Meredith stands at the bottom of the living room stairs, wondering about the quiet. After a second thought, she heads into the kitchen to start dinner. When they were little, silence meant trouble. And as much as she wanted to deny it, her girls weren’t little anymore.

Humming along to the radio, Meredith is smiling as she gets dinner ready for the five of them. It was easy to pretend they all lived under the same roof again on nights like this. But her smile could also be owed to her after dinner plans. She lets herself think about it a while longer, knowing she was going to hear about it soon enough. No doubt Jane was upstairs telling her sisters all about tonight’s “date”.

“Sarah, you’re scaring me. Please just tell me what happened.” Olivia whispers. Sarah is curled up, her head in Olivia’s lap. After some more prodding, Sarah takes a ragged breath, silently handing Olivia the piece of paper.

“Who’s Doug Leevey?”

“Just before I texted you, this guy came to the door looking for me. But he used my other last name. Leevey.”

Olivia’s expression brings her no comfort. “Oh shit, Sarah. What did he say? What does he want?”

Sarah manages to get the rest of the story out before falling apart again. She has never felt this level of panic inside her. “I’m so scared, Ollie, and I don’t even fucking know why.”

“It’s ok, we’ll figure this out,” Ollie assures her, though she doesn’t have a clue how. This was big, something you hesitated telling the rest of the family about. Which they both agreed they wouldn’t, not yet. They were freaked out enough, how would everyone else react?

Amy watches helplessly as Jane falls apart in front of her. Suddenly she’s six-years-old again, bawling in the middle of the night, her bed and PJs wet, a result of another bad dream. That’s exactly how she looks in this moment, embarrassed and scared.

“Hey, it’s ok. Jane, it’s fine.” Amy folds Jane into her, desperate to comfort her. As she holds Jane’s shaking body, she gets a good view of the article on the computer. She has never seen Jane’s family before, and now that she has, Amy gets an almost perfect image of what they must have been like. There is no denying the happiness in any of their faces. But what gets to her the most is Jane’s mom. Amy looks just like her. And now she’s wondering if this was the missing link to Jane’s unexplained attachment to her.

“Jane, how long has this been going on?” There’s no answer. Jane keeps her face buried in Amy’s chest. “It’s ok. This is absolutely nothing to be ashamed about. Do you hear me?”

Jane pulls away to wipe her face. “Then why did you give me that look?”

“What look?”

Jane keeps her face turned away. “That one that everyone used to give me, right after it happened. That says everyone feels sorry for you. The one people give you, so you know it’s bad.”

“This isn’t bad. What you’re doing is far from bad.” Amy pulls Jane to her bed, and even when they’re sitting, Jane refuses to look at her. “But I do feel bad for you, Shadow. You lost a lot, in a very short life.”

“I know, ok?” Jane hated to talk about her family. She never had with any of them, and Amy wonders if she had with Mr. Thomas. Jane stopped going to see him a few years ago. Amy stops herself from sighing. It was hard to imagine Jane’s situation, especially how she felt. But between the four of them, only she knows what it feels like to know you would never see your parents again.

“You know, I have hardly any photos of my mom. Just a few, and I cherish those.” Amy smooths back some hair to reveal Jane’s sad face. “I can’t imagine what I would do if I didn’t have them to look at whenever I wanted.” It takes a few moments, but Jane finally looks at her, and she understands what Amy is saying.

“I didn’t want to hurt Meredith’s feelings,” Jane whispers, bringing Amy to tears.

“I can promise you, this will not hurt her feelings. Do you hear me?”

Jane gives a tiny nod. “I hear.” She says just as Meredith’s voice comes up the stairs, telling them dinner was ready. Amy leans over, kissing Jane’s head.

“I’ll give you a few minutes.”

Out in the hall, Olivia is shutting Sarah’s door.

“What?” they ask each other, their faces identical with worry. They both sigh. They can’t lie.

“I’ll tell you after dinner.”

“Me, too.”

“You or Sarah?”

“Sarah.” They both sigh, then laugh at each other. Jane’s door opens.

“Oh.” She says, and Amy is relieved that she looks calm. They all turn to Sarah coming out of her room at the other end of the hall. She looks far from calm.

“Not now.” She says, her eyes pleading when they hear Meredith calling for them again. It’s all Sarah can do not to cry.

“Oh, wait!” Jane stops as they all start down the stairs, making Olivia fall backward.

“What the hell!”

“I forgot-Meredith has a date tonight.”

“A date!” Olivia yells, and they all hear Meredith groan in the kitchen. Even Sarah laughs.

Olivia makes it easier to sit through dinner. Any question she can think of, she pelts at Meredith. Not that she answered them. It also helps to know that Meredith is going to be out of the house.

“I think that’s why I’m so freaked,” she finally confesses later, after filling in Amy and Jane. “I’m scared of what this will do to Meredith.”

Her sisters can’t argue. As much as Meredith tried to hide it, growing up they knew it had been her biggest fear. And adults or not, biological family put Meredith in a state.

“What are you going to do? Do you think you’ll call him?” Jane asks, from where she’s glued to Sarah’s side.

“I have no idea,” Sarah mutters, looking like she’s going to cry. Hating this, Jane grabs her hand. She’s at a loss for words. When it came to their previous lives, they didn’t have anything in common.

“Look, you don’t have to do anything right now,” Amy tells her, taking the space on the other side of Sarah and putting her arm around her. “You don’t even have to think about it.”

Sarah shakes her head. “But I can’t stop thinking about it. What do you think he wants? Does he know where my birth mom is? God, what if she shows up next?”

“Sarah, you’re safe, ok? No one can make you do anything.” Amy is practically shaking her, but Sarah can’t seem to hear her. Jane pulls away, afraid of what this is doing to her. Sarah wasn’t afraid of anything, nothing bothered her. When she feels Jane move, Sarah looks at her, their eyes locking, mirrored in fear.

“It’s ok. It’s ok to be afraid. But we aren’t going to let anything happen to you.” Jane is trying to convince them both, but it’s not working on her. But Sarah nods, sinking back into the couch. Her sisters crowd around her, comfort and familiarity. It’s enough for now, to believe that this would really be nothing to worry about.

Until he shows up again, until Meredith finds out.

Until the next person shows up.

Amy is on the front porch when Meredith gets home.

“Olivia is going to be disappointed. It’s not even 8 and you’re already home.”

Meredith laughs, sitting beside her on the swing. “No matter what time I came home, Olivia would have an opinion about it, along with plenty of words.”

“How was it?”

“It was really nice. One of the easiest dates I’ve been on.”

“Well, don’t let any of them hear you say that. They’ll be asking to meet him soon enough.”

“What are you doing, sitting out here by yourself?” Meredith pats Amy’s leg before putting her arm around her. Amy leans her head back, dreading what she knows she has to do.

“Thinking about Jane.”

“Uh oh. Is she mad at you again?”

“No. Actually, I caught her doing something that she’s been afraid to tell you about.”

“Can I come in, baby?”

Jane looks up from her book to see Meredith at her door. Knowing why she’s here, she just nods. Meredith sits beside her on the bed and takes her hand. She gives it a kiss, then asks Jane, “Will you tell me about them?”

Jane looks at her, surprised. “Ok.” She tells her, even though she’s not quite sure she can. She starts with her baby sister. Ellie was just learning to walk on her own. Jane loved holding her hands, just so she could be the one helping her walk. She remembers her older brothers, they always let her tag along. She wasn’t allowed to leave the yard unless one of them was with her. They never minded letting her go wherever they went. Thomas was 11 and Ben was 9.

“What’s wrong?”

“I remember Ben and me. They put us in the same room, but all he did was sleep. And then they took him away in the middle of the night, and I never saw him again.”

Meredith can’t make the lump in her throat go away. She’d heard a version of Jane’s tragedy from her social workers. But hearing it from Jane, all these years later, was so much harder than she’d been able to prepare herself for. Jane never talked about her family. They’d only come to haunt her in the middle of the night.

“Do you want to see them?” Meredith follows Jane to her computer, and watches as she expertly types everything in. “There.” Jane says, stepping back. Her beautiful family smiles back. Jane only points out her siblings. After a second look at Jane’s mom, Meredith realizes why she looks familiar.

“Janey, your mom and Amy look alike.”

Jane just shrugs. “I guess.”

Meredith reaches to stroke her hair. “I’m glad you remember them, Jane. You need to know where you came from, and if this helps, then that makes me happy. It doesn’t hurt my feelings or upset me. I promise.”