Page 29 of Shattered Home

I didn’t know much about the situation we had found ourselves in, but I knew that having anyone’s focus on us was inherently bad.

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The sun was barely above the horizon when I woke the twins. I had no clue when breakfast was or even where it was, but we weren’t about to miss it. They were both groggy as they got out of the sleeping bag, the energy I was used to seeing in them washed away by the absence of their parents.

“Are you guys hungry?” I asked as the three of us exited the tent.

“Very hungry,” Stephanie responded, slipping her small hand into mine.

Lucas grabbed my other hand, and I let out a sigh of relief. I may feel wholly unprepared to watch over them, but I was grateful they trusted me. Thoughts from last night plagued me, but I tried to push them away for now, not wanting to bring the kids into this. For now, they needed to feel like everything would be okay.

“How about after breakfast we walk around and try to find some flowers to pick?” I had seen them do that plenty of times with Elizabeth and they always had smiles on their faces when they returned with bundles in their hands.

“Yeah! And then we can save them to show Mom and Dad.” Stephanie’s face was lit up in a smile for the first time since we arrived and I tried to return it with my own.

But my heart broke, knowing I couldn’t guarantee that they would see their mom and dad again.

“Does that sound fun to you, Lucas?” The little boy hadn’t spoken more than a word or two, and I was beginning to worry. He seemed to be taking this much harder than his sister.

“Are we going to see Mom and Dad again?”

Well shit. I didn’t have an answer for that, or at least one that wouldn’t break the kid's heart. Scrambling for a response, my eyes darted anywhere but at his solemn face. And then an answer never came because the sight before me took all my attention.

We were nearing the main building, uniformed men and women still milling about as they were last night. But a few civilians were in the mix and one in particular stopped me in my tracks.

Curly black hair identical to mine was the first thing to catch my attention. And then there were his clothes, clothes I had seen on him plenty of times. His favorite light blue band tee was a stark contrast to the grime covering it. He wore a pair of jeans, his tennis shoes finishing off the look.

He looked up in the next moment, twin green eyes flashing under the early morning sun. And although there was a nasty looking bruise dotting his cheek, I’d recognize that face anywhere.

“Aiden?” I barely whispered, too stunned to say more.

But then I realized who truly was standing in front of me and my voice grew. “Aiden!”

His head popped up at the sound, his gaze finding me. Shock registered first, his brows lifting. And then I saw the relief, his lips splitting into a grin before it disappeared almost immediately. He began shaking his head, but I was too far gone with happiness to decipher what it meant.

Squeezing the twins' hands tightly in mine, I raced the three of us forward, ignoring the curious looks from those around us. When we were within reach, I dropped their hands, flinging my arms around my own twin.

His posture hesitated for a moment before those familiar arms wrapped around me and for the first time in what felt like forever, there was peace. Leaning slightly back, I took in his face, still worried that this wasn’t real. How long had I wished to see my family again?

“Alessia, you shouldn’t be here,” he croaked out, his voice scratchy as if it was overworked.

Shaking my head, I couldn’t determine what he meant, but when he stared at me with sadness in his eyes, I finally noticed the silence around us. Glancing around, I realized that nearly everyone in the area was staring at the two of us. Some with curiosity and others with a spark of delight. Again, I didn’t know what any of it meant, but I wondered how big of a problem my presence here was about to be.

Chapter Nineteen

After my quick reunion with Aiden, he hurried us away from the grouping outside the building. I tried to open my mouth to ask questions, but he hushed me until we were in a secluded area of tents. Most of the people were gone already, and I briefly wondered if we were about to miss another meal. The three of us definitely couldn’t handle that.

Aiden’s head whipped around, assuring we were alone, before he finally began to speak. “Holy shit, Alessia. Where have you been? Why are you here? And who are these kids?”

Speaking of the kids, they both looked absolutely terrified. I shouldn’t have been surprised, their stranger danger was probably on high alert after everything they had gone through and I knew I needed to calm them down.

Dropping to my knees so I could look them in the eyes, I smiled comfortingly. “Want to know something cool? You know how you two are twins, well I’m a twin too. This is my brother, just like Lucas is your brother, Stephanie.”

Their eyes turned toward Aiden and I was thankful when he dropped to his knees as well, a playful smile taking over his face. I was happy to see the look, the reminder of the goofy brother I had grown up with.

“You guys are twins? That’s awesome. My name is Aiden.”

“Hi, Aiden,” Stephanie said, reaching her hand out to shake his.

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