Seeing you again

Chapter 1

Francisca's POV
6 years later

It's the last two weeks of summer vacation and Mathew just dropped a bomb on me. "We are moving to New York in a few days, um Brooklyn specifically" he said. I honestly don't know how to react to that. So I only manage to say "what?". Mathew sighs, sits up straighter, and starts talking again. "I got a job..and it's a pretty good job, it pays well....and I know it's gonna be hard for you to change schools and to move to another state but..." he pauses for like 5 seconds then starts talking again. "The company I'm working at is having a bit of a financial crisis and it hasn't been able to afford paying our full salaries for two months now and they are beginning to let people off". He pauses and looks at me. " if I don't take the job in New York...I'm gonna be out of a job". He says.

Mathew is waiting for me to say something, anything. He looks tired, I can see the bags under his eyes. He's doing the best he can and I'm so so grateful for him. He has been family since he married my mom 5 years ago. I hated him at first for replacing my dad, heck! I hated mom for replacing my dad, for saying that he didn't want to hear from us. From me. I refused to believe it. I might've been 10 but I wasn't stupid something was going on, something wasn't right, but I was too powerless to do anything about it.

I felt like that all the time, especially when Mathew walked into my life just a year after it all happened. Everything was changing too quickly and I was still the little girl asking for her dad. But I eventually warmed up to Mathew with time. He loved my mom, he loved me and tried to win me over all the time, and....I love him. He's been like a father to me when I couldn't find my actual dad. And he's been raising me all on his own since mom died two years ago. Me, someone who isn't even his real kid. Him saying that we have to go to New York, is probably for me too, for us.

"I can't believe this" I whisper, nevertheless, he heard me. "I'm sorry Fran, I know you'll miss your friends and I'll miss mine too but I'm sorry it's really not a choice". He sighs. I gulp, "yeah,no, I understand..it just sucks that's all". "Yeah" he says chuckling ironically. "Imagine how I feel, I've lived here my whole life"He says smiling nostalgically. "This is my home".

I smile at him. "when exactly do we leave?" I ask. "Saturday" he says "5 days from now". I nod when I hear the oven beeping. "Shit!" I exclaim and run to the kitchen with Mathew tailing behind me with a concerned face. I was making dinner when Mathew came with his serious face on, telling me that "he needs to tell me something" I totally forgot about dinner!

I open the oven and lots smoke comes out of it, aaaaand the Turkey is ruined. I grab the Turkey and show it Mathew with a pout on my face. "This is your fault" I say frowning. Mathew looks at me with an amused look and takes the burned Turkey from my hands and places it on the counter. He looks at me softly and kisses my forehead. "I'll order pizza" he says. I grin. "Margarita with extra cheese,right?" He asks. "Yup" I confirm.

I head to the living room while Matt is ordering pizza and take out my phone.

New York huh. I Google my dad's name and the name of his company like I've done a million times before. Two years after my mom and I left, on one of the first few times I ever googled my family I learned that they moved to New York and dad started working from there. Now, I'm seeing news of Something about one of the company's shareholders selling his shares to my dad, I don't know I don't really care about all the company stuff, I'm just trying to find any new interesting news on my dad or brothers since the last time I googled them but nothing really interesting is happening in their lives right now, at least to me haha.

What I did learn from Google though in the last couple of times I googled them, is that my brothers...are kind of trouble makers haha. Apparently Dan is seen in public drunk out of his mind a bunch of times. Ivan is a bit of a mystery but has been caught with a girl in a....compromising position once. I was traumatized when I saw the news on THAT. There are some articles about me, about where I disappeared to, but nether my dad or my brothers or anyone else from my family comments or says anything about that.

I don't know if Matt knows much about them from research or if he just knows what mom has told him and just took her word for it. I honestly never believed that my family would not want me like mom kept saying every time I asked. And I'm sure that Matt asked mom about them too, and she probably told him the same thing that she told me, that the divorce agreement was for her to take me and for dad to keep the twins and to never come in contact with each other again. That my dad doesn't wish to contact me and that she doesn't wish to contact my brothers. Which is utter bullshit! I heard her crying her eyes out whenever she thought she was alone. Missing her children that she left behind.

I saw her looking longingly at pictures of them a couple of times, she was even drunk once and called me Ivan! But every time I'd suggest calling dad or that he might be missing me she quickly denies it and calls me silly, and honestly she kept saying that so many times that a part of me started to get scared that she was actually telling the truth, that dad didn't care that I was gone.

Whenever my father comes up, Matt always says that he doesn't deserve me. Which makes me believe that he definitely believes everything mom told him. Which I guess, why wouldn't he? Back then he probably just saw me as an eleven year old girl who was missing her dad who essentially left to get milk with her two older brothers and never came back. But from what I remember, mom was the one who left with me.

I don't know, I've thought about trying to reach out to dad or to the twins but something is holding me back. And I don't kno- no actually that's a lie I do know. It's Matt, I can't just leave Matt. If I reach out to my dad and if he in fact wants me back, he'll want to have custody of me, he'll want to be my gardian. I'd have to leave Matt and I can't do that. I can't do that to him after everything. I absolutely refuse to leave Matt alone. Because....he's my parent too.

Matt takes me out of my thoughts when he enters the living room smiling at me and I smile back. "The pizza is on its way!" He says excitingly. I nod with a forced smile. Aaaaand he was immediately able to tell. Because his smile falls slightly and he asks "What's wrong?". Looks like I should flush my dreams of becoming a famous actress down that toilet. "Nothing" I answer. He raises his eyebrows at me and just keeps staring and looking at me. Oh no I HATE it when he does that. It's like he's looking in my soul. And now I can't not tell him.

I sigh, "Iwasjustthinkingaboutmydadandbrothersyouknow" I mumble. "I'm sorry what?" He asks amused. " I was just thinking about my dad and my brothers that's all". His face falls, and now I feel really guilty, I shouldn't mention them to him. "I'm sorry for mentioning them, I'm sorry". He frowns "you shouldn't be sorry for mentioning them honey, they're your family of course you think about them". He says smiling sympathetically.

I suddenly have the urge to talk about this with him. I mean I trust him, and maybe with mom not being here he'll actually listen to me on this. "I was just thinking about how everything happened you know" . he nods and I continue. "I just think that mom just left with me without telling anyone" I say. Matt sighs, "Fran, your mom said she took you and left after the divorce was finalized". "I know what she said, but it just doesn't feel right! She was leaving in the middle of the night for gods sake! And she didn't say goodbye to that twins, and I didn't know there even was talks of a divorce! How come I never knew?". Matt looks at me and says " it was probably your parents decision to keep you in the dark, to maybe protect you from the ugliness of it all, it probably wasn't right to keep you so in the dark but that doesn't mean that, that your mother kidnapped you or something".

My eyes widened, I haven't even thought about the term "kidnapped" but that what this would be right? If my dad never wanted me out of his life and mom just took me secretly to never be seen or heard from again. I would be kidnapped by my own mother. I let my eyes fall to my knees. "You honestly believe that my dad just agreed to never see me again" I say with tears threatening to fall on my cheeks. Suddenly, Matt hugs me, and I melt into his hug. "I don't know" he murmurs. "But if he did then he sure is missing out". I let out a giggle and hug him back tightly. "You know you're my family too, Matt" I say to him still in his embrace. I feel him hug me tighter, and after a few minutes he lets me go and I see him wipe a few tears from his eyes as I do mine.

The doorbell rings, it must be the pizza, Mathew goes to get the door and returns with two boxes of pizza, we pick a movie to watch, we picked Age of Adelaide. Because it's one of my favorite movies and Matt doesn't want to watch marvel movies again lol.
I was feeling sleepy at the end of the movie and I ended up putting my head on Matt's shoulder and falling asleep.

But not before thinking about everything we talked about, I wonder how my dad is, how my brothers are, you just can't help but get curious. I really wish we never were in this shitty situation.