Song of the chapter: What Do You Mean? By Justin Bieber
Emily's POV
"You're not going to believe this," Jesse said as he brushed past me when I opened the front door.
"Dude, aren't you freezing?" I asked as I followed him into the dining room. He was in jeans and a green t-shirt, his jet black hair messed up.
"Not anymore, nope. I'm feeling quite hot, actually." His green eyes were bright and blazing.
"What are you-?" I shook my head. "Nevermind. What did you find?"
"Well, I know how annoyed you were that you couldn't find anything except for that picture that fell out of your dad's wallet at Quinn's Halloween party, so I did some snooping around at my own dad's house. And I found this."
He handed me a picture of a wedding party. "What does a wedding have to do with why my mom acts so strange around you?" I asked, confused.
"Look harder."
I glanced at the picture for a moment. "I still don't get it."
"Okay, well, flip it over and read the back."
I did as he asked and saw the caption Daryl and Penny Wedding, May 6, 1988.
"My mom's been married twice? But who the hell is Daryl?" I asked.
"Wow, you're slow. That's my dad."
My eyes widened. "But- but that can't be my mom! This lady is blonde in the photo."
"Tons of people that had blonde hair when they were younger have dark hair now. And there's this thing called hair dye," Jesse said.
"Then that means-"
"You're my half sister."
I sat down hard at the table. "But we look nothing alike."
He shrugged. "That doesn't matter." He sat down across from me and took the picture, looking at it again. "I was born in 1990; two years after this wedding took place."
"I was born in 1991," I said slowly.
"Exactly. After I was born, they must have divorced and then your mom met your dad. A year later, you were born."
"You don't just meet somebody, marry them, and then have a baby...all in one year!" I exclaimed.
"I don't know, Emily, but I do know that this is your mom and this is my dad, in this photo." He stopped. "Well, I guess technically my mom, too."
I ran my hands through my hair. "This is all too much to take in at once. I'm calling my mom. She has some major explaining to do."
I grabbed the phone and dialed my mom's number, asking her to come over right away, saying it was urgent. She said she would be right over, and five minutes later, she pulled into the driveway.
"Lucy, it's time for you to go in your jumper," I said, setting her in. "Sit and jump like a good girl."
"Emily!" My mom's worried voice came from the doorway. "What's the urgency? What's-" She stopped when she saw Jesse and I standing together. "What's going on?"
I held up the picture. "I could ask you the same question, mom."
Her eyes widened before she sighed and put a hand over her face. "I was afraid this day was going to happen."
"Well, duh!" I shrieked. "What the hell is going on?"
"Honey, you might want to sit down," she said, pulling out a chair. She looked at Jesse warily. "Both of you."
"I think I'll stand," I glared, but Jesse sat down. I slapped the picture down on the table in front of my mom. "Is Jesse, or is Jesse not, my brother?" She was quiet for a moment. "Mom!"
"Yes, he's your brother," she said quietly. I heard Jesse's sharp intake of breath.
"Why didn't you tell me? Tell us?" I added, gesturing to Jesse. "All this time, I've had a brother, and I didn't even know about it?"
"Emily, it's really complicated."
"No, it's really not."
My mom took a deep breath. "I married Daryl, Jesse's dad, back in the day. We were high school sweethearts. A little over a year later, I found out I was pregnant."
"With me," Jesse said.
My mom nodded sullenly. "At the time, I had been having an affair-"
"With dad," I said, realizing now why their relationship had been so quick.
"You were cheating on my dad?" Jesse exclaimed to my mom. Well, our mom. God, this was so confusing.
"I was going to tell him, but I just couldn't!" My mom said. "Not when I was pregnant. He was so happy about it; I couldn't leave Daryl."
"But you ended up divorcing him shortly after you had me so you could officially be with Emily's dad," Jesse said. "And then you had Emily a year later."
My mom nodded. Her hands were shaking. "When I divorced your dad, Jesse, there was a full on custody battle. Your father ended up getting full custody of you because he managed to show that I was unfit to be a mother, bringing up the affair and such. I figured that if I wasn't apart of your life, it would take the pain away. From me and from you."
"Take the pain away?" Jesse said, his voice choked with emotion. "I grew up without a mother! My dad told me my mother was dead!"
"Well, to him, I may as well have been," my mom whispered. "I didn't think I would ever see you again. Until I found out that you and Emily had met in the park that day."
"What about that picture in Dad's wallet?" I asked. "Why does he have it? It's not like he knew Jesse."
"He was keeping it in his wallet so that you wouldn't risk seeing it in mine," my mom said. She turned to Jesse. "I've always kept a photo of you, your dad, and me. All these years I've had it."
"And you didn't even bother to come see me," he glared. "Especially when you knew I was hanging out with Emily these past few months. You knew I was your son, so why didn't you say anything?"
"It was too hard," my mom said, her eyes brimming with tears. "I couldn't bring myself to become a part of your life after all those years of not seeing you. That, and your dad didn't want you near me. I did recognize you the first time I saw you, though. I knew right away."
"The little boy in the photo is blonde, though," I said before remembering Jesse's words. Tons of people that had blonde hair when they were younger have dark hair now. Oh my god. "And Dad told me the people in that picture were my aunt and uncle and cousin when they were really..."
"Me, Daryl, and Jesse," my mom finished.
"Well, this is just perfect," I said sarcastically. "Turns out I have a big brother. It only took me twenty one years to realize it."
"Emily-"
"Mom, can you just go please?"
She stood up. "You both have every right to be mad at me. I'm so sorry." She hurried out into the hallway and I heard the door slam a second later.
Jesse and I were quiet for a minute before I spoke quietly. "Jesse-"
He held up a hand. "Emily, don't. I just-" He shook his head. "I'm having a little trouble wrapping my head around the fact that you're my sister."
"Half," I corrected.
He glared at me. "Same thing. And I thought you were hot!"
I covered my ears. "Ew! That's a weird form of incest!"
"Well, I don't anymore, just the first time I saw you," he said. "But now..." He shuddered. "God, that's gross."
"Wow, we really are siblings," I said. I went over to him and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay? I mean, with all of this?"
"With you being my sister, of course. Although it's going to take a while to get used to it. With your mom lying to me all this time, no." He swore. "Our mom."
"I'm really sorry, Jesse," I said sympathetically. "That you had to find out this way."
He shrugged. "It was bound to happen eventually. It's not like she could have hid it for much longer; we were both onto her."
"I think you should stay clear of my mom for a while," I told him. "Both of us should, actually."
He nodded. "I just need some time to let this sink in. Um, I better go," he said, standing up.
"Just call me if you need anything," I said.
"I will," he promised before reaching out to pull me into a hug. "Come here."
I wrapped my arms around him. "It'll be okay."
"Yeah, eventually." He rubbed my back then my head. "We'll deal with this together."
"Deal," I said as I pulled away. "I'll see you later."
"Sounds good. Bye Lucy," Jesse said as he stroked her head. "Turns out you really are my niece."
I smiled and with one last wave, he went out into the hallway, the door closing a few seconds later.
I turned to my daughter and looked down at her. She was staring up at me from her jumper, with a questioning look on her face. "Well, Lucy, that was officially the weirdest and most awkward family meeting ever."