Rising Tide

Chapter 1

Standing on the upper deck, Rain held her 2 year old niece Emily on her hip as they watched the new passengers board the ship. Emily liked to do this to see if there might be others her age to play with or if she would have to play alone. This would be Rain's second cruise with her brother and her niece since finding them. She hoped this one went better than the last one did. She wasn't here to find romance, she wanted her family close to her, and her brother Steven and his daughter Emily was all she had left in this world.
Rain thought for most of her life she was an only child. She didn't find out until right after her parents died that her dad had a son with a previous wife she had no idea about. That set her on a 2 year search to find her one sibling she never knew she had. When she did finally find him it took her some time to convince him she wasn't lying about them being related. When Steven finally quit being stubborn he call his grandmother and she told him everything.
His mom and dad had divorced when he was just a few days old. His mom taking him and leaving, his dad never seeing him again. His dad had sent his grandmother letters looking for them but she would never tell him where they were because her daughter was happy.
Rain and her dad were never happy, her mom was a very sick woman. The older she got the worse she got. Rain's dad had sent her away for a week when she was 18, she had always wanted to sing and when, in a nearby town, there was a work shop of sorts, giving her the chance to work with a recorded artist. It wasn't a big name artist, but it was a start. By the time she got home both her parents were dead.
Once she found Steven and showed him pictures of their dad, who he looked like, he took her into his home and that's how she ended up where she was now, with the only two people left in her life that she loved and that loved her.

"I knew I'd find the two of you up here." Steven said as he approached his sister and daughter on the upper deck over looking the gang way as the passengers boarded. "See any promising playmates pumkin?" He asks his daughter.

Emily nods and points. "There." She grins around the thumb in her mouth, pointing out a group of families with several small kids around her age.

Reaching out and tugging on one of his sister's many curls. "What about you, Munchkin?" Steve teased his sister 10 years his junior. "You see any promising playmates down there?" He chuckles.

Autumn Rain looks up at her brother, with her amazing smokey gray colored eyes and sticks her tongue out at him. And with her suprisingly soft, musical voice she says. "And if I did would you let play with them?" She teased her brother back.

"Absolutely." He smiled with a pause, then added. "Not. I've told you most of the guys on these cruises are after one thing, and I will not let you be hurt in that way. We just found you Rainy. I'm not losing you to some jerk." He tells her, putting his arm around her shoulders and pulling her close.

Autumn chuckles. "Bubby, I've told you, I'm not looking for romance." She says then looks out over the crowd again. "After what I saw dad go through with my mom. I, more than anyone, knows love doesn't exist between two people unless it's family." Autumn sighs. "I have you and Emily, that's all I need in my life right now."

Steven reaches over and takes his daughter out of Autumn's arms. "Rainy, you're young, only 20, sorry 21, today. And I know you went through a very bad time with our dad and your mom. But love does exist and someday you will find it." He tells her. "Just keep an open mind and heart, don't let what happened in the past make you a lonely person in the future." He says kissing the top of her head. Steven still couldn't believe at times this girl was his sister. She was so small, only coming mid chest to him and in bare feet he was 6 foot tall even. Her hair was so blonde it looked white and it hung in tight curls down past her tiny waist and hips, almost mid way to her knees. Autumn's eyes were an unusual smokey gray color that at first sight will shock anyone looking into them, excpecially when they notice the ring of green around the outer edge. Steven was definitely proud to call her his sister.
"You ready to head down now?" He asks her. "We will be setting sail soon."

Nodding, Autumn follows her brother down to the main deck, takes Emily back from him, so he can greet his passengers with his usual speech. He tells them quickly about the different options they have for entertainment for both day and evening during the month long cruise, and hopes everyone enjoys their time on his ship.
Once Steven was done with his speech he went to do his job of guiding the ship out to sea and Autumn takes her back to their stateroom so she could take her afternoon nap.