When I woke up, I had an odd feeling today was going to be very strange. I wasn't sure why.
I was reading Les Miserables and eating a blueberry muffin when Nathaniel, Nicolaus, Edmond, and Seth came noisily into the room.
"Hey, boys," I said without looking up from my book.
Olivia yawned, and said, "I thought you guys wouldn't be around till the afternoon."
Seth shrugged. "Well, that was the plan..."
Nathaniel looked very annoyed at something. "Has anyone come 'round the house, looking for me and Thomas?" he asked me sitting across the table from me, and stealing a bite off my muffin.
"No," I said, surprised. I took my muffin back. "Why? Were you expecting someone?"
"Not in the way you mean it. I got a piece of very unwelcome news, from James," his frown deepened as he said this.
"Oh! You got a call from James?" Olivia asked, surprised. She truly never payed attention.
"Liv," I chastised. "Please pay attention."
"Sorry, Art," she said, yawning again.
"Hey, where is Thomas, anyway?" Edmond asked.
"I think he's still asleep," I said.
"Sure sounds like him," muttered Nicolaus, as Nathaniel shook his head, in a very annoyed fashion.
Just then, Thomas came into the kitchen, yawning. His shirt was on backwards.
"Thomas," Nathaniel said.
"Oh, hey, Nat," said Thomas, taking a muffin. "I thought you wouldn't be back till around one."
"Do not call me Nat," Nathaniel practically growled. "And your shirt's on backwards." Olivia giggled.
"Whoops," Thomas muttered, turning slightly red.
Once that was all straightened out, Thomas asked again, "Okay, kid. Why are you back so early?"
"First of all," Nathaniel started. "It is NOT early. It's 9:30."
"On a weekend," muttered Thomas. Nathaniel ignored him.
"Any way," Nathaniel continued, speaking to me, because I was the one he wanted to talk to any way. "Last night James called me. With some not great news. It turns out my mother had a brother. And he lives here, in California. Practically in this town." I gave him a quizzical look. I didn't see what was so bad about that. But he wasn't done with the story, yet.
"He has decided that he has some weird claim on Thomas and me, because we're minors, and for some reason our sister isn't qualified to take care of us. Although, I do agree with him on the fact that our father certainly isn't." He rolled his eyes. "So, now we've got some cousins, who we've never met, and didn't know existed till, pretty much, last night, and a wacko uncle."
Just then the doorbell rang. We all froze.
"Well, someone's got to answer the door," I eventually said, in a small voice. No one moved.
After a moment, I took a deep breath and walked out of the kitchen, towards the door. Olivia, Nicolaus, and Nathaniel, followed. The rest stayed frozen.
I opened the door to a man with curly red hair, like Charollette's. Although, unlike her, his eyes were brown. And yet, I could see the resemblance between him and the Legards.
"Um... hello," I said hesitantly.
He smiled. "Hello," he said. "My name is William Whittemore. I see you know Nathaniel," the man said, nodding in Nathaniel's direction. "I am his uncle."
"Oh," I said, slightly surprised. Even though Nathaniel had said, that James had told him about the uncle they had, I was still quite surprised, even though I had expected it. James wasn't the one to give you faulty information.
"And why exactly are you here?" Olivia asked, clearly, to me, any way, trying to get the facts straight from him.
William Whittemore smiled at her, then. "I am here to claim my nephews, of course."
And that's where the chapter will end. I might add the next chapter, or something in a few days. Because I'll have nothing better to do.
