[Gershomi] Lorna and Wanda: Confirmation

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Lorna goes to Wanda for confirmation as well as talking about family.


"Wanda?!" Lorna called out as she entered the building. Lorna had gone out for drinks with Bishop the day before and had waited to go and tell Wanda about the information she had gotten from Bishop. Now she ready to talk to Wanda but was still nervous but needed to confirm something she already knew but didn't want to believe it yet.

Said person, who'd been on her way out, paused in the lobby in surprise as Lorna burst through the doors. The other woman looked like she'd seen a ghost and Wanda suddenly shelved any plans that she'd had for the following hours. "Lorna? What is it? Has something happened?"

"A lot has happened. Can we talk....very very important that we talk. Like now. Can't wait." Lorna said, her green eyes staring back at the woman. "In private since...you know. Deals with a certain...Erik."

That got her attention. "Just give me one moment," she responded, pulling out her cell phone so she could clear her schedule for the rest of the day. The last thing she needed was someone frantically searching for her when Lorna needed to talk and especially if it involved Erik. "Right, I am all yours. Let us go upstairs - I'll put the kettle on while you talk."

"I think we will need something stronger than tea once you hear what I have to say." Lorna said and started to walk upstairs. "I don't know where to start...from the beginning?"

"Tea first," Wanda said firmly, ushering Lorna in ahead of her once they reached the apartment. "And, yes, I do often hear that the beginning is generally the best place to start." Purse, jacket and phone were tossed onto the couch as she hurried into the kitchen where she quickly put the kettle on. "Take your time, Lorna..." she hesitated and then stuck her head back into the living room area. "Unless my father is about to descend upon New York, then haste might be better."

Lorna put her purse and jacket on the couch before taking a seat. "More like descended unto my mom. Okay beginning....Well...I was at my parents house and I found a key. It belonged to my birth-mother who had a safety deposit box that contained a couple of items..." Lorna reached over for her purse and pulled out the photo. "One of those items was this."

At this point, Wanda considered her English pretty damned good but 'descended unto my mom' completely escaped her. Lorna couldn't be implying ... She snagged the picture and held it up to get a good look at it. It was of a man, a little haggard looking but smiling, slightly, and god, she recognized those features because she looked at a muddle of them in the mirror every day.

"I ... have not seen many pictures of Erik when he was this age," she said, slowly, lowering it. "It is him, though. But I do not understand ...?"

"I think...my birth mom knew him. What if he was telling me the truth? What if I am really....his daughter." Lorna looked up at Wanda, "I didn't know who else to go too, or if it was really him in that picture but you just confirmed it. I mean why else would a lost box of my mom's have his picture in it."

"Well ..." They'd always teased each other about it with Wanda using 'almost sister' as an endearment but the fact that there might be some truth to that ... She sat down next to Lorna on the couch and passed the picture back. "I thought it was proved that he was not?"

"All I got was speculation. I never did an actual DNA test. Forge said something about a cleft chin...picture show a different side of the story." Looking down at the picture and then touched her own chin. "I don't know..."

Wanda looked at Lorna, really looked, and tried to see parts of herself or Pietro in the green haired woman. It was hard but it didn't mean the similarities weren't there - it might just be that she'd spent too many years looking at Lorna without wondering if they were related. "Was there anything else in your mother's belongings that would indicate how or why she knew him?"

Lorna shook her head slowly, "I didn't even know I was adopted until I came to Xaviers. There is nothing, nothing I know of. Just a book with a key. The box didn't hold much either. It was like...she never existed."

She put a hand over Lorna's and squeezed. Wanda's mother had been a difficult woman, especially as the years dragged on and her bitterness towards Erik had grown, but at least she had memories, good and bad. "There is something," she said, firmly. "That DNA test that was never done, that we can rectify."

Looking over at Wanda, "How?" Lorna took a moment to think about it more, "Sibling test?"

"Yes, sibling DNA test," she said, getting up to prevent the kettle from catching on fire. As Wanda pulled it off the stove and started to gather mugs, tea strainers and tea, she didn't stop talking. "Considering yourself lucky that you have the more affable of the twins at your beck and call and I am more than happy to have Jean or whomever run tests on me if it'll help you out."

"Is Pietro still in Attlian?" Lorna asked before leaning in the couch. "And I am not sure if I want to involve anyone else yet. Considering my past with dealing with this, I want to keep it low on the radar for right now. I just don't want anyone worrying about my health. I have been doing really good for the last year and half...and I don't want them to think I am going to lose it and start spiraling downward again."

Bringing the tray of tea back with her, Wanda reclaimed her seat on the couch. "Yes and happily so according to the last time I spoke to him. Not to say he would not return for something like this but, as you say, keeping it low on the radar is a good idea." She hesitated. "Lorna, I cannot keep this from Pietro, though. He is a giant pain in my neck but he is my brother - and potentially yours. May I tell him, at least, if I make him promise to keep it quiet?"

Lorna nodded, "It might be a good idea to tell him. Just so that we are all on the same page, and if it does end up being true then it wouldn't be that awkward." Pouring herself and Wanda a cup of tea, "I still cannot believe I actually found a picture of Erik in my mother lockbox."

"It must have meant something to her," Wanda said softly, staring into the steaming tea. She was slowly rotating the hot mug between her palms and was fascinated by how the liquid moved. "It is - strange. Mother spoke rarely of the good times they had; she was more focused on the after effects of her leaving him. Consider all the harm he has done and yet ..." She shook her head and looked at Lorna. "And yet, at least twice in his life, someone loved him very much. And at least with Mother, it was returned until his dream overtook it."

"I just can't see him the loveable type. I mean the last time I saw him was when we were going to destroy that amplifier. He wasn't too happy about that." Lorna finally took a sip of the tea, "But if it turns out I am really your sister, I would like that. Almost sister."

Wanda smiled at that and nudged Lorna with her shoulder. "No matter what the test results show, you will always be someone I care about. Sister or almost sister, it does not matter. As for Erik ..." She sighed. "I still struggle with the knowledge that he is my father. And I worry about what that says about me. But we are our own people, my dear, so if it turns out to be true know that it does not change who you are."

Lorna nodded, "Thanks. And your right it doesn't." Wrapping an arm around Wanda and gave her a side ways hug. "I'll find a place and set an appointment up. I'll make it on a Friday or something."

"Perfect because we can get tested and then go out and get absolutely drunk. Sound good?"

"Sounds good. I could use a good drink regardless of what the outcome is."