C H A P T E R 7 7
It had now being a week since I visited my aunt.
I was settling comfortably into my college schedule like before and there was no difference even in my routine with the exception that I no longer woke up at five in the morning to get ready and go for a jog.
I now woke up at eight for classes at nine like a sane normal college student and Olivia was proud of that.
She was just happy that I'd no longer knock on her door at the crack of dawn demanding for her company while I jogged.
I had to admit it felt pretty good to get three hours of extra sleep everyday.
It had been a week but Ethan still did not come to meet me.
I wondered if I should just lose hope and move on but it was too soon to take that decision but it would certainly be considered late if he showed up now.
But I missed him. I missed him too much to the point where every brown haired guy made me think it was him, only to be disappointed.
Olivia and I had been getting along pretty well.
Amelia had called the day after Tristan visited us and asked us how we were doing.
She informed us that Juliet was getting cranky and annoyed at having to keep up a good behaved girl fa?ade and she was on the brink of not giving a shit and just being herself.
There had been no calls from anyone after that and we didn't call them either.
It was finally the weekend now and Olivia had made plans with her other friends to go watch a movie and catch up with them.
She would've invited me but I declined because those group of friends and I were completely different and didn't mix.
It would just be awkward and I wanted to save us both the trouble.
I was planning on completing my shift at the café and then go back to my apartment to relax with popcorn and a movie alone.
When I approached my building, there was a car parked right outside. It was the type that Ethan drove and I wondered if he really had come. I got really giddy and excited and I practically ran to my room and flew up the stairs faster than I ever had.
To my great disappointment I didn't find him waiting in front of my door.
I searched the whole building thinking he just didn't know my apartment number but that wasn't the case.
I didn't find him anywhere. The building was tiny so it didn't take much time to search but he was still nowhere to be found.
Heartbroken, I trudged back to my room and slammed the door shut so loudly behind me that I actually heard a crack but didn't bother examining the damage.
I regretted not memorizing his car plate number. But who did the car belong to? Nobody in this neighborhood was rich enough to afford that car.
I freshened up. I was in no mood to go through with my previous plans of movie and popcorn so I just flopped onto my bed, hoping to fall asleep.
I couldn't though. All I could do was stare up at my ceiling and listen to all the sounds my ears could pick.
A car started up outside and drove away.
I hoped it was that prissy car which got me excited for no reason.
I heard someone bickering over something but their voices were too faint to be comprehensible.
Then there were footsteps which got louder as they climbed upstairs.
I was certain they'd pass by me but it stopped right in front of my door. I sat up.
It took the person five full seconds to knock on my door. I told myself to not get my expectations too high. It might just be the landlord or Olivia who forgot something or a pizza delivery at the wrong doorstep.
I opened the door without looking through the peephole. He was standing there holding red roses but I doubted my vision.
I stepped towards him and regarded him with narrowed eyes. He was smiling at me. I extended a hand and cautiously poked his cheek. My fingertip felt warm and soft. He was really here. My Ethan.
"Ethan," I whispered, still in disbelief.
"I'm sorry. I took too long, didn't I?" He held out the roses to me. "Pretty roses for a pretty you."
I felt my eyes warm up as the onslaught of hot tears started. "You came." I launched myself at him and wrapped my hands around his waist and started soaking his shirt with my tears. We stumbled back at my force but he gripped me and steadied us.
I was crying rather loudly and I worried if I was disturbing the neighbors with my deafening bawling but at the moment I didn't care. He wrapped his arms around my shoulders and caressed my hair and swayed us back and forth a little.
We stayed like that for quite some time before I finally pulled away. He wiped away my tears with the back of his hand which wasn't holding onto the flowers.
I grabbed his hand and threaded my fingers through his. "Come on." I pulled him into my room and closed the door. He handed me the flowers which had crumped up slightly during our hug. I put them in a vase and turned back to him. We took a seat on my bed.
"I'm sorry, Ethan. I know you knew from the start and I still shamelessly lied to your face.
I felt terrible for doing that. I don't know if you'll ever trust me because of this but I want you to know that I'm terribly sorry and I didn't mean to do that.
I was planning to tell you after the party but then I went and screwed everything and I was scared of what will happen.
" I rambled on and on. I wanted to get everything out and tell him why I did what I did.
"Hey, hey. I know." He cupped my cheeks so I was looking directly into his eyes. "I know everything, okay? I was a little hurt when you didn't tell me before starting to date me but I understand that you had no way. I found your letter a few days ago and I know it wasn't always about your choice."
"Do you hate me?" I asked fearfully.
He exhaled through his mouth. "Of course not. I never did. I've always loved you and continue to do so." There was a tenderness in his eyes and his words were a soft caress of relief.
"I love you too, Ethan. More than you'll ever know. But please accept my apology and I hope you forgive me for all that I did."
"I forgave you a long time ago." He said, making me feel relieved of the weight that had been pressing down on my throat all these days.
I hugged him again, refusing to let go. I needed to feel his touch to remind myself again and again that this wasn't a dream. His beating heart was a melodious music to my ears, spreading warmth through my rather quiet and cold surroundings.
I pulled back only to press my lips to his. Our kiss turned fervent due to the lack of touch for ten days. I could tell by the way his lips moved against mine and mine against his that we missed each other terribly.
We pulled away. "What took you so long?" I asked the question I feared the answer to.
"I wanted to give us both some time. Even if I already knew about you, we still needed this.
Besides Heather wouldn't let me go to you and if I had gone against her I don't think I would've lived and then we both would've been unhappy.
My brave fa?ade only just lasted till what you heard on that phone call.
Plus I moved back into my house and my dad was strictly monitoring how I worked after.
It was near impossible to escape his scrutiny. "
I nodded. "Of course. I'm glad you didn't let me come in between your work especially when your father was monitoring you. So is that your car parked in front of the building?"
"Yes, it's mine. Why?"
"I saw it and thought you came so I searched everywhere but you weren't there. Where had you gone?"
"I went to buy flowers for you. I walked there because it was in a narrow street and my car wouldn't have fit."
"Oh."
"Did you miss me a lot?"
"A little less than a lot." That was a big fat lie just to punish him a little for turning up ten days late.
He frowned. "That sucks but I missed you a little more than a lot so I guess that makes up for it."
"Then you could've at least called! This whole time my anxiety shot through the roof and I thought you never wanted to see me again."
He chuckled. "I'm sorry but I felt that whatever needed to be said should be done in person."
I agreed. "So what is happening back there?"
"I knew Juliet was never going to change.
She's still the same even after two years!
She's annoying and bratty. I knew I was right to suspect you when you claimed to have changed as Juliet.
She didn't even last a week into blending into her role.
She broke down this morning and admitted everything to your parents.
To say they were shocked would be an understatement.
Mrs. Jenson nearly fainted and literally shook her daughter to the point where she was dizzy to ask where you two were.
I was there and I said I knew and she ordered me to bring you to her.
She sent Juliet back with another man to bring the other girl, Julia. "
"So you know about us now?"
"Yes, your mother told us everything. She hadn't told her other kids that two of the triplets were kidnapped and so no one knew.
To think you two were kidnapped so young and the guy faked your deaths.
.." He squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head firmly as if to get rid of unpleasant thoughts.
He opened his eyes. "But everyone is confused how this could be, how you two survived while still retaining your real names after being adopted into different families. "
But I knew exactly what had happened and I told him. "I'm so sorry for you, Julie. I'm so glad you're okay and will be back to your real family." He kissed my forehead. "What you went through was horrible. I'm not going to let anything hurt you again."
"And I won't ever hurt you again or let anyone else." I promised.
After we calmed down, I asked, "But why were you there? You said you moved back."
"That I did but every morning I used to visit your home before work to water our garden. Did you think I'd ever forget watering them? I also took care of Plowy who you left behind."
"Oh my God, you continued watering them? And I miss Plowy so much. Heather told me that she'll take care of him. Is he okay?"
"Of course." He dug out his phone from his pocket. "Here's what you've missed." He showed me all the pictures of Plowy and the pictures he took of the garden everyday. I could notice some growth from the first day from when I left till today morning.
"They're growing well." I squinted at something that caught my eye in the picture and let out a laugh. "Why'd you scratch out that 't' in Juliet so aggressively? I can barely make it out anymore."
"That's good. That's what I wanted. You don't know how much I cringed while writing Juliet's name on that. I wanted to write Julie. She kept making fun of our garden and so I squirted ketchup all over her hair and face."
"I assume she must've retaliated?"
He grimaced. "Yeah, she dumped an entire pack of flour over me and it was okay because it was powder until she started chasing me around with the hose turning me into a man dough."
I chuckled. "Don't hate her too much. She's still my sister." It felt weird to think of her as my sister. "Oh and is it still true that you used to envy her because she did whatever she wanted and didn't give a shit?"
He grumbled under his breath. "Don't you ever tell her that."
"So that is true."
"I'm serious. You're not allowed to tell her. She'd bring it up every time we bicker."
"Okay, I won't." I said, thoroughly amused.
"Good. So now that we've got all problems out of the way, I think you should tell me about yourself, Julie Jenson."
"Well that's a hard thing to do. What do you want to know?"
"Just tell me everything about your life from as long as you can remember. I want to get to know the real Julie. Her story."
"It's a long story."
"We've got all the time in the world."
And so I launched myself into my story. We cooked and ate and we were still talking. I had never talked so much about myself.
Eventually we grew tired and fell asleep cuddled up in my bed which was a bit short for Ethan to fit in but we managed.
I never realized how much I missed his presence next to me.
That must've explained the restlessness I felt all night and the reason why I couldn't fall asleep for hours because of which I stopped waking up on time.
Waking up next to him made me realize that I was actually happy to have woken up as opposed to the previous mornings where there had been an instant scowl on my face on opening my eyes.
Ethan stirred next to me, his lazy eyes taking a peek at me and closing again with a silly smile on his face. We remained in bed for a few more minutes, both half awake as we reveled in the morning silence and being in each other's arms.
When we eventually got up and freshened up with Ethan wearing last night's clothing, he stopped me with an anxious expression on his face.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"Julie, my timing is the worst. Your mother told us everything yesterday morning and I showed up here last night. I want you to know that I'm not here because I found out that you're related to them. Even if you weren't, I'd still be here. I hope you haven't misunderstood."
That thought had honestly never crossed my mind and even if it did I knew he wasn't like that. I smiled at him. "Ethan, I know and I never thought like that. I trust you."
He looked relieved. "So are you ready to meet your family?"
"I don't know. After all these years, knowing it's someone else and they're alive. It's hard to see them as my parents."
"That's understandable. You'll need a lot of time to get used to that. But they're insisting on meeting you."
I rolled my eyes. "I didn't say I wasn't going to meet them."
Ethan and I got into his car and he began driving to the place I ran away from ten days ago. The place which was my real home and I had been there all these months without truly knowing.
The whole drive there I was a nervous bundle in the passenger seat.
No amount of reassurances from Ethan could stop the whirlwind of questions running in my mind.
It also gave rise to insecurities and whether they'd accept me or not.
I chided and told myself to remain positive.
I was going to meet my real parents for the first time after knowing that I'm their blood.
I should smile brightly and be welcoming.
He pulled up in the driveway and got out. I stalled for as long as I could as I took my sweet time in opening my door and getting out.
"Ready?" Ethan asked, putting a hand on my lower back and urging me forward.
"I hope so." I muttered. I took a huge breath and let it out. Okay, I could do this.
The first thing I noticed as I walked in was that there were a lot of people.
I spotted my dad and my mom huddled on the sofa surrounded by Rachael, Antonio, Audrey, Heather and Amelia.
There were two more girls sitting on either side of my parents which were an exact copy of me although I was sure there'd be minor differences in our appearances up close.
Juliet had short red hair so she was easily recognizable.
The other girl though, looked exactly like me - the same hair although hers were a little shorter, the same eyes and the same facial structure.
"Hi," I said, grabbing their attention. All at once their heads whipped in our direction.
"Julie!" My mom screeched as she got up and rushed towards me.
"Um...mom, oof-" I stumbled back and nearly toppled over by how hard my mom's body hit mine. She didn't let go though and engulfed me in her arms. Another set of arms landed on us and I looked up to see my dad.
Now that I was really looking at him, I could pinpoint our similarities which I had earlier attributed to Juliet and I looking identical.
"My baby." My mom wailed into my shoulder and I could feel drops of liquid wetting my shirt but I didn't mind. The affectionate display made me tear up too.
"Mom! Dad!" I said and hugged them both back, the realization that they really were my parents - alive and well, hitting me. Even when I was living here disguised as Juliet I had always felt as if their motherly and fatherly love was really meant for me.
"You're here! You're alive." My mom pulled back to say. She cupped my cheek.
I put a hand over hers. "Yes, I'm here."
"What happened to you? How? Why didn't you find us?"
"Mom, I was like two days old when I was kidnapped." I said and couldn't help but chuckle.
"Right. It doesn't matter. You're here now."
"Julia, baby come here." My dad said and I looked up to see the others standing awkwardly around. Julia had a small smile on her face while Juliet eyed us all with narrowed eyes.
Julia took a few steps towards us, a little unsure and shy. I had a feeling that I had a lot in common with her that I did with Juliet.
She was pulled down into our group hug and I'd never been hugged so hard by anyone, except Ethan.
I had yet to interact with both of my identical sisters as well as an elder sister and a brother I had never known existed.
We heard footsteps stomping over to us until they were right in front.
"Wow I certainly feel so loved right now.
" Juliet was glaring down at us with her arms folded across her chest. "I mean I understand that you guys found each other after so many years but hello, did you forget I exist now that my two lookalikes are here?
You've been at it for ten minutes. Ten minutes of watching you hugging, crying, kissing and clinging onto each other while no one even spared a glance at me! "
Ethan came up behind her and lightly hit her on the back of her head. "Not everything is about you, Juliet. You had to ruin the moment?"
"Did you just hit me?" She whirled around. "You're so going to get it today. I suggest you run because as soon as I'm done with this group, I'm going to kick your ass like literally."
"I'd like to see you try because I'm going to rip your hair out before than happens." He retorted.
"You just wait, you dipshit." She turned back to us.
"As I was saying, how can you forget you have another daughter who just returned ten days ago and when I told you the truth, you didn't even ask if I was okay all this time.
All you two could yap about was where these two were.
I'm glad they returned and I'm excited to get to know them but I have feelings and they're hurt because you guys never hugged me like that or ever cried over me like that! "
"So you would rather that you were kidnapped?" Ethan interjected.
She shot him with glare. "You're still here?"
All this time we had been staring up at her, our arms still wrapped around each other.
My dad sighed and grabbed Juliet's hand and pulled her down.
She disappeared somewhere into our hug before popping her head up with a gasp.
"I can't breathe. I take back my words, continue on without me. Release me right now!"
We laughed through our tears but did the opposite, squeezing her in tightly as she shouted more protests.
Antonio sniffled. "I feel left out." He joined us as well and soon Rebecca followed. Heather, Amelia and Ethan looked at each other before racing towards our pile.
"Ow!" Juliet's pained scream nearly caused everyone hearing loss. "You did that on purpose didn't you?!" She shoved Ethan back.
"Did what?" He asked innocently but I knew he was guilty.
"You stepped on my foot." She stood up and faced him. "You're dead."
Ethan was quick and he had already jumped up and started running away.
Juliet chased after him yelling, "I don't know what my sister saw in you but I'm going to free her from your clutches."
I highly doubted that.
After we all had calmed down, I explained everyone what had actually happened and how we were still alive.
No one was leaving Julia or I alone for the day.
Everyone was too excited and curious and had a lot of questions for us.
That didn't sit well with Juliet as she was probably not used to not being the center of attention.
No one except my mom and dad knew that they had triplets.
Rachael and Antonio were told back then but they were so little that the absence of the two of us made them believe that only Juliet was born.
The fact that the kidnapper was caught and put behind bars was enough for them when they were still grieving us.
I was right about Julia. She was the complete opposite of Juliet and I was somewhere in between them. I still had a lot to learn about them and I couldn't wait to get to know them better. Juliet wasn't as bad as I thought.
Apparently they had a story of their own.
Juliet told us that she was mistaken for Julia when she reached a small town after she ran away.
At the same time, Julia had ran away from the family that had adopted her.
She was bullied at school and abused by her adoptive family.
Juliet taught them a lesson they wouldn't forget when they dragged her into the family thinking she was Julia and now they were in prison where they deserved to be.
My heart ached for what my sister went through.
She told us she has put it behind her and has moved on.
She was currently signed up with a company as a singer which had something to do with a certain celebrity who was in a boy band who recognized her talent.
It was so surprising considering she barely passed high school and she didn't want to go to college.
It was all confusing but she was enrolled into school two years late so while she was still the same age as us she was fresh out of high school which actually was due to Juliet and because everyone thought she was Julia.
Juliet too didn't get to go to college as she ran away before that.
But I was sure she'd get into one now that she was here.
Sitting there, talking to my family made me feel complete.
These were the people that had grown over me the last few months.
Despite our bitter past, I was now ready to move on and explore everything that life had in store for me.
It wasn't too late. I still had the rest of my life to spend with these amazing people and I wasn't going to waste a second of it.
I looked over at Ethan and he was already looking at me with a grin that matched mine.
Yes, my life was going to change for the best and I was ready for it all.
"Wait!" Juliet interjected my climactic train of thought. "I have an important question! Who among us three is the older one, the younger one and the middle one?"
This was the last chapter of what was a great journey for me.
This chapter had about 1000 words more than an average chapter.