The Breaking Point

Chapter Nine

My dad looked at Sam, Jake, and me. He took a deep breath and ran his hands through his hair. This was probably one the hardest things he had to tell us. "I can't believe that you, Sam, figured most of this out, then locked your sister in a room after she found out parts that you have." My dad said. Sam smiled at him.

"Oh, but I can."

I took a deep breath. I just wanted to find out the truth, but at the same time I didn't. Sam and my dad seemed to be locked in an intense staring contest, both of them trying to waste time, at least that's what it seemed like.

"Stop having a staring contest and just tell us who fucked who, resulting in who is sibling to who." Jake said, glaring at both Sam and our dad. Our dad looked up and smiled. "Why not let Sam you?" He said.

Sam sat up in the chair he was sitting in. "The only thing that I got out of this was really twins and triplets, but while I was driving I thought more and more about it, until it all clicked in my head. There isn't actually twins and there isn't actually triplets. It's something else, entirely." Sam folded his hands on the table in front of him.

Our dad nodded. "Correct, you three are actually part of a set of quadruplets." And then there was silence as Jake and and I locked hands and Sam seemed to bask in the fact he was right. "The other one of you guys died when you were 2." Our dad said, sadness lined his face. I looked over to Jake, who's face started to show some type of light as if he was remembering the person I could not.

"Maddie." He breathed. Our father nodded. I looked him up and down. The name sounded familiar, sure, but I couldn't place a face to it. "But, wait, why was Sam living with you?" I asked. Our dad looked up at me, and his face became serious.

"When you were all born your mother was filled with happiness. She was beside herself with joy. When Maddie got sick, when she was 2, your aunt adopted Sam. She couldn't have any of her own kids and we couldn't keep up with paying for all of you. When Maddie died, I had problems with drinking and your mom and I ended up divorcing. I fell in love with your mom's sister, and married her. Which made Sam my legal kid again. When I heard that his mom had been in a car crash I spent forever mourning her, but I had to move on and at some point this is where we ended up."

I stared at my father. "You married your ex-wife's sister?" Jake asked, sounding confused. Our dad nodded, looking ashamed. I casted a glance at Sam who looked confused. Bet he couldn't have spent that coming.

"But I mean is there a chance Maddie is alive?"

Maddie had been dead for 16 years and Sam wanted to know if she could still be alive. I wasn't even surprised. I couldn't be, possibly because his adoptive mom, my aunt, our aunt, was still alive. I looked at our dad who shook his head.

"Her funeral was one of the worst things I've ever had to experience."

At least he was being honest with us. The phone started to ring and our dad went to get it, leaving us alone with our thoughts. "The photo by the door, that's a photo of Maddie." Sam whispered. I heard Jake as he murmured in agreement. The girl in the photo was a little girl with brown hair and big green eyes. She didn't look like her siblings. Not at all.

"Guys, go wake up Anna, her dad just died." My father's voice came hushed from the doorway. I glanced at the clock, it was almost four AM. I felt tears start to run down my cheeks. "Ill wake her up." Jake whispered. I listened quietly as her got up and slowly walked out of the room. I felt Sam's arm wrap around me, our first sibling death hug. Which, was the weird way to think about it.

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Anna stood outside the hospital room with Claire in her hands. She had tears running down her face as she tried to quiet Claire, who was screaming at the top of her lungs. Our mom rushed out of Anna's dad's old hospital room and ran towards Anna. "It's going to be okay honey." She said, taking the child from Anna.

She looked over towards Sam, Jake, and me, who were standing together. She gave us a small smile. She walked towards us and my dad came out of the room where Anna's dad was, dead. I watched him walk her in as my mom walked closer with Anna's baby.

"He told me that you three know." Our mom whispered. My head kept switching between our mom and my mom. It was doing the same thing with my dad. "Which part?" Jake asked, his voice horse. Most likely from crying, but I couldn't tell what he had been crying about.

"All of it."

I really hoped that I had heard everything. "You're my mom?" Sam asked, shaking a little bit. I felt him pull me closer to him. I hugged him back because now it was his turn to face things he hadn't faced before. My mom nodded. "Jessica was not the mother you deserved. I'm sorry you had to grow up with her." My mother said, reaching out a hand to Sam.

Sam jerked back, taking me with him. "No, I didn't grow up with her, that's the problem." He said. He unwrapped his arms from me and turned to walk away. And with that, Anna's baby started crying again.

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Monday

Anna sat at her desk in her room and was writing on a piece of paper. "It's not fair that Claire will never get to know him." She whispered, probably feeling my presence in the room. I walked up to her and placed my hand on her shoulder. "I never got to know my other sister." I whispered, causing Anna to look up at me. "I never got to meet her." She said, tears running down her cheeks.

I had my memories stolen from me. Someone had pushed me off a fucking chair and had caused the greatest memory wipe ever. They had stolen my memories of Maddie and I was furious. My sister was born a year after the death of a sister I never knew existed. She still managed to mourn my sister.

"I thought he was my dad for so long." I muttered. Anna nodded. "Everyone did." And it was true. I didn't know one person who didn't think that, well, I could, but those people knew everything that I had just learned. "Anna it's going to be okay." I said, placing a hand on her shoulder. She shrugged. "I figured out who I want to watch after Claire." She whispered.

I looked over at Claire, who was sleeping for the moment, and thought of a million different people Anna could have picked. And then it hit me. "You picked mom?" I asked. Anna nodded. "She lost Maddie and I figured that she if she wants she could raise Claire the way she would have raised Maddie. Minus the other four kids." Anna wiped away a tear as she casted a glance towards Claire.

"It was hard to say goodbye to him." She said before she started crying again. I rubbed her back and watched as Sam came into the room and grabbed the screaming Claire from her crib. She had been awoken by Anna crying again. "When's mom coming for her?" I asked, looking at Sam as he rocked Claire in his arms. "Tomorrow." Sam said.

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A/N: Bet you didn't expect that. I know I didn't expect it and I was the one writing it. This chapter is dedicated to my friend Genevieve, because without her I wouldn't have been able to pull off the sibling twist!