‘Morning,’ I say as the man approaches the counter. He’s around my age, and quite handsome with his dark hair and rugged features.
‘Morning,’ he replies with a genuine smile as he comes to a stop in front of the display cases. The moment our eyes meet, my heart starts to race. His eyes are identical to my jade green ones.
‘Jade?’ he says hesitantly.
‘Tate?’ My eyes instantly cloud with tears. When he nods his head, I clutch my hands to my chest. My brother.
I’ve found my brother.
Before I even realise what I’m doing, I’m on the other side of the counter, launching myself into his arms. I don’t mean to cry, but I find myself sobbing into his chest as we hold each other tight. I finally have a real blood relative, something I’ve wished for my entire life.
‘Your husband wanted me to come to the house for dinner tonight, to surprise you,’ he tells me, tightening his embrace. ‘I feel bad for ruining this for him, he seems like a great guy, but I couldn’t wait another second to see you. I’ve been waiting my whole life for this moment. The minute my plane touched down, I headed straight here.’
‘I’m so glad you came,’ I manage to say. ‘So glad.’
Tate spends the rest of the day with me at the shop. We don’t stop talking the whole time. I call Brock and he comes over in his lunch break to meet him. He isn’t upset that his surprise was ruined, he’s just happy to see us together again. I have the most amazing husband.
Tate was adopted a few months after we became wards of the state. The family that took him already had three daughters and desperately wanted a son. Maybe that’s why they didn’t want me as well. He was only three years old when we were separated, so in time, he forgot about my existence. He tells me that when Brock contacted him four days ago, he called his adoptive parents and asked about me. They told him he cried for weeks when he first came to live with them, and kept asking for his bubba.
Hearing that breaks my heart.
He confesses to dreaming about me the night after finding out he was adopted. He says he was standing beside my crib and reached in to take hold of my hand. He distinctly remembers saying the words, ‘I love you, bubba,’ which makes my cry. We were both robbed of so much.
Tate tells me he always felt like a part of him was missing, growing up. Even though he had a good life, and his adoptive parents loved him, he confesses to never truly feeling like he belonged. He tells me how his sisters resented him for being the son their parents always wanted, and gave him a hard time for it; how he left home as soon as he was old enough. He’s been working abroad for the past five years. That’s why Brock had trouble tracking him down.
We sit up into the early hours of the morning catching up. We laugh and cry. It’s an amazing feeling to be reunited with him. I hate that we’ve missed out on so much, but we have the rest of our lives to make up for lost time.
I don’t have the nerve to bring out the letter that my father had written before he died until a few days after Tate arrives.
‘What’s that?’ he asks when I place it on his lap.
‘It’s all the information I have on our family. There’s some photos inside, and a letter from our father.’
‘Really? What’s it say?’
‘I haven’t read it yet. I was waiting to find you so we could read it together.’
Tate holds the letter from our father in his hands. ‘Are you ready to see what it says?’
‘Yes.’ It’s the last piece of our puzzle. Hopefully it will tell us why he took his life. It’s the only thing we don’t know. My brother’s hands slightly shake as he removes the letter and unfolds it.
To my dear children Tate and Jade,
I couldn’t leave this earth without explaining my reasons for doing what I’ve done. Please don’t think for a minute that I don’t love you both, because I do, but my heart belongs wherever your mother is. I can’t physically go on without her by my side. It may be incredibly selfish of me to think that way, but it is what it is. She owns my heart and soul. She has since the moment I met her. The day I lost her, I lost my will to go on.
I hate the thought of leaving you both in this big ugly world all alone, but I know you have each other and I have to find some comfort in that.
Tate, look after your little sister. Even though you’re still young, I already see the love you have for her. You’re a good boy, and I know you’ll watch out for her and keep her safe when you’re older.
Jade, my precious baby girl. You’re so much like your mother. Not only in looks, but personality. You’re sweetness right to the bone. She would’ve loved you so much if she’d got the chance to meet you. She always wanted a daughter and it breaks my heart knowing she gave her own life just to get you.