We get to New York by lunchtime. Once in New York, we go to a cafe and eat lunch. Then, we go to the hotel we're staying in and clock in. We put our things in the hotel room and clock back out. The first thing we do is look at the statue of liberty and get someone to take our picture while we side by side with Lady Liberty showing behind us. That night, we take food and go to Central Park for a picnic. After eating, we sit on the grass and look up at the stars. Then, I break the silence.
"Mom?"
"Yes, Nikki?"
"I know I'm not a big fan of traveling and going places, but I'm actually enjoying being here in New York."
"I figured you'd like it here. Also, I've been thinking about taking you somewhere next summer for your eighteenth birthday."
"Where?"
"Romania."
I gasp. "Mom, you know you don't have to."
"Why not?"
I sigh and shrug. "I don't know. I mean, I can wait. I don't have very much longer till I'm able take myself."
"It's alright, sweetie."
"I'm amazed you can even see the stars here. You know it?"
"Yeah, I guess."
"You guess? Oh, come on, Mom."
"Come on, silly. We have things to do this week. We have to get to the hotel and get some beauty sleep."
I groan. "Alright. I'm coming." I yawn. "I guess I'm a little tired."
*****
The next morning, I wake up to sunlight flooding through the window, directly on my face. I groan and pull the blanket over my head. Someone pulls it back down and I open my eyes to see Mom.
"Alright, alright. I'm up, I'm up." I yawn and stretch as I sit up. I get up and take a shower. After my shower, we clock out of the hotel and go to the dock. Somehow, Mom pulls out a bag from her purse and pulls out two breakfast sandwiches wrapped in tin foil. She hands me one and we stand there, watching the water as we eat.
After eating, we find a trash can and throw away our garbage. Then, Mom says,
"Sweetie, you're on your own today. I've got some things to do in Manhattan and possibly New Jersey."
I groan.
She gives me that look and I mutter,
"Oh, fine."
She hands me 500 dollars and kisses me on my forehead. Then, she stops a taxi and gets in, leaving me standing there, shocked as I stare at the money she gave me. I watch as the taxi leaves and shove the money in my pocket. I start to walk away when a horn sounds. I look around and find out it came from a ship. I gape at the ship and the people on the deck.
"Is that a fricken passenger ship?" I turn and run back to the docks. I get to a crowd and have to push my way through. I watch as the ship docks and people start filing out of it on a ramp. I gape and continue to push my way through the crowd. I manage to get to a good spot and take a short video of it on Snapchat. I send the video to Mom and put my phone away. I work my way through the crowd again and immediately bump into someone. We both fall to the ground. I search around for my glasses. Oh, yeah. I forgot to mention that I wear glasses. Suddenly, my glasses are lopsided on my face and someone's helping me up.
"So sorry. I did not mean to bump into you. Um, you okay?"
"Yeah, fine."
"I just got so excited. I was born here, but this is my first time actually being here. My parents moved to Romania after I was born."
I take my glasses off and put them back on correctly. I pat around. "Where's my phone?" I look around and spot it. I quickly pick it up and look at the person I'm talking to. "Oh, goodness. You're beautiful."
"Oh, um, thank you." She smiles. "Oh, my name is Jasmine. Jasmine Wilhelmina Phillipson. But most people just call me Jas or Mina."
"Oh. Well, it's nice to meet you. My name's Nikkindra. But you can call me Nikki." I smile sheepishly. "I'm not from here, though. I'm from farther south. In Tennessee."
"Oh, okay."
"I'm here with my mother, but she had to go somewhere."
"I'm here with my mother and father. Oh, and my boyfriend."
"Oh. Okay."
"You have a boyfriend?"
"No, I don't." I sigh and look around. "I've had quite a few, but I always ended up dumping them."
"Why?"
"They cheated on me."
"Oh, that's awful. Especially whenever you catch them in the act and they try to lie and say they didn't."
"Yeah. That's the way most of them went."
"Hey, there you are, Jasmine. Your mother is looking for you."
I look up into the eyes of a boy that I swear looks just like Jonathan Harker.
"Oh, hey."
"Um, hi," I reply as a woman shows up behind Jasmine.
Jasmine turns around. "Hi, mom."
"Hello." She looks up at me. "Well, hello. Who are you?"
"Nikkindra. You can call me Nikki, though."
"You're very beautiful."
"Thanks." I clear my throat. "What's your name?"
"Oh, I'm Susana Phillipson." She looks around. "Jasmine, have you seen your father?"
"No, mom. I have not seen my father."
Suddenly, I feel a presence behind me. I turn around.
"Mom! You're back."
"They apparently shut down last week. So now I can't--Susana?"
I look back at Jasmine's mom and then at mine. They stare at each other and actually hug each other.
"Wait, wait, whoa. Mother, you know her?" I point between the two.
"Why, yes, sweetie. I heard she was coming here. That was one of the reasons I came here. She's coming with us when we go back to Tennessee."
"How do you know her?"
"Why, sweetie, she's your aunt."
"You have a sister?" I gape at Susana.
"No, sweetie. She's your father's identical twin sister."
I look back and forth between Mom and Susana. "What?" I finally manage. "You can't be serious."
"I'm one hundred percent serious, Nikki."
Suddenly, for some reason, tears are streaming down my face.
"Oh, sweetie. Come here." She pulls me close and strokes my hair. "It's alright."
After ten minutes, I pull away and wipe the tears off my face. I look at Jasmine and say,
"Does that mean, Jasmine and I are cousins?"
"Yes. That's what that means."
Jasmine and I gape at each other. Then, we both squeal and hug each other.
After the reunion, we wait for Jasmine's father and go to Central Park. We end up spending the rest of the day in Central Park.
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