"It's funny," she protested.
Amelia tried hard to keep a straight face. "I'll have to pass. I'm turning in early so I can have breakfast with you all tomorrow."
Meryn clapped her hands. "Good! We're going to visit Adelaide tomorrow. I can introduce you."
"Who's Adelaide?"
"She's Aiden's mom. Her squire, Marius, makes the best cake I have ever eaten." Meryn patted her belly.
Gavriel sat forward. "You're driving?"
Beth shook her head. "We were going to walk."
He paled. "But, it is a thirty-minute walk. There are animals and branches, and exposed roots." Gavriel's eyes looked a bit wild.
Beth placed a comforting hand on his arm. "I'll be fine."
"Yeah, if they get into trouble, Meryn can always come back here to tell us Beth has fallen down the well," Colton joked.
"What the fuck am I? Lassie? You're the dog," Meryn shot back.
"I'm not a dog!" Colton protested.
Gavriel turned to Aiden. "Are there wells?"
Laughing, Beth shook her head. "Fine, we'll drive."
Meryn shrugged. "Whatever works." She stood. "Okay, let's go watch a movie."
Amelia watched as Beth shared a look with Ryuu. Both looked at Meryn and then at her. "Meryn, before we go, I'd like to check on something," Beth said, pointing to Meryn's chair.
Meryn frowned and sat down. "If this is about the chocolate cupcakes, I didn't know they were yours," she said nervously.
Beth shook her head. "No, this isn't about cupcakes." She waited until Ryuu was standing behind Meryn. Now Amelia was starting to get nervous.
Beth took a deep breath. "It's just that I couldn't help noticing the similarities between you and Amelia, so I approached Ryuu to see if he had any suspicions. When he agreed with my hypothesis, I started to do some digging."
Meryn held up a hand. "Whoa, hold up, Bunny. Suspicions about what?" She looked behind her and glared up at her squire. "What did you agree with?"
"Meryn, what was your mother's maiden name?" Beth asked.
Everyone turned to stare at Meryn. "Camden, why?"
Amelia felt her stomach drop as she gasped. "That's impossible."
"What?" Meryn asked again.
Beth turned to Amelia. "I checked the birth records. In 1952, Lily Camden was born to Estelle and William Camden. Ten years later, in 1961, Violet Camden was born."
Amelia stood. "That's impossible! If my Aunt Violet had had a child, my mother would have told me I had a cousin!" she insisted.
"What the fuck is going on?" Meryn shouted, jumping out of her chair.
Ryuu placed a hand on the back of her neck, and instantly, Meryn's face became serene; she sat back down in her chair. "Easy denka, you need to stay calm."
Meryn shook her head back and forth slowly and leaned forward, effectively removing his hand from her neck. "Stop with the sneaky ninja shit."
Ryuu's eyes danced, though he didn't smile. "Of course, denka, I will keep my stealthy ninja skills to a minimum."
Amelia refused to believe what she was being told. Her mother might not be perfect, but she would have told her she had a cousin her own age. She pulled out her phone and called her brother. As usual, he answered on the first ring. She felt a warm hand on her lower back. When she looked down, she was surprised to see Darian supporting her gently, glaring around the table.
"Why are you upset?" Caiden asked immediately. He had always had the uncanny ability to know when she needed him.
"Do you know anything about my mother's family?"
"I know that you had an aunt who was about ten years younger than Mother, and that she and her husband died in the early eighties."
"Did they have any children?"
"No."
Amelia turned to the room to face Beth. "You must be wrong."
"Amelia, what's going on out there?" Caiden demanded.
"They're saying that Meryn's mother is my aunt," she explained.
"What!" Meryn exploded finally putting the pieces together.
"Hold on, it just so happens our parents are visiting right now, let me get Mother on the phone." They all heard loud footsteps on stone a muffled conversation, and then her mother, Lily, was on the phone.
"Amelia, are you there baby?"
"I'm here."
"What does Meryn look like?"
Amelia turned to Meryn and really looked at her. Why hadn't she noticed it before? She evaluated people's faces for a living! She and Meryn had the same bone structure, the same nose and lips. When she looked closely, she could easily see that they could be related. The only difference was the eyes and the hair. Meryn had bright green eyes, whereas Amelia had the same grey-silver eyes of her brothers and father.