Letters to Isabella

six.

"Who are you?" I asked after what felt like five minutes of complete silence between the three of us. "And why are you here at three o'clock in the morning?" I added, eyeing her up and down in confusion.

She exhaled gently and stuck her hand out to me. "I'm Adeline Shay."

"Laura Lynch." I murmured back, receiving the strangers hand shake.

Her lips curved into a smile as she clicked her tongue and turned to Ross. "Are you Ross Lynch?"

He nodded slowly at her, narrowing his chocolate brown eyes in confusion. "Yeah but -"

"Ross, I'm your sister." Adeline explained, shrugging her shoulders at him. "Or half sister, in this case."

Both of our mouths fell agape. The girl looked no more than a teenager. It couldn't be possible for Ross and the rest of his siblings to have a long lost sister, could it?

"How am I supposed to believe you?" Ross asked, his arms wrapped around his waist. "You could be a total stranger to me... which you most likely are. There's no possible way that I have a half sister."

She sighed and reached into her handbag, pulling out a piece of folded up paper. "I had a feeling you'd be curious about this and you have every right to be. Trust me, I was too when I found out."

She then handed the piece of paper to Ross which he cautiously opened up, keeping a firm gaze on her as he did so. I glanced over his shoulder and felt my heart sink into my stomach when I realised what I was reading. It was a birth certificate.

Legal birth certificate for:
Adeline Louise Shay Lynch.
Mother: Diana Victoria Shay
Father: Mark Lynch.
D/O/B: 09/10/2000
Birth place: Lima Hospital
Weight: 8lbs 5oz

"There's no way." Ross murmured under his breath. His hands had become shaky around the sheet of paper and Adeline was watching him intently from her spot on our porch. "How long have you known about this?"

She frowned as he handed the birth certificate back to her. "A couple of months ago my mom sat me down after a drunken night out and explained to me that she was back in contact with my biological father and that I could meet him if I wanted to."

Ross shook his head slowly back and forth, trying to make sense of the situation. I was just as confused as he was, it made little to no sense to me. I knew that Mark had cheated on Stormie in the past but I never would have thought that there could be a possible love child of his out there in the world somewhere; until she was standing on our porch at three AM that is. "And?" Ross asked, begging her to continue.

"I decided that yes... I would like to meet him. So my mom made arrangements and Mark came down to visit us down in Lima. At first he was shocked and angry but now he's staying with my mom and I decided to come and find you. He said he had other kids so it didn't take me long to discover the Lynch bloodline."

I wrapped my arm around Ross' waist protectively. I was his wife, it was my job to comfort and console him in this strange time of his life. If I couldn't then who else would?

"I just don't understand -"

Before Ross could continue, Adeline quickly cut him off. "Honestly neither do I but I'm telling you Ross, we have the same father. I'm your half sister and whether you like it or not I'd really like to be apart of your life if you'll let me."

Ross held his hand up to his face and cleared his throat. "Is that why my mom was so depressed the other day? Does she know about any of this?"

Adeline shrugged her shoulders with a worried look on her face. "I'm not sure. I don't know anything about your mother... although I don't doubt that Mark has told her about all of this."