Chapter 1

1

I had a mom, but she wouldn't let me call her "Mom."

Only "sis" was allowed.

I lived with her and her new husband as her little sister.

She said I was a curse, that my birth started her downhill slide.

My half brother, she claimed, was her lucky charm, the reason for her "good" life.

As I grew older, she hated it when people said I looked like her.

She wanted me to disappear.

If I died, she wouldn't have to worry about anyone figuring out I was her daughter.

Finally, I died for her precious son.

But then she destroyed herself, just to hear me call her "Mom" one last time.

...

At the hospital, Janet was sobbing into her husband, Rick's, chest.

I just stood there behind them, silent.

The doctor had just gone over the scans.

Little Mikey had leukemia.

The air was thick with dread.

The hospital staff tried to reassure them.

Mikey's leukemia was caught early.

If they could find a suitable bone marrow donor and followed the treatment plan, his chances were really good.

The doctor looked up and noticed the blood still trickling down my forehead.

"Honey, you should get that cut looked at over in the ER."

Janet flew into a rage and slapped me.

"You freeloading bum! I forgot all about you. If you hadn't started that fight with him, he wouldn't have passed out!"

I stayed quiet.

Mikey was the one throwing punches, and he's the one who fell.

I didn't even fight back.

This kind of thing happened all the time.

I didn't bother explaining.

My silence was just an admission of guilt in their eyes.

"Amy is Mikey's aunt. She's a pretty good match, doc said. Calm down, Jan. They're only a few years apart. They bicker, it's normal. Don't sweat it."

Rick patted Janet's arm.

She seemed to think it over.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot about that."

Janet spoke with the doctor for a few more minutes.

Then, following the doctor's instructions, she took me to get my blood drawn for a matching test.

My name is Amy Waters.

Janet is my mom, but she doesn't let me call her "Mom."

Only "sis" was allowed.

She's always dreamed of marrying rich.

She was pretty and always had guys chasing her in high school.

She got knocked up while still in school in her pursuit of landing a rich husband and becoming a trophy wife.

After the school found out, Janet and her boyfriend got the boot.

My biological father was loaded.

When his family found out Janet was pregnant, they brought her home to care for her and gave my grandparents a boatload of cash.

Janet was convinced she made the right choice when she moved into the mansion.

She made fun of her classmates who were still stuck in school.

But her "good" life didn't last long.

All because the baby wasn't a boy.

My dad's family flipped out the day I was born.

They ditched her at the hospital.

The next day, they packed up and moved out of state.

Then they went overseas.

Janet was left with no place to go but to ask my grandparents for help.

My uncle had already blown through all the money she had received.

My grandparents told her to fend for herself.

She gritted her teeth and said, "Put her on Dad's insurance. Tell everyone she's my sister. I can still get married again. I didn't sign any papers, so no one needs to know."

My grandparents didn't say anything else when they heard the words "get married."

Later, she moved from man to man, dragging me along with her.

She married Rick when I was five.

When I was six, she gave birth to Mikey.

"Full of Joy" is what Mikey's name means.

A parent's love for their child is set from birth.

Some kids are unwanted from the start.

Like me.

My mom named me Amy Waters.

My birth was a stain on her life.

She saw me as a mistake.

When my half-brother was born, my mom kissed him over and over with pure joy.

He was the one she'd waited for.

Janet was glued to Mikey's side at the hospital during the days they waited for the matching results.