weird, right?” Anna's eyes held mine.
I nodded.
“Mom and Dad are the best. Even Felix isn't that bad.” She flashed me a lopsided grin. “Ginny is still trying to get her way, but she's still adorable.” She paused, waiting for me to say something.
I didn't have it in me to say anything. It didn't even occur to me that I would have siblings or be an aunt. I was still getting over the fact that my mother wasn't biologically mine.
The wind picked up and died down. Anna stopped outside on the almost empty patio. She sat down and motioned to the seat beside of her. I sat down too.
“What scares you the most?” Anna leaned forward.
“I don't want to leave my Mom alone. I'm all she has.” I frowned.
Anna's eyes softened. “Mom and Dad won't make you leave. They promised and they always keep their promises.”
That made me feel much better. I nodded.
“Anything else?” Anna asked.
“Mostly that.” I shrugged.
“I understand.” She bit her lip and nodded.
I smiled slightly. “You are the only one who can.”
“Ever since I found out, I have given this a lot of thought. We share the same birthday. We were supposed to be living each other's lives... so I decided to consider you like a sister.” She put her hand on mine, much like Maddy had done earlier. “If that's okay with you?”
I nodded. The anxiety released from my body. Anna was much kinder than I expected.
“I see how they mixed us up. We have a similar hair color.” She gently picked up the end of my hair and let it fall.
I gave Anna a once over. She was right. We could easily be mistaken for sisters. Our hair coloring was similar. Our features were similar, but we were different enough at 17 it would be evident who our biological parents were to anyone else on the street but us.
“What's your life like?” Anna leaned forward and hung on my every word.
“I'm on Yearbook.” I thought of the first thing that popped into my head.
“Do you like it?” Anna tilted her head.
“I really do.” I grinned. “It's a ton of pictures to go through and touch up, but I feel like I am making a lasting impact each time I finish a page and it's uploaded to the site.”
Anna nodded. “What's your parents like?”
“Mom is great, actually.” I smiled. “She is the kind of Mom that always gets an ice cream cone after every shopping trip. She taught me to ski when I was ten. I love it. We try to hit the slopes on the first snowfall every year. My grandparents have a cabin a mile away, so we try to make a weekend of it.”
Anna nodded. “What about your Dad? I noticed he didn't come.”
“He couldn't.” I frowned.
“He couldn't get out of work. I'm sorry.” Anna's eyes turned sad with empathy.
“No.” I paused. “He died when I was three. He was a military man and... and... he didn't make it.” I swallowed. “We go see his grave a few times a year.” Tears touched the corners of my eye.
“Oh.” She sat up straight like I had startled her. “That's rough. I wish I could have met him.” Empathy fell out of her every pore. “I am sure he would have been proud of you.” She finally continued.
“Don't take this the wrong way, but you're really nice.” I swallowed.
Anna laughed a loud, self-assured laugh. I kind of envied her for that. “Thank you. You are too.” Her smile was contagious.
“I think I'm ready to go back in.” I let out a deep breath.
“We got this.” Anna flashed me a smile.