♥ I Never Thought I'd Love You ♥

~Chapter 62: I Was Afraid to Find Out

~Chapter 62: I Was Afraid to Find Out

            I was shocked. “Why would I hate him? And how do you know so much? How did you find my father? How are you sure that he’s my father?” I stopped for a moment. “Who are you?”

            He blinked at me in surprise. “I’m Cornelius.”

            “No, WHO are YOU?” I asked again.

            “Oh. Well, Cordelia, I’m obviously… your brother…”

            “WHAT?!” I stood up from the bench. “You can’t be! I had no siblings! I grew up alone! Mum never told me I had a brother!”

            “And my father never told me that I had a sister. Until you walked in the police station that day. He said he recognised you. Then, we both did some research and I found out.”

            “How… how long have you known this?”

            “Since your second visit.”

            “Why didn’t you tell me?”

           “I couldn’t find the right time. Then, you suddenly just stopped coming. I knew I had to tell you at one point. Besides, most people have heard about Niall’s mother in the hospital. He’s pretty popular, you know.”

            “Wait, I’m still confused. Why didn’t Mum ever tell me? Where were you when Mum and I were alone together? Where was Dad? And if your father is Officer Sheridon, then that means…”

            “Yeah. He’s your father too.”

            “No wonder he looks so familiar.”

            Cornelius blinked. “What? But… you’ve never met him before… How do you know what he looks like?”

~Flashback~

                        I sat in the police station, trembling and afraid. “What’s going to happen to me?” I asked a police standing next to me.

            He turned to me and patted me on the head. “It’s gonna be alright, kid.”He kneeled down next to me and told me, “Sometimes, bad things are going to happen. Nothing’s ever going to be perfect. But just promise me you’ll remember, that when bad things DO happen, you’ll be strong. There isn’t always going to be somebody there to save you. Sometimes, you gotta learn to save yourself. Remember that, okay?”

            I looked at the police officer. “Okay.” I nodded.

            He smiled and walked away.

~Flashback End~

            “He… he was the one…” I was speechless. “He was the kind police officer…I was scared… When Mum was shot…”

            “Mum was shot? Dad never told me that! He told me that she left him!”

            “Mum left HIM? No, I think the one that left someone was Dad!”

            “But, how can he--?!”

            “Why didn’t Mum ever tell me--?!” Both of us were stunned at the information we were learning from each other. “Okay, Cornelius, let’s start from the beginning.” We both took a deep breath. “I was born in Mullingar, Ireland. I grew up without Dad, just Mum and a stepfather, Dylan, who was a drunken alcoholic. Mum was shot when I was six. After that, I moved to the USA with Dylan and lived there ever since. When I met Niall, I went on tour with him, and currently we have settled down here. There’s my side of the story. What’s yours?”

            “I was also born here, in Mullingar. I was two years old when Dad decided to go look for work outside of town. He took me with him so I could learn business life, even though I was young. But you weren’t born yet, and Mum probably didn’t know she was pregnant with you. I was young; I barely remember leaving. I would’ve never remembered if Dad didn’t tell me. We took so long, and days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, months turned into years… I grew up thinking that I was never going to meet my mother. And I guess Mum must have assumed we were never coming back.

            But we came back one day, when I was eight years old. Dad took a job as a police officer. He wanted to surprise Mum with his arrival, but he was unsure if she’d accept him after he’d been gone for so long. Though, the next night, an accident had happened. A lady was shot, but Dad never told me it was Mum. He should’ve known, since he changed after that day. He told me he gave up on Mum. Dad was never his happy, old self anymore. He was always angry and grumpy. A man of few words. Dad never told me what happened to Mum, and I never asked.”

            “Why didn’t you ask?” I asked.

            “Maybe because… I was afraid to find out.”