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Alex had never liked ancestry projects in school, While some kids were tracing their family trees back to peasants or lords or immigrants from abroad, Alex’s family tree was a measly four people. Mom, Dad, Ian, and Alex. As he got older Jack and Ian had to help advocate for him, navigating through family history, culture, and even genetics class. Alex didn’t know if his parents had dominant traits, he had less than a dozen photos of them and no idea what their blood types were.
It started as a morbid curiosity. He had heard of people going on these sites and finding relatives and he wanted to know if he did too. His family history was a measly three people: mom, dad, uncle. Where is everyone else?
Alex got an email letting him know the test results and he was shocked: he had a hit.
A message and a phone call later, Alex had plans to meet up with his half-Aunts over tea in a cafe in the centre of London.
They squealed when they saw him.
“Look at you!” said the brunette in the green dress, “Isn’t he just as handsome as his father! Give us a hug!”
“Slow down, Yvonne. Let the boy look you in the eye first,” said the blonde in jeans.
She stuck out her hand and Alex shook it hesitantly.
“You must be Alex, I’m Anne, this is my sister Yvonne. Our other sister, Mary, couldn’t make it but she’s so excited to get to know you better.”
Alex was overwhelmed, a lot more than he realized he would be with the doubling of the number of family members he knew about.
“Please sit down, I’ve ordered a pot of Earl Grey for the table,” said Anne.
Alex sat hesitantly. "I have so many questions about Mum and Dad, if you know much about them?"
“Helen and her boyfriend eloped,” they explained. “Our mom said there was something unsettling about him and wanted Helen to break up with him. We found out through a friend they had married and then through the papers when her husband was arrested. We didn’t know she had a son, or that she died.”
"I can’t believe Mum and Dad eloped, I guess that would explain the secret wedding dad’s … friend told me about."
Anne smiled sadly. "So many secrets with that child. Our mom had her hands full when she met our father, it rather made one unmarriageable to have a baby as a single woman but she went and fell in love anyway with a whirlwind romance before marrying when our sister was still a tot. She said that Helen took after her far too much for what was best. Sharp as a whip, headstrong, argued over every detail that mattered to her no matter the cost to anyone else."
"Do I get to meet my grandmother, someday?" Alex asked. "I think I'd like her."
Anne reached out her hand.
"Our mum died a few years ago. Mary has no children but Yvonne does.”
“Your half cousins,” said Yvonne. “I have two daughters, Claire and Elizabeth. And Anne has a son, Andrew.”
“You okay, dear? I know this is a lot to process so you let us know if it’s too much.”
Tears filled Alex’s eyes, he went to wipe them away and Yvonne fetched him a tissue from her purse.
"I have a family, actual living relatives. I spent so many years in school not being able to draw a family tree because I didn’t know the names of any of my relatives or grandparents, kids teased that I was secretly adopted. What is your mum’s name?"
"Ruth. Your grandmother."
"I have a grandmother," Alex repeated in shock. "She’s dead, but I have a name for her."
"Your step-grandfather is named George, but I’m afraid we don’t know your grandfather’s name, mum refused to say. Helen was born out of wedlock."
"These things are complicated, dear," Anne said soothingly. "There’s little to be gained in trying to psychoanalyze the decisions of the dead, what’s important is that you have us as family, if you choose to keep us around."
Alex smiled through tears. "I think I'd like that very much."