It was a sunny day and Shaunny McIntyre was really excited. Simply a perfect day, the weather was just great and what's most important was that at long last she was finally to be reunited with her long-lost twin brother, Shane, who had been separated from her and mother since her mother's divorce some fourteen years back.
Her father had won custody of Shane who at that time was, like Shaunny, only four years old. With only some meagre savings in the bank, a beaten up station wagon and the clothes on their backs, her mother had took her to sleepy Caverson's Bay, California. Upon arriving, her mother found out that there was a vacancy at the local diner and immediately seized up the waitressing post. After years of hard work and moving from trailer parks to rented apartments, she eventually saved up enough money to buy a small house in the suburbs of Caverson's Bay. It had been extremely hard raising a four year old alone but her mother had vowed to have nothing to do with her father after she caught him in bed with his fellow colleague. As an independent woman with a headstrong and stubborn nature Shaunny's mother did not wanted to be like the other divorcees who thrived only on alimony. Although they were not living the life of luxury like they were accustomed to, they were happy. But every once in a while Shaunny would catch a glimpse of sadness in her mother's eyes. With a faraway look, her mother's eyes would lament the tale of the unbearable grief she bore from being torn apart from her son.
For fourteen years the only news that they've last heard was that Shane was whisked off to London after her father was posted there as a US expatriate by the multinational corporation he was working for. Shaunny always thought that her mother's vow of never having any contact with her father was perhaps her greatest folly because she would never ever see Shane again. It had been that way until now. About a week ago, Shaunny's mother received a telegram stating that Shaunny's father had a heart attack and had passed away. The telegram also stated that Shane was coming from England to finish his senior year in Caverson's Bay and that he would be accompanied by a lawyer who would be reading out the late Mr. McIntyre's will. Amidst all her previous rants and ravings about hating her ex-husband, Shaunny's mother broke down and cried hysterically. When Shaunny questioned her about it she promptly replied, "Well I guess that deep down inside I always loved your father. I always thought, somehow, someday when I've battled with my own demons we would reconcile. But now I know it's final and I can never tell him that I'd always loved him and that I've forgiven him. I realise...I realise...I've forgiven him for the past twelve years".
Shaunny brushed back her tears with the back of her hand and gave her reflection in the mirror a great big smile. It was a brand new day and everything would be all right again. She's going to be nineteen at the end of the year. Summer's nearly over and she was going to start her senior year real soon. Never had she imagined that her twin brother was going to Caverson High with her for senior year. Goodness! Would he look remotely like the small boy in the old photographs her mother showed her? She barely remembered him. She studied her reflection closely; she had long waist length blonde hair that she mostly wore down. Her complexion was tanned from the long hours she spent under the hot Californian sun and her eyes were mesmerizingly cerulean blue. She has always been athletic and was particularly excited because she was going to be head cheerleader this coming school year. She wondered if her brother was athletic? Or did the years in London turned him to an English bookworm? She smiled at the thought. Whatever he is now he will be the one who's bringing the family back together again.
Shaunny gave her outfit one last glance and wondered if she should change into something more formal. She was wearing a pair of her favourite tight faded blue jeans and a white body-hugging baby t-shirt. The whiteness of her shirt emphasised the colour of her eyes and her jeans boasted her long willowy legs. She twirled around admiring the way she looked and wondered whether Shane would like her outfit. She immediately stiffened on wondering why she taken so much concern on the way she looked? It was her brother for goodness sakes! It wasn't even as if she wanted to catch his attention! Shocked at having such thoughts she sprinted towards the kitchen.
There she found her mother staring out the window with a cup of tea in her hands. "Excited mom?" Shaunny asked as she settled down on the dining table.
"Oh, Shaunny! It's been fourteen long years. I don't even know where to begin. What should I say to him? Does he blame me for what happened? Does he know that all this while I've always wanted him here with me so that I can raise both of you together? At times when I look at you, I can't help myself but to think of him... it's not that I don't love you Shaunny. I do. But it's just that...", her mother's voice started trailed off and the tears in her eyes threaten to spill.
Shaunny moved towards her mother and gave her mother a long hug, "Hush now mom. I know. I know you love me and I know that you love him too. Everything's going to work out just fine. We're going to be a family again. And nothing, nothing can ever change that again".
"My sweet child, what would I have done if I didn't have you?" Her mother hugged Shaunny tightly as the uncontrollable sobs wrecked her body.
"Shhh...everything's going to be fine. Just fine now mom..."
* * * * *
"So are you excited being able to see you mother and sister again?" William Masterson asked the tall figure slouched lazily in the opposite seat of the stretched limo. Piercing blue eyes stared back at him with his answer to his question. Indifference. That's what's reflected in Shane McIntyre's eyes. Standing at 6'2, the eighteen-year-old lithe and athletic frame was towering over his own plump middle-aged form. Shane McIntyre's father, Douglas McIntyre, was William's golfing buddy and had confided in him on his whole family affair. Douglas had always been a far-sighted man, always forecasting into the future. His forecasting talents had made him a very successful and wealthy businessman over the years. And it was this far-sightedness of his that had created a will for his ex-wife, daughter and son years before his untimely death. William let out a heavy sigh. It grieved him that Shane had to lose a father in the prime of his adolescent years. Especially when these years were the most critical and tumultuous.
Although Shane was an academically bright student and the star soccer player in his school back in England, Shane undoubtedly had caused Douglas much trouble because of his rebellious character. William was no stranger to Shane's indifferent and rebellious ways. Shane had dated and dumped William's only daughter just for the sport of it. Shane had always been the centre of attention, in school amongst the teachers and students, and in Douglas' eyes.
Douglas had confided to William that he spoiled his son because he felt sorry for the grief that he imposed on him and it was his way of showing Shane how sorry he was for of losing his wife and daughter because of his own misdeeds fourteen years ago. On the outside, William knew Shane puts on a strong front but deep inside Shane was battling his own private demons. William hoped that with Shane moving in with his long-lost mother and twin sister he would at last find peace.
* * * * *
"Oh! They're here!" Shaunny exclaimed as she saw a black stretched limousine pulled up to the curb from her seat on the veranda. She moved to the rocking chair where her mother sat and helped her mother up. Her mother stood up shakily and brushed her own tears off with the back of her hand and gave Shaunny a brave smile.
"Everything's going be alright now. I just know it... Shane's finally home".
As Shaunny and her mother walked hand in hand towards the limo, a stout middle-aged man got out from the limo. He was balding but he had a kind and cherubic face that immediately put Shaunny to ease.
"Arianna Crawford?" the man spoke with a heavy English accent. He extended his hand as he walked towards Shaunny's mother.
"No, I'm still Arianna McIntyre. I've retained Douglas' family name," Shaunny's mother politely shook William's extended hand.
"Very well then, Arianna McIntyre. I'm William Masterson, Senior Partner of Masterson and Waterman, a law firm in London. I was your late ex-husband's lawyer. I'm here to read out his will and my role was also to chaperone your son Shane to America," as soon as William finished his sentence, Shane stepped out from the limo. Shaunny and her mother stood there rooted the ground, unsure of what their actions should be.
