~~~ Val's pov ~~~

i was a nervous wreck to say the very least. Today was the day my entire family has been waiting to see for twenty eight years. I sat on the couch in a daze as I chewed my nails down to the bone one by one.

" Ewwww, I really wish you wouldn't do that" Matt groaned as he came down the stairs. He absolutely despised it when I bit my nails, but it was a nervous habit and as far as I was concerned I had every right to chew away at a time like this. I ignored his comment and continued on as I felt him sit next to me placing his hand on my shaking leg.

" babe, I know your nervous but everything will be okay" he said attempting to calm my nerves. I sighed as I layed my head in my hands.

" I can't take seeing my mother devistated again" I said looking up at him.

" What if she is my sister and she doesn't want anything to do with us?" I rattled out as my all the stress and anxiety consumed my body. Matt rubbed my back, taking my hand in his.

" Val, if its meant to be it will be. If she didn't want anything to do with her birth parents she wouldn't have agreed to fly across the country in the first place. " he said, I nodded slightly at his words. I never actually thought about it that way, she did already take a huge step by coming out here. I felt the stress slowly drain from my body with that epiphany.

" Besides it could be a lot worse. What if she's a closet Justin bieber fan?!" He gasped out, a mock look of horror on his face. I chuckled swatting his chest playfully.

" Matt she's twenty eight, I doubt she has bieber fever" I said, rolling my eyes.

" Well I don't know, don't forget I ran across your secret nsync playlist not that long ago, mrs. Timberlake!" He grinned waving his finger at me. I laughed, pulling him into a hug. He always knew just how to calm me down no matter what. A few minutes later we headed over to my moms house to meet up with Michelle and Brian to wish our parents good luck before they left to get the paternity results. The case worker suggested that only my parents go, she said if we all went it would be too much at once. Which we understood, so once our parents left the four of us stayed behind at their house waiting anxiously for them to call us with the results.

~~~ lexa's pov ~~~

i decided to take a stroll in a nearby park until it was time to get the results. I thought I would be nervous, but I felt refreshed and ready to find the answer to the biggest mystery of my life. The only struggle of the day thus far was deciding what to wear. If these people are indeed my parents I wanted to make a good impression. But as I stared at myself in the mirror, it just didn't look like me. The tight pencil skirt and button up blouse was a lie. I stripped out of it and dressed in my usual summer attire. Jean shorts and a white t shirt, letting all my tattoos show. I decided that I am who I am, if they don't like it oh well. I've already lived twenty eight years without them anyway. I inhaled deeply letting the fresh air take up residence In my lungs. I had never been to California, but I absolutely loved it. Back home it was cold, smoggy and crowded. Here it was warm, sunny and laid back. I felt like it was a much better fit for me. my phone buzzed alerting me that it was time to head over for my appointment. The building was about twenty minutes away, but it was so beautiful out I decided to walk. I stepped infront of the building looking in every direction as people came and went. I wondered if amongst all the commotion were my birth parents. I headed inside and was greeted by nancy as soon as I walked in.

" Good morning, how have you been enjoying California?" She asked awfully chipper for nine In the morning.

" I love it, I've been up since five a.m. Taking it all in" I smiled as I sat down in one if the chairs infront of her desk.

" well I'm glad to hear your enjoying yourself. And if your ready I have the results right here" she said picking up a blank envelope off her desk. All the anxiety that I had avoided this far came crashing down on me in that very moment. I didn't speak I only nodded for her to continue. She got up from behind her desk and sat down in the chair beside me placing her hand on mine to comfort me.

" are you sure your ready, we can wait a minute" she softly said leaning her head slightly to look into my eyes.

" No, no I'm ready" I said smiling weakly. She removed her hand from mine and peeled the envelope open. I squeezed my eyes shut as I heard her open the paper to read the results.

" Well Lexa, lets go take you to meet your mom and dad" she sang out. I could tell as I opened my eyes to look at her that she was beyond relieved. I was still a tad bit in shock. I knew there was a pretty good possibility I would be their daughter. But all the day dreaming I had done throughout the years of having a family still didn't completely prepare me for it actually happening. There was a faint knock at the door stealing both of our attention. An older woman peeked in.

"I just read them the results, Their ready if you guys are" she said smiling. nancy and I stood up as we left the office and walked down the hall to another room. We stood in the hallway infront of the closed door, nancy turned to me placing her hands on my shoulders.

" You ready?" I felt my stomach twist up in knots, but I fought back my nerves.

" Yep" I said swallowing down the lump in my throat. She slowly eased open the door, making her way in before me.

" Lexa, I would like you to meet Debbie and nick. Your birth parents" she said extending her arm out in their direction. My breath caught in my throat as I saw how much they looked like me, that they were my parents.

" oh my baby, your so beautiful" Debbie sobbed out, covering her mouth with her hand as the tears streamed down her face.

" My little Bella" nick choked out as he too began to cry. I didn't know what to do exactly. I stayed frozen in my spot as I watched them. They both walked over slowly almost like they didn't want to frighten me and pulled me into a hug. It felt foreign to me to have anybody show me this much affection, and I felt slightly uncomfortable. Despite the fact that they are my parents, they were still technically strangers to me. As much as I was glad at the fact that they were so happy to see me it confused me even more to why they gave me up in the first place, it didn't add up. They pulled away from the hug keeping their eyes locked at me, gazing at me with nothing but pure love.

" why did you leave me?" I heard the words leave my mouth before I knew what I was saying. I felt horrible when I saw both their faces fall at my question, Debbie now crying even harder.

" No baby, we didn't" she choked out between sobs.

" Lexa, there's some things you need to know" nancy said ushering us all to sit down.

" when you were born one of the nursery attendants kidnapped you in the middle of the night and fled to New York" I gasped in shock as she divulged the information.

" we've never stopped looking for you baby, we've never stopped loving you" nick said his voice raspy from crying.

" Why did she take me if she just needed up giving me away?" I asked, more to myself than anyone else.

" We dont know exactly, she probably got scared or couldn't handle a baby" nancy said shrugging her shoulders. I couldn't believe all this, all these years I thought my parents didn't want me and in all reality they did. Tears started to burn my eyes as I realized I was robbed of having a family for the last twenty eight years because of some stupid bitch. I broke down in sobs as the anger raged through me. I felt two strong arms pull me up from my seat realizing it was nick as he tightly wrapped me in a hug. I hugged him back just as hard as I continued sobbing into his chest.

" I can't change the time we've missed baby, but ill do everything in my power to make up for lost time" I heard Debbie say as she stroked my hair as she stood behind me.

" If its not too much the rest of the family is dying to meet you" Debbie smiled, I nodded that I would. I was ready and not going to waste anymore time. We left nancy as I followed nick and Debbie out to their car.

" I know your nervous baby, but you have no idea how long we have all waited to bring you home." she said reassuring me. I climbed in the back and stared out the window as we drove.

" You've got some beautiful tattoos there kiddo, I really like the death bat on your thigh especially" nick said as he peered at me through the rear view mirror.

" Uh thanks" I stuttered out shyly returning the smile. I was suprised he knew what the death bat was. But they did have two other daughters not too much older than me, so it wasn't too surprising I guess. My eyes went wide as we pulled onto a long winding driveway leading up to a gorgeous rather large beach house.

" This is your house?" I screeched in shock. I heard them both chuckle lightly at my awe.

" It's your house too baby, welcome home" Debbie said as we all got out of the car. I felt like I needed to pinch myself, It was all too good to be true. I didn't see how this could get any better.