Alright, not the future Bade fic I promised, but here it is anyway. Anyway, have fun reading it!

Seven

Things don't quite add up and she was confused and she asked her mommy one day why she was so pale when mommy and daddy were so…not. Mommy stood stock still for a second and then slapped her hard across the face.

Well, she started crying and daddy came in and started yelling at mommy and then aunty came in and ushered her out of the room. Aunty played dolls with her and even let her choose a movie to watch so she thought that mommy and daddy arguing wasn't all bad because she got her way and they finally did stop screaming and then she got ice cream and mommy gave her a big hug. Daddy even let her braid his hair which was a rare occurrence for her.

But after daddy left the room after tucking her in, mommy remained and just stared. And she almost asked if she was okay, but then mommy let out a big sigh and she couldn't quite figure out why, but the sigh sounded sad.

She's never heard something that sad.

Fourteen

Life's a bitch. She learns this when she stumbles upon a shoebox filled with photos of a woman who looks just like her. She had almost forgotten her mom slapping her and all the weird looks and her dad starting to cry when he thought she was out of the room.

But she finds forty-two different photos of a girl draped in black and heavy makeup and facial piercings. They all dated from after 2008, but before 2013. There were close ups and photos of her back and photos of her hands and photos that were blurry but discernible. And she's so shocked that really, it doesn't quite sink in until she reaches the final picture. That picture is a picture of the girl with a black shirt stretched tight across her swollen stomach, her hands encircling it protectively.

Suddenly, she's aware of her cheeks feeling wet and her eyes stinging and her tongue tasting the salty tang of tears. She hears a door slam downstairs and she becomes all too aware that she shouldn't be in her parents, wait, her father and step-mother's (or whatever the proper term is) closet, shuffling through their stuff. She shoves the photos back into the shoe box and throws into the back. She makes it to the top of the stairs just in time to see her parents (damn, that's going to take some getting used too) shaking off their umbrellas.

Her mother glances up and says, "Oh, hi! I didn't know you'd be home this early from the library." She doesn't say anything, just whirls around and walks into her room. She can hear them whispering in the background, saying things like, There's no way, and, It's not possible. When safely curled in her bed, she pulls the picture of the girl whom she assumes is her mother out of her pocket and just holds it to her heart.

She falls asleep that way. She doesn't think she's ever slept so well.

Eight

No matter what they say, she knows her family is different. Her mommy doesn't pack her lunch with little notes telling her to do her best and have a great day. Her daddy can barely look at her without having to go outside to smoke to calm his shaking hands and frazzled nerves. Her grandparents (both sides, because in this family, it's all or nothing) don't lavish her with presents and attention like they do on her cousins. Her parents rarely are home for dinner.

It's usually the babysitter or occasionally she joins the family next door. She can't help but feel jealous of the neighbor kids because they've got a mommy that bakes them cupcakes and sends little notes in their lunch boxes and they have a daddy that can stand being around them for more than fifteen minutes.

Yes, they don't get to go out to the movies every Saturday and they don't have giant doll houses and top of the line scooters, but they have fun with their parents and they have someone to talk to at all times.

She wonders if she'll ever have that.

Fourteen (and a half)

She confronts them on a rainy Sunday afternoon. She grabbed the shoebox and walked quietly downstairs to find them watching TV, on different sides of the couch. Her father turns and smiles at her, but she sees how sad and pained he looks when he smiles at her. He doesn't seem to notice the box. She walks in front of the TV, flips it off and drops the box on the coffee table. They both freeze.

All she says is, "Tell the truth." And they do. After a few minutes of silence, they tell her everything.

Her real parents were actually her father and the girl in the photos. They were young and in high school. She thinks her dad almost says in love but he stops short when he sees his wife staring hard at him. Her mother decided to give her up for adoption at the last second but her dad used his paternal rights to get custody. Somewhere, he ended marrying the woman that is now sitting next to him, staring at the floor.

She's feels so betrayed that she doesn't say another word to them, she just turns and rushes back to her room to pack a bag. Where she's going, she doesn't know.

Maybe she shares more than looks with her mother.

Ten

Sometimes she prays before bed. She saw her friend's family doing it during one sleepover and she fell in love with the idea. Her parents see her doing it one night and all they do is smile and shake their heads and say, You'll see. She stops doing it all together, at least when they're around.

But when she does, she prays that one day she'll wake up and have a mommy that does her hair and plays dress up and paints her nails and have a daddy that'll give her piggy back rides and take her to the fair and who'll cave to anything she asks because she's his princess and not because she makes him sad.

She prays that she'll wake up and find that her grandmas want to teach her how to bake and her grandpas want to teach her things that her parents would probably disapprove of. Usually she just prays for a good day.

Sometimes she prays to never wake up.

Fifteen

It took her six months to find the girl. Her mother was living in a schmancy apartment in L.A., working on her latest project, a small indie film that was using one big name (her mother) and one small name (some other person). She'd have never guessed that her mother was Jadelyn West, actress extraordinaire.

She literally bumps into her, pacing in front of the apartment building, gathering the courage to go up and talk to her. She thinks that maybe her mother is even more amazing in the flesh.

The woman, her mother, was holding a Starbucks coffee cup and has a cell phone in her other free hand. The coffee sloshes, and the woman says, "Oh shit. I'm so sorry. Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit." She just stands there, awestruck, until Jadelyn asks, "What, you want an autograph or something?"

All she can come up with is, "I'm your daughter."

She's never heard a silence louder than this.

Thirteen

She gets asked out on her first date and they don't even care. If anything, they hate it. Her father's hands start shaking and he leaves to smoke. He slams the door behind him. Her mother is silent for a moment, but then says, "Don't stay out too late." She stalks out after her father. She goes out with the boy, gets her first kiss, and returns home in a blissful state. Her parents had already gone to bed.

She just wants to tell someone.

Fifteen

Her mother invites her in and as soon they're behind closed doors, she pulls her into a tight hug. She can feel tears soaking her shirt and she realizes that she's crying as well. When her mother releases her, she keeps a hold on her and just studies her face.

"You look like me."

"I know."

Then they both are crying with a renewed force. When they finally stop, the sit down across from each other and her mom asks her things. Random things, like what her favorite color is and where she went to school. When it comes to the topic of why she's there, her mother's brow begins to furrow. She sighs. "You know I have to send you back." And then she begins to beg and plead. She never thought she'd be in this position. Begging her mother to let her stay.

Finally her mother relents and says, "Alright. You can stay. But, you have to call your, um, parents."

Her father says she can stay. Her…step mother bursts into tears and says that Jade won. Jade finally won. She hears the phone slam down and then her dad comes back on. He says that he'll come visit for her birthday and really, she doesn't care much anymore. Her dad was never really around, so it doesn't make much of a difference.

She hangs up and as soon as she does, her mother pulls her back into her arms, whispering random words of comfort. Things that mothers say.

Finally, she thinks that her prayers are answered.

Alright, I loved it until the last little bit. But that might just be me being overly critical. Anyway, (not sound like a review whore or something) I love, love, LURV hearing what you guys think about my work. So please review!