Elizabeth Ashler or Lizzie for short has hated her life for the past few years.
First, her mother Amanda mysteriously vanished one day without so much as a trace when she was just ten years old.
Second, her father who had been an extremely abusive...
Lizzie could feel a huge pit in her stomach as she and her siblings followed Connor across the lot of Teller-Morrow toward what he had explained was the shop's office.
The quartet had actually managed to catch a ride to the shop with the police chief, Unser, who had offered to help them out after he had stopped by the diner to grab his lunch and Connor had explained to him that the siblings wanted to speak with Gemma about their aunt.
Conner had opted to ride up front with the police chief so the three siblings sat together in the backseat.
Paige was leaning against Lizzie who had her arm wrapped around the younger girl while JJ sat on the other end of the seat, watching out the window as Unser drove to the auto shop.
Grabbing hold of Paige's smaller hand in her own, Lizzie and her siblings wait as Connor knocked on the open office, catching the attention of a brunette woman in her fifties with brown hair that had blonde highlights in it who was seated behind the desk working on what the teen boy assumed was likely paperwork pertaining to the auto shop.
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"Connor! How you doing, kiddo? How was your time with your mama?"
Connor assured the older woman that his stay in Alberque had been fine. He then went on to explain to her that a friend of his wanted to speak with her about whether or not she might know how to find her aunt.
"I kinda figured that if anyone could help Lizzie track down her aunt, it would definitely be you."
Gemma chuckled at the younger boy's statement before inviting the quartet to enter the office.
Lizzie took a seat on the small couch across from the desk, pulling Paige onto her lap as she did while JJ situated himself in one of the two chairs positioned in front of the desk that Gemma was still sitting behind, Connor moving to sit in the other chair beside him.
"So, can you tell me anything about your aunt that might help me track her down for you kids?"
Lizzie explained that while she didn't exactly know her aunt's name, she could tell the older woman what their mother's name was along with her maiden name if it could help a bit more with the search for her aunt.
"Our mother's name is Amanda. Her maiden name was Case before she married our dad. She changed it to Ashler which is also our last name too."
Gemma's brown eyes widened in what Lizzie assumed was surprise. She could tell that the older woman definitely wasn't expecting the info that she had just received.
"You-you're Amanda's kids? I can't believe it. I knew your mama when she still lived here years ago and I'm still pretty tight with your aunt even now too. As a matter of fact, she's out in our clubhouse right now since she just got off work. Let me go get her real quick. I'll be right back, okay?"
After Gemma had exited the office, Connor asked the three siblings if they were okay since he knew that they might be freaking out about the fact that they were finally about to meet their aunt that they'd never known before for the first time in their lives.
JJ and Paige confirmed verbally that they were both okay but Lizzie just sat silently.
Her little sister could sense that she was likely feeling conflicted and rested her head against Lizzie's cheek and also laid her smaller hand on top of the older girl's which were clasped together around her small waist in an attempt to comfort her a little.
Lizzie smiled warmly at the younger girl before whispering assuringly to her that she was okay.
Just then, Gemma reentered the office, a tall blonde woman directly behind her.
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Lizzie and JJ, being the ones who remembered their mother the clearest, could instantly see some physical similarities between the woman and their absent mother.
Lizzie also immediately recognized her as the woman she had accidentally bumped into back at the diner earlier that day.
The blonde woman noticed the two watching her and smiles gently at them.
"Hi there. I'm Wendy and I guess I'm your aunt."
A/N: So, anyone guess that Wendy was their aunt? If so, you are awesome!!
Do you guys think that Wendy will be as welcoming to her nieces and nephew as Gemma seems to be?
Please feel free to leave a vote and/or comment below and let me know what you think of this chapter and this story as a whole so far.
Hope that you all have a great day/afternoon/night depending on wherever you may be, remember that you are all amazing, beautiful and wonderful just the way you are.
Stay safe out there, everybody!! 🥰🥰🥰
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