Chapter 22: Where You Lead, I Will Follow

*MASON'S POV*

We walk out of the house satisfied.  We might have lost everything we've ever worked for, but at least we have each other.  Crazy?  Yes, probably, but Hadley is right, I would give up everything for her in a heartbeat.

"Where are we going to go?" she asks me.
I sigh, "Evie's?  At least she knows about us."
"Yeah, but she already has her hands full with the twins...she doesn't really have the room." Hadley replies.

"Well, between our two parents, it's probably going to be better to go to mine," I tell her.
She looks confused, "Why?"

"Honey, you don't look like yourself...I think my parents will be easier to convince."
"Hmm, you're probably right."

So we head to my parents house.

"It might be a better idea to hang back," I tell Hadley, "at least until I talk to them."

*ZOEY'S POV*

I'm just about to settle in in front of the television when I hear a knock at the door.  Who in the hell would be here at this hour?

Peering in the side window is my son.  What in the hell?  Oh Lord, I certainly hope nothing screwed up has happened...but knowing our luck...*sigh*

Okay, deep breaths...

As I walk toward him, I look behind him and that little blonde girl that's been staying in his house.  He looks back to her and a sick feeling of foreboding enters my stomach.

He looks back at me with a worn and discouraged look on his face, "Hey Ma..."
I raise my eyebrow and reply suspiciously, "Don't 'hey' me.  What are you doing here with that crazy heifer?"

"It's a loooong story..." he replies.

I was afraid of that.

"You might want to sit down for this," He says.
I probably should, I really probably should, "No, I'm good.  Answer me."

"It's Hadley, Ma," he replies.

Wha-huh?

"What's Hadley?" I ask, hoping my suspicions aren't true.

"Briana is Hadley...and Hadley is Briana."

"What in the hell makes you think that?" I ask him, "Just because she says so?  She tried to pull the same bullshit on Amy and Andrew, but they didn't buy it."

"Mom, you know me, and you know Hadley.  Do you really think I would jump to this conclusion if I wasn't sure?"

It's true he's usually very level-headed and thinks things through before coming to any decisions, but he's had so much trouble lately that I'm not sure if he just wants this to be true.

Having heard all this, Terry walks up behind me, "Maybe he's right, Vi...she hasn't been right since she was brought back."

The blonde girl walks in behind Mason and looks at me with a face that I have never seen, but somehow I feel like I've known for years.
"I'm sorry, Aunt Z, we lost the house you built for me," she says.

I must be losing my mind, but something about the way she is looking at me reminds me of Hadley when she was really little, staring up at me with big blue eyes and complete and total trust.  I sigh.  Maybe this is really her.

"What do you mean you lost the house?" I ask.

Mason holds her hand and I fight the knee-jerk reaction to cringe, "Hadley and I gave her everything, so we wouldn't have to fight her and we could just be together."

"Why in the...?" I start, "Okay you all, come inside."

*REAL HADLEY'S POV*

When Aunt Z and Uncle T-bone finally let us in, Zoey makes some coffee and we all sit around the dining room table.

"I don't understand how this even happened," Aunt Z says from the kitchen.

"Ma, I wish I knew, the only thing I can figure is that the day Hadley died, so did Briana and when there was a mix-up in the lab." Mason tries to reason.
"Huh," T laughs, "Hell of a mix-up.  You'd think they'd be better at their job.  They charge $25,000 to do it.

"Shit, I wonder if they have a return policy...I hope you kept your receipt." Zoey replies.

I can't help but bust out laughing, "I can just see Mason walking in there with me, 'This isn't the woman I asked for!'...I wonder if they'll put me in return merchandise and sell me to a consignment store."

Uncle T laughs one of his big, loud laughs that I have missed hearing, "That right there tells me you're Hadley.  That other girl wouldn't know a joke if it came with a laugh track."

"I'm confused about something else," Aunt Z starts, "why do y'all need to give her everything again?"
"To avoid having to fight over everything in court," I reply, "the house is already hers because it was in my name, but they would have to fight over the money..."
"It's just not worth it...and we don't know how to switch them back, so we figure there isn't much point in fighting with her." Mason finishes.

"There has to be some way to get you in the right bodies," Zoey.
"We were actually wondering if Aunt Amy knows anything about how we can do that, it was her idea to bring Hadley back in the first place." Mason says.

Aunt Z shakes her head, "No, we had a similar situation a long time ago, but it went just like we expected it to...

"I can't believe y'all gave her everything!" Uncle T says again.

"I can't believe she's in Hadley's body and there's just nothing that can be done..." Aunt Z starts.

"...you'd think we could just kill her again, that would solve it, wouldn't it?" Aunt Z says a little too flippantly.

Uncle T-bone clears his throat loudly, "Ahem, hello, homicide detective over here..."

Aunt Z gets a defeated look on her face, "See, this is why I didn't want to marry a cop..."

Mason spits his coffee out and I bust out laughing again. 

Our family might be twisted, but it's certainly good to be back in it.