Crystal Eyes

-(18)-

      Yes, of course! She leaped onto me, clutching me tight. Laughing many times, I rocked back and forth with her body pressed against mine. 

      The floor swayed under my knees. I slid down without warning and crashed into the floor, Ellery landing atop me with a yelp. My head collided with the carpet, thankfully I caught Ellery before she crashed into the ground. Ow. 

      Sorry, I have no idea what just happened. She nodded as we both lifted ourselves apart. I didn't know I was that heavy. Before I could sign again, she shoved me over and picked up the picture frame I'd landed on. Thankfully, it didn't crack but the back had slid off, revealing a picture stuffed in the back. It was of who looked to be her mother really young, in the arms of a man who I didn't recognize. 

      Who is that? Ellery was gaping, her fingers moving to scrape along the gritty picture. I have no idea. She flipped the picture over, her eyes skimming the page skeptically...There's an email. DeclanMclairy@gmail.com, look it up. 

      The first thing that popped up was a facebook page linked with that email. Ellery leaned against me heavily to catch a better look. The profile pic was of a man with dark hair and pale blue eyes...eerily like Ellery's. His arm was around a woman and his other around a small girl. His name was Declan Mclairy...he was married, the girl in his picture, we figured out quickly, was his granddaughter and the other was his wife.

      His profile wasn't updated recently but everything previously was happy pictures of his granddaughter, his son and his wife. 

      Wait...go back to his friends. I scrolled to his friends and clicked on the tab. I began scrolling through the names, there weren't many until Ellery's finger shot out so quickly to stop me that my phone had merely flipped from my hands. Oh my God, that's my mother's facebook account. She signed unsteadily. I think this is your father...Els. He has your curly hair and your eyes. He's the spitting image of you. 

      I see. Oh my God, look. My eyes had scanned the screen a few times to confirm. He lived in Hipridge...Holy smokes and he was close. Ellery's hands trembled enough that I'd held them in my own. She wasn't able to sign with her shaky hands but I knew the look in her eyes enough to know what she was thinking. Ryan knew he lived here, that's why he'd pressed to come here so significantly. 

      Her head thumped onto my chest, she shook her head and nuzzled into me, her eyes barely peeking as I continued to scroll through the pictures on his page. I went as far as to his wedding photos and pictures of his son as a boy. His son also looked eerily like Ellery...minus the eyes and he had more tanned skin like his mother. The woman's name was Emily Mclairy, she was a teacher. Declan was a manager of some construction company I hadn't hear of. 

      Are you alright? Talk to me, crystal eyes. 

      It's just crazy...that he was right under us this whole time. I could've found him with a quick sweep through my mom's friends on Facebook. What if he knows about us but doesn't want anything to do with us? What if he doesn't know, my mom seemed like the person to not tell anyone. I'm just overwhelmed. Why would Ryan keep this from me? He had to have known, why didn't he tell me? We agreed on no more secrets. I bet Jenna knows too. 

      What are you gonna do? I stroked her silky curls in an attempt to comfort her. She appeared a little distraught and concerned. I just kept her leaning against me to monitor her heavy breaths. I felt her heartbeat pump against me. I don't know...Honestly. A part of me wants to forget we ever found anything. To just forget about this Declan guy and move on. 

      And the other part? Her eyes met mine. She lifted the picture and quickly snapped a link of his Facebook from my phone, sending it to herself. The other part wants to go meet him right now and get answers. Maybe I should send him an Email or a FB message? I don't even know exactly where he lives. 

      I think you should just send him an Email and go from there...

      Help me write it? I'm so nervous. We drew out a piece of paper and began brainstorming. We spent hours and many dozens of crumpled up papers everywhere until we finally wrote it out on her computer and decided it was good enough to send, her hand was clutching mine as I pressed it and it loaded, then sent. 

      Dear Mr. Mclairy,
      I'm Ellery Grace Wilson, you knew my mom. Diana Wilson. She died in a car wreck five years ago and it's just me and my brother now. I found you in a picture with my mom and I stalked your Facebook profile a bit and I have reason to believe you may be my father. I know it sounds crazy and I don't know if you ever knew or know about us, and I'm no 100% but I look exactly like you...the chances of finding another man with pale blue eyes and black curly hair who was connected to my mother is unlikely, she didn't have too many friends. I'm sorry if this is abrupt but I yearn for answers. Please contact me back as soon as possible.  

      Sincerely, 

      Ellery Grace