My friends visited the next day, much to my relief. They seemed pretty happy I was back home, and they got to meet my new dog. Tony was a huge fan of Lonnie; he said he always wanted a dog, but since his parents and sister were all allergic, it wasn’t possible. He was sad that he couldn’t pet him, Lonnie being a service dog. His fingers were twitching the whole time.

I also started training immediately. The training school wasn’t far, so Susan and Davis drove me there after work. Tommy and Harry accompanied me so they could learn, too. Lonnie was a very quick learner.

It was another routine to adjust to. I was back to online school, same schedule as before, except I didn’t have that woman watching me all the time. Instead, my foster family would do routine checks in my room and there was a camera installed. Lonnie was also trained to sniff out anything harmful.

Susan and Davis would alternate going to work so one of them could watch me; soon, they wouldn’t be able to, so they were planning on inviting a family member over later on. I wasn’t particularly looking forward to that meeting. Susan stayed home today and she would also be sleeping on an inflatable mattress in my room from now on.

It felt pretty intrusive, but I kept reminding myself that it was better than Ms. Howells. At least my foster family showed kindness.

I also had another medication to take. Besides my antidepressants, I had anti-anxiety medication. Instead of taking pills, now I had to mix the meds into my drink every morning. It gave the family more control over my meds and ensured I didn’t have easy access to them. Although, I’d learned my lesson; overdoses were no painless death. I wasn’t willing to go through that again.

After another day of online school, Davis staying home this time, and another class with Lonnie, the family took me out to lunch. We went to Rita’s again, almost as if we were making up for the last time we went. It was a lot more fun without the ‘Watcher’ around, and with Lonnie sitting next to me, happy as can be.

I was a bit surprised when, instead of heading home, we drove in a different direction. I looked at my foster parents questioningly from the backseat, where I sat with Tommy, Harry, and Lonnie. “Where are we going?” I asked.

“It’s a very special place for us. We figured you should see it,” Susan answered.

A cemetery came past us on the right. When we turned into the entrance, I knew.

It was a sunny day, but still very cold, snow covering the various gravestones across the field. My yellow winter boots crunched the white powder when I got out of the van. We walked along the paths until Susan and Davis turned into a section. I glanced at the various names on the stones, some with pictures, some with American flags, some with titles like ‘Loving Mother and Sister’, or ‘Beloved Brother’. I looked down at my shoes, watching my footprints carve into the snow, with smaller pawprints trailing next to them.

“I feel bad we didn’t show this to you sooner,” Kyle commented as we walked.

I shrugged. “It really wasn’t my business. It’s your family. I shouldn’t have butt in.”

“Well, with all you went through for it, we owe it to you. You’re part of our family now. It’s only fair.”

I looked at him, not expecting his words. “You mean that?”

He smiled, tousling my hair and side-hugging me. I smiled at the gesture, resisting tears. I never expected any of them to say that.

We finally stopped at the gravestone. I stayed a few feet away, a bit shy about approaching. This was their daughter’s grave.

“You can come closer, Diana,” said Susan.

Hesitantly, I did so. I crouched in front of the stone, prompting Lonnie to sit down.

AMY GABRIELLE FIELD

July 13th, 2007-May 6th, 2023

LOVING DAUGHTER AND SISTER

Our Treasure. Our Princess. Our Baby.

Dotting the grave were small, purple flowers. Some were dead, probably unable to stand the cold, while others were still blooming, covered in frost. I reached out to one of them, picking it. It was a vinca minor periwinkle.

“She loved those flowers.” Jack crouched next to me, staring at the little flower in my fingers. “When we were kids, she thought they were fairy houses.”

“Like the movie?” I chuckled.

“Yeah. She cried when we told her that wasn’t real.”

“Why’d you tell her that?”

He shrugged. “Being jerks.”

I put the flower in my pocket and gazed at Amy’s name on the gravestone. My eyes flickered to her birthday— same as mine. How was that possible?

“Her favorite color was purple. What’s yours?”

“Yellow. I like sunflowers. At the hospital, there were a few of those in the garden. Really pretty.” I sifted my fingers in the dirt over Amy’s grave. Somehow, I felt my chest pulsing, as if I could feel her. It was a strange connection. It was as if I knew her all my life, and yet, I only saw her in pictures and heard of her in stories… scarce ones, too.

I looked at Susan and Davis, who were staring at a different gravestone next to us. Frowning, I stood, going to see who they were looking at.

JULIA AURORA FIELD

July 13th, 2007

Our Sleeping Beauty.

Julia? “Who…?”

“We didn’t tell you about her, did we?” Susan said.

“No…” I searched through my memory. I knew they had a stillborn baby. Amy’s twin. “This is… your other daughter?”

Davis answered with a nod.

“I told you about her, didn’t I?” said Harry.

Remembering, I nodded at him. “That’s right, you did. Amy lived…”

It was a small gravestone, like a reminder of how her life was cut short. She never even got to see the light of day.

Why couldn’t that be me instead? My parents would’ve died, anyway. The Fields would be happy with their two girls. I wouldn’t have had to suffer all this.

It all happened on the same day. July 13th. A cursed date.

How? How did this happen on the same day? How could I look so much like…? It didn’t make sense.

Lonnie suddenly nudged my hand, standing on his hind legs and pawing my arm. Realizing my heart rate had increased, I sat in the snow and let Lonnie lie across my lap. “You good, Diana?” Harry said, crouching next to me. He handed me the bag of treats we’d brought.

“I’m fine. I just got a little anxious.” I gave Lonnie a treat, petting him. “Good boy. Thank you.”

“You want to go back to the car?”

“No, it’s fine. It’s nice out here. Cold, but nice.” I adjusted my scarf and continued petting Lonnie, letting his warmth seep through my gloves. After a while, we moved on to see other Field family graves. Susan’s side of the family was buried somewhere else— her maiden name was Dillon.

My mind went to my parents. They were buried in my hometown— I chuckled. It was Clearwater County… because we had ‘clear water’. I never got to see their graves. They had a funeral, but Uncle Pat and Aunt Kim made me stay home.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

November 8th, 2011. Over 12 years ago. I’d gotten to the point that I forgot their death anniversary. I didn’t even remember what I did on November 8th last month. I was still with Ms. Howells, I think… it was just before I’d gone back to Summit High.

I didn’t even have a picture of them… I couldn’t remember their faces that well. I remembered Mom’s eyes…

I sighed, crouching again and hugging Lonnie. Tommy noticed and came up to me. “You okay?”

“Just thinking about my parents. I feel like I know more about Amy than I do about them. I don’t really remember them much.”

“Do you have anything to remember them by?”

“Not really.”

“Where are they buried?”

“Back in Pierce, where we lived.”

“Hey, Mom.” Tommy stood. “You guys know how to get to Pierce?”

“Pierce?”

“Clearwater County.”

Davis nodded. “It’s about an hour away.”

I quickly stood. “Oh, you guys don’t have to…”

“What for?”

“Diana’s parents are buried there,” Tommy explained.

The two looked at each other. “Yeah, sure, we can go,” said Davis.

“Do we have time?” Susan asked.

“Maybe not today, but some other time, we could drive up and visit. Do you know what cemetery it is?”

“It’s in my hometown, but I don’t know exactly where.”

“It should be easy. I’ll look it up.”

I smiled at them. “Thank you.”

~~~

Friday morning, we got up bright and early to go to Snowcap Ski Lodge for the weekend. It was a 6-hour drive, so it was quite the road trip. I’d never been on a road trip, so it was exciting. We passed by the Camas prairie, the White Bird battlefield, and lots of scenic views that boasted rivers, lakes, and mountains. We had to stop a couple more times to let Lonnie go to the bathroom… and all of us, too, since we ate continuously.

Payette Lake was one of my favorite stops, especially with the glistening ice and snow. We took plenty of pictures, so many that my cheeks hurt when we finally got back in the car. We also sang to songs on the radio and played games like ‘I Spy’ and ‘Punch Buggy’, the latter of which involved a lot of cheating, arguing, and scolding from my foster parents, but all with an aura of playfulness. It was a very joyous trip, which worried me— whenever I was having too much of a good time, something would come to ruin it.

So far, nothing bad happened, except some traffic here and there. After well over 7 hours of driving, I was getting anxious to get to the resort and crash on a bed. The drive back to the house wasn’t something I looked forward to.

When we arrived at the resort, it was a huge relief. My butt was aching. Lonnie hopped out of the van with me, probably just as desperate as I was. I stretched and yawned, adjusting my winter apparel that I’d put on in a hurry.

We were taken to the rooms we’d reserved. Davis and Kyle took a two-bed room; Jack, Tommy and Harry shared a three-bed room; and Susan was staying with me and Lonnie in another two-bed room. Guilt hit me, realizing the sacrifices they were making for me. I always had to inconvenience someone, didn’t I?

It was around 2 in the afternoon when we got settled, so we went for lunch. Thick hamburgers, crisp French fries, creamy soups, and more delicious plates were served. I tried not to order too much, since I always regretted having a big meal afterwards, dealing with the stomachaches and indigestion. My appetite had increased since I moved in, but I still needed to be careful.

Then, the moment we all waited for: the snow.

Dressed in our warmest and prettiest winter clothing, we set out onto the mountain. Lonnie had a thick red coat on with his service dog labels on, though his fur kept him warm enough.

Around us, people came waddling out with skis or carrying snowboards under their arms. Children squealed as they played in the snow, making forts and throwing snowballs at each other. There were a couple other dogs, too.

“Davis, you want to ski?” Susan asked. Her husband gave her a look, to which she replied, “What?”

“Do I look like I know how to ski?” he laughed.

“Come on, it’ll be fun.” She tugged on his arm.

“Susan, I don’t feel like crashing into a tree.”

“Okay, how about sledding?”

“That’s worse!”

“Don’t be such a wimp. We can try over there, on the smaller hill.” She pointed at a hill where a lot of children were sledding or snowboarding down the side.

“A wimp?” Davis raised his brows, approaching his wife. “Who are you calling a wimp?”

“You. Who else?” Susan giggled.

A challenging smirk crossed Davis’s face. “Okay. Alright. I’ll race you.”

“Race me?”

“Yeah. Small hill, sled, let’s go. First one down wins.”

“Wins what?”

Davis paused. “Bragging rights.”

Susan laughed, going to the hill. “Alright, let’s do it.”

We watched as the couple grabbed some sleds and walked up to the safer hill. Kyle had a strange look in his eyes as he stared. He smirked, showing his dimples. “It’s been a while,” he commented.

The other brothers murmured in agreement. I looked at them. “What do you mean?”

“It’s been a while since we saw or heard them do anything else besides work.”

Realization struck. He was right. Unless they were checking up on us, Susan and Davis hardly talked about anything else but some account they were working on. I would hear them complaining about their company being short of employees, extra accounts added to their workload, gossiping co-workers and demanding quotas.

“What do they even do?” I asked.

“They’re personal financial advisors,” Jack replied robotically.

“What’s that?” We walked towards the lodge to get snow stuff.

“I dunno. They tell people how to use their money, stuff like that.”

“They advise people on how to budget, save for expenses they want to make, all of that,” Kyle explained.

“There. That’s a better definition.”

“You’re majoring in that, right, Kyle?” I asked.

“No, I’m in a business major.”

“Ew.”

“Ew?”

“Boring,” I laughed as I grabbed a sled.

“To you. I’m just smarter than you.”

“You wish,” Jack remarked.

“Hey, I got on the Dean’s List both semesters in my freshman year,” Kyle boasted.

“So? Nicole’s in the Honors program,” Jack shot back.

We all laughed as Kyle blushed, embarrassed. “I’m comparing my intelligence to yours, not hers.”

I started walking to where Susan and Davis were. Susan was already in position while Davis was trying to adjust himself. His wife was constantly teasing him. I readily took out my phone and recorded them as they slowly inched off the hill and sped down the slope, whooping. Susan reached down, propelling herself forward with her hand. “That’s cheating!” Davis shouted.

I gasped, laughing as Davis’s sled suddenly turned and he faceplanted into the snow. Susan stopped at the bottom and quickly ran up to him. He lifted his snow-covered face and threw a handful at his wife. This ensued a playful snowball fight that ended with them collapsing on the ground together, clutching their stomachs in laughter.

Were my mom and dad like that? I didn’t remember much. I remembered we were happy… they must’ve had great moments together. I realized I didn’t know anything about their love story— I didn’t know how they met and fell in love.

I remembered their anniversary; February 6th, 2007. They’d gotten pregnant with me out of wedlock. Mom had shown me her wedding picture with just her and Dad. She was overweight, so my baby bump wasn’t visible, it just added some weight to her. I’d always wondered why she didn’t have the huge and beautiful bridal dresses I’d seen on TV.

I remembered the rest of our family didn’t contact us much. I never knew my grandparents, for one. The only family I knew were Aunt Kim and Uncle Pat, and my cousins, Patrick Jr, Lila, and Bernard. Who knew where they ended up after CPS separated us.

“Diana! You coming?”

I turned, seeing Tommy and Harry on a sled, ready to slide down. Kyle and Jack were next to them.

“Um, I’m going over there,” I said, pointing to the smaller hill.

“Nah, come on, let’s try this one!”

“I don’t know…”

“You scared?” Tommy taunted.

“I’m not scared, I’m smart.”

“You’re scared!” Harry shouted.

I pursed my lips and watched the others sledding and skiing down the taller hill. It looked pretty safe. The children weren’t hurting themselves.

Unwilling to swallow my pride, I went over to the boys and slapped my sled next to the younger two.

“Oh, no, you’re on our team,” said Harry.

“What?”

“You’re riding with us. Come on. Us against Kyle and Jack.”

“I don’t think-”

Kyle made a chicken noise.

“Oh, that’s real mature,” I said.

Both older brothers started making chicken noises, which annoyed me to death. “I don’t trust these guys!” I said over the noises.

“Hey!” Harry exclaimed, offended.

After a few more moments of clucking, I finally caved. “Alright, I’m on their team!” I grumpily sat behind Harry and put my arms around his waist.

“This is a bad idea,” said Tommy. “We’ve got more weight.”

“She’s a feather,” Jack said.

“Hey!” I exclaimed, throwing snow at him.

“I don’t mean it that way!”

“We’ll be fine,” said Harry. “Kyle’s weight alone is two people.”

It was now Kyle’s turn to say, “Hey!”

“You’re always saying, ‘It’s all muscle’,” Harry imitated him. “It’s obvious it’s fat.”

“You wanna test it out? I’ll pin you down, see how much muscle I have.”

“Come on, y’all, I gotta go to the bathroom,” Jack whined.

“Wait, what about Lonnie?” I looked at my dog, who obediently sat behind us, tongue hanging out, like always.

“Kyle and Jack can take him, that way we’re even,” said Tommy.

“That’s not fair. Kyle’s heavy enough,” said Jack.

Kyle raised his fist. “Stop.”

“It’ll be fine. Just take him.”

Jack sighed and took Lonnie gently, positioning him on his lap.

“Okay. One… two… three!”

We kicked off the hill. I gasped as my stomach shot up to my throat. We screamed and hollered, sliding at full speed down the hill. I held on tight to Harry’s waist. Ice-cold air hammered at my face. I ducked, shielding myself behind the youngest brother.

Our sled started turning left and right, wobbling unsteadily. Kyle and Jack were still ahead. Tommy reached down and tried to propel us forward. The ride started getting bumpy.

“TOMMYYYY!” Our sled flipped over and we plunged into the snow. I could hear the older brothers whoop in victory, then laugh out loud at our misery. Lifting my face from the snow, I saw Kyle already recording us on his phone while Jack died of laughter behind him.

“Hey, Santa Claus,” Kyle remarked. I deadpanned at him and wiped all the snow off my face. Lonnie rushed up to me and licked the rest of the icy powder off my face.

“You cheated!” Tommy shouted.

“Us? You were trying to push your sled!” said Jack.

“I told you she was extra weight,” Tommy told Harry.

“So? Lonnie was on their sled, and then there’s Kyle.”

In response, Kyle threw a snowball at Harry, hitting him in the face. He gasped as Harry fell on his butt. Jack burst out laughing.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to hit your-” He snickered. “Sorry.”

“Yeah, you did!” Harry threw a snowball back at him. It instead hit Jack.

“Hey!” Jack threw a handful of snow in retaliation, hitting me in the face instead of Harry.

We all knew what this meant.

All hell broke loose as we pummeled each other with snow. Lonnie ran around, barking playfully. At times, he would protectively stand in front of me, making sure I didn’t fall over. Laughter and aching cheeks were everywhere, snow flying and butts landing. Along the way, Susan and Davis came down to see us, recording the fight on their phones.

When we were too tired, we stopped, sprawling out on the snow in laughter. My stomach and face hurt, not to mention my skin was freezing, but I never felt happier. Nothing could dare ruin this moment.

At least, I hoped nothing would.