Too much too young

37

It had been a week since I learnt that I had a family, It still didn't seem real. How was it possible that my mother had a child that she neither saw or told me about. The woman who had brought me up was loving and kind, I had never thought my mother was capable of leaving a child. My mother had given me love and more importantly her time, something my brother had never had. I was meeting him in just a few days, I didn't know how I could face him. I felt guilty that I had a mom and he hadn't. My mom must have had her reasons for leaving him behind, she wasn't a selfish person. I had been sat in the make up chair for half an hour and every minute of that I had been silently thinking about George and my long lost family.

Donnie had tried to talk to me about it all but there I were rally nothing he could say that could comfort me. He would never understand, and Ben I couldn't understand what I was feeling.

"Are you ok" I looked up and saw Freddie my make up artist looking at me. He looked concerned.

Was I ok? I don't think I would ever be ok again.

I shook my head, "no"

Freddie stopped what he was doing and pulled a chair beside me.

"My whole life has been a lie"

"I'm sure that's not true" Freddie put his hand over mine.

"I found out that I have a whole family that I don't know about, my mother kept them a secret from me."

"she must have had a reason" he was kind, he genuinely wanted to help.

"I can't think of any, I grew up poor. Like so poor that we had nothing but bread and milk in the fridge. When she died I had no one , I was homeless at 15. I went through so much and It could have all been so different, I could have had a family" I was so mad at my mom, I had an awful childhood because she was too proud to go back to her family.

"So the family, are they nice"

"I mean I think so, I met my mums mother and she was nice. A little posh but she was ok. I'm going to meet everyone next week. My brothers having a 30th birthday party" when I say kitty was a little posh I meant she we extremely posh, everything about her screamed wealth. After she had left I had googled her and found photos of her parties and her home. It was all so grand.

"Get to know them, they can help you understand I'm sure. So you have a brother, did you not know about him" he looked surprised, I had been too.

"No I had no idea, my mom left him when he was 2. It's just too much, it doesn't feel real. " I did my best not to cry, I could feel the tears pooling in my eyes.

I wanted answers, answers my mother would never be able to give me. I would never get closure, I would have to live with the fact that my mother lied to me and abandoned her children.

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I took a deep breath and stared at the door, I wanted to knock but I couldn't move. The night was bitterly cold, the wind was so heavy that I was shaking. I was wearing a silver knee length dress with a thin shawl over my shoulders. My bump was just visible through my dress, I rested my hand on top hoping it would give me strength.

Donnie took my hand and brought it to his lips, he kissed my knuckles. I gave him a tight smile and gestured for him to knock. We had been stood outside too long, goosebumps had stayed to appear on my arms.

"I love you" he declared as his knuckles came into contact with the wood.

The door swung open revealing a smartly dressed man holding a tray of champagne. He introduced himself as the butler Hugh, he gave us both a drink and showed us into a large ballroom. I hadn't seen so much luxury since the charity ball Donnie had taken me to.

Everyone was dressed in ball gowns and tuxedos, I was happy that we were dressed appropriately. I was so nervous , I was surrounded by some of the richest people in Texas. It was strange being a room with family and not knowing which ones were related to you.
I only knew kitty, I had no idea if I had aunties, uncles or cousins. I had always envied my friend who had grown up with their cousins, I had grown up alone. The only company I had was from men. I couldn't help but wonder whether my life would have been different if I would have had family around me.

"Emily, darling. You look truly stunning" kitty walked to us and kissed both my cheeks. I kissed hers in return and smiled.

"Donnie , how handsome you look" she purred as he lent down to kiss her cheek.

"Thank you for inviting us, you have a lovely home" I was nervously playing with my fingers.

Kitty smiled brightly and looked around the room proudly.

"Your grandfather has been talking about meeting you all day, let's put him out of his misery"

Kitty led me across the room, multiple pairs of eyes watched us with interest. We stopped behind a short white haired man, he was wearing a navy blue smoking jacket. My heart skipped a beat as he turned around, his blue eyes grew large when he saw me. He stopped talking to his friend and threw his arms around me. He took me by surprise, I looked at kitty and she was gawping. I watched as tears ran down her cheek.

"Emily, I'm so happy I finally got to meet you. Call me pop "

"Nice to meet you too pop" my own tears were starting to pool in my eyes.

"You look like Debra, your so beautiful." Pop started to cry again, my heart felt like it would drop from my chest.

"I have a family" I sobbed, I worried for a moment that kitty would be embarrassed by my show if attention. Kitty was sobbing more than me, she smiled at me like I was a treasure chest.

"You do, and it looks like we have a great grand baby" kitty said as she rubbed my barley there bump.

I smiled and Donnie nodded.

"I'm going to be a pop pop" pop said happily. He was beaming, it was as though he had known me my entire life. He had spoken so loud that most of the people in the large room were looking at us

I heard a deep Texas accent booming from behind me, "I'm going to be an uncle"