Rewriting our stars (3rd installment of "rewriting the stars")

First meeting

Phillip's POV:
I stand there for a second, fully processing what I just heard. I have a sister? How did I not know this?

Suddenly, I hear Anne snapping her fingers in front of me.

"Earth to Phillip! Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm sorry, but what did you say your name was?"

"My name is Eleanor."

"Well, Eleanor, this is a lot to take in right now. Do you suppose we could discuss this tomorrow?"

"Of course! I'll come back at 11 a.m tomorrow if that's fine."

"Sure."

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow. Bye."

Eleanor walks out of the tent, leaving the rest of us there confused.

"Well that was weird."

I turn my attention to Anne, who looks at me with a concerned expression on her face.

"We need to talk."

She pulls me to the side of the room.

"Phillip, I don't trust her at all."

"Why not? She seems like she is telling the truth."

"Well the last time a long lost family member came into our lives, I got kidnapped, you almost died, and I got this."

Anne slightly lifts up her shirt to show the long scar that now resides on her stomach.

"Yeah, but this time seems different. I had no clue I even had any siblings until 20 minutes ago."

Anne sighs before looking at me.

"One chance. If her story checks out, then maybe I'll trust her. But, if she seems even a little bit suspicious, we get her arrested. Deal?"

"Deal."

"Now, can we please go enjoy my birthday while it's still going on?"

"Of course."

I take Anne's hand, and we go back to enjoying her birthday.

Anne's POV:
Today's the day. The day Phillip and I meet his sister. If she even is. I really don't know how to feel about her. She seems a bit odd, and after what went down the last time we let a missing family member into our lives, I really don't feel good about her, especially with the fear of her being around our kids.

We're meeting up with her in an hour, and I've been pacing around the house all morning, not knowing what to do with myself for all this time beforehand.

"Amelia, you stay next to us the whole time, understood?" I ask the toddler.

"Yes."

"Thank you. Let's get you ready now." I smile, trying not to freak the girls out too.

I place Isla on my hip while attempting to get Amelia ready.

"You three almost ready?" Phillip askes, popping his head in the doorway.

"Just about. You get everything ready to go, we'll be outside in a few minutes."

"Alright." He walks over to us, pressing kisses on each of our heads, and walking out.

When we finally arrive, Phillip grabs my hand, stopping the fidgeting of my fingers.

"It'll be fine. I promise. We've been through worse, and I've got you."

"I know you do."

"Hello, Carlyle's." Eleanor walks up to us from behind a pillar in the tent. Why was she here? That's not a good sign at all. 

"Hello." I peep out.

"Nice to finally see the girls. Seems like a couple 'a handfuls. Should I hold one of them?" She asks, clearly so concerned.

"We're fine, thanks." I cut in, not allowing Phillip to let her.

"Oh, alright then." She sighs, actually seeing hurt.

It's fake. I tell myself.

But what if she's not? What if she could make a great addition to the family.? I just really don't know.

"So, Eleanor, what made you move here? Where are you from?" Phillip asks, leading us over to the bottom row or bleachers. Amelia sits down beside me, remembering what I asked her to do earlier.

"Places." The 'sister' says, looking down at her nails carelessly. "I've just been around." She shrugs.

"Alright." Phillip says, clearly unsure of how he should respond to that. "Nice."

"So, Eleanor. How did you find out that you had a brother?"

"Well I always knew I had a brother. I just couldn't find you. But when I heard that you had become a part of a circus, I realized that I had to come find you."

A likely story, I think to myself.

"So, wait. How did I not know about you until now?" Phillip asks.

"Well, we're twins. At birth, our parents decided that having a son would be more successful than a daughter, so they just gave me up for adoption. I stayed at the orphanage until I turned 18, and then they sent me out on my own, and I've been on my own ever since."

"Oh, Eleanor. I'm so sorry. I wish I had known about you. I would've come and found you."

"It's okay. You didn't know. I was just so happy when I finally found you." She smiles at Phillip, and he smiles back.

"Oh, I guess we never fully introduced you to your nieces. This is Amelia, and this is Isla." Phillip takes Amelia's hand while I hold Isla in my lap.

"Girls, this is your aunt Eleanor."

Amelia slowly walks over to her and stretches her arms out, signaling she wanted a hug.

"May I?"

I look at Phillip before looking back at Eleanor.

"Sure."

I watch her gently pick up Amelia, careful not to hurt her.

"Well hi there, sweetheart. I'm your aunt Eleanor."

She gently smiles at Amelia, and Amelia coos back at her.

I let out a slight smile. No, Anne. You don't trust her.

"Well, now that you know everything there is to know about me, are we good?"

"Yeah, we're good."

Eleanor smiles at Phillip before looking back at Amelia.

"And you little sweetheart, I can't wait to spend more time with you, and your little sister."

"Well, we should get going. We have a show tonight, and I need to practice." I say.

"Oh, right. Well, I guess I'll see you guys later."

Eleanor hands Amelia back to Phillip before walking out.

"So, what did you think? Does her story check out?"

"Yes, I guess it does. And she is really great with Amelia."

"So do you think we can let her be around us more?"

I slowly nod my head smiling.

"Great! Now let's go practice for tonight."