Re-Vamped! (16 page)

“He
was in hiding,” Olivia said with mock offense. “Hey, look,” she went on,
pointing to the happy couple’s clasped hands. “They’re wearing rings just like
ours!”

Ivy’s
mouth fell open. “Those aren’t
like
ours,” she realized. “Those
are
ours. We’re wearing our parents’ wedding rings!” She touched the ring on the
chain around her neck, and for the first time she understood why her ring was
too big, while Olivia’s fit perfectly: Ivy had their father’s wedding band,
Olivia had their mother’s.

“Of
course.” Olivia sighed like they always should have known.

It
must be so hard for my dad to see me wearing it every day,
Ivy thought tenderly. She
remembered how, after her father had given her the ring for her tenth birthday,
he’d become very quiet and distracted for a few days.

“So
why didn’t he just admit he’s my dad?” Olivia wondered, looking bewildered.
“And why did he always tell you you were adopted?”

“My
dad always says he doesn’t like looking back at the past,” Ivy said. She looked
again at the picture of their parents and how happy they seemed together.
“Maybe it’s just too difficult for him. We remind him of our mom.” She smiled
at Olivia. “Especially you. You’re human like she was.”

Olivia
couldn’t stop looking at their parents’ wedding picture.
My dad’s been right
here all along,
she thought. She felt like a missing piece had been added
to her heart, one that she hadn’t even known was missing. She remembered the
first time she’d met Mr. Vega, when she had been disguised as Ivy and they had
been decorating the upstairs ballroom for the All Hallows’ Ball together—how
sophisticated and stylish and cool he’d seemed. And then she thought of the way
he’d offered to vouch for her for her initiation, and how proud he’d looked
when she’d passed the tests, and she felt warm inside.

“He’ll
be home soon,” Ivy interrupted her thoughts gently. “We’d better get back
upstairs.” Together, the two of them packed the picture and the letters back
into the wooden box and returned it to its hiding place. This time, Olivia led
the way up the darkened spiral staircase. She wasn’t spooked or disoriented at
all. Somehow, now, she felt like she was at home.

“Ivy,”
Olivia began hesitantly as they emerged into the study once more. “Do you mind
if we don’t tell your dad—I mean,
our
dad—about our discovery just yet?”

Ivy
shook her head. “No, its fine,” she replied, squeezing her sister’s hand. “I
need some time to get my head around this myself.”

A few
minutes later, Olivia was lying thoughtfully on the floor of the living room
when Ivy let out a long, sad sigh from her place on the couch.

“What
is it?” Olivia asked, staring at the light gray ceiling.

“I
just remembered we’re supposed to move to Europe in, like, just over a week,”
replied Ivy.

Olivia
had forgotten, too, and for a moment, she felt like she’d been punched in the
gut.
It’s bad enough that Ivy’s leaving,
she thought.
But now I know
I’ll be losing my biological father, too!

She
took a deep breath and sat upright. “That means,” she said calmly, “we have
that long to change our dad’s mind!”

Slowly,
Ivy’s face hardened into a look of determination. “You’re right. We have to
find a way to talk him out of it.”

Just
then, Olivia heard the sound of a car pulling up outside. The sisters stood up
and smiled at each other.

“Our
dad’s here,” Olivia said thoughtfully. The words “our dad” still felt strange
to her.

Ivy
nodded, and together they headed to the front door to greet him.

[end]