"Would you like me to tell you about your family? Your biological family?"

I hesitate before I answer. "What are you talking about? I know about my family."

This lady leans back in her chair. "Oh, you mean Robert and Nicole James?"

My head tilts. "Yes." How does this lady know so much about my life if I just met her?

"They are not your birth parents," she informs me.

My thoughts halt as do my words, and I have to grip a nearby chair to keep from bolting.

I glare at this liar. "Lady, you are a stranger trying to give me information on my real family. I know who they are, so I think this conversation is over." I start to turn away.

"But I want to tell you about your birth parents."

I turn back and scowl at her. "You're wrong about my parents." I say and turn, running out of the room—slinging the beads around—then crashing against the front door, before running down the street towards home.

My chest tightens simply at the thought that my parents might not be my birth parents. I'm going to prove that old witch wrong, she can't be right. Could she?

It takes about fifteen minutes to run all the way home. Rushing through the front door, there are two voices coming from the kitchen - the smell of pot roast wafting through the air.

Good, it seems like my parents are home.

"Hey, pumpkin," my dad starts.

"Tell me she's lying," I say—desperation clinging to every breath.

"Lying about what?" Dad asks.

My eyes water. "That you aren't my biological parents."

My mom stops what she is doing and turns to face me. "Who said that?"

"The old woman at the natural healing shop. "Her name was Miriam or something like that."

"Oh, dear!" my mom gasps, eyes widening as she grips the kitchen counter.

I shift my stance and play with my friendship bracelets as I attempt to stop the panic building in me.

"Don't 'Oh, dear' me, mom. Tell me there's not a birth family." They will tell me the truth.

Dad looks over at Mom apprehensively, but quickly changes his demeanor. "Maybe you should sit down," Dad says way too calmly.

Walking towards the dining room table my dad is sitting at, I ask, "Is there a birth family?" 

"Now, pumpkin, sit down so we can tell you the story."

"I'd rather not," I respond, as I lean against the wall, crossing my legs. "You wait to tell me now? I am eighteen years old, why couldn't you have told me before?"

"There are plenty of reasons, but no excuse," Dad says.

I lean further into the wall for support. "And they are?"

"The short of it is that we were sworn to secrecy about your biological parents."

The front door crashes open, and I glance over to see Danny. My dad hesitates, but I want him to continue. I want a good reason for keeping this hidden.

"Sworn to secrecy?" I laugh at the ridiculousness of his statement.  "You might as well talk in front of Danny, he'll find out about it later anyway," I mumble.

"Ok. Sit down, Daniel," my dad says.

Dad lowers his head momentarily, but not before I see his eyes glistening. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he straightens back up and looks at me. "Your grandmother came to us desperate for us to take you in. Something big was happening where your family was from, and they couldn't keep you safe. She brought you here to save your life."

My hands drop to my sides. "And that's it?"

"That's about as much as we were told. Most details were left out because of the secrecy of your parent's lives. Can you think of anything, Nikki?" He asks, looking at my mom, but she just shakes her head no.

Crossing my arms and raising an eyebrow, I pause before I question him.

"Let me get this straight.  My grandmother got me from my birth parents, and then she brought me to you because their lives were in danger. However, she couldn't tell you the details and then she just disappeared. Is that what you're telling me?"

"Pretty much. Only other information was that your name was Tallulah Leia and your birth date. Somehow adoption papers were already drawn up and ready for us to sign, if we wanted to keep you. And after seeing the desperation in her face, we couldn't turn you away," he says.

They could be hiding more secrets, so I ask, "Are Spencer and Kaitlyn adopted?"

"No, they are not. We had Spencer pretty quickly into our marriage, but we were having a difficult time conceiving after him. We investigated other options to help us conceive but nothing seemed viable at the time. Not long after that your grandmother knocked on our door wanting us to take care of you - almost like they knew of our situation. Kaitlyn was a complete surprise. And neither of them know that you are adopted. We never wanted you to feel like you didn't belong in this family - to make you think like you would be treated differently." Dad says.

I point to myself. "But I was different. I never seemed to fit in with the kids at school. I always told you that I felt like there was something missing in my life that I couldn't fill with anything else. Didn't you think then would have been a good time to tell me?"

Crossing my arms and clenching my fists, I wait for their explanation.

More tears escape Mom's eyes. "Honey, we've always dreamed there wouldn't ever be a need to tell you."

Stepping back, my lips pressed together and nostrils flare. "Well, I needed; I needed to know. I needed to be given the opportunity to know the truth and figure things out on my own, not have some stranger inform me that you weren't my real parents."

"But we are your real parents, pumpkin," Dad says.

Dad's words echo in my ears, and my heart skips a beat. "Yes, I will never take away the fact that you have raised me with everything I could ever want including understanding and love." I pause to collect my thoughts. "But I've always felt something was, well was, missing. And now I know what." I choke on my unshed tears. "I can't deal with this anymore!"

Running up the stairs towards my room, I shut the door, causing the frame to creak and the windows to shake. 

What else in my life has been a lie?