The Fìdhlear ✔️

Chapter Eight; "Relatives."

GOOD job, lad." Said Conan, his worn face smiling at Arlo as he packed his violin back up.

"Thanks, Conan. It means a lot." He replied honestly.

Arlo glanced at Adair, who had been chatting with one of the bartenders, and smiled. 

"Ready to go?" He asked, to which she nodded.

"Yep." 

Arlo's smile never dimmed as he grasped her hand and waved goodbye to his coworkers and boss as they waded through the crowd of drunk people.

Only when a hand clasped his shoulder did he stop and turn to face who did it. A small woman, a little taller than his mom, with snowy white hair and familiar amber eyes smiled sadly up at him.

His own eyes widened and he looked shocked at the fact that a woman who looked exactly like his mother's stood before him. Though, she was quite a bit skinnier than his mom.

"Hello. You may not know who I am, but I recognized the bow you have and I wondered if you possibly knew the person who it belonged to." She began softly, her eyes warm and kind.

Arlo continued to gaze at the woman longer before he slowly unfroze and awkwardly nodded.

"Uh, yes. It belonged to my mother." He said, his voice quivering the slightest bit.

The woman's eyes widened and filled with tears as her mouth opened. She clasped a hand over her mouth to conceal her sobs as she nodded. She only lifted her hand to speak.

"I'm sorry. That woman, Arlie, is—was—my sister." She explained, her watery eyes taking in Arlo like she'd seen a ghost.

"Wait, you're my aunt?" He asked, his eyes flickering to Adair, who had been watching the scene unfold beside him.

"I suppose so." She said, wiping her eyes and heaving a sigh. "I haven't seen her in so long." 

She appeared to be in her mid-to-late forties, which made sense because Arlie had been made immortal because of her mate, and had a few wrinkles around her mouth and eyes.

Arlo nodded, his eyes wide and his brain foggy and overwhelmed by this sudden information.

"She never spoke about you." He commented quietly. 

The woman nodded, unsurprised by this information. 

"I left Arlie alone to travel to America. It was the biggest mistake of my life." She shook her head, clearing her mind of the dark thoughts.

"I married a nice man and settled down, forgot about my dear younger sister. I thought I couldn't handle seeing her because she looked like our mother's carbon copy, even if we both look like her." His aunt laughed humorlessly, and Arlo could then see the facial differences between them.

This woman had a more slender, royal and sleek face than his mother, and was definitely taller. 

Her amber eyes flickered to Adair standing beside him, a smile growing on her face.

"Besides all of that, I'm glad to have met you, and your. . ." She raised a brow to let Arlo finish the sentence.

"Girlfriend." He stated with a smile. Adair's own face lit up and she fought to keep a grin down. 

"How wonderful!" His aunt replied, glancing at both of them with an honest appreciation. She still appeared sad, and Arlo couldn't blame her. Coming from somewhere where you only dwelled on past mistakes and then meeting someone from those times didn't sound happy. Though, he still wondered what would happen if his mother were to see her.