Date: Sat, 14 Jun 2008 12:27:21 -0700 (PDT) From: AMANDA PLOGGER Subject: upside_umop_insideout-17 Okay This story contains sexual acts between two females if this offends you then don't read it. If you are not 18 or whatever the age maybe where your from, don't read it. If you just don't like the idea of love between two ladies, go somewhere else. Don't read it. The characters are not real. Any similarities are just that. I still have a quiet a few more chapters to go. Let me know what you think so far. Good or bad. Thank you so much to everyone who has written me giving me much needed encouragement to keep writing. I have made many friends and hope to find even more. It is amazing who you meet on here. *smiles* I love to write so check back in soon and you are sure to find more. As always, enjoy. Amanda upside_umop_insideout Chapter 17 The search begins "Hey Aunt Lex. Calling to check up on me?" "No, nothing like that. I was wondering if it was okay if I brought your mom down for supper." "It's her place. I don't see a problem with that." Piper said a little annoyed. "Are you sure? Your mom didn't want you to think we are spying on you." "Well, are you?" Piper asked bluntly, always Piper's style. "No sweetie, we trust you. You've never given your mom or me any reason not to. We are both very proud of the woman you're becoming." "Okay, okay. You can stop now." Piper said, but Alexis could hear the smile in her voice. "Sorry, it's true. And I guess if you want me to be completely honest... I'm probably going to be spying just a tiny bit... at least till your mom yells at me and pulls the curtain shut. I'm curious to know who this girl is." "Aunt Lex." Piper whined. "Come on it's our first date. Please don't." Piper begged, showing her age. "Fine, I'll be good. So can you have a table set up for us?" "Looks like Jo-Jo is already on it. I'll see you guys when you come down." Piper said all business again. "OK, love you sweetie." "Love you too. Take care of mom for me." "I promise." Alexis said, half way to the bathroom as she hung up the phone. 같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같� "We have to do something, Brant. You saw how sad she was. How much she is still hurting." "I know, Piper. I do. But... I mean. We don't even know where to start." "We know their names. We know that Sarah is a doctor. We can talk to Mark. He might be able to help." "I am not going to our father with help for anything. Him and his new fake family." Brant said with a bad taste in his mouth. "You don't remember anything about them?" Piper asked as she collapsed into a chair next to Rachel. "Bits and pieces here and there, I remember when Mark left. I remember playing with Lex when she first moved in. I remember moving into this house. As for Sarah and Collin, I guess I vaguely remember them. I was just a little kid though." Brant said indignantly "I know. At least you have that. I don't even remember dad being around. Lex has been part of my life for as long as I can remember." "You can't remember him being around 'cause even when he was he wasn't. I remember getting yelled at for wanting to play with him." "I just want mom completely happy. She's been through so much." "I can't believe they didn't know you guys knew. Heck, I think everyone in town knows. It quit being the talk of the town ages ago." Rachel said, squeezing Piper's hand. Piper smiled. "I'm sorry, Rach. So much for a first date, I've been sitting here worrying about my mom the whole time." "It's okay sweetie. It's cute. And I love how important family is to you." Brant rolled his eyes at the two of them. "This family is all we have." "That's the thing, Brant. It's not. We didn't really know it before but it's not. And I want to know my whole family. " Brant through his hands up and stood."We need to finish closing up. If you want to do this you know I will help you all I can. But don't get your hopes up and DON'T say anything to anyone. Including our blabber mouth little brother." "Ha! I learned that lesson the hard way. I won't say anything but I do want to try. Not just for mom but for all of us. I want to know what happened, what made Sarah run away." "Yeah, me too." Brant admitted. 같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같� Emily woke up with sweat running down her face. She felt like she had just finished running a marathon. Her whole body was sore and tired. Her body shook with the force of the sobs that escaped her throat. "Another nightmare?" Alexis asked, walking from the bathroom with a damp wash cloth and a glass of water. Emily just nodded and watched through tear blurred eyes as Alexis sat the water down and pulled her into her arms. Her body was so numb she couldn't even feel them around her. "Who this time?" "Same. Bobby. He looks so bad. God, so bad." Emily sobbed. "What do you think it means?" Alexis said as she wiped Emily's face with the cool towel, sending a shiver down Emily's back. "I d-d-don't know. I, I, I don't. I just wish they would stop." "You should find him, Em." Alexis said, worry filling her voice. "No." Emily said as she threw Alex's hand off of her. "I told you before. They are thee ones who didn't want me around." "That's been a long time ago. A good Christian girl like you, you need to find a way to forgive them." "I don't know if I could even if I wanted to. Too much time has passed. My children are grown and up until a week ago they didn't even know they had family. They always thought it was just us. I want to keep it just us." "A long time ago you told me that every dream has some kind of meaning behind it. I believe you keep having this dream because someone is trying to tell you something. You need to wake up and figure out what that is." "I don't need this right now, Lex. I have to get up and get some work done." Emily said trying to throw the soaking wet sheet off of her. "Don't push me away, Emily. We promised each other when this all started that we wouldn't do that. That we would be here for each other no matter what. We've always stuck by that promise." Emily sighed as she sat on the edge of the bed, her head in her hand. This time the tears came softly and quietly. "I do miss them. I just can't..." Emily cried into her hands. Brant looked at Piper. "This is the third time this week I've been woke up by mom screaming." She whispered to Brant. "This is the first time they've come close to fighting about it. Brant, I know you don't agree with me wanting to look for them..." "I'm in Piper." Brant said silencing her. Hearing his mother's terrified scream was enough for him. Alexis looked over at the door as she held Emily. She gave her kids a weak smile as she held their mom, rocking her. They smiled back. "I'll talk to you both later." She said softly, knowing they'd have questions. Brant stepped back form the door. "I'm going back to bed." Brant said to the darkness. Piper was already halfway to here room when he turned around. 같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같� "Aunt Lex, where is mommy?" Sora asked looking around the kitchen. "She's sleeping baby." Alexis' said, kissing him on top of his head. "Who is opening the diner this morning?" Piper asked sitting down with an empty bowl. She grabbed the cereal off the table as she wait for Lex to answer. "I've asked Margret to fill in for you mom for a few days." "She's been with you guys for a few years now. She can handle it." Piper said, nodding her head with approval. "That's what I thought to. Glad you agree." Alexis said with a laugh. "She's been with you guys for a few years now. She can handle it." Piper said, nodding her head with approval. "That's what I thought to. Glad you agree." Alexis said with a laugh. "Okay enough with the secretive looks. Will you two just tell me what is going on?" Alexis said, sitting down at the table with her coffee. "Sora, why don't you go get ready so Aunt Lex can take you to the zoo." "Okay. All you have to say is that you need to talk grown up. I'm not stupid." Sora said as he stood up. "Sorry squirt." Piper said as she ruffled Soar's hair. "Nothing personal, you just have a really big mouth." "I do not. I've gotten a lot better." "Sora, your sister is right though. You do need to go and get ready if we are going to go to the zoo." Alexis said in her motherly voice. "Yes, ma'am." Sora gave Lexie a kiss on the cheek and ran out of the room. "Okay, no more excuses. What is going on?" "We saw mom." "More like we heard mom," Brant said from the other side of the island where he stood. "The nightmares." Alexis clarified. "I thought I saw the two of you by the door the other night. That's nothing to worry about." "Lex, don't bull shit us, okay? We know the story now. We heard her scream out." Alexis sighed and sat back in her seat. "I wish you guys didn't have to hear that. I hate waking up to it." "Lex, Brant and I are looking for them." Piper told her bluntly. "Piper." Alexis shook her head. "Your mom... she seems so strong some times. You don't see her still cry herself to sleep after all these years. I don't know why Sarah left. But I knew Sarah. She had to have a reason and it had to be good one and more than that... there had to be a very good reason why she didn't tell Emily. Whatever that reason I don't know if your mother could handle that." "Lex, I don't know if I could handle waking up to here screaming again. Or see her face stained with tears. Lex..." Piper said softly. Alexis reached out and stroked Piper's cheek. "I know baby girl." "Lex, you know that I hate agreeing with my little sister but what if things turn out differently than what you are thinking? What if things go good and we can get them back together. I hate that I can't fix this. I need to find a way to make this okay for my mom." Lexie stood up from her chair. She couldn't sit still anymore. On one hand there was the chance that Brant could be right. "It almost killed her the night we got that letter." Alexis said more to her self than anyone else in the room as she looked out the window that covered the top half of their back door. "The weeks after were hell. I barely saw her out of bed. I did my best to take care of the three of you. I was still so new to everything though I swore that I was going to screw you all up some how. She'd get up in the middle of the night and go for long drives. I knew she was driving around looking for them. She even went as far as to try to hire a PI. I finally had to put my foot down. I sat there watching her waste away and there was nothing I could do to stop her. After reliving all of that, I can see her slowly falling down that path. I don't think I could handle that again." Alexis said as she turned to look at her kids. "I love you guys. Do what you must but just promise me that you won't tell your mother what you are up to. If it's bad news I don't want her to know. Ever." "You're our second mom. We would never do anything to hurt her or you either for that matter." Piper said into Lex's shoulder as she gave her a big hug. "I still get reminded everyday how lucky I am." Alexis hugged Piper back Alexis let go of Piper and smiled over at Emily. "I am so lucky to have such a wonderful, loving family." "Who is lucky and why?" Emily inquired as she walked in the kitchen and smiled weakly over at them.  Emily asked taking a sip of her coffee as she leaned against the counter. "We are for having such a beautiful family."   Emily smiled and nodded in agreement as she reached for the coffee pot. ""What are every one's plans for today?" ` "Lake." "Mall." "Zoo." The three of them answered in unison. "Right, well then." Emily said with a small laugh. "Mommy!" Sora said coming into the kitchen, wrapping himself around his mother's side. "Good morning, Sora." Emily said, doing her best to pick up Sora and hug him tightly to her. "Aunt Lex was going to take me to the zoo. You want to come with us? You haven't been out with Aunt Lexie in a while." "Sora's right, mom.  You should go out and have a day out. You work too hard." Piper said, hugging her mom from the other side. "Okay, what has gotten into all of you?" Emily said, hugging Piper with one arm. "Come out with us. Sora and I would love your company." Alexis said softly. Emily smiled over at the woman she had loved for so many years. "You know, I think that would be nice. I guess I should go get ready, huh?" She said, giving Piper a peck on her forehead as she let her go. Piper gave Alexis a knowing smile as she watched her mother's tired form leave the kitchen. "Take care of her for me." She said as walked out of the room with a small smile on her face. "You guys be careful." Alexis said as Piper grabbed her bag off of the coat hanger. "Of course," Brant said as he kissed Alex on the cheek and followed his sister out of the room. "Where do we even start?" Brant asked as they pulled out of the drive way. "Well Rachel's been doing some research for me. Lexie wrote as much as she could remember down, which was remarkably a lot." "Like what?" "Their full names, She remembered Sarah and Collin's birthdays. She found mom's old Bible that had our grandparents names in it." "So we heading to Rachel's?" "Yeah, she called me this morning to tell me she had found some stuff." Piper said solemnly, she wouldn't say if it was good or bad but she didn't sound too excited." Brant nodded thoughtfully. They drove in silence till they reached Rachel's house. Neither of them moved as they looked up at the house. "Are you sure this is the right thing to do?" Brant looked over at his sister. "No." Piper told him honestly. "I just know that mom has hurt for too long and so has Lexie."