Welcome to the Family

March 2011

The flight was long. My seat was uncomfortable. A fat man was next to me. He smelled bad. I couldn’t sleep. I was scared. I was nervous. I was sick of the god damn plane.

Finally after what felt like six months we were landed. I headed towards baggage claim since that’s where my father was supposed to meet me. I knew what he looked like, but I wasn’t sure if he knew what I looked like, but I guess he could figure it out easily since I looked just like my mother, if he remembered what she looked like.

“Gemma?” A soft voice came from behind me.

I turned around slowly. He couldn’t have spotted me that fucking fast. I hadn’t even gotten my bag yet. “Brian? Er…Dad.”

He nodded. “You don’t have to call me Dad if you don’t want to yet.”

It got quite awkward after that. I didn’t really know what to say or do. I wasn’t going to jump into his arms and become ‘Daddy’s little girl’ as soon as I met him, so we just kind of stared at each other.

“You look just like your mother.” He said with a small smile.

‘Oh, so he did remember her.’ I said to myself.

“How many bags did you bring?” He asked as we waited for my luggage.

“Four.”

“That’s it? I thought you would have a ton of stuff.”

I laughed. “It is a ton of stuff. Just wait. They each weigh about a ton.”

“You’re just like your mother.” He said with a smile.

I bit down on my lip. I wanted to ask him so many questions, but didn’t know if he would answer me.

“I know you want to tell me something.” He said.

“How do you know that?”

“You’re biting your lip. Your mother used to do that when she was thinking about something.”

“Do your other kids know about me?”

Brian nodded. “Yes. So does my wife. My daughter McKenna is excited about meeting you.”

“What about your sons?”

Brian sighed. “Well they’re not exactly happy I had an affair with your mother, but I don’t see how they can hold that against you.”

“You were married when my mom had me?”

Brian nodded. “I was. We’ll talk about it in the car, okay? If you want to that is.”

“I don’t think I want to know yet.”

“And that’s perfectly fine. I’ll be ready to tell you when you’re ready to hear it.”

“Okay.”

The drive to Brian’s house wasn’t very long. We made small talk the whole way there. He mostly asked me questions, which I didn’t mind. When we pulled up to his I got nervous. I was going to meet his family, which scared me to death. What if they didn’t like me? What if they didn’t want me living with them?

“We’ll send Brian and Brent out to get your stuff in a bit.”

“Okay.” I mumbled quietly.

“Don’t be nervous. They won’t bite.”

“Will they like me?” I asked hesitantly.

Brian nodded. “Yes. They will. You’re my daughter. They’ll like you.”

When we walked into the house my brothers were there, and of course his wife Suzy. She smiled as soon as she saw me and pulled me into a suffocating hug.

“Oh my goodness, it’s so nice to finally meet you.” She said while still hugging me.

“Hun, give the poor girl some room to breathe.” Brian said with a chuckle.

She pulled away but kept her hands on my shoulders. “You’re just gorgeous too. The boys will have their hands full looking out for you.”

“Speaking of the boys, let’s go say hi.” Brian led me into the living room where my brothers were sitting.

“Gemma, this is Brian and Brent, my sons. McKenna will be home from school soon. She’s excited to meet you.”

“Hey, we are too.” Brian Jr. said with a smile. “It’s good to finally meet you.”

“You too.”

“I don’t know if you’re a hugger, but I am, so you’ll have to learn to deal with it.” He said jokingly as he pulled me into a hug.

Brent stood up from the couch and hugged me as well. “Hopefully you’ll get used to this asshole’s personality soon.” He gestured to our brother. If he gets on your nerves just smack him around a bit.”

Bri punched him in the arm. “Shut up.”

“Alright children. Knock it off. Go get Gemma’s bags out of the car.”

After they left the room Brian looked at me with a smile. “Feel better now?”

I nodded quickly. “Yeah.”

“Okay, well one of the boys will show you up to your room when they come back in. I’m going to go get your sister from school. You going to be okay?”

“Yeah. I don’t think they’ll try to kill me or anything.”

My Dad laughed. “If they try just yell for Suzy.”

“Alright kid follow me.” Bri said as he walked up the steps with two of my bags. “God you have a lot of shit.”

“It’s hard to pack everything you own in just four bags.”

“I guess you’re right. Well this is your room. I’m sure Dad will let you do whatever you want with it. It’s pretty boring.”

“Maybe I’ll paint it or something.” I said quietly.

“We are really happy to have you here Gemma. I know it’s not the best circumstances but we’re happy to finally meet you.”

“How much did your dad tell you about me?”

Brian shrugged. “Not too much. But you’re our sister and we wanted to know you. We were hoping that when you got older you would ask about us or even Dad…”

“I didn’t know about you. My mom never told me my Dad had other kids. She never even told me his fucking name.” I could feel the tears burning but didn’t want to cry in front of Brian.

He wrapped his arms around me and rested his chin on top of my head. “It’s okay to cry. I’m sure you miss your mom.”

“I’m not even crying about her. I mean, I’m sad that she’s gone, but I’m crying because I could of known you and Brent and McKenna and our Dad a long time ago. I didn’t even know his name. A case worker at child services was the first person to tell me his name and show me his picture.”

“I’m sorry Gemma. I’m sure your mom had her reasons.”

I shrugged. “ I guess so. Sorry for falling apart on you.”

“It’s what big brothers are for, right?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never had a big brother.” I said with a small laugh.

“Well now you have two of them.”

“I think I can deal with that.”

“Good. Well Kenna will be here soon, so I’m sure she’ll invade your room as soon as she gets home. If you need anything just yell.”

I nodded before Brian left the room. I let out a shaky breath as I started unpacking. I got a majority of my clothes unpacked before a small girl burst into my room.

“You’re really here!” She grabbed me for a hug.

“Hi McKenna.”

“I’m so happy you’re here. I’m so glad that everyone gets to finally see that I do have a big sister.”

“Me too.” I laughed.

“Come on my Mom cooked dinner.”

During dinner conversation came easy with everyone. No one made me uncomfortable or feel unwanted. And It was great.

After everyone ate Brian and Brent both left. Before they left they both hugged me tightly.

“Welcome to the family kid.” Bri said quietly while he hugged me.

I smiled at that word family. I had a family.