Page 56 of Edging Obsession

She rattles on about how much of a fan she is, shooting off question after question before he can answer the first one. This has me laughing, which finally gets her attention. For the first time, Anja realizes there are other people in the room. Her eyes skip from one to the next and to the next, until they land on Miles.

Miles clears his throat. “Thank you for supporting me and the band. I appreciate it.”

He turns toward the rest of us to find my mother and Elisabeth clutching the front of their shirts, faces twisted in agony. Miles introduces my mother and father, not mentioning who they really are, and hugs me to his side when he says I’m his girlfriend. A warmth flows through me while Anja’s smile drops.

I stretch my hand out. “Hello.”

She eyes my hand and takes it cautiously. “What are you doing here?”

Anja’s focus returns to Miles, so he answers. “Some recent information has come to light that we’d like to talk to you about.”

She bites her lower lip as worry paints across her face, so I step in. “No one is hurt or sick.”

I’m glad she speaks English instead of Miles having to translate, especially when we’re unsure of what he’s saying. Miles doesn’t know how to, shall we say, soften the blow. He’s as forward as they get.

Anja asks, “Why is the most popular drummer in the world standing in my living room with his girlfriend and her parents?”

Miles is about to speak, but I hold my hand up. “Let me. Maybe it will be better coming from me.”

“Maybe what will be better?”

I gesture to the couch. “Do you mind if we sit?”

Elisabeth comes over to Anja and hugs her. “Mutter. Was ist denn los?”(Mother. What’s going on?)

Elisabeth nods to me, and I answer. “There isn’t an easy way to say this, so I’ll just start at the beginning.”

Taking a seat on the couch, Anja gives Elisabeth one last glance before joining me. My head tilts as I gaze at her. She does have my parents’ features. There’s little doubt she’s theirs, and a little bit of my heart fractures. It’s one thing to speak about their biological daughter, and another to see her. To see how she’s a product of my loving parents, who have given me everything. My eyes bounce from my mom, dad, and Elisabeth.

I let out a breath and smile. “Miles is only here because of me. We met back in the States and started dating soon after.”

My head turns toward my parents who are as stiff as a log, clasping hands. It kills me that I caused them so much hardship over the years. Being weird and crazy must have put a strain on them. Throw in depression, attempted suicide, and bipolar, and my parents are probably ready to swap children for a while. Except that’s not fair of me to say. They’ve never shown anything but love toward me. It’s my own guilt which has me feeling sorry for their bad luck. And seeing their biological daughter makes me jealous and happy for them at the same time.

I return my gaze to Anja. “Several months ago, I had an accident, which required a blood transfusion.”

Elisabeth sees my parents’ tears and asks for a translation. Miles does so, and she gasps, sitting next to me and resting her hand on my arm.

“Everything’s fine. I’m better now.” I tell Miles to translate for Elisabeth as I speak to Anja. “My parents gave blood. Unfortunately, we found out that they weren’t my biological parents.”

Anja’s mouth drops open. “What? Through your whole life you thought they were your parents?” I nod. “Didn’t they ever tell you, you were adopted?”

“I wasn’t adopted.” I reach for her hand. “They found out we weren’t blood related when they went to give blood. It turns out I was switched at birth.”

So far, it hasn’t sunk in with Anja. She’s listening tomystory as if it’s only about me. Her sweet apology for my pain has me swallowing back tears. If I break now, I won’t be able to continue. I lock eyes with Miles, who gives me a faint smile.

“Miles happens to be German, so he hired people to find my birth parents.” Anja slips her hand from mine. My words are making sense to her. I angle my head toward Elisabeth and say, “Your mother is my biological mother.”

Her head whips toward Elisabeth. “Mutter, is das wahr?”(Mother, is this true?)

Elisabeth nods, and a light bulb turns on in her head, except it’s the wrong thought. “You’re my sister?” She claps. “Oh my God, I’ve always wanted a sister.”

Shit! I wish it were true.

My teeth gnaw on my lower lip. This is harder than I thought. I’m trying to take it slow, but it’s only creating more assumptions.

I offer a humorless laugh. “I’ve always wanted a sister, too, but that’s not why we’re here.”

“Wait a minute. You said you were switched. Am I the other switched baby?”

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