Descendants.

“You know some people say values are subjective.” I groaned and reached to find my cell phone that was currently blaring one Jonny Lang. “But they’re just speaking words that someone else has said.”

Found it. Hitting the ‘turn off alarm’ button, I sat up trying to find a way to will my eyes open. It couldn’t be noon already. I felt like I’d just closed my eyes ten minutes ago. A quick double check of the time on my phone confirmed that I had to get up and get in the shower now, or I would most definitely be late to the first meeting with my family.

Ellen had told me that two of my siblings would most likely be joining their parents and me for lunch this afternoon. I had wanted to protest that perhaps that was too many new people in an already tense environment, but I wasn’t sure how many demands I could realistically make. The only thing I knew about my birth parents were their names: Geoff and Karen Payne. I had no idea what they did for a living, or how many of their children were boys or girls. The agency wouldn’t release anything further. Being a person who likes to have all facts present and accounted for before making any decisions made the lack of details in this situation hard to swallow.

I jumped in the shower, standing under the hot water just long enough to get any travel stench off my skin and wetting my hair just enough to make it do what I wanted. After throwing on a pair of dark jeans and a cream colored sweater, I checked my reflection in the mirror hanging over the bathroom vanity. A little bit of concealer under my eyes and a sweep of powder and it would be as good as it was going to get.

The cab ride from the hotel to Banks Bistro was longer than I had anticipated. For some reason, traffic was a nightmare in this place. I would have expected fairly calm roads at 1:30pm on a Tuesday, but then again, I was about as far from my normal environment as possible. I realized that I had absolutely no idea what traffic was like on a day-to-day basis in Wolverhampton. I wasn’t sure I really knew anything about Wolverhampton, besides the fact that my long lost family was residing here. I would have to spend the next few days exploring.

Maybe it would give me a little insight into the people, too.

“Miss? We’re here.” The cab driver’s gruff voice brought me out of my own head as I looked out the window to see the bistro’s sign right outside. I thanked the driver, paying him a generous tip for noticing that answering a bunch of mindless chit-chat questions was not something I was interested in doing. Stepping out into the 10° weather had me pulling my peacoat closer to my body in an attempt to stay warm. The temperature in Oklahoma may have gotten down into the teens in the winter, but this was an entirely new type of cold. Bone chilling, frost bite cold. I would be shopping for a new winter wardrobe with a quickness.

Stepping into the warm restaurant, I was immediately greeted by a teenage hostess, who looked like she would rather be anywhere else.

“Welcome to Banks.” She mumbled. “How many?”

“Um, I’m actually meeting some people here.” I glanced around, hoping that I would see someone who looked like me.

“Last name?” She popped her gum in annoyance. I fought back the urge to roll my eyes.

“Payne.”

For a reason unknown to me, that caught her attention. She narrowed her eyes at me, chewing the inside of her lip as she was obviously contemplating something.

“What’s your name?” She replied.

“Blair.” I said quietly. “Blair Addison.”

She turned away from me, grabbing the small microphone attached to the front of her semi-see through black shirt. Either this place had a funny definition of the words ‘dress code’, or this girl was hoping to see someone who would firmly appreciate her lack of subtlety. I was betting on the latter.

“Mr. Paul, I have a Blair Addison here asking to be taken to the table for the Payne family. Am I to assume she’s a fan, and have her removed?” I didn’t think I was supposed to be able to hear what she was saying, but the girl obviously lacked any sort of subtle behavior at all. I was pretty sure that the entire restaurant could hear her. And I had no idea what she was babbling on about anyway.

I should have taken it as a sign and bolted when I had an excuse. But hindsight is 20/20. The hostess turned around, a look of surprise flashing across her face, and gestured for me to follow her. We weaved around several inquisitive glances, towards the back of the charming restaurant. If every building in this town was as cute as the hotel and the bistro, I was sure I had found a place that would be hard to want to leave.

As we crossed through a doorway and into a small private room, the four people seated around the only table stood. If I thought I was anxious earlier, it was nothing compared to this. I shot the hostess a small smile as she turned to leave, but was met with the same sour look that she’d worn earlier. Oh well. Can’t win them all I suppose.

“Blair…” The oldest woman at the table, obviously Karen Payne herself, spoke quietly as if she was going to burst into tears at any moment. I knew the feeling. Her dirty blonde hair was drastically different from my pitch black locks. In fact, all three of the women at the table were blonde, although I was certain at least one of them wasn’t naturally that color. Sisters. I guess I had at least two sisters.

“Mrs. Payne,” I held out my hand for her to shake, but she grabbed it and pulled me into the tightest hug, tears sliding down her worn face.

“Karen, let the poor girl go. We’ve only just met her. Not everyone is as touchy as you are, my dear.” I couldn’t see the man whose voice was speaking, but I could hear the laughter in it. The woman loosened her grip, a sheepish smile crossing her lips. I mustered up what felt like a smile before turning to the direction the man’s voice had come from.

His mouth opened as if he wanted to say something, but nothing came out. We just stood there staring at each other, before one of the girls spoke up.

“You look so much like Liam.” Her voice was soft, laced with something that sounded a lot like hurt. Or disbelief. I wasn’t sure which. “I’m Nicola. I guess I’m your younger sister.” She looked older than the other girl. I was guessing by the tone of her voice that she was the oldest of the three Payne children. So this was probably harder on her than the other two. Growing up thinking that you held the first born child card all sewn up, only to find out that wasn’t the case at all.

“Liam?”

“Our brother. Your brother.” I looked around, not sure if the brother in question would be gracing us with his presence. The younger girl chuckled.

“He’s not here, love. He’s out of the country for a few more days. You’ll have time to get used to the four of us before we spring him on you. He’s a bit of a handful as it is anyway. I’m Ruth, your youngest sister.” She grinned, gaining a real smile from me for the first time all day. I wasn’t sure what to think about Nicola just yet, but this girl I liked immediately.

Notes

Chapter Title lyrics: "Family" by Ed Sheeran
Alarm Lyrics: "Dying to Live" by Jonny Lang