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It all started out as a very unusual weekend.

Caleb Desrosiers, by request of his mother, went into the attic of the family home to do some cleaning. He brought with him a tub of the usual mundane cleaning supplies, including a scrub brush, soap, a bucket, water and some rubber gloves. Much of the requested cleaning involved rearranging and dusting of the vintage contents of the attic, but Caleb did things thoroughly. Besides, he didn't want to have to come up here again within the next few months. He hated dirt with a flaming passion.

And so, the redhead embarked on his journey to the land of Cleanattica, bucket in hand. The first major obstacle was all the boxes stacked willy-nilly in such a small space. Many were from the time when Caleb's mother and father were still married. Together, they produced three children - Caleb himself and his two younger sisters. They then parted ways when the youngest was four. Two years separate the three of them to each other, and the three were so young when the divorce took place. Caleb himself was eight years old and much more concerned about his sisters than his semi-absentee father. His mother hardy ever discussed him, so it was a surprise that anything was left over from their marriage, let alone still stored in the attic. Why keep things about a person with whom you do not have a relationship? Rolling his eyes, Caleb began lifting the dust into the air and severely regretting it. He should have brought a mask.

The dust made his allergies go haywire and in a fit of sneezing, he ran right into another box with his father's name on it. Sputtering a slew of curse words under his breath, Caleb sought to right himself and took a look at the boxes. "Kids" was written in small script on the side in a handwriting Caleb did not recognize. Naturally, if his father had taped the box, he did a terrible job. The flaps of the cardboard lid came loose of the adhesive very easily, and the information Caleb stumbled upon within the box was more than a little surprising. Several photos were within the small container, mostly of people he did not recognize. One photo in particular had a young boy with dark hair and a pale completion. Who was this person? Another photo showed a young redheaded girl that could have been mistaken for one of his sisters, but he didn't recognize the photo. Who were these people? Digging beneath several other photos was a piece of paper and two addresses, one of which wasn't too far from Caleb's home. He resigned himself to cleaning the rest of the attic before embarking on an "errand".

---

After some searching and worshiping the goddess Google, Caleb found himself standing in front of a small home with almost harpy-like shrieking emanating from it. The redhead found himself rather skittish now since the family within didn't seem very friendly and well... he had a rather unusual proposition. Whoever the boy in the photo was, Caleb had an inkling that the two of them were related somehow, since the photo came from a box labeled 'kids' and Caleb did not recognize the photo. Obviously it wasn't him or his siblings. He would have loved to have a brother! Dressed in his finest, Caleb raised a hand to knock three times on the door. Holding nothing but the photo and a paper with directions, he hoped he didn't look too creepy to the occupants of the house.

Caleb tried not to be incredibly shocked when he heard the slamming and the screaming and smelled the disgusting smell of alcohol all over the house. That, combined with the vinegar and the Windex nearly made him heave all over the front stoop, but that would be terrible manners. Looking down at the photograph a second time, the redhead confirmed this poor boy, who looked no older that twelve or thirteen, was the boy in the picture. Since there was no date written on the photo anywhere, he had no point of reference to know that the Poor Short Boy standing in front of him was only three years his junior. Good thing Zac couldn't read minds...

He was a little flustered, but Caleb quickly regained his composure once he knew for a fact that Large and Loud (as she sounded) was out of earshot. "Ah yes, my name is Caleb Desrosiers and I have a rather odd story for you." Slowly and deliberately, the redhead began to explain how he came across the photo and what led him to the boy's doorstep as he was at that moment. Showing the boy the photo, Caleb almost wanted him to take it - to examine it further. Authenticity would save Caleb from a great deal of embarrassment. "Long story short, I believe that you and I... are related somehow."

Clearing his throat, the young man wondered if he would be shot, sent away, yelled at or kidnapped. He wasn't sure which would be happening.

A half sister as well? Oh dear. Caleb wore a look of worry across his face easily now, and nodded mutely at this boy's request. Zachary, was it? That's what the ogre from inside had yelled and the redhead certainly wasn't going to argue with a request to go elsewhere because of her. Stepping aside, Caleb walked off the front stoop and turned to wait for the much smaller boy. "I don't blame you." he said, a sideways glance going back and into the confines of the house. "I'll wait out here."

The young man stepped onto the sidewalk and found a fence to lean against, stuffing the directions and the picture into his pocket. Good grief, did all this mean that Caleb had a half sister on top of a half brother? His father must've been... having an affair during his parent's marriage. Depending on when this boy and his half sister were born, it could have been several affairs. Not that Caleb doubted it - his father was always "away on business" and the young man never saw much of him. Pity.

He turned back to the house to wait for the boy named Zachary.

Caleb looked quite concerned about this boy. He looked so young and possibly fragile. Sort of like a slave to his drunk and yelling ogre of a mother. Part of him wondered why the boy would live with someone like that, and then wondered whether he had any other alternatives. He let the subject drop. No use opening wounds again. "So, is this really you? This picture?" asked the young man, pulling out the picture again for Zac to see. "When was this taken?" He didn't have a point of reference for Zac's age, so Caleb assumed between twelve and thirteen based on his appearance.

Truth be told, he was rather gentle about all the questions. He'd never once thought to himself, gee, I wonder if I have any other family out there?, so this discovery came as quite a shock. "I found this in my attic when my mother asked me to clean it. There was a picture of a little girl too. I thought she was my younger sister, but I found that I didn't recognize the photo. I didn't want to ask mom. How awkward would that be?" Then again, how awkward was this meeting? Sighing, the young man leaned back against the fence and looked skyward.

The redhead's eyebrows furrowed at the change in tense. Elizabeth was her name? And she was...? "What happened to Elizabeth?" he asked with a tinge of caution in his voice. Part of him feared the worst - the shift in tense from present to past meant she was no longer alive . The fact that he could have had a sibling that had passed away without having a relationship with her extended family was heartbreaking to say the least. Caleb frowned. And by Zac's determination, he was... sixteen!?

Caleb was shocked.

A cough tried to hide his being flabbergasted. Indeed, Zac looked quite a bit younger than he actually was. "Yes, I suppose he was a really busy guy. And I guess my sisters mean you have two more half-sisters waiting in the wings, but I think it would be better if I didn't tell them just yet. I know mom was aware he was cheating on her at some point, but I guess the extent of it was beyond all of us..." He reached behind his neck and rubbed it, somewhat embarrassed.

"Vanished? What, did someone kidnap her?" Caleb became incredibly worried, rubbing his hands together in anxiety. If the police hadn't found anything, it could be a cold case depending on when Elizabeth had vanished. How horrible! The young man felt his heart sink for someone he would never come to know, and that thought hurt him deeply. He frowned at the thought and knew he shouldn't weep for someone he didn't know all the information about... maybe her case was fresh and the police would find something soon!

Looking down at the photo, Caleb wondered how lucky, or unlucky, he was in finding one or two photos of children he didn't know. If Elizabeth's things were confiscated and Caleb's mother didn't tell her children about the affair she no doubt knew of, why were there photos in the attic? Did mother simply forget about them entirely?

Caleb tilted his head at Zac's questions. "Don't you worry about being a black sheep. We'll just let things sink in slowly. I'm an adult now. I think I can handle things better than when I was younger. I think we should just give my sisters a little more time and then it won't come as such a strong blow, you know? But I think they knew what dad was up to when he was away." Come to think of it, children were quite perceptive. The redhead frowned again, calculating how long his parents had been married. "Oh... I'm not sure how long they were married before I was born. They didn't talk about that much. I was about eight when they divorced though. So if you're, what, sixteen? I'm three years your senior, if that helps at all."

Caleb sighed and looked downward. How awkward was all this? Just this morning he was fine with life the way it was and several hours later, he'd come to find he had not only a half brother, but a half sister as well. And that half sister was missing. Part of him was utterly elated to have a brother though, half or otherwise. "Sometimes tells me there is a lot about him that we don't know, and will never know. Maybe it's better that way." Shaking his head, the young man closed his eyes for a moment, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I live not too far away. Maybe five or six miles? I drove. My car's over there."

He jerked a thumb in the direction of a gently used dark blue BMW. It wasn't the fanciest car on the road, but it had enough seating for four and was nice enough to take his girlfriend Makalya into town with. He didn't want to have her ride in an old junk heap. "But yes, I did drive here from somewhere to check out an old photo. I wouldn't have if the box it came in wasn't labeled 'kids'. Made me curious. There was an address on the back and it wasn't too far away, so..."

The redhead shook his head again. "Sorry for complicating something that already sounds pretty hairy. Maybe I could buy you lunch to compensate?"