| Annalise Lauren |
"A Letter For Me"
My mouth was agape, unsure of what to do or say with the words that had been hand written in a letter, addressed to none other than me. My name, in cursive letters, was there, on paper, with a different last name. A last name that I had never seen before, and it sort of, scared me I guess. This wasn't who I was, but maybe it was.
Dear Annalise Walton were the only words I had read so far. I didn't think I was a Walton. I didn't even know who the Waltons were. They had written me a letter, and I didn't even want to read it after the first three words. "Here, let me read it" it was then taken out of my light grasp, gently, and into someone else's. That was when I noticed that Angus was no longer speaking with the doctor, and his eyes had been trained on what I was doing.
I stared at the letter he was holding, anticipating a bad reaction. I didn't hate that it was written as Annalise Lauren, and rather Walton, but why Walton? Who was this Walton person that had written to me? Not even typed out the letter, had hand written it, and from the glance I had taken, the person had had elegant writing. Writing that I had never seen before.
I hated waiting for what was going to be said about the letter. I don't even know if it was a good idea to let Angus read it, because it could have been personal, or important for just me to know. Not like anything about these Walton people could be personal or important about themselves, as I was sure someone had probably read it before I had, with customs and everything.
Or maybe that was just for reality shows? Who knows. I didn't care though. I didn't have a home anymore, the only thing I had were the clothes I had been wearing for about a week and a half, and the stuff that was littered in the other hospital room. I wasn't even sure what was in those bags that were mine, and I wasn't sure I wanted to look any time soon.
There were too many memories that related back to Mr. and Mrs. Lauren that I could care less about now. Some were good, and it was only some. Not all or most, just some. Most of the bad ones overran the good ones, because they were so recently and dug so deep into the hole that the good ones had once filled.
"Here" Angus then handed me back the letter, a small grimace on his lips. I was shocked by the look on his face, immediately delving into the letter that had just been placed back into my hands. I was sure that if it was bad, he wouldn't have let me read it. He would have wanted to protect me and lie to my face if anything, I was sure of it.
Dear Annalise Walton,
I was recently contacted about your latest discovery in family history. I am your eldest brother, Hayden Walton. DNA results had been photocopied onto the attached paper to this letter for proof. I heard of Aiden's incident and I hope he is recovering well, and will eventually read the letter that I wrote for him as well, but for now, I give you this information.
When our parents died, Alannah and Nicholas Walton, the seven of us had been separated. Luckily, for some, had been given the same foster homes, which happened to be only the two of you. You happened to end up with one of our fathers old friends, making it easy for me to reach out, but harder to find out exactly where you would be in this precise moment.
When I heard from your foster mother, Hannah Lauren, that you hadn't been back to the house for a couple of days, and that you had run out on her, I knew that you were my sister. I knew that I had found my baby sister and brother. The same two that I had been looking for in the past 6 years. The 6 hardest years of my life, that you two have gladly put me through, but it was all worth it.
So, I write to say that I now have gotten custody over the two of you, and should be arriving in New York in a few days, before I am driving out to the town. The same town our parents grew up and met in, before moving to the big city. I will speak to the two of you personally, about our living arrangements and where to from now, but I just wanted to give you a little insight and not to scare you by being a complete stranger.
I had only just met you, before you were taken and the 5 of us were heartbroken. Your four other older brothers and I were devastated to be separated from the two of you, and now, here we are, only finding out 14 and a half years later that our baby brother and sister can come home is a miracle in the making.
I cannot wait to meet the two of you, and I wish all the best for the two of you while I know, you Annalise, will be waiting for updates on your brothers condition that I sadly have not been given either. I really hope that the two of you have been doing well and I will be there soon to protect you in the best way that I can.
Love, your big brother, Hayden Walton.
Shock, was all I could feel in the moment. I, apparently, had 5 older brothers. I didn't have just two older brothers and a sister, like I had believed I had, but I actually had 5 older brothers, that had been living their lives, once separated from each other themselves, only to know be finding us.
Aiden and I, who had apparently been stuck with an old friend of our foster fathers, Jameson Lauren. For everything that I had dealt with Hannah Lauren, had just ended up with her not even being my mother, not even remotely related to one another. All the shouting and arguing at one another had been for nothing. The comparison and treatment had been for nothing. Just hurt.
"You okay?" I had completely forgotten that there were other people in the room. That I was actually sharing a bed with someone. "Y-yeah" I stuttered, still in shock from the information that I had just read. The information that made me feel relieved that there was actually people out there that wanted to see me and actually had been looking for me.
That scared me a little. 6 years of looking for me, and it all came down to this one letter. This one letter, which I flipped to find the names of my other brothers and the information Hayden had told me about the DNA, there in print. I sighed, feeling safe knowing that these people were actually related to me.
Hayden Walton, 29, 100% related. Oliver Walton, 27, 100% related. Theodore Walton, 24, 100% related. Leonardo Walton, 21, 100% related. Elliot Walton, 19, 100% related.
I didn't know what to say or do. I had brothers that were more than 10 years older than me, which would have meant that, Hayden at least, was 14 when I was born, and he had lost everything. He would have only been just younger than me and had lost everything, his parents and siblings, only to be able to gain custody and actually get them back 4 years later.
I was little puzzled, as he had said he had started looking for us 6 years ago, which would have made him about 23 years old, and able to have custody of some of us. I was a little confused, but maybe something had happened. I could just ask him when he came.
When he came here?! That dawned on me that he was coming here. Looking away from the back sheet, I found Alistair's eyes trained on me, as I looked at him. He nodded at me, which allowed me to ask. "Did you know? Have you been in contact with them? When are they coming? How-" the questions just blurted out of my mouth, one after the other.
An arm slid around my shoulders, pulling me into a warm body, causing my shoulders to relax as I waited for a response from Alistair. "I didn't know until I had been contacted by Hayden, they should be here by tomorrow morning at the latest, and Hayden arranged all of this. He has been working as hard as he possibly can for the two of you"
Relief flooded my body, as I felt everything get heavy. "Can I go see Aiden? I need to tell him" concern filled my body at the look that Alistair showed. "You can wait for him to wake up" and with that, I pulled away from Angus, feeling a little guilty that I was leaving his comfort when he needed someone the most, but I had to tell Aiden. This was our family.
So, I jumped out of bed, giving Angus a little sad smile, but he just waved me off, and I was out of the room, and into the one next door, shocked a little by the sight in front of me. I wasn't expecting it to be so early. It was already happening and I hadn't even been given much time to be prepared. I bet Alistair knew everything and wanted to hurt me too.
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thoughts? xx