Oh Brother (Completed)

{ Prologue} Letters To Aria

My brothers' invitation to spend the summer at our father's beach house in Malibu arrived two days before summer vacation. It wasn't fancy; a small white envelope with one of my brother's messy handwriting taking up a wide space. A postal stamp of a setting sun resided in the far left corner, beckoning me with the warmth of my hometown. Prying it open proved to be a task upon realizing the seal had been glued shut. Against my better judgment, I spread the blades of the kitchen scissors and cup along the top, disappointed to find that I'd gone through so much work for no more than a folded, cream colored piece of paper with my name written in bright red pen along the top.

I skimmed the letter, starting to crumble it in my hand rather than read what I knew I'd find laced in every word written.

Guilt. Guilt ridden apologizes. That had been all I'd been receiving for the last month. Every letter from my oldest brother, Phillip, had been a paragraph of condolences for the loss of our mother. The mother they hadn't seen in ten years. The mother they never bothered to call and check up on. The mother I'd watched slowly slip through my fingertips and dissipate into nothing over the last three years.

When our parents had divorced ten years ago, the judge had given us children, all old enough to make the choice on our own, who we wanted to stay with. All four of my brothers, including my twin, had chosen to go with our millionaire Dad. It had been a no brainer for me; live with a man who's maid was home more than he was, or stay with my beautiful artistic mother. As soon as the divorce was finalized, my mother had ushered me onto a plane to a small town in Ohio, and we'd been residing in a two bedroom since.

At least we had been.

"Another letter?" a quiet chirp brought me back to reality. My Aunt Kathryn stood a few feet behind me, a box labeled Miscellaneous in her arms. She'd drove up from Indiana a few weeks ago for the funeral and had stayed back to help me go through her sister's things, but it'd been a slow, agonizing process for the both of us. "Sweetheart, he's trying."

"He just feels guilty." I muttered, ready to crumble the paper in my hand when I caught sight of the last paragraph before my brother's signature at the bottom of the piece of notebook paper.

We'd love to have you here with us for the summer, Aria. It'll be just like old times. Consider it, alright?

Love you,

Phil

I tried to force back the tears that sprung to my eyes and hysterical laugh that broke through my chapped lips, but lost the battle. Aunt Kathryn rested a hand on my shoulder and frowned, a crease of concentration appearing on her forehead.

"What?" She questioned softly.

"Yeah. This one's great. Phillip's asking me to come stay with them for the summer. Can you believe this crap, Aunt Katy? Ten years with almost no communication, then Mom dies and suddenly my brothers are overwhelmed with giddy feeling of wanting to see their little sister."

Wrinkles formed around the corners of my Aunt's mouth as they curved downward into a frown.

"Maybe they're just looking for a way to connect with you, sweetheart." Ever the optimist, my Aunt responded exactly as expected. "Who's asking?"

"Phillip."

A sad look darkened my Aunt's pale blue eyes as she shifted on her feet.

"You used to love to follow Phillip around when you were a baby." she reminisced in the loving memory. "You guys were so close."

"That was ten years ago, Aunt Katy."

She breathed out an exhausted sigh and hoisted the box on her right hip, knocking the door that led out into my mother's room closed with her elbow. She reverted her gaze back to me after a moment of concentration, more thin creases forming on her forehead.