“I don’t know about his age now, but I think they said he was twelve when the accident happened. His name is Ceren. Do you really think you might be able to find him? I’d love to meet him someday. I’ve always wanted a big brother!”
Amanda’s eyes grew large, and her excitement showed as she turned her gaze to Riccan. “I knew Ceren! He worked for Captain Ahn at the docks!”
“Knew him? Did he die?” Sofia asked, suddenly alarmed.
“No, sorry, that was a bad choice of words. You see, I’ve never met him in real life, only in a dream. I know it doesn’t make sense to you, but it does point us in the right direction to asking Barla about Ceren. You see, Barla and Ahn took Ceren in and raised him after your parents went missing. I don’t know how common your brother’s name is, but it seems rather coincidental that your parents worked for Ahn and then the boy with the same name came to live with them after his parents were presumed dead.”
“Let me send a message to Ahn and see what he has to say,” Riccan stated, promptly standing to cross the room. It only took him a minute to tap out the message on the keyboard and hit send. With a pleased expression on his face, he resumed his seat and declared, “Hopefully, we’ll have our answer shortly.” Riccan looked up at his dad and asked, “Is that everything? We should probably be getting back to the festivities outside.”
Shaking his head at how rapidly the conversation had spiraled away from his revelation, he answered, “Not exactly, Riccan. There’s one more important detail.”
“What’s that?” Amanda asked.
“Yoshida was pregnant when she left Elder Vargen’s custody. Copa tagged the fetus’s life-line so she could check up on her after she was born. Only, Yoshida had moved without leaving any clues about where she had gone. I personally looked into the matter and discovered exactly what Sofia had already told us about her family’s life once they got to the Port of Cresdon. I didn’t know what had happened after the accident until just now, however.”
Sofia’s brain began whirling with ideas that were not settling well. Suddenly it all clicked together as she realized what Elder Daven had been trying to say all along. She blurted out, “The man who raised me isn’t my father, is he? Is that what you’ve been trying to say all this time? My mother got pregnant by Elder Vargen and he was my father?”
Daven shook his head and corrected her by saying, “Not exactly. While Vargen did impregnate two women himself, your mother wasn’t one of them. No, your real father is actually someone who is loved and respected by everyone.” He pointed to his son and announced, “Riccan is your father.”
“What?” Riccan and Amanda exclaimed in unison.
Sofia looked over at Jena and Juila’s father like he had turned into a monster. “How could you have done that to my mother? I always thought so much of you, but for you to take advantage of her, to rape her?” Sofia jumped up from the bench, not wanting any part of her near the vile man.
Daven put his hand on her shoulder and corrected, “Sofia, Riccan was a victim in this as well. He never even met your mother. Vargen admitted to having Riccan drugged while he was on Earth and them impregnating two women with his sperm. Amanda and Yoshida were the recipients of that experiment.”
Sofia’s anger began to ebb as she realized how horrible her accusations had been. “I’m sorry, Riccan. Please forgive me for assuming the worst.” She shook her head as she turned around, her arms crossing over her middle as she tried to sort through all of the confusing thoughts racing through her mind. Her whole life had been a lie, her father…not her father…Finnian had known all along that she was not his, yet he never let on any different. Even when he could have told her everything and come clean, he had protected himself from speaking the truth. She felt betrayed all over again.
“Dad, are you absolutely certain of this? I mean, I’d be thrilled if it were true, but I don’t want to get in the way of Sofia’s relationship with the father who’s raised her since birth if there’s even a possibility of it not being right.”
Daven shrugged his shoulders and answered, “I checked her life-line, and it had the exact tag on it that Copa showed me she had given the child. Beyond that, I don’t know how to prove it any more definitively.”
Amanda touched Riccan’s arm and offered, “You could get a DNA test on Earth. That would be as definitive as you could possibly get, don’t you think?”
Riccan nodded, shifting his gaze from his wife over to Sofia. He asked, “Would you be willing to do a DNA test, or would you rather not know? I’ll leave it up to you.”
Sofia had no idea what she wanted at that moment. Her mind had gone numb with the shock and she simply could not process anything more. She shook her head to help clear it out and began to answer when a chime sounded from the far end of the room.
Riccan jumped up from the bench and raced over to check the incoming message on the patil. “It’s from Ahn!” He tapped the screen and skimmed through the text. “Ahn and Ceren are coming here right now. They should be at the beach in about five minutes. What do you say, Sofia, are you ready to meet your brother?”
Chapter Thirty
“MY BROTHER?” SOFIA could hardly believe how fast things had shifted in her life. First, she was an ordinary only child from Earth with parents who were immigrants, then she had received a blessing from Jehoban, then she discovered her family story was all bogus, making her an alien and her father not her father, and now she could meet the brother she never knew she had. “I need Jon,” she cried out and raced from the cabin, leaving the door open in her wake.
“I think we overwhelmed her a bit with all of our excitement,” Daven spoke the obvious to the other occupants in the room.
“You think?” Amanda scolded. “Really, we could have been a little more sympathetic to her. Maybe only shared one revelation at a time. The poor girl, she’s had so much change happen to her. Maybe meeting her brother will be the best thing for her. I’m just glad she has Jon to lean on during all of this. Oh, no!”
“What?” Riccan asked immediately.
“If Sofia’s your daughter and Jon’s my sister’s son, then they can’t be seeing one another! It’s like Behn and Juila all over again! This’s going to kill them both!”
Riccan began shaking his head and said, “No, it’s nothing like that. Jon and Sofia don’t share any common ancestors. I’m not related to Vinia except by marriage, and Yoshida isn’t related to either of you. No, it’s just a little strange if you’re looking at it from the outside, but there’re no relatives in that particular pairing.”
Amanda followed Riccan’s logic, obviously relieved that her initial thought had been incorrect. The last thing she wanted to see was another budding love torn apart by circumstances out of their control. She still felt terrible for what Behn and Juila faced, but she was glad the two at least appeared to be trying to be friends again, even though it seemed as if the kids were still not telling them everything about the day they had convinced Behn to come home. The excuse about Fraya being pregnant did not seem enough to bring Behn home after all he had said and done about needing to stay away.
Riccan tapped a quick reply on the patil, saying they would be waiting for them and then offered his arm to Amanda to escort her to the beach. Daven followed behind them a little slower, thinking about how he could facilitate a better solution between Sofia and Riccan without submitting a DNA sample of both on Earth. The idea of their records being available for anyone to get their hands on did not sit well with him.
Riccan figured Sofia would come to the beach when she was ready, so he did not bother waiting for the kids to join them. Wanting to have a little time alone with Amanda, he pulled her along the path a little quicker to ensure their privacy. Once they were well away from the crowds, he asked in a hushed voice, “Are you okay with me being Sofia’s father?”
“What? Of course. Why wouldn’t I be? Like you said, you don’t know Yoshida, but that doesn’t change the DNA of your relationship. If she’s your daught
er, then I think you should get to know her better. I can just imagine how happy your mother will be to learn she has a third granddaughter to dote on!” Amanda turned to face the trail, with the smile still on her face as her mind played out the scene with Sofia and Nena.
“You’re definitely right about that. What about Yoshida and Finnian? What do you think they’ll have to say about it, though? I mean, it’s not like any of us asked for this. Don’t you think it’d be a bit presumptuous of me to come in sixteen anons later and say ‘that’s my daughter, hand her over’?”
Amanda chuckled without humor. “I don’t exactly see you being like that. But think about this as it really is. Riccan, you are the successor to an Elder, you have a position in Tuala that most people will never achieve. If Sofia is your daughter, then she’s eligible to be in line as your successor.”
“No, that definitely is Jena’s place. I won’t take that away from her!”
“I didn’t say you would. I’m just pointing out that if anything happened to Jena, then Sofia could also be in line as your successor.”
“What about Juila? Do you just want to overlook her?”
“No, she’s already made it abundantly clear she doesn’t want that to be her future. Why saddle her with something she doesn’t want.”
“I think we’re getting ahead of ourselves. First, we need to verify Dad’s claim of Sofia’s paternity, then, and only then, will we need to see if Sofia has any aptitude for crystal skills. She couldn’t even be considered if she couldn’t make water boil!”
“Ha! As if water boiling had anything to do with leading a District!” She held up her hand to stay his argument. “I get what you’re saying, and I agree with you. I just wanted you to consider what you offer to Sofia’s life above what she already knows. You might just be the blessing she needs, as you’ve been for me, Juila, and Jena.” Amanda pulled Riccan closer to her with her arm wrapped around his waist.
“I love you, too,” he answered her unspoken words, leaning over to kiss her temple. His mind raced through the possibilities Amanda had brought up. He had to admit, the idea of having another child was rather thrilling, and he looked forward to discovering the whole truth of the matter. If Sofia were his daughter, then he really wanted to test her crystal skills to see how they matched up with Jena and Juila.
They had just reached the end of the trail, coming over the last rise until they had a clear view of the horizon of blue waters. Turning to the left, they began walking along the edge, where the grasses met the sand, making the footing a little more stable. Only a few steps along, they caught a glimpse of the telepod appearing above the sand near the other telepods already landed.
“There they are,” Amanda stated happily. “Where’s Sofia? She should be here.” She looked back and saw the girl accompanied by Jon, his siblings, and her own two daughters. “It appears all of the teenagers wanted to come to witness the reunion.” She turned back, shading her eyes against the brightness of the sun, she could see the telepod had landed and the side door began to open onto the sand.
Ahn was the first to disembark, squinting against the bright sun as he stepped off the ramp and had his first look at the beach. He paused to wait for his passenger, holding his hand up to offer assistance.
Pleasantly surprised, Amanda discovered Barla had decided to accompany her husband on this momentous occasion, which seemed only right. After all, Barla had raised Ceren during the second half of his childhood and she would also be curious to meet his unknown sister. The man Amanda remembered from her coma dreams appeared last from the telepod. “That’s him, Riccan; that’s the same Ceren I remember from my dream.” Amanda tugged on her husband’s arm in her enthusiasm for this reunion of sorts.
Riccan patted her arm, humoring her enthusiasm, yet wondering if this were all going to turn out okay in the end. He turned to see the progress of the kids behind them, seeing they had almost reached the beach. Still holding Amanda close to him, he began walking toward the landed telepod, ready to greet them. “Hi, Ahn, Barla, I’m glad you could come out on such short notice! This must be Ceren, then?”
Amanda and Barla exchanged hugs, Amanda whispering, “This is going to get even stranger when you hear all of the details. It appears Yoshida, Sofia’s mom, is also from Earth.”
Barla’s eyes widened as she left their embrace so she could look at her niece. “I’m sure this will get very interesting. I always knew there was something special about Ceren, he always seemed…more…than the other kids. I guess it’s because he shares the Earth connection with us.” Barla turned and gestured for Ceren to come forward so she could make formal introductions. “Ceren, this is my niece, Amanda, and her husband, Riccan.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” he said, appraising the couple in front of him, looking especially at Amanda. “Haven’t we met before? You look so familiar.”
“I feel the same about you, but for entirely different reasons.” Amanda chuckled a little and then let him know, “You met my sister Vinia, but you probably knew her then as Jinya. She was pregnant at the time and gave birth to triplets at your house many anons ago.”
Barla looked slightly uncomfortable suddenly, she cleared her throat and said, “He wasn’t living with us when your sister was there.”
“Really? Oh, well, you probably still saw her around, nonetheless.”
“I do recall her now that you mention it, although I don’t remember there being any triplets born.” Ceren raised his eyebrows, trying to piece together his memories of so long ago. His gaze strayed from the couple standing in front of him to see a group of teenagers coming toward them. Right away, he could see the tawny skin which matched his own, a unique tone that always stood out among all of his friends and acquaintances. Finally, there was someone who he resembled and he felt an instant kinship with her. “Is that her? There in the middle?”
Amanda turned and looked for herself. She nodded and said, “Yes, her name is Sofia, and she’s sixteen anons old.”
“Wow, sixteen! Where has she been all this time, and how come my parents didn’t come home?” Ceren suddenly felt jealous of his sister’s upbringing with their parents and had a lot of unanswered questions regarding the whole matter.
Riccan pulled Ahn to the side and whispered, “You didn’t tell him?”
“That his parents are on Earth? No! How do you think that would have gone over?” Ahn regarded him seriously.
“He’s going to have to be told, or else he’s going to get upset with his parents not coming to visit him.”
“I know, but I hoped the meeting with his sister would help smooth things over. He was so excited to learn about her, maybe he won’t care about the pesky details of them living on another world.”
“I guess the good thing is that Ceren can come to visit on Earth without fear of losing his memory. Now we just need to find out if he’d be willing.”
Amanda had moved into their whispered conversation and added, “And we need to find out if Yoshida is up for visiting with him. Remember, Sofia told us how Finnian had to take her memories away because she got so upset over it all.”
“Really?” Ahn asked, thinking he would always want to know about his children no matter how difficult the situation.
“Look, they’re almost here,” Amanda said, motioning for them to come out of their huddle and enjoy the moment of the reunion. Already, Amanda could see Barla had tears forming in her eyes just at the sight of Ceren finally being happy and whole, something she had wanted ever since the boy had been found on the dock yearning for his family’s return.
The group of kids stopped just short of where the grown-ups stood. Sofia took the last couple of steps alone, her eyes seeing the man who could only be the product of both of her parents. He was the perfect combination of both of them, even more than she thought possible. She had always thought she looked more like her mother just because she was a girl. Now, however, she had to admit it was because Finnian had not really been her father.
Ceren, however, was definitely her brother. Flinging her arms around his neck certainly surprised Ceren, but he rallied immediately and hugged her tightly to him as he twirled her around in a circle. Both of them beaming with happiness.
Barla’s tears coursed down her cheeks. “That was just amazing, the most beautiful thing I’ve ever witnessed.”
Amanda nodded her agreement, wiping the tears from her chin where they had rolled down her face and threatened to drip on her shirt.
“Where have you been all of these anons,” Ceren innocently asked.
Sofia frowned a little, pulling back slightly before answering, “Didn’t they tell you?” Seeing him shake his head, she looked slightly confused, shifting her gaze over to where Amanda and Riccan stood beside two people she did not know as if asking what she should say. Suddenly, she decided to tell the truth, too many lies had already been told, and she wanted to break the cycle. “We’ve been on Earth. Mom and Dad shipwrecked there before I was born. They moved back to Mom’s family in Colombia, where they lived until they could immigrate to America.”
Ceren simply stared at her as if she were telling him the most ridiculous story he had ever heard. He tipped his head back and began laughing. Every time he looked back at Sofia’s serious expression, it caused him to laugh even harder.
“What’s so funny?” Sofia asked angrily, not liking the feeling that he was laughing at her. This was not the reunion she had expected. She felt someone touching her back, right behind her shoulder, and turned to see Jon had stepped forward to offer her comfort.
Once Ceren stopped his crazy laughing, Jon spoke up. “Sofia’s telling you the truth, Ceren. Your parents accidentally ended up on Earth and had no way of knowing how to get back to Tuala.”
“I’ve heard stories of old souls, but I’ve never believed any of them. Now you want me to take you for your word on this?” He looked back to Ahn and Barla, the parents he had known for most of his life. “Will either of you please tell me the real truth? I promise I can handle it, no matter how bad it is.”
Ascension Watchers Page 24