Laurel tried to explain to her that it would only be part time, and she would still live with them, but her mother didn't want to hear any of it. She finally told her that they had discussed it enough, and they would discuss it later when she had thought about it more. Her Mom literally said put a pin in it. From Laurel's memory, once a pin was stuck into a situation, it was never heard from again. What if she told them the truth, that it was already done and she wasn’t asking for their permission?
The problem with it was that Laurel couldn't do anything until her parents gave her the paperwork that she needed. For some reason, she couldn't find her birth certificate anywhere, and when she mentioned it, that's when they got all weird. So, she decided that instead of getting them involved, she would just take care of it herself. Once she was enrolled and set to start, then they would see how serious she was and know that she had no intentions on waiting.
Laurel spent most of the morning in the attic. She wasn't exactly sure where her birth certificate was, but her mom had offhandedly said that it must be there and that she would look for it. Laurel spent most of the day looking for it and still couldn't find it. Her exasperation knew no bounds at that point.
After a while, she started to wonder if it was there at all. She had found a few boxes with some of her baby stuff in them, but there was definitely some missing, like anything that came from the hospital where she was born. Any piece of paper that would indicate what hospital she was born in.
Why did she not know these things?
Laurel worried what would happen if she asked her parents. They had been so weird with the last question that she didn't want to go to them, and Laurel hoped that she wouldn’t have to. By the end of the day, she realized that she was going to have to ask them whether she wanted to or not.How else was she going to find out where she was born?
Laurel waited till dinner that night to get answers. She tried to bring it up in the best way possible, but again, both parents immediately started to get weird. It was one thing for her mom to. She was kind of a nervous person to begin with, but to see her dad getting strange as well, was quite disconcerting. It felt like if he was worried, there was a reason that she should be as well.
“Why do I get the feeling that you guys have something very important to tell me? Ever since I asked you about my birth certificate, you guys are both being strange. I went looking for it today.”
“You didn't!”
She looked over at her mom and agreed. “Yeah, I did. I need it, so that I can start the semester. The time to turn it all in will be here soon, and I want to get in this year. If I don’t get the certificate soon, then I won’t be able to go now, and I will have to wait until next year.
Her father, thankfully, tried to be calmer about it, and it was honestly something that she desperately needed at the moment.
“Look, Laura.” Laura was Laurel’s nick name. “I guess we have something to talk about. We were, of course, hoping that we would never have to, but it has become clear that we need to.”
Laurel had a sinking feeling in her stomach. It was getting worse by the moment. The way her dad was acting, this was going to be the worst news ever, and she wasn't even sure if she would be able to handle it. What was so bad that had them both looking like that?
It was honestly hard to fathom what it was, so she told herself that she would withhold judgment until she heard it. She would just wait and see what it was they were going to talk about. Laurel didn't even have a clue yet what it was going to be. Very quickly, though, she realized that the secrets they were keeping were going to completely change her life forever.
Her mom tried to say something, and her father stopped her. “Agnes, let me take care of this. You know that it will come out wrong if you try to explain it right now. You’re too worked up.”
Laurel’s father didn't call his wife by her name very often. It was usually sweetie or dear, something like that, some kind of endearment. He was the one that kept her in line and kept her in check.
What was going on?Laurel thought.
“One of you has to tell me what is going on. You're starting to freak me out.”
When there was still no answer, she finally blurted out the first thing that came to her head. It definitely did not get the reaction she was expecting.
“Come on, guys, what did you do, steal me from someone?”
It was silly, really it was. It was said offhandedly, and Laurel didn't believe it for a minute. That was, until the people that she had known her whole life as her parents were suddenly not her parents.
What was she supposed to do with that?
“Okay, now you're going to have to back up and go very slow.” She asked and her Father shook his head.
“Really, it wasn't like that.”He was defensive, which was a little strange, because he usually wasn't that type. Laurel didn't know what to think about what had just been blurted out at her.What did they mean, she wasn’t really their daughter?
“Look, sweetie. It's not like we stole you or anything or something. But, technically, you did not come to us in a traditional way.”
“Dad, I am not one of your clients. Just give it to me straight.”
“Okay, Laurel, fine. You were dropped off, on our doorstep, and we took you in and made you ours.”
“Dropped off?”
“Yeah. I'm sure that your biological mother had a very good reason. She must have known that we had tried for years to have a child and were never successful. She must have known that we were going to love you. But I can't tell you honestly that I know who she is. I don't know who your father is, either.”
Laurel felt like she had been physically hit. She stood and took several steps back and stared at the man she had called her father her whole life. The man that wasn't her father.
