Chapter 28: CHAPTER 22.0 Adopted but Family

In the middle of the night, I heard a knock on my door. I walked to it and opened it to see Lexus. “Can’t sleep?”

Lexus walked in. “Nope, you have room for one more. In your bed.” He clarified.

I yawned. “I do but can’t you just smoke? Couldn’t you just smoke last time too?” I sat down on my bed.

“I heard it puts you right to sleep.

Lexus sat on the other side of my bed. “Yeah, but I’d rather sleep with you because this’ll give me a lot better sleep than smoking would.”

I turned the light off. “I officially met Gray earlier today.”

Lexus took his slides off and laid down. “How did that go?”

“Not the best, he was upset that he’s not the holder.” I thought of how his disappointed face looked.

“Cade’s being a great brother and I’m sure my relationship with Gray will get better.”

“But?” Lexus asked.

“I miss my adoptive siblings. I was raised with them and was kind of close with them. I even helped raise the youngest a lot.” I sighed. “They’ve always felt like they’re my real family. I miss them so much.”

Lexus got up. “Then let’s go visit them now.”

“What? We can’t just leave.” When I was first taken from the outside world, we went so far that I noticed there was a time difference. My phone had to adjust to it, and we were a few hours ahead from my hometown. The sun probably only just went down for them.

Lexus put his slides back on. “Sure, we can, I’m not exactly restricted in where I can go. I didn’t plan on going to the human world for a while, but this is a good reason. Although I wouldn’t mention our trip to your father.”

“Okay, let’s go.” I got up and changed out of my pajamas. I couldn’t believe I’d be going back to the human world. I followed Lexus out of my room. “Would us leaving together seem weird to the guards?”

Guards were present 24/7 even if there were just a few.

“The guards won’t say anything unless they’re specifically asked who left and when. Konn doesn’t usually ask those questions. If he finds out, we’ll just make something up that’s work related.” Lexus was confident so I might as well have been too.

We left the castle and he shifted into his dragon form. I gave him the directions then climbed on which I was a lot better at now and he took off. I loved flying on Lexus’ back. I knew it was going to be a long flight so I laid down on my stomach.

I climbed down when Lexus landed in the nearby woods and he shifted back. It wasn’t too dark yet; I doubt anyone was asleep. “I’m afraid… last time I was here I just left them…”

Lexus put his hand on my shoulder. “We’ll figure it out.” He kissed my forehead for the first time, and it made me feel safe.

“Okay.” We walked to the outskirts of town and I felt uneasy. Lexus on the other hand was looking at everything. I led us to my old house. I took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

“I got it!” I heard my eight-year-old little sister Willow yell before opening the door. She gasped when she saw me. “It’s Aqua!” She yelled then instantly hugged me. “I thought you weren’t coming back!

Mom said you moved away!” I guess that wasn’t a lie.

I saw my two other siblings run to the door. They were older than Willow, thirteen-year-old twins. I noticed my sixteen-year-old sister Tay as she walked down the stairs. She didn’t run to greet me like the others. “Mom and Dad are on a business trip.” I forgot they had that planned. She must have been watching them. “Grandma is here but she sleeps early.” She didn’t exactly invite me in. She didn’t look happy to see me at all.

The twins pulled me in. “Who’s your friend?” One of the twins Tony asked.

“He’s from my new home, he helped me get here.” The hidden magical world was my home now.

Lexus walked in and closed the door behind us. “Ignore me.” He looked around.

I sat down on the couch with my three siblings. They asked me a million questions and it was hard to answer them all. Lexus just looked around the house while they told me everything I missed out on. It felt so good to visit them “Why did you leave without saying anything?” Tay asked in an annoyed tone.

“You didn’t call or anything, it’s been weeks and we heard nothing.” She was clearly upset with me.

“You guys need to get to bed, maybe Aqua will come back another time.” They all pouted and complained as they walked to their rooms.

I bit my lip. “I’m sorry I left the way I did Tay, I don’t feel great about it.”

Tay looked away. “Then you should have come back to stay. Mom and Dad were really upset and blamed themselves. I Didn’t really know what to think.”

“It’s not that simple.” I looked at Lexus then back to my sister. “I found out I was adopted, and my birth father wanted me to live with them.”

Tay had tears in her eyes. “I didn’t know that… that shouldn’t matter because we’re still your family. You chose them over this family?”

“No… I wasn’t happy with myself. It had nothing to do with you or any of our siblings. Tay I’m not even human.” I had to tell her. “I’m a dragon shifter and I had to know more about what I really was.” Lexus looked at me blankly. I’m not sure if there was a rule that wasn’t supposed to say anything. Konn and Cade shifted right in front of my adoptive parents, so I didn’t think it matter.

She had a confused expression. “What…? You’re trying to tell me you left because you’re a dragon?”

I nodded. “Yeah.” I looked at Lexus. “Prove it to her.”

Lexus chuckled. “Uh sure.” He shifted halfway so his wings were out, his claws, sharp teeth, a tail, and his eyes looked like dragon eyes. Then he shifted back to his human form. “Shifting halfway isn’t the most comfortable.”

Tay jumped back and was looking at him in shock. “Oh shit…” She looked at me and now she was even more confused. “But…” She sat down on the couch.

I moved closer to her and hugged her. “I know it’s shocking but it’s real and I’m one of them. I need to you be patient with me. I’ll call I promise, I really missed you Tay.”

She hugged me and cried. “I missed you too.”

Lexus was looking at family pictures. “You were a cute baby Aqua.”

When Tay stopped crying, I got up and walked to Lexus. I looked at the baby picture he was talking about. “That’s not me.”

Tay wiped her tears away and walked to us. She cleared her throat. “That’s Aunt Mae.”