Reunited at Last

Family

It had been over a month since the results of the DNA test came back. Rose had assumed she'd be able to move in with her mother the day of but she was sorely mistaken. The process was some what similar to adoption. House checks were done, evaluations, physical tests. Everything!

Finally it was decided that Rose could move in with Helena and the rest of her family. She was nervous beyond compare. She was about to meet her brother and sister. All her life she'd been an only child and now she had two younger siblings. Maybe she was nervous maybe she was excited.

"Rosie?" Helena said looking at her in the rear view mirror of the car. "I'm afraid your dad, your real dad, won't be able to come..." she said slowly.

"Oh..." Rose couldn't say she wasn't disappointed. She knew Helena and Tim had broken up but she wanted to meet her real dad.

"Don't worry though" Helena said with a grin. "We wanted this to be a surprise but, we're all going on a family trip to America to see him once you're settled!"

'America?!' Rose thought to herself. She'd never been anywhere like that. The closest she'd been to abroad was Scotland. 'Would we go by plane? Of course it's hours away!' Her mind continued to race. So much so she didn't even register the fact they had pulled up to her new home.

The house was massive! It definitely was two they merged into one. The front door was a fiery red that stood out against the grey brick and green moss that covered the out side. Walking in she found herself in a big but comfortable living room. It wasn't messy but it was definitely lived in.

"Rose!" Called out a small voice from on top of the stairs. Nelly ran down using the extra height to launch herself into Rose's arms. She happily hug her little sister back. It was strange how you can miss someone you never even knew.

"Hi Rose." A boy who must be Billy said coming down stairs to join them. He stopped for a minute before pulling both his sisters into a somehow tighter hug. "I can't believe you're here." He said between sobs.

Rose couldn't help but cry too. She had a family. A real family. Her real family.

Helena must have come back from getting her suit case form the car as she suddenly felt a fourth person join the hug. Rose had never felt so loved. So protected. She'd never felt like she'd belonged more then she did now.

"I love you." Rose tried to say but the overwhelming amount of people around her made it hard to speak.

The morning went fast. Billy and Nell helped her decorate her room as well as the rest of the house for the party they were throwing tomorrow. "Do you know if dads coming?" Nell asked while failing to tie a balloon. Before Rose could answer Billy stepped in.

"He's not. So just drop it" He said bluntly.

"What are my 3 favourite people up to?" Helena said coming in to check on them with sandwiches in hand. The four of them sat on the sofa watching rubbish on tv and talking about nothing. Rose was glad that it wasn't her doing all the talking anymore. Nell has grilled her earlier while they hung fairy lights in the room. Questions about school, her old home, her friends. Rose was happy to answer most of them and enjoyed Nell's company but it was a little tiering.

The questions about friends got her thinking about Emily and how much she missed her. They were texting since she now had a phone but Rose really wanted to see her in person. It wasn't like she live a couple blocks away anymore. She lived on the other side of the city.

"You okay Rosie?" Helena asked later that night. "You don't look too well." Her voice was laced with concern.

"I'm fine mum." That felt so good to say, mum. "I'm just tired and exited about tomorrow."