At Alex's nod, Nikki turned back to Paige and said, "Very well." She led the way back to the car and helped Alex climb in behind the wheel. "You may have the front," she told Paige as she opened the back door. "I'll sit back here."
Paige climbed into the car, buckled her seatbelt and turned to Alex. "I'm curious to know why you visit their graves every year. It is you every year isn't it?" When Alex didn't respond, she sat back and began to direct them towards her house. After just a few minutes, Alex pulled into the long driveway beside a large two-story farmhouse. She parked the car and sat for a moment looking around. Both the yard and the house were well kept, with a large flower garden containing several varieties of lilies. "If you don't want to go in, I can have Mom come out."
Alex looked over at her and was surprised to see the corner of her mouth lifted slightly. She felt her own respond in kind. "That won't be necessary." She grabbed her purse and climbed from the car. She slowly followed Paige up the path towards the front porch, Nikki following closely behind.
Paige opened the front screen and stepped inside. "Mom, I'm home. I've brought a couple of guests."
Alex stepped inside and took off her sunglasses, slowly looking around. They were standing in what appeared to be a front parlor. The furniture was polished and appeared to be older, but not worn. She looked up as a woman stepped into the room and said, "Good Lord child, who've you hauled home now?" The woman stopped abruptly when she saw Alex.
Alex dropped her purse and stumbled backwards. "No…it's not…not possible." She fell to her knees as the tears began to run freely down her cheeks. "How?" She felt her world stop and everything she thought she knew crumble as she looked up into the face of her mother. "Momma?" Nikki rushed to her side and held her as she sobbed.
The woman turned to a shocked Paige. "Get the albums, quickly." She knelt in front of Alex and said softly, "I'm sorry child, but I'm not your mother." Alex looked up at her, and saw her pain reflected in the woman's eyes. "I can see it in you, but need to hear it. Was Lizzy your mother?" She saw the confusion in her face and said, "Was Elizabeth Rossi your mother?" Alex nodded as she tried to control her tears. "Oh thank you God. Thank you for bringing a piece of her home to us," the woman whispered before telling her, "I'm your aunt, honey." Paige rushed into the room carrying several photo albums, and handed them to her mother. She opened the first one and pointed to a picture of two teenage girls, identical twins, hamming it up for the camera. "That's Lizzy and this is me." She looked at her, "You didn't know she was a twin?"
Alex slowly shook her head as she finally calmed her racing heart and flowing tears. Her voice cracked as she replied, "No, I didn't even know she had a sister." She slowly ran her fingers over the picture of her mother's smiling face.
"Oh, honey, hang on to your hat because this is going to be a bumpy ride." She turned the page, revealing several more photographs. It was the one in the center of the left page that immediately captured Alex's attention. It was a family portrait containing several other siblings. "That's Mom, Karen. Our Dad, David." She slowly pointed out each person in the portrait in order, providing names as she went. "This is David Junior, he's the oldest. Then there is Joanne and then Brian. We were the babies. That one is Lizzy, and this one is me."
Alex looked up at the woman, and gave her a small smile. "And what is your name?" she asked.
"I suppose that would help, wouldn't it?" she chuckled. "My name is Alexis, but you can call me Lexi." She smiled at her look of surprise. "Now then, what would you like us to call you?"
Alex climbed to her feet, and offered her hand to Lexi. Once they were both on their feet she said, "My name is Alexis Mohr, but you may call me Alex."
"It is an absolute pleasure to meet you, Alex. Why don't you two come inside and make yourselves at home?" She led them through the house to what was obviously the gathering place in the home. It was a very large, yet comfortable room that had a lived in feel. There were several couches and chairs scattered about, clustered in groups convenient for socializing. "The powder room is right there if you'd like to wash up." She turned to Nikki and smiled. "I'm sorry dear, I didn't mean to ignore you like that. I'm Lexi."
Nikki shook her hand and replied, "Nice to meet you. I'm Nikki. I'm a friend of Alex's."
Alex turned and slipped her arm around Nikki's waist, much to her surprise. "Actually, Nikki is my girlfriend." When Lexi raised her eyebrow and Paige began to chuckle, she said, "Is that going to be a problem?"
"No dear, not at all." Lexi replied as she scowled at Paige.
"Nope. This family has absolutely nothing against homosexuals. In fact, they felt like the world really needed a few more, so they started breeding them.
