Moving On

It was now a day before New Year's Eve. I was in the kitchen helping Marilyn cook dinner, when I heard the doorbell ring. I told Marilyn that I would get it as she had given Ms. Nordia and Linda the holidays off.

I opened the door to see a woman standing on the other side. She looked me over, a kind smile on her face. "Hello, are you Kayla?"

I nodded my head and looked at her curiously. "Yes."

The woman's smile light up and her brown eyes sparkled. I couldn't shake the idea that I knew her somehow. There was something about her black hair that was caught up into a bun at the back of her head and in the way she smiled. "Oh my! Look at you!" She exclaimed. "You have grown into a beautiful young lady."

"Who are you?" I asked.

"I'm Eloise Green-Russell. I'm Tristan's older sister." She explains.

I looked at her in shock. She was my father's sister? I couldn't believe it. All this time I thought I didn't have any relatives nearby or one that even cared about me.

"You're my aunt?" I asked, still unable to grasp what she had said.

She nodded. A frown wrinkled my eyebrows as I studied her. There was no doubt about it, she did have a slight look of my father. Now that I thought about it, I remembered my mom and dad talking about Dad's older sister now and then, but I didn't remember her name. Why haven't I seen her or heard from her before? Before I could voice my questions, she spoke again. "Can I come in?"

"Yes, sure." I said and opened the door wider for her to enter. When she entered the living room, Marilyn came from the kitchen to see who it was. Her eyes landed on the woman and then to me. "Who is this, dear?" She asked.

"She said she's my aunt." I responded. "She's Eloise."

"Oh, that's great." She then look to the woman again. "Do you want something to drink?"

Eloise nodded her head. "Yes, thank you."

Marilyn gave her best welcome smile. "Okay, I'll be right back with it. Please have a seat. You two have a lot to talk about." With that she left us and head to the kitchen again.

I directed Eloise to the couch and I sat beside her. She looked at me. "I know you have a lot of questions." She began.

"Yes. How is it that we have never met?" I asked.

"We have net actually, but you wouldn't remember. I came and visit you and your patents a lot. Sometimes your father would bring you by my house. The last time I saw you, you were three years old." She then smiled. "Oh, how he would talk about you a lot. His little angel."

I smiled as I remembered my father. That was exactly who he was. He was always calling me his little angel. Dad was the nicest and kindest man I've ever known. He had a great personality and he was fun. I looked up to him as my hero then and even though he was dead, he was still my hero.

I was brought back from my memories, when Eloise continued. "Anyway, I got married and left the state. I wanted to stay in contact, but a few years later, I was going through some things and I neglected to call. I know that's not an excuse, but I wasn't thinking at the time."

I nodded my head in understanding. I don't know what her reasons were, so who am I to judge her? I remained silent and waited for her to continue.

"Two years ago, I got divorced and moved back here with my daughter and son. When I got here, I came to visit you and your mom. Your stepfather answered the door and said that Lydia had died and that you were at school. I was shocked, because I didn't know about Lydia's passing." She gave me a sad look. "I'm really sorry. That must have been hard for you."

"It was, thanks." I replied. Just then Marilyn entered the living room with two glasses of lemonade and a plate of cookies. Eloise and I thanked her and she went back to the kitchen to finish preparing dinner.

"I wrote to you after that, but I didn't get any response. I wrote a letter almost every month." Eloise said after a while.

I looked at her with a frown. "You wrote to me? I didn't get any letters." I said confused with this new information.

She nodded. "I did. I wanted to be a part of your life. You're my only niece after all. I didn't want us to become estranged."

I look down at my hands in my lap as a thought hit me. Allan must have collected those letters and destroyed them. He didn't want me to get in touch with any family member. I felt rage build up in me at what he did. He was a monster in more ways than one. In my opinion, he should rot in prison. A month and a half ago, after the trial, Allan was found guilty and the judge had given him fifteen years in prison.

I looked back at Eloise who was looking at me intently. "My stepfather must have destroyed them. I'm sorry."

She reached for my hands and gave it a light squeeze. "I've heard about what happened. I couldn't imagine everything you've been through. I wish I was here then. I'm truly sorry. When I heard, I decided to find you and I found out that you were staying here."

"I'm really glad that you came. I thought that I didn't have any known relatives or at least one who cares about me. I'm really glad that I have an aunt." I said truthfully. Once again, her face lit up with her smile.

"Is it okay if I hug you? I wanted to at the door, but I didn't want to scare you or rush things." She stated.

I nodded, chuckling a little. "Sure."

I moved closer to her and wrap my arms around her in a hug. She tightened her arms around me, squeezing me in an affectionate hug. "I'm so glad to finally see you again. You are just like your father; kindhearted and caring."

I was still hugging my aunt, when I heard the door open. I pulled back to see Carson closing the door and giving us a confused expression. Eloise look around at Carson as well.

I stood up and walked towards Carson. I took his hand and led him to the couch where Eloise sat. "This is my boyfriend, Carson. Carson, this is Eloise Green-Russell. She's my aunt."

Eloise smiled and extended her hand to Carson. "It's so nice to meet you." Carson took her hand and smile politely. He then looked at me lifting a questioning brow. I gave him a look that said 'I'll explain later' and he nodded.

Carson look back to her. "It's nice to meet you too."

Eloise stayed for the rest of the evening and even had dinner with us. She was a wonderful women, I must admit. She reminded me of how Dad was. Fun, jovial and got along well with everyone at the dinner table.

After dinner Eloise, Carson and I went to the sitting room. She said that she had something important to tell me. She didn't get the chance to tell me earlier, because dinner was ready.

When we sat down, Eloise began. "You weren't supposed to know this until you turned eighteen, but I think you deserve to know now." She cleared her throat and look intently at me. "When you were born, your father opened a trust fund for you."

I looked at her wide eyed. "Really?" She nodded. I didn't know Dad had a trust fund for me.

"He has just over a million dollars in there and he was going to give it to you when you turn eighteen." Eloise said and then smiled. "To be honest, I didn't know until a few months after your mother's death. I got a call one day from your dad's lawyer informing me about it. Apparently, he had wrote my name down as one of his trustees. Your mother was the other trustee and because she died, they decided to contact me."

"Wow," was all I could breathe out.

"Anyway, I want to ask you something." Eloise said. She had a hopeful look on her face. "I was thinking that you could come and stay with me. I would love to have you there and the children would be delighted to have their cousin around. Stephanie is sixteen and Harry is fourteen."

I was surprised at the offer. She really wanted me to come live with her? To be honest, I wouldn't mind staying with her. She was my family after all and I don't think it is right to stay with the Knights for much longer anyway. I felt guilty barging into their lives. Even though they said that it was okay, I still felt guilty and an added responsibility.

"You can think about it if you want. You can come and visit us to see what we're like." She added, awaiting my response.

I didn't have to think about it. I've already made up my mind. I like her and I wouldn't mind living with her. She was really generous to make that offer and I was grateful. I looked in Carson's direction and he smiled and nodded in agreement. He knew that I wanted to and he didn't mind.

I look back at Aunt Eloise. "I would love to. Thank you for the opportunity." I said.

Eloise smiled wide. "You're most welcome, dear!" She exclaimed.

Yes, I didn't mind at all. I was going to live with my aunt. My stepfather is in prison. I have money to attend college next year and I had a family I could call my own once again. Life was getting back to normal.

I couldn't be any happier.