lost boy

“No I get it. I do. I understand why you’d think we choose to give you up but that…it was the farthest thing from the truth. We wanted you. Hell every year on your birthday we mourned the fact that you weren’t there to celebrate it with your twin. There was a literal missing part of our lives because you were no longer there.”

He didn’t know what to say to that, again. It was all more overwhelming than he had expected. Then again he hadn’t really expected much. Darian cleared his throat, “what, uh-- what are they like?” He didn’t know if they’d accept him but that wasn’t something he was ready to ask yet.

“At least with a family that size it should be easy to find someone you connect with?”

“We can hope.” He sighed, shrugging. “I’ve been gone twenty years, it might be hard to connect to any of ‘em.”

“A twin?” Madison asked raising her eyebrows, “You mean the world decided it was a good idea to have two people as gorgeous as you in it? But you’re mine,” She reminded with ease tugging gently at his hands.

“Evidently.” Darian sighed, “it’s still weird to me. I haven’t met him yet.” He admitted. Meeting Brylan was something he had to talk himself into. “Well, yeah. That wasn’t changing.” He promised with a grin, squeezing her hands. “Even with all this.”

“it was never a bad idea, babe. You deserve answers as to why you weren’t raised by them. And even if it means it’s not what you want to hear then at least we came and found out and we can move on with our lives, right?”

“It’d be nice not to live around all the questions for once.” He conceded with a sigh before pausing. It was something he had to tell her, but it still felt weird. “Apparently I have a twin.”

“Large, that’s all I’m aware of. It feels like everyone in town is related to them somehow.”

“Super. That’s not intimidating at all.”

“A c-choice?” The word had come broken up as the emotions finally shown on his face, “If your mother could have done anything in the world to get you back she would have. I thought she was going to burn the Earth after we lost you, but we still had Brylan to worry about.”

“Most of the kids I was around in foster system were there because their parents gave ‘em up. After awhile, it was hard not to figure that too.” Darian admitted with a shrug. It was hard to say that, or to listen to this. Whatever he expected, this wasn’t that. He froze, swallowing the lump that formed in his throat. “S-So I was...alone for nothing?” Darian asked, his voice shaking. “They lied to you and just took me?”

“Just for being an extremely large family that’s really close. It’s weird. And I mean there’s other strangeness about them, but everyone is weird around here.”

“How large is...extremely large, exactly?” He asked slowly, “actually never mind, I don’t think I want to know.”

“It’s still on the table though if they do turn out to be assholes. Although I hope they do have a damn good reason why they missed out on the best person in the entire world.”

“I guess we’ll find out eventually. I found names, but every time I think about reaching out to any of them I change my mind.” Darian admitted with a heavy sigh, “maybe this was a bad idea.’

“W-we weren’t told you survived,” Jackson promised trying to put it together. All he had wanted was for Brylan’s twin, his son, to return to him but he thought it would never happen since he had believed everyday that he was dead

“Well, I...I did.” He cleared his throat, suddenly feeling very awkward. Whatever he had expected in searching for his parents, it wasn’t to be told that they thought he was dead. “I don’t know why they told you that. I always just assumed it was a choice you made to let me go.”

“They’re kind of infamous around here.”

Darian sighed, unsure if he wanted to know although he needed to. “Infamous for what, exactly?”

“I mean I can tell you what I do know but it’s based on what everyone in town knows.”

“Is there a reason that sounds so ominous?”

“Of course I came all this way for you. You’re the best thing that happened to me, and being here for you is the least that I can do. Besides if they’re mean to you I have to be here to beat them up.” She hoped it didn’t come to that for him, but she meant it.

“As much as I would love to watch you beat someone up, I think I’d have to stop avoiding them first for it to come to that.” Darian admitted, “and clearly I’m not doing that great with that.’

“You and Brylan were rushed off after delivery and not too long after they came back with only Brylan telling us that you had stopped breathing and they couldn’t bring you back.”

“I was born with a hole in my heart. Made the whole...adoption thing not very appealing to people, I guess, but I don’t think I ever stopped breathing.” 

“You’re not the only one,” Jackson assured him as he sat back in his chair, “Especially considering we were told at the hospital that we lost you.”

Darian frowned, resting his arms against his knees. “What do you mean lost me?”

“Go insane? Avoid confronting your biological parents forever? I have a list for you, Darian,” Madison pointed out as she leaned up to kiss him softly, “But I’m here. No matter what they say you’ll always have at least one person who loves you.”

“I’m sure I’d crash and burn in a day,” he agreed with a grin, wrapping an arm around her. “Well, you came all this way for me, and I love you for that. It’d be pretty hard to forget.”

“From what I know I doubt they know about you. They’re not the type to abandon their kids.”

“I guess I have to take your word on that, since I know next to nothing about any of them.”

“Dude I know next to nothing about that family, but maybe start with actually talking to them?”

“Yeah, I grew up in foster care, I’m not versed in it either. Guess I just didn’t expect there to be a twin.”