Happily Ever After

Forty Five~ Long Lost Brother

Jenna

"We need to talk."

Kris sits on the end of the bed as he waited for me to get ready for the day. We had some plans for lunch and to just hang out but I have a feeling that whatever this is about is about to ruin that.

So I sit next to him on the bed as he pulls out his phone. He shows me a picture of us on his Instagram and I look at him weird. I didn't have social media and a lot of that is because I don't need to know the public's opinion of me. It took me this long to learn to love myself I don't need another voice criticizing me, I'm good enough at that as is.

"What's wrong with the picture" I wonder.

"Nothing is wrong the picture. It's a response to this picture" he claims.

"People are mean but you shouldn't listen to them" I insist.

"This wasn't just any comment. I got a direct message from someone named Cameron who recognized you in this picture claiming to be your brother" he explains.

I freeze in my spot as I just stare at Kris. I couldn't move as I just let his words sink and I try to find my words. The guy who messaged him looked like my brother but I haven't seen Cam in years so I couldn't be sure. "I don't know what to say" I whisper.

"I was skeptical at first. People say some crazy things to get a eye out on me. And when it comes to you I don't take to those kinds of things lightly. But I did some digging and saw he was from your home town and has the same last name as you. He knew your name and your sister and when you guys moved out to Chicago. He had been looking for you guys but he said he couldn't find anything since neither of you guys had social media and until he saw my picture with you he hadn't found anything about you. But he recognized you and messaged me as soon as he did.

He wants to talk" he explains.

A harsh sigh passes my lips as my eyes fall to the ground. I should have known with how good life had been something was bound to happen. It was getting too easy.

"What do I do" I whisper.

"What is your heart telling you" he wonders.

"That I already lost my sister and I don't want to lose a chance with another one of my siblings. But I also don't think I'm strong enough to dig up these emotions and feelings that I connect with him. I don't know if I can take it" I admit.

"I'll be with you every step of the way. If you feel like you can't do it and it's too much we can come back here and tell him that you still need time to think about this. But if we meet him and you realize that he is nothing like you remember and that he could be good to you and to Mary then I will let you two catch up" he promises.

"Is he here" I question.

"He's in the city right now for business. He doesn't live in Texas anymore and he lives in Nashville now. He's in school to become a contractor and he's done pretty good for himself. But he's only here for a few days before he has to go back and he really really wants to see you again. He wants to see with his own eyes that you're okay" he explains.

"Can you come with" I whimper.

"Of course baby. I'll be right by your side until the end of time" he insists.

So I give him the green light to set something up for us to meet. I don't say much as my mind goes a mile a minute. So many feelings and thoughts I repressed come up and I didn't know how to handle them. I never did and that's why I pushed them away. But I have a million questions for him and I don't know if I'm ready to hear a answer I don't like.

"Jenna" Kris nearly tells making me jump. I see him standing next to me waving his hands in front of my face. "Hey baby, we're meeting Cameron in 30 minutes at Connies. Is that okay" he wonders.

"Yeah, that would be good" I admit. At least that's a safe place where I know I am loved and I know someone will be there to help me if I go off the deep end.

So we drop Mary off at a friends house and go to Connies. We walk in and I see a man that looked a lot like my dad. Tall and handsome and well built. Cameron has lighter colored brown hair and brown eyes unlike my dads blue eyes. But if he looked too much like him there was no way I was getting through this lunch.

I walk over to him and he turns to me. His eyes get a bit bigger once he realized it was me. His lips pull a little tighter as I approach him. "Wow Jen, you look amazing. Even better than in the picture I saw" he claims and I smile back. He didn't seem so bad.

"It's been a while Huh" I ask him.

"Five years, but who's counting" he chuckles.

"Apparently you were" I tease.

"Yeah. Well believe it or not I admired you a lot. I know you probably weren't the best role model I could have known, but you were one of the strongest people I've ever seen. There's a lot that I can learn from you. You carried yourself in a way I envied for so long and I wanted more than anything to help you. I prayed for you guys every night since you and Frannie left and I see it must have worked" he claims as he looks at Kris.

"I think I'm starting to figure it all out" I admit as I nudge Kris' side. 

"So where's Frannie? How is she doing" he wonders and my heart sinks so quickly.

"She's... she died a few years back" I whisper and his smile leaves his face.

"Oh no, oh Jen I'm so sorry. I know you guys were as close as close can be. And I'm sorry I wasn't here for you" he claims.

"Don't you go feelin' bad for me. I know it sucks but life works in mysterious ways, look at the way you found me" I remind him.

"After watching what you went through for the first 13 years of my life I can't help but feel bad. Jenny you didn't deserve that, no one does. And no matter what I do I can't help but to think about those dark days in Texas. Whether or not I can control it or not doesn't matter, it still hurts" he defends.

"Did they hurt you too" I question.

"Yeah, they did. But not to the extent that you and Frannie had it. I was never scared to come home and I never had to fight for my own life. I wasn't lucky but I was fortunate to not have to experience the things you did. Seeing and hearing you go through that was traumatic enough" he insists.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that" I say softly.

"Don't apologize for being a victim. You have nothing to apologize for Jen. I wanted to reach out to you because I wanted to see for myself that you're okay. I can read about it or see the pictures but you were always so good at pretending to be okay. I needed to see and hear that you are okay" he demands.

I turn to Kris who had his arm wrapped around me tightly never letting loose. "I am okay. I have Kris here and Frannie left her daughter here for me to put my love into. While what happened is never gone from my memory it's nice to have things to look forward to like seeing my niece grow up and starting a life together with Kris" I explain.

"So I guess you probably don't want me around to remind you do the bad times" he shrugs.

"I never said that" I assure him. "I would love to start over. You're the only brother I have and I don't know a lot about you and vice versa. I don't see why we can't figure it out together" I insist.

"I would like that a lot" he smiles.