"I don't want to go to school, Mom," I said incoherently as I rolled over.
"Come on, Lex. Don't you wanna meet you mom and dad and especially your brothers and really fine Cousin?" questioned Jacquie. She's had it in her head ever since yesterday that I am Brian sister. I hate to see how disappointed she's going to be.
"Give it a rest, Jaqs. He's not my brother," I said getting up and grabbing some clothes.
"I'm right about this, Lex. I know it!"
"Just like you knew after you saw 'The Faculty' that our school was being taken over by aliens," I commented walking into the bathroom.
"I still say there is something weird with Coach Weatherall and Miss Jacobs!" she exclaimed as I rolled my eyes and shut the door.
We stood in front of the huge gates and gaped. It looked like a fortress. Who the hell lived here anyway? Definitely not some sweet couple. Young girls milled around trying to catch a glimpse of something.
"Maybe it's the wrong address," I commented.
"I'm telling ya, Lex. Why would this be up if someone famous didn't used to live here? And who do you think all these teenage girls are here to see?"
"Jacquie!" I said sharply.
"OK, OK. I got it," she spotted an intercom system and pushed the button.
"Can I help you?" asked the voice. JQ quickly motioned me over.
"Um, yes I'm here to see Jackie and Harold."
"What is your business with them, may I ask," asked the crackly voice again.
"I have some important news for them," the was a long silence and muffled voices. I crossed my fingers.
"Use the Gate next to the big one and come on up."
We found the smaller gate and walked through, locking it behind me. The other girls that stood there just gave me dirty looks as JQ and I walked up to the front. I gave a deep breath as I knocked on the large door. A pleasant woman opened the door and smiled.
"You must be the girl from the intercom, come in," she said ushering us in. The house was beautiful. A lot of wood and plush carpeting. We walked into the massive kitchen. There was still some exposed drywall making it a sure sign they had just remodeled. I was amazed by how beautiful it was.
"Can I get you anything to drink?" asked a older man. It looked to be the woman's husband.
"Um do you have some juice?" I asked.
"Sure, my sons used to live on that stuff. I'm Jackie and this is Harold," she said sweetly. I started shaking as I looked at them. I took out my compact quickly and looked in my mirror. I looked back at Harold and I looked like him. I looked like my....Dad.
"This is JQ and I'm Alexandra," as I said my name Jackie's head snapped up and looked to her husband.
"I have a feeling you know why I'm here now," I said getting a bit choked up. What if the didn't want me here? What if they never wanted to see me again? Jackie walked out of the room and Harold just stared at me. Jackie walked back in and set down a picture. It was my senior picture. It was a big 8 X 10 and in the corner of the picture in big cursive lettering was the word 'Alexandra.' Jackie also had tears in her eyes.
"I watched you grow up through these pictures and when I got this one I couldn't believe what a beautiful woman you had become. I have regretted giving you away ever since I signed the papers but I wanted you to have better," she said sitting down next to me at the kitchen table. She took a deep breath and continued. "When I was about seven months pregnant, one of my sons and your brother, Brian, developed an infection in his heart. It got to be so bad we thought he was going to die. Hospitals and heart doctors are really expensive and our insurance would only cover so much. I slowly realized that if I kept you, I couldn't give you the kind of life you deserved. You were going to be my little princess and I couldn't accept anything less. That's why we decide to give you up. The boys both know that they have a sister and why we gave you up but they didn't want to go searching for you. In all honestly, we thought you'd hate us."
"Hate you?" I cried, literally "I could never hate you....Mom."
That's when the tears spilled over her eyes and she enveloped me in a large hug. I couldn't believe this. Not only did my parents still love me and regret giving me up, I also had two brothers. Soon Harold joined the hug and cried right along with us.
"This is great timing though, Alexandra," started Jackie wiping away the tears from my cheeks.
"Please call me Lexie," I commented
"Well, Lexie, we have our annual family reunion coming up. You can meet the family if you'd like. I don't know what exactly you had planned."
"I'd love to meet the family!" I exclaimed.
"What about you JQ? Will you be attending the reunion with your best friend?" asked Harold.
"Yes sir, I'd like that very much," replied JQ as I gave her a high five "See I told you they were!"
"Huh?" asked Jackie and Harold.
"Oh well after I saw the names on Lexie's paper I told her that she was probably related to Brian Littrell but she didn't believe me. All of us are actually big fans of the Backstreet Boys," stated JQ turning a bright shade of red. Jackie and Harold just laughed.
"Oh Brian will get a kick out of that. He'll be at the reunion. Him and Kevin are flying in special for the weekend," said Jackie finally setting down two glasses of juice in front of us.
"My brother, a Backstreet Boy, who would have thought?"
Jackie insisted that JQ and I stay at the house. I felt a little weird about it but they were so open and caring that I couldn't resist. These people were amazing. I didn't think that I would hit it off that well with them but it was like I had known them forever. We were staying in Brian's old room but I couldn't sleep very well. I just wanted to get up and think. JQ had already fallen asleep so I got up and tip-toed to the downstairs. I saw the kitchen light on and I walked in.
"Jackie what are you doing up?" I asked as I saw her sitting at the kitchen table with a coffee cup.
"Oh nothing sweetie. Just looking through some old photo albums I put together for the boys and myself," she stated pushing the album over to me.
"These pictures are of me," I said flipping through the book.
"Yeah, your mom wanted me to see you grow up. We actually never met your parents but I wrote your mother and asked her if she could please send me pictures of you. She was a darling about it and send me all these. I wanted the family to know you, that's why I did it," she said with a distant tone. I looked at her and saw a little bit of myself there. I was really scared just like she was. I was afraid of so many things I didn't know what to think.
"Jackie, can I ask you something?"
"Sure thing, honey. What is it?"
"Well, I know that I really don't know you as like family yet but I was wondering if I could call you......Mom," I said softly.
"I'd actually like that a lot. I really hope that we can be close. I'll understand if you don't but I would really like us to try and be a family," she replied.
"Me, too....Mom," I said shyly as she smiled "But what about my other mom and dad."
"I want them to be apart of this family too. They are a big part of who you are and I'm very, very grateful to them for raising such a wonderful caring woman. I want them to be comfortable with us. I can share you," said Jackie confidently as I giggled "Stay here."
She left the room and I went to the fridge and got out some juice. I sat back down with my glass as she returned.
"I was hoping one day I could share these with you," she stated plopping the books down in front of me.
"Are these what I think they are?" I asked a little giddily.
"I think so," she replied as I cracked open the album.
"Oh my gosh! And I have to call them family?" It was a photo of Brian and Harold Jr. together and they were wearing superhero costumes.
"Oh, Sweetie just wait til you get to the tour albums. You won't want to even utter the word brother anymore," she said giggling.