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His mother took her husband’s hand and they walked into the center of the room.
“Have a seat, Noah and Hannah,” she said. “Charles and Wendy.”
They sank down on a loveseat. The three girls stared at one another and he could see the looks they gave each other. They had no idea who he was. Boy, were they in for a shock.
His mother glanced at her husband and then took a deep breath. “The reason I wanted all of you to come for Christmas is to meet Noah and his fiancée Hannah. You’re probably wondering who he is. Well, he’s your brother.”
The girls all gasped. One of them was at least nine months pregnant. In fact, it appeared the baby could arrive at any time.
“What?” the pregnant woman said. “When did you have him?”
“He’s our brother,” a dark-haired girl said. She jumped up and ran to him and pulled him into a hug. “I’m Olivia. I’ve always wanted a brother. Especially someone older than me. Now you can deal with the golden girls.”
Golden girls? What was she talking about? He noticed the other girls were twins.
The blonde rose and came and gave him a hug. “I’m one of the golden girls, Emily. But I’m not the one she’s referring to. Even nine months pregnant, Amelia always gets all the attention. Nice to meet you.”
She turned and sat in a chair next to a very distinguished-looking man.
“I’m Amelia,” the pregnant girl said. “Excuse me if I don’t get up and I’m the one they refer to as the golden girl because I’m the overachiever. I’m the only one who could get pregnant with a condom.”
He laughed, not knowing if she was being serious or what. There seemed to be some tension in the room and he wondered about the family dynamics. Would they be welcoming of him as their brother?
“Now that you’ve all met, I want to tell you the story of how Noah came into this world,” Beth said, glancing around the room at her children.
Her husband put his hand on her back and she sighed.
“When I was sixteen, I fell madly in love with a young man. We were high school sweethearts and we planned our life together and he even gave me a promise ring. We were going to get married, go to college, and then spend the rest of our days happily married.”
Her daughters were all staring at her, their husbands sitting beside them. Or at least he thought they were their husbands. No one had really said much about them.
“Greg Baker was his name and we vowed no one would ever come between us,” she said sadly. “No one ever did.”
Bakerwas the same as his adoptive father’s last name. But Noah didn’t remember ever hearing about a Greg Baker.
Glancing around the room, she turned her attention to Noah. “You have the same facial structure as your father. The same height and hair coloring. You remind me of him. I have several pictures I saved for you, hoping to meet you someday.”
“Thank you,” he said. “But what happened? Why did you give me up for adoption.”
“It was high school graduation and I was already suspicious that I was pregnant. I had yet to tell him, but I was certain we would get married and then go on to college. Little did I know about how much time babies take.”
With a sigh, she glanced around the room. “The night of graduation, we celebrated with some friends. There was no drinking at this party, we just danced and laughed and enjoyed being young and alive and now out of high school. He took me home and promised he would call and let me know he’d gotten home. It was after midnight and he didn’t call. I called him, but no one answered.”
She wiped a tear away. “The next morning, I went to his house and learned that he was killed by a drunk driver that night on his way home. He died instantly. All the dreams we’d shared of getting married and going to school together died that night.”
Her husband patted her on the back.
“That’s why you never would let us stay out after midnight. Why you didn’t like us on the road.”
“Why you warned us about drinking and driving,” his sisters said.
“Yes,” she said.
“A month after his funeral, I knew I was pregnant. Greg was gone, but I carried his baby. Part of me was thrilled, and yet I knew my parents would not be happy,” she sighed. “I had no idea how unhappy they would be. They packed me up and sent me to a maternity home.”
A pained expression crossed her face and Noah had the urge to get up and go to her. He couldn’t imagine being in her predicament.
“When Noah was born, I was told a family had been chosen for him to be adopted into. My parents told me I had no choice but to accept that I could not keep him. I had no education, no money, nothing. And they would not help me. I’ve never felt so alone, so distraught in my life. Here was the baby of the man that I had loved and lost and they were insisting I give him up. What I didn’t know was that Greg’s cousin, Charles, and his wife Francis adopted you.”
