Descendants.

The past four days had passed in a blur. When I wasn’t getting to know my new family, which was proving to be fairly easy except for Nicola, I was off exploring the parts of England that I could get to without getting too terribly lost. I had mentioned to everyone at dinner that first night that while I was still in high school, I had studied cosmetology at the local beauty college. I knew that I wouldn’t want to do hair forever, but being a foster kid, I needed a skill that could help put me through college. Which is exactly what it did, and I was forever grateful for that.

So was Ruth.

Her eyes immediately lit up at the prospect that her new sister could turn that bottle blonde hair into any color she deemed acceptable. This week, she decided that a really light lavender would probably look killer at the end of her long mane. After getting the okay from her parents (I know she’s 24 years old, but these were my new parents and I wasn’t about to step on any toes just yet), we spent the next few hours picking out the perfect shade, mixing the color, and applying it to the exact spot she picked out. More than that, I felt like we were bonding. As sisters. She was a firecracker and I would always be thankful for her during that first week.

Nicola had pretty much stayed out of our way. Ruth said she was having a really hard time trying to figure out her new role in the family she had always known. Even though I wasn’t trying to take anyone’s place (and I told them as much), I knew that she was just going to need her own time. Hopefully she would eventually see that I just wanted to get to know where I came from.

It was Saturday, and all five of us were sitting on a train headed for London. Apparently my brother was finally back in town. I still had no other details on his life. I hadn’t asked and no one had offered them up. I knew from passing conversations that he did a lot of traveling and that he was the youngest of the family, at 21 years old. What a 21 year old did to take him out of the country for months at a time was beyond me.

Karen had mentioned that they hadn’t seen him in eight very long months. She talked to him every couple of days, but talking to her baby over the phone and being able to hold him in her arms were two very different things, she’d said.

The minute it left her mouth, she gave me an apologetic glance. I brushed it off, told her it was fine, but it had stung. I hadn’t had the really deep conversations with my parents yet. I wanted to know why they chose to leave me in the not-so-capable hands of the state of California, when just two and a half years later they had Nicola, and it had all gone downhill from there.

I gathered my slightly longer than shoulder length hair at the base of my neck, before tying it up into a bun. I still wasn’t used to this England weather and sometimes my hair boycotted. As we all departed the train, I looked around for someone that looked like me. They’d all commented the past few days on how, other than being smaller than him and having slightly darker hair, Liam and I looked so much alike. I wasn’t sure if I was excited or terrified to see a male version of myself staring back at me. I didn’t look much like Nicola or Ruth, and I knew that Nicola wasn’t fond of the fact that I looked so much like her brother.

“He won’t be here, B.” I smiled at the already familiar nickname. Had I mentioned how much I adored Ruth? She slung one of her pale arms over my shoulder and tugged me along behind her. “His mate only lives a few minutes from here, so he just sent a car. No need to get all the hysteria that comes along with the little Payne unless it’s necessary.”

I didn’t have the chance to ask before I was ushered into a waiting black Escalade. There was no way the tint on these windows would have been legal in the states. Everyone in the car was chatting, animated and overly excited. Even Nicola was cracking more smiles than I had seen out of her since we’d met.

“You okay, Blair?” I looked up to see that Geoff had turned around in the front seat, wearing a concerned expression on his face. He pushed the wire glasses he wore higher up on his nose and waited for my answer. I nodded, afraid I wouldn’t be able to get the right words out. When the car pulled up to a gated front entrance, I took note of the handful of teenage girls all standing on the sidewalk, screaming as we passed. Some of them looked as if they’d spent the past few hours bawling their eyes out. Nicola and Ruth both rolled their eyes at the scene, as if they knew it was coming and they’d seen it all before.

The house at the end of the private drive was stunning. The red and white square brick building looked like it held a lot of history. It was completely charming, just like everything else I had seen in England so far. Charming. I stepped out of the car first, stretching my arms as far above my head as possible. Between the train ride and the car ride, my muscles were stiff and I was glad to be able to move around a bit. We were all ushered inside, where it was clear that some sort of ‘welcome home’ party was underway. I knew that Liam’s friends would have family members at this shindig, but this was a full fledged, alcohol induced, raging party. The kind that your parents should stay clear of at all costs, because someone was probably going to end up dancing naked on a table by the end of the night.

But these parents didn’t seem fazed by any of it. They turned around to let us know that they were going to go track down Liam while I went in search of a bathroom. Nicola pointed me in a general direction with an “over there” before turning around and disappearing into the crowd. Ruth immediately found a group of her girlfriends and was swallowed up and carried away, chatting about all the things they had missed since they’d seen each other last. I pushed my way through the crowd, opening the first door I came to. Bedroom. Nope, not what I was looking for. Onto the next door, which turned out to be what looked like a man cave. Video game consoles and large TV’s on every wall. Definitely a fun room, no doubt, but not what I was looking for either. Opening the third door halted me in my search for the bathroom.

A library. Whoever owed this house had a damn library. The chairs that surrounded the fireplace were leather and big enough to curl my entire body into with plenty of room left to spare. I stepped inside, running my hands along the hardback book spines from one end of the wall to the other. When I had enrolled in college my first semester, I had no idea what I wanted to do. But after many sleepless nights and countless general education classes, I found my thing. The one thing that I could see myself doing for the rest of my life. Reading books. Editing books to be more specific.

“You look as in awe of this room as I usually do.”

In my hurry to put my hands on the hundreds of books lining the wall, I hadn’t realized that someone was sitting on the couch at the other end of the room. I hadn’t even seen the couch at the other end of the room, in all honesty. I must have jumped a foot and a half, sending the guy into a fit of low laughter. The tone of his laugh alone was captivating.

“I didn’t mean to disturb you. I’ve just never seen a room quite like this in someone’s house before.” I paused, looking up at him. “It’s beautiful.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you before.” He stood up, his lanky frame towering over more of me than I would have expected. I wasn’t terribly short, but this man made me feel like a munchkin. Or a child. His face was kind, although quite a bit younger than me if I’d had to guess. Maybe it was the curly man bun sitting on the top of his head that made him look younger. I couldn’t be sure.

“I’ve – uh, my brother is friends with the owner of the house. It’s my first time here.” I watch a flash of confusion pass over his face. He bit the corner of his lip, his eyebrows drawing together in thought.

“Your brother?” I hadn’t heard another American accent in days, so I imagined he was trying to piece together the puzzle in his head. I nodded.

“Liam Payne.” I watched his eyes widen in shock. He knew my brother, that much I could tell. I saw the recognition of resemblance pass through his eyes, as they got even rounder in disbelief.

“But you’re not from England.” I nodded my head in agreement.

“Grew up in California until I was 18. When I got out on my own I traveled around a bit. Ended up in Oklahoma, of all places.”

“Isn’t that where Hanson is from?”

“I’m surprised you even know who Hanson is.” I chuckled. Before I could discover what other random facts this guy had in his overly attractive head, the door to the library swung open. Karen and Geoff followed a young man into the space, not noticing that they were not alone. Much like I had done a few minutes earlier.

“What do you mean I have another sister?!” He yelled, obviously surprised. “I have two sisters, mum. I’ve always had two sisters. How the hell could you keep this from us?!”

“Actually, Li, we’ve met her.” Nicola piped up. Great, just who I didn’t want telling our brother about me. I hadn’t seen her and Ruth filter in behind our parents. “She’s here somewhere.” Nicola looked around, as if she knew I was hiding in here. And, I wasn’t hiding exactly. I just couldn’t make my feet move.

“What?” He spun around, his back to his family, anger flashing across his face. Across my face. They were right. We looked so much alike it was scary. There would be no denying that we were related, that much was a fact. His eyes were closed tight, like he was trying to process a bombshell that he hadn’t seen coming. I had no idea that they hadn’t told him about me. Nicola and Ruth knew about me before I’d arrived, I had just assumed Liam would too.

His eyes popped open, catching mine in his line of vision, hidden in the shadows, still with the library’s mystery man. His eyes were the same almost black color that mine turned to when I got angry. And if his worked the same way mine did, he was beyond angry. Ruth must have seen him catch me, bouncing out from behind her older siblings to stand directly in front of me.

“Hey, B. We’ve been looking all over for you.” She smiled warmly. “Our dear brother here is a bit of a hot head and we wanted to warn you before he went all hulk like and freaked out.”

“Piss off, Ruth.” Liam growled from behind her.

“Tisk, tisk little Payne.” She shook her finger at him, an adoring look taking up residence on her face. Grabbing my hand in hers, she pulled me out of the shadows and into the space directly next to her. I took a deep breath. This was going to go one of two ways, and I had no idea which one would be preferable.

“Liam, meet Blair. Your oldest sister.”

Notes

Chapter Title lyrics: "Surprises" by Billy Joel.