Page 27 of I Remember Moscato

Jagger hands us a box of tissues. I look at him and smile.

“Could you ask Veronica to come in her?” I ask him.

“Sure, I’ll be right back.”

“Veronica is my birth mother and I want you to meet her. I’m not asking you to like her, I just want you to meet her. Her story of why she left me is nothing like I thought it would be. She’ll never be my mom, I already have a mom. You’re my mom. I would like her to have a place in my life. But I want you to be okay with that. And if you’re not? Then that’s okay too.”

“Thank you, baby. She’s the woman who gave you life. If it wasn’t for her? You wouldn’t be our daughter. So because of that, I’d like to meet her and thank her. And if she’s willing, I would like to hear her story.”

My mom is the best woman I know. We turn and see Veronica walk into the room. I pat the couch next to me for her to sit. Jagger sits on the other side of me.

“This is Veronica Burrows. Veronica, my parents, Silas and Mary Mendonca. I’d like you to tell them your story, if you’re comfortable doing that.”

They all shake hands, my mom even stands and hugs Veronica. Then we all listen as Veronica tells my parents what she went through and why she left me on the church steps. After she was done telling her story, I told my parents what happened these last twenty-four hours. The anger on my dad’s face is visible.

“Are you okay?” my dad asks me.

I nod. “I’m okay, Dad. Veronica is the one who helped them find me. And nothing happened that I can’t get past.”

My parents stand and hug me together.

“It’s okay if you’re not okay,” my mom whispers to me.

I sniffle and hold her tighter. “Thank you.”

Epilogue

Jagger

These last six months with Quinn has been the best time of my life. Twisted Bonds has gotten more famous and our brewery is doing really well. We’ve finally branched out to not only make beer, but we’re making wine too.

Veronica has moved to Lake Renegade to be closer to Quinn. And Quinn’s mom and dad visit us every other month.

Vincent Burrows was convicted of aggravated kidnapping. He was given the maximum sentence of thirty years, because of his prior convictions in Oregon. The only ones not convicted were the Koslovs. But that will come in time. I have a feeling we haven’t seen the last of them.

I have a special surprise for Quinn at our show tonight. She has no idea what’s coming.

“I’m so excited for tonight, Jagger. Are you sure you’ll be able to hide everyone from Quinn?” Marley asks.

“I think so. The plan is that her family and ours won’t come in until she’s sitting with her friends. That way they’ll be behind her. So she hopefully won’t see them until I get her up on stage.”

“Sounds good. It’s going to be the best night ever.” Lennon hugs me.

“Okay, you guys ready?” Bowie looks at all of us.

“We were born ready.” Presley nods.

Quinlan

“Why are you all acting so weird?” I ask my friends.

“Huh? We’re not acting weird. You’re just being paranoid.” Chloe smiles.

That smile she gives me is a little too big. Something’s up and they know what it is.

“One of you better spill.”

“So what should we do for our first summer adventure?” Isabella asks, completely ignoring me.