One Day Is Today

Epilogue: "Yes, this is she?"

June 15th, 2016

Brooke woke up somewhere between 6 and 8 AM but never checked the time. All she knew was the sun was starting to rise. She made a pot of coffee and grabbed her sketch pad, sitting on the island as the pot brewed, she made a few temporary outlines. She got up when the coffee stopped brewing and then the phone rang.

"Hello? Baker residence." Brooke said as she grabbed a cup from the cabinet. She placed the phone on her shoulder before picked up the coffee pot.

"Hi! May I please speak with Brooke Davis Baker of Clothes Over Bros?" The caller said as Brooke placed the coffee pot back in place.

"Yes, this is she? How can I help you?" Brooke said as she picked the phone up from her shoulder sitting back in her seat at the counter.

"My name is Erin Halstead. I got your number from Calliope, I called Clothes Over Bros, but she said you had the day off. Is there any way we could chat?" The woman on the other line cleared her throat quietly.

"Yeah, of course!" she said, switching the phone from her right hand to her left so she could draw.

"As I said, my name is Erin Halstead. I'm from Chicago, Illinois and I believe you are my only living relative or. . . should I say family. I think you're my sister, my twin sister." The woman cleared her throat again and Brooke looked up eyes wide, speechless.

"I've lived my whole life wondering why I never knew my father. Why my mom would always lie and joke that the first guy we saw that day was my father. She kept it a secret from me for nearly thirty years and let the secret out at my wedding last year. . ."

"Wait!" Brooke said in disbelief, "How do you think we're related again? I'm an only child." she said rubbing her forehead with the pencil still in her grasp.

"My birth certificate says my father's name is Theodore Davis Jr and my mother's name is Victoria Davis." Erin says questioningly.

"Those are my parents!" Brooke said excitedly. "When were you born?" she said in the next breathe.

"March 4th, 1988 in a small town called Tree Hill, North Carolina?' Erin said questioningly again, 'I've never heard of it, to be honest." in one breathe.

"OMG! That's when I was born and that's where I grew up and live now. . . but how did we not know about each other?" Brooke said setting her pencil down on the open sketch book, she grabbed her coffee and walked to the couch.

"I apparently had a closed adoption, our parents didn't want anything to do with me." Erin laughed.

"They were really never meant to be parents, they always skipped town for suntans and the weekly yacht.' Brooke laughed, 'I mostly stayed with my best friend Peyton or had the house to myself."

"Wow! Then we really didn't live separate lives I guess. My mom was always leaving me too for another guy." Erin laughed louder this time.

"My mom said something strange to me once and I never really understood it, until now.' Brooke said rubbing the back of her neck. 'She said, that my dad wanted more kids, but she wouldn't let him have them. We could have grown up together! We could have been sisters for real, if it wasn't for my mom's devious plan." Brooke's voice got angrier.

"Why do you think your mom acted alone? My adoptive mother said it was our dad." Erin explained.

"My dad is not this devious, this screams Victoria all over it." Brooke laughed.

"Okay!" Erin laughed. "My husband Jay and I are planning a vacation in a few weeks. Would you be open to meeting each other? We could do a couple's thing if you want, it would make it less awkward."

"Of course! That would be great. Just send me an email and we can set something up." Brooke said.

"Will do! Talk soon." Erin said before hanging up.

"It was nice meeting you." Brooke said.

"I couldn't agree more!" Erin said before Brooke heard a beep to signify the caller's line disconnected.

Erin sat the phone down next to her on the table as a smile spread across her face.

"How'd it go?" Jay asked.

"It went even better than I could have imagined." Erin said feeling at ease.

"I'm really proud of you." Jay said squeezing her hand.

Holding hands, they stayed on the balcony as the sunrise started to fade away.