Lost, Then Found

Jacob’s P.O.V.

I took the photo and studied it. I flipped it over and noticed in sloppy hand writing it read Kimmie, two months old. I grabbed the picture frame and opened it just far enough for a couple more pictures to fall out, all of which the same smiling baby appeared in. In one of the pictures there were two babies, one of which I clearly recognized, it was me. The other one was a picture of Billy holding her. Why hadn’t I noticed these there before?

“I, I don’t know, but it looks like I’ve known Kim for a lot longer than I thought.” I said answering Shianne’s question, and handing her the picture of Kim and me lying on a Winnie the Pooh blanket in front of what looks like the porch out front. “How long have you known Kim?”

“I met her in first grade.” Shianne replied still studying the picture.

“Do you know if Kim’s ever lived anywhere but New York?”

“I’m not sure, but by looking at this photo your dad might know more.” She said picking up the picture of Billy holding Kim.

I was pulled out of my thoughts by the sound of the squeaking brakes that belonged to Sue’s vehicle.

“Here’s your chance.” Shianne handed me the photo. Sue rolled Billy into the kitchen where she exchanged a quick hello with Shianne and me, before leaving.

“Hey kids, what are you up to?” Billy asked.

“Just trying to figure out why you never told me you knew Kim.” I replied dropping the photos on the table directly in front of him.

“Where did you find these?” He replied looking down at the photos.

“Does that really matter? How come you didn’t tell me that we knew Kim? How do we know her? Why did she move to New York?” My father was obviously capable of keeping things from me.

Before I phased I knew nothing about the legends of our tribe actually being true. This was different. Why keep this from me?

My father swept over his face with both hands. He sucked in a deep breath. “I think you better get Kim over here so I don’t have to repeat this.”

Kim’s P.O.V.

I had been in my house for a few months now and I had pushed back the worst part of moving, unpacking all the junk you took along with you. I finally got tired of looking at all the boxes taking up space in my closet. It was a rare occasion that Jared had off, he had Embry and Quil cover for him, so I was going to put him to work here.

“Can you hand me that box behind you babe?” Jared lifted the large box with ease bringing it over to me. I loved watching the muscles in his arms flex.

“How have you not unpacked yet?” He said with a grin.

“Oh I don’t know someone’s been keeping me pretty busy.” I playfully pushed him, but he didn’t budge.

“So it’s my fault? Well, I guess the least I can do is help you.” He pushed back gently.

The first box was filled with old clothes I’d probably never wear anyways, so I just kept it in the box and put it off to the side to either donate or throw away. The second box was filled with photo albums, most of which were of me and my parents. Tears came to my eyes when I looked through the pictures of us together. My father died of cancer when I was about eight, and my mother passed away a few months after my 18th Birthday. I was a complete wreck without them that is until I found Eli. If you were wondering how I ended up with someone like him, well, there’s your answer. I was young, naïve, and homeless.

I remember the day I lost my mother so clearly. It was my graduation day and I had just crossed the stage. I remember scanning over the crowd looking for my mother who should have been sitting next to Shianne’s parents. I remember the disappointment and anger I felt when I found her seat empty. What could have possibly been so much more important to her that would keep her from watching me graduate? Little did I know my mother was being rushed to the hospital.

That night I sat over by Shianne’s house celebrating with her and her family. That’s when I got the call from the Detective informing me my mom had been in an accident and was taken to St. Vincent’s Hospital. By the time I got there it was too late. The Doctor explained to me that she had just lost too much blood, and that they lost her on the way to the hospital.

Shianne’s parents were really good to me during that time. They let me stay with them while I put myself through college using the money I gained from the tragedy that happened. During my time there I had to complete an internship, which I did at the WTC. I was basically an assistant, but was offered a job. At the time I took any opportunity that came my way. I eventually met Eli who also worked in the WTC.

After a few months of dating, Eli finally convinced me to move in with him, like I said young and naïve. I was so tired of living off of Shianne and her parents that I finally agreed to move in with Eli.
I was pulled back from my thoughts by Jared. “Is there any embarrassing pictures?” Jared asked laughing, while snatching the album from my hands. As he did a piece of paper fell to the floor. I picked it up and read it over while Jared was busy flipping through the pages of the album. It was a birth certificate, my birth certificate.

“This can’t be right.” I said quietly to myself, but of course Jared heard it.

“What? What’s wrong?” Jared asked setting down the album and scooting closer to me.

“This can’t be my birth certificate; these are not the names of my parents.” I replied looking at the piece of paper in confusion. Jared began reaching for the paper until his phone went off.
“Ugh, it’s Jacob. Let me take this real quick.” I barely noticed him kiss the top of my head before walking out of my bedroom and into the living room.

I kept reading the line “Kim Sabine Black born to Ephraim Black II and Willow Connweller, on the December 1, 1976.” How was this possible? I was raised by Karen and Kevin Schmidt. Here come the waterworks. My eyes were stinging as I tried holding back the tears that I would have let flow if Jared wasn’t here. My heart raced as the different thoughts flashed through my head. Was I kidnapped? Was I adopted? Where were these people named on this piece of paper as my parents? Did they not want me? A tear rolled down my cheek and dropped on to the piece of paper shaking from my unsteady hands.

“Hey baby, Jacob needs us to come over to his house. He wouldn’t tell me why, but it sounded pretty impor… Kim what’s wrong?” He asked when he noticed the redness around my eyes from crying.

“The people who raised me weren’t my real parents. My real parents didn’t want me.” I whispered throwing the certificate in his direction. Everything I thought I knew about my family was a lie. My heart broke, why wouldn’t my mother, I mean, why wouldn’t Karen tell me this?

Jared kneeled down and wrapped me up in his arms as I sobbed on his shoulder.”Shh. You don’t know the whole story. Maybe they wanted to give you a better life then what they could offer you.”

“Or maybe they just didn’t want me like I said.” I replied as a few more tears ran off on to Jared’s shirt soaking it.

“Kim you were raised in a good home right? The Schmidt’s loved you like you were one of their own, didn’t treat you any differently correct?” He asked holding me away from him so he could look into my eyes.

“Yes, they loved me, but…”

“No buts, they loved you and that’s all that matters.” He paused for a moment to wipe the tears from my face. “I’ll help you look for your real parents though, if that’s what it’ll take to make you happy.” He finished with placing a kiss on my cheek.

“NO, I don’t want to meet them.” I replied.

Jared picked up my birth certificate. His eyes grew wide as he scanned over the contents on it.

“What? Why are you looking like that?” I asked trying to catch his attention.

“I think we she head over to Jacob’s now.” He whispered softly.

“Jared, I don’t really feel up to it.”

“I think you’re going to want to go once you put two and two together.”

“Two and two together? What are you talking about Jared?”

He sat the paper on the ground in front of me and pointed to the person named as my father. “Does that name look familiar to you?” He asked. Ephraim Black II? My eyes grew wide, matching Jared’s just moments earlier as I realized what he had.

“Jacob’s great grandfather’s name is Ephraim Black.”

He nodded. “You ready to go now?” He asked.

The ride to Jacob’s was quiet as my head filled with questions. It couldn’t be, could it? Ephraim wasn’t a very common name; it’d be a long shot to say that my “birth father” was someone completely unrelated to Jacob and his family. It could be, I kept telling myself over and over again. Jacob would have told me, right?

As the truck came to a stop I started to feel almost sick from the nervousness creeping though. Jacob and Shianne emerging from the house sent me over the edge, everything began spinning.

“Jared, I don’t think I can do this.” I whispered wiping the sweat from my forehead.

“Kim, are you alright?” Jared asked as he turned toward me. I was beginning to see two of him.

“I think I just need some fresh air.” I said in return attempting to open the passenger side door.

Jared was quickly to my side helping me out of the truck. The sick feeling slowly began to subside as he walked me up the porch and helped me into the house where he placed me on the couch.

Shianne and Jacob bombarded Jared with questions of “What’s wrong with her?” Billy wheeled his way into the living room from his previous spot in the kitchen. He glanced at me quickly, but dropped his gaze to the ground when Jared assured everyone I was fine.

“If she’s not feeling well then maybe this isn’t the best time to talk about this.” Billy spoke up barely looking up from his stare towards the floor.

“No, she needs to know.” Jacob’s voice boomed.

“Know what?” Jared and I both asked glancing at Jacob, then turning to Billy for answers. Billy still had not begun; he sat their quietly figuring out where to start. Jacob left the room briefly, and returned with something in his hand which he placed on my lap.

“Shianne and I found these.” He stated. Jared and I both picked up one of the tiny photos. The one I had was of two babies. I hadn’t seen many pictures taken from my childhood, but I’d seen enough to recognize one of the smiling babies being me. The next photo I picked up I quickly recognized all three of the people in it. Billy was holding me, and next to him was a man with long black hair. I knew this man, he was the man from my dream that I had in the hospital.

“Who is this?” I asked Billy pointing to the man with the long hair.

“Your father.” He finally answered after a few moments of hesitation. Jared pulled out a folded up piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Billy. “We found this slipped in with her photo albums.” He replied looking down at Billy. It was the birth certificate that we found. Billy looked it over, but didn’t make an attempt to speak, so Jared did.

“Obviously he’s not the Ephraim Black from the legends, but is there any relation?” Jared asked.
Billy nodded. “He’s my brother.”

Jacob’s head shot in the direction of his father with a look mixed with shock, confusion, and anger. “Your brother? What else have you been keeping from me, do I have an aunt out there somewhere too?” Jacob shouted. Shianne placed a hand on his chest backing him away from the man slumped over in his wheelchair. Jacob’s hardened face slowly softened.

“Why didn’t you tell me I had an Uncle?” Jacob finally said with a much softer tone than before.
Billy looked at me, and then rested on his son. “Ephraim and I didn’t leave off on a good note.”

“Why not?” I finally chimed in.

“You all are aware of the gift that some of us are blessed with. I was not born with that gift, but my brother, you father was.” Billy said looking at me. “He would have been Alpha, but he turned it down. He wanted no part of it, he refused to phase. To the tribe it felt like a slap in the face.”

“Why didn’t he want to be a part of it?” I asked, wanting to know more about a father I never knew.

“He wanted to protect you from all of this. “

“Seems like a pretty reasonable excuse to pass up being a part of this. Why were you angry with him?” Jacob asked his father.

“We were both young and dumb back then. I guess you can say I was a little jealous of him. I love my tribe and my people; it would have been an honor to have the gift that he had.” Billy confessed guiltily.

“Fine. How’d they end up in New York?” Jacob asked becoming irritated.

“Ephraim and Willow always wanted to get out of here. They wanted to give Kim a better life. I never thought he was serious until the day came when they finally decided to go. We got into a big fight about that. The next morning I woke up and you all were gone.”

“Where are they now? Why was I raised by the Schmidt’s? Did my parent’s not want me?” The questions started pouring from my mouth as the tears I was trying so desperately to hold back fell from my eyes and rolled down my cheeks. Jared wrapped his arms around me and I placed my head on his shoulder.

“No Kim.” Billy’s voice started up. “They both loved you very much.”

“Then why did they abandon me?” I replied between sobs.

“They didn’t intentionally abandon you. They were in a bad car accident. A drunk driver swerved into their lane and hit them head on.” Billy replied choking back sobs of his own.

“If he was a shape shifter, how would that kill him?” Jacob asked cautiously, trying not to upset me anymore than I already was.

“He only phased once. After he refused his wolf he began aging again. Those superhuman powers no longer applied to him.” Billy answered.

I couldn’t take anymore, I heard enough. That sick feeling was returning. I freed myself from Jared and wobbled my way to the front door before I felt a hot hand on my arm.

“Kim..”

“I just want some time to myself for a while.” I replied pulling away from Jacob.

I plopped down on the porch and let the tears flow. I was experiencing a mix of emotions all at the same time. I was sad, happy, and angry. I couldn’t have been out there for more than five minutes before I heard the front door open.

“I said I want to be alone Jacob.”

“Kimmie, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.” Billy said rolling his wheelchair next to me. “I wasn’t even sure if it was really you at first.”

“I can understand that, but what I can’t understand is why you didn’t come for me when you learned about the death of my parents. I could have been here with my real family instead of with complete strangers.”

Billy sighed. “I did look for you, but by the time I found you, you were already settled in and happy with the Schmidt’s. Even so, I still thought about fighting for custody, but realized I wouldn’t be able to offer you anything. At the time my wife Sarah was dying and I was struggling to take care of Rachel, Rebecca, and Jacob. I’m sorry Kim. You were happy, I didn’t want to take you from the good home that the Schmidt’s provided and bring you back to this mess.”

As mad as I wanted to be at someone, I couldn’t. I did have a good childhood up until the Schmidt’s passed away.

“If it means anything at all, I promise to never fail you again. I’ll always be here for you Kimmie.” Billy replied filled with sorrow.

“You didn’t fail me Uncle Billy. You all came into my life at the right time.” I found out where Jacob got his trademark smile from, because Billy’s smile at that moment shone brighter than the sun.