call if they recognised the man. A woman called at about eleven last night from Chicago saying that it was her neighbour, going under a different name, but the same man. He was taken into custody and interviewed."
MJ looked straight at Danny, he could tell by her face it wasn't good news. "He's admitted knowing about the whole kidnapping from when you were little."
Danny frowned "Isn't that good? If he's admitted taking me that proves mum is innocent."
"It's not that simple" MJ said "He has signed a statement saying that your mom was involved in the whole thing."
Danny stared at her, his heart beating wildly. He vaguely heard Monica ask a question behind him. Danny didn't give her a chance to finish.
"He's lying" He cried. "Mum told me everything. She thought he was my father. She-"
"I know Danny, I've listened to his interview and what Penelope is telling us is making sense and sounding far more sincere. I've been dong this job for a long time, you start to develop a sense for when people are lying. I don't think your mother is. But she has admitted to breaking the law with the money transfers, so we have to go through due process."
She pulled a strip of paper out her pocket and slid it across the table to Danny. "This is her lawyer's number, he can update you on her case."
He thanked her and clutched the small bit of paper tightly in his fist.
He wanted nothing more than to get up now and call the guy. But Monica and Chandler were asking questions and he knew he had to stay and listen.
"Next thing to do is discuss the media." MJ said.
"Media?" Danny asked
"We've already had two journalists asking questions at the police station. We refused to answer anything but-"
"Journalists?"
"Your disappearance was huge Danny. The whole country knows your name, you were the main story on all national news outlets for weeks afterwards." Monica explained. Danny swallowed a lump in his throat.
"What are we going to have to do, how much is Danny going to have to do?" Chandler asked.
MJ grimaced. "The media attention is going to be intense. Probably even more so than when he first went missing. That was only national news. Danny's been living in the UK all this time, so the British news outlets will want the story. And then the fact that he found you and he's so young…The rest of the world will be interested too."
Danny looked down into his lap. He knew exactly what sort of story the media would tell. He would have to pretend everything was perfect here, he'd found his parents and wasn't looking back. His mum would be portrayed as the villain in this story. A child snatcher who should be locked up.
He was prepared to do anything in his power to stop that.
"Will I have to do interviews?"
MJ grimaced. "You'll definitely have to do one, we'll try our best to limit it to that. It won't be live and I'll try my best to have an interview with one person rather than a large crowd of journalists." She looked at Monica and Chandler in turn. "I'll need a statement from you guys by this evening, we'll release that when the news breaks." They shared a look and nodded. MJ's eyes flicked back to her iPad. "The house will be secured the same way it was after Danny first went missing, and remember to to keep your curtains facing the street closed. We'll try our best to stop reporters camping out the house but…" She shrugged and Monica and Chandler nodded in understanding, Danny wondered if the same thing had happened when he first went missing.
MJ stood up and Picked up the iPad. "One last thing, Danny make sure all your social media accounts are completely private, Monica, Chandler you guys too. Tell your twins as well. People are going to be all over this story and I don't want them harassing you online."
They all nodded.
"Thank you MJ" Chandler shook her hand. She let herself out and Danny watched the car pull away, an odd feeling of dread in his gut.
The day passed quickly after MJ's visit, as did the next week. Life at the Bings was by no means uncomfortable, but Danny couldn't help but miss home. In fact missing home had become a dull, constant ache. He missed school and he missed the noise and chaos that came with living in a big city. But what he missed most was his mum.
It was strange, considering how much time he'd spent wishing her away, he would never have imagined he would miss her as much as he did. It wasn't as if he wanted to have a long chat with her or anything. He just missed her in the background. Doing mum things, alongside the sounds and smells of his normal life.
After a couple of days he'd fallen into a routine. He'd wake up early and try to get hold of Katie, she'd gone back to school last Monday, and as the news of his 'reappearance' had made the front page the next day, she was dealing with scores of curious teenagers asking about it. Something she'd complained about for a good 15 minutes on their last phone call.
He'd go down for breakfast soon after, where Erica and Monica were usually waiting. Erica was fairly reserved, she seemed more comfortable asking questions about Danny's life than talking about her own. But she was good company. They'd talk quietly over breakfast, Monica joining occasionally, but she mostly just listened. Chandler and Jack tended to join later. Jack was clever and witty and loud, but not in an obnoxious way. He was good at interrupting awkward silences, which unfortunately he'd had to do quite a bit.
Chandler was a lot like Jack. Clever and witty, but in a more quiet, sarcastic kind of way. He usually spent a good part of the morning entertaining Danny with stories of all the crazy things that he and the rest of their group of friends got up to before the twins were born. Jack and Erica weren't particularly interested in this, they'd probably heard them all before.
After lunch MJ usually called. She kept them up to date about the search for John Haddigan, or Simon Vesper, or whatever his real name was. The search was, unsurprisingly, not getting very far. He'd used a number of identities in his life, according to MJ he stole them from people his age who died when they were children. The whole thing gave Danny the creeps. The FBI wasn't even entirely sure what his real name was.
At some point in the day he'd try to get hold of his mum's lawyer. Which was always frustrating. He always had to go through about three secretaries to talk to him, and when he did finally get to ask him about what was going to happen, his answers were always vague, especially to his big questions.
This routine was very quickly growing tiring. They couldn't go outside without being hounded by photographers, news crews and journalists. Monica and Chandler would do a pre-recoded interview some time next week. There was still debate over how long Danny would have to be on for. He was dreading the whole thing. But MJ said it should reduce the media presence outside the house, which Danny was looking forward to. They were all going slight stir-crazy.
The garden was, with the exception of one incident with a remote controlled drone, private. The fences were high enough that even the nosiest of neighbours would have a difficult time peering over. And Danny could not have been more grateful for the space.
Jack had been horrified to learn Danny had never even seen a game of American football, and had taken to bringing him out and teaching him to play. He'd picked it up quickly, it wasn't too different to rugby. Which Danny was teaching Jack. The evenings often ended with the boys fiercely debating which sport was best.
Erica tended to watch from the shade of the porch, but occasionally gave into Jack's goading to play. Which was always eventful. Danny reckoned they were the most competitive people he'd ever met, although according to Erica they were nothing compared to their mother.
Erica was still very reserved around Danny, especially if they were alone. Their conversations' rarely went beyond small talk, although that wasn't exclusive to Erica. The whole family seemed to tiptoe round topics that might upset them or Danny. They'd ask him about life in Britain, but not his life in Britain. As if by making no mention of his previous life they could pretend it never happened. He didn't exactly want to tell them his life story, but this treatment of him was slowly driving him insane.
Monica tended to hover round Danny, as if letting him out of her sight would make his disappear. He could understand, but it was getting annoying. She never said much either, just looked at him with longing in her eyes. Danny couldn't help but feel Monica wanted eleven years of meals and cuddles and kissing cuts and bruises better. She wanted Danny to suddenly turn into Matthew, and be the son she lost, not the one she has.
The more Danny drew away from her the more she hovered, the more he made it clear he wanted to be alone the more she grasped. Danny had tried to get away by going up to his room, but she would always find an excuse to bring him down and be with the rest of the family, where he'd end up making awkward small talk and wishing he could be anywhere else. The whole thing was getting old fast.
He could see Chandler especially was nervous about the whole situation, but he didn't acknowledge it was happening, at least not directly. He'd try ease the tension with a joke or story, but that sometimes made it worse. Nobody else said anything so the tension built. Then two weeks to the day he'd arrived, everything came to a head.
Omg has it really been so long?! Honestly I can't believe it's taken me so long to update, life has just got really busy lately, and I've changed my mind on how this story is going to play out like 100 times. Seriously, I have 7 versions of this chapter in my files.
Anyway thank you to everyone who reviewed, followed or favourited. You guys have really kept me motivated to continue with this :)
Hope you enjoy
ChocoholiclikeLupin x