The Other Half || Jerrie

Chapter Eleven

On Jade’s eighteenth birthday, Danielle had planned a nice dinner for her girlfriend with all of Jade’s friends. Before she left for dinner, however, Jade sat down with her parents and nearly seven-year-old brother.

Karl gave Jade his present first. Jade started to laugh at the crudely wrapped gift, but stopped after she saw the look of excitement on her brother’s face.

“Karl picked it out all by himself,” Callum prompted, giving Jade a look to explain Karl’s excitement.

“Hmm, I wonder what it is.” Jade shook the package and Karl was practically jumping up and down in excitement.

Finally, Jade gave in and ripped off the wrapping paper to reveal a photo frame with the words ‘Siblings’ winding around the frame. Within the frame was a photo of Jade and Karl from Jade’s high school graduation, Jade was holding Karl bridal style and both had mouths wide open, laughing.

“I love it Karl!” Jade exclaimed before pulling her brother into a tight hug.

James and Callum had one box and two envelopes to give Jade for her eighteenth birthday. The box contained the leather jacket Jade had been eyeing for months. The first envelope listed a time for Jade to get the tattoo she’d been begging her parents for, a stylized arm band.

The third and final present wasn’t one that Jade had been expecting. And it wasn’t even from either of her fathers. It was from her biological mother.

“She gave it to us before you were even born,” Callum exclaimed. “She gave us the letter after we’d already met several times and she’d decided we were the parents she wanted you to have. She knew she wasn’t going to have any second thoughts after you were born. She was sixteen and couldn’t raise you the way she knew we could.”

“She told us to give this to you on your eighteenth birthday,” James continued. “You were a closed adoption, but you now legally have the right to find out your birthmother’s information, but that wasn’t why she wanted you to have this. She figured you’d be going out into the world now and wanted to give you advice. Even if she was only sixteen at the time, it’s what she wanted.”

Jade took the envelope from her dad and flipped it over in her hand. In neat print handwriting was written “Amelia”. Jade had never really had any desire to make contact with her birthmother. She knew that she had been a teen mom and that she’d specifically looked only at gay and lesbian couples when searching for a family for Jade, but Jade had never felt the need to know her. She already had two parents.

“Thank you,” Jade grinned. She stowed the letter away. She knew she’d probably want to read it eventually, but she wasn’t ready. Not yet.