Family Ties

Estranged

Yoko and Yusho loved each other and their sons very much, but they didn't really get along too well with their extended families. Yoko's family had disowned her when she got involved in the motorcycle gang life, and Yusho had cut all contact with his side of the family nine years ago because his nephews and nieces bullied Yuya and their parents never did anything about it.

Yoko hadn't been in contact with her estranged family in eighteen years, not even to tell them she had gotten married to Yusho or had Yuya. And she certainly wasn't going to tell them that she had adopted three more sons.

Somehow, however, Yoko's estranged family apparently found out about her husband and children. Perhaps they had gotten curious and searched her up online and found her social media. Whatever the case, Yoko discovered that they had learned about her family when she checked the mail five days after the adoption was finalized and found a letter from her parents. She was tempted to simply throw it away without opening it, but her curiosity got the better of her. So she opened it and read the letter.

* * *

"What's wrong, Mother?" Yuri asked, noticing Yoko's annoyance as he came downstairs a few hours later. Yoko sighed and said, "It'll probably be best if I tell everyone at the same time over dinner. Go get your brothers and wash up for dinner."

"Yes, Mother!" Yuri said, hurrying back upstairs. Five minutes later the whole family was at the dining table, and Yoko sighed again. "Yuya, you remember how I once told you about how my parents kicked me out of the house and disowned me when I was sixteen because I joined a motorcycle gang, right?"

"Wait, WHAT?!" Yuto, Yuri, and Yugo were furious. "That's so mean!"

"Yes, well, I haven't spoken to them in eighteen years," Yoko said. "I never told them when Yusho and I got married, or when we had Yuya, and I definitely haven't told them about us adopting you three. But they've somehow found out, and they sent me a letter saying they want to meet my family."

Yuya scowled and poked at his rice. "I don't know if I wanna meet them..." he mumbled. "They sound really mean. What if they're mean to us? They kicked you out of the house and disowned you. Why would they be nice to us? What if they're like Dad's side of the family?"

"Wait, what are Dad's side of the family like?" Yugo asked. Yusho scowled. "They're bullies. My nieces and nephews always mistreated Yuya and no matter how many times I told their parents to deal with them, they never did anything about it. I cut all ties with them nine years ago, when my oldest nephew hit Yuya and gave him a black eye and his parents just said Boys will be boys. I haven't spoken to any of them since. Yuya was only five years old at the time, and my nephew was almost eighteen."

SNAP! the sound echoed in the kitchen, and everyone was startled for a moment, looking around for the source of the sound. Then they realized that Yuto's angry grip on his chopsticks had snapped one of them in half. He quickly set the chopstick down. "Sorry..."

"I wanna punch that cousin in the face and give him a black eye for hurting Yuya!" Yugo said angrily. Yuto and Yuri all made sounds of agreement. "Let's gang up on him! We'll protect Yuya!"

Yusho smiled at the boys' eagerness to protect their brother. He had no doubt that they would keep each other safe if someone tried to hurt any of them again.