Idirian stared at the piece of paper in his hands. He had an aunt. Not only did he have an aunt, he had an uncle, and cousins. Feeling a mix of wonder and anger, he read the letter again.

Dear Idirian,

My name is Selena Espinosa, and I am your aunt, your mother Gabriella’s younger sister. I am so sorry that it has taken me this long to reach out to you. I have long wanted to send you a letter, have written such a thing out several times, and each time before this I have thrown it away.

But now that your grandfather is no longer with us, I am able to do so without consequences. Please allow me to explain. If, after my explanation, you wish to have nothing to do with us, then please just throw this away and I will not contact you further.

My sister was nineteen when she became pregnant with you. The man she was in love with, your father Garrett, was not the kind of man our father approved of. Because of this, when Gabriella told them she was pregnant with you they disowned her and cut her off. They told the rest of the family that she no longer existed, and we were forbidden from contacting her, or talking to her. I was ten, and I have missed my sister greatly. I always tried to find news of her when I could but unfortunately the only thing I ever found was your birth announcement and her obituary. I am sorry for your loss, Idirian. Her presence was always like a ray of sunshine and with her gone, life never seemed to shine as bright.

Recently, my father grew ill and never recovered. To say that I breathed a sigh of relief when he was gone is perhaps an understatement, and it may make me a terrible daughter, but my father was incredibly strict and controlling. Life under him was suffocating, but I did not dare to do anything else for fear of him doing the same to me that he did to Gabriella. I was never as strong as my sister. I knew that she would survive without our family even though I wish she didn’t have to. But I would not.

Every day I wish I would have defied him and looked for her. I would have loved to have been part of her life, and yours. I cannot change things now but I would like to know you and your family if you have one. I would like to introduce you to yours. Your grandmother has also passed on, many years ago, but you have an uncle, and cousins. I have not mentioned to them that I was reaching out to you, in case you decide against meeting us. I hope that you will write back, or perhaps even call me. I have enclosed my number in the envelope in that case.

Regardless of your decision, I hope your life has been good and that it only gets better from here.

Hoping to hear from you,

Selena Espinosa

It felt surreal. For so long, his family had only consisted of himself and Ainsley. Now he had more? It didn’t feel real. And what about Ainsley? He was her only connection to these people, and given the way they had treated his mother, how would they treat her? He would not abide anyone treating her badly and would have no problem cutting them off entirely if they did.

Was he thinking about meeting them? With a sigh, he pushed his hands through his hair and leaned his elbows on the table. His immediate response was to trash the letter and ignore it, but recent changes in his life made him think more. What if he hadn’t let Ainsley bait him into texting with Noa? She was as important to him as his sister was, not to mention the fact that she was now carrying his baby. And maybe some of those cousins were young enough for Ainsley to connect with.

But he was angry that none of them had even tried to contact him before this. Had his grandfather been that bad? Had he been anything like Garrett? And what had his mother even seen in his father? So many ******** questions that he had never worried about before were now swirling in his head.

He couldn’t make this decision alone, but he couldn’t ask Ainsley. He thought about asking Noa for her opinion but… She didn’t know anything about his past. Idly he rubbed at the scar over his eye. He hadn’t told her because he didn’t want her to know, didn’t want his past trauma to tarnish the way she saw him. And she had never asked. Did that mean she didn’t want to know? Or was she giving him space to tell her when he was ready to?

It was a lot to think about. The last thing he wanted to do was make Noa angry with him. He had already messed up once. Ainsley would probably murder him if he messed up badly enough to lose Noa completely. Not that he would blame her. Although they would never be fully out of each other’s lives even if they were to break up, not with their baby on the way. He wondered how Noa would take information about his past. It wasn’t great, if he were honest, but it was much better now. Had been since he turned eighteen and gotten them free of their father.

Hell, Ainsley didn’t even know everything about what it had been like under Garrett’s roof, and that was how he wanted to keep it. She knew that their father had been a bad person and an even worse father, but her memories were spotty at best. She mostly remembered Idirian taking care of her, and that was all she needed to know. It was bad enough that he remembered everything. Vividly.

Sighing, he stood up and folded the letter back up. He would think on it himself for now, but something told him he would be bringing it up to Noa and asking for her opinion. Either way, this was going to be on his mind until he made a decision.