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“Claire, sweetie, we need to talk to you. Will you come in here please?” my mother called out.

My brother Jasen was off at school and Amber had taken Tyler and Tristanne to the park.

When I walked into the family room I saw that my Aunt Jackie and Uncle Harold were there as well. It was strange that I hadn’t heard them drive up.

“What’s up?” I asked, sitting in my favorite chair.

“Well,” my dad began. “There’s something we need to tell you.”

“What is it?” I was still calm. They were probably going to tell me that they were going on a trip and I was stuck babysitting. Again. Like last time.

“Well sweetie,” my mom always called me ‘sweetie’ when she was about to drop a bomb on me. “Your father and I aren’t your biological parents. Aunt Jackie and Uncle Harold are.”

For a moment I thought they were joking, but no one was laughing.

“But…but…” I couldn’t form a coherent thought so, I bolted.

When I reached my car I snatched the key from my pocket and shoved it into the lock. I was glad I hadn’t removed my school bags after class Friday; it made it easier to escape.

I drove around aimlessly for a while and then decided to go to “the spot.”

“The spot” was a place my cousin--no, my brother Brian--had shown me a few years ago. It was nice for when you needed to think.

I wasn’t alone for long.

“Claire?” Brian’s voice called. I was up a tree so he couldn’t immediately see me. “Claire, I saw your car. I know you’re here.”

“Well geez Bri, you take all the fun out of pretending to be a monkey,” I huffed, jumping from my branch to the ground next to him.

“We need to talk,” he said.

“So they told you too huh?”

“They did,” he said, sitting next to me under my monkey tree. “What do you think about it?”

I took a deep breath and hit him with the truth. “I think I’ve always known. Look at me. I look almost exactly like you, only I have great boobs,” we laughed. “But the whole being lied to my entire life? So not cool. And if everyone was happy with the way things were, why tell us now?”

“Well, Aunt Lisa and Uncle Mark are moving back to Texas. Mom and dad want you to stay here in Lexington.”

“When are they leaving?”

“When school gets out.’

“Does Jase know?” Jasen was nineteen and went to the University of Kentucky. I thought for a moment. “How many people and who exactly knew I wasn’t a Shay?”

“Jasen know. Both things. Uh. Grandma and grandpa. Both sets. Our big brother Harold. Family mostly. A few friends. I’m not exactly sure.”

“Well that’s reassuring,” I said sarcastically, while I thought, ‘What if my friends have known our entire lives and NEVER told me?’

“I can’t pretend to understand WHY they did what they did, well, I CAN understand why in the beginning, but I don’t understand why it was left the way it was. But I have to admit, I’m happy they did tell us. I’ve always wanted a little sister.”

For some reason Brian’s statement about always wanting a sister and his subsequent hug made me cry. And the crying made him hug me harder.

“So,” he began after I stopped crying. “Will you stay? Because if you do, I have an idea to make your summer way fun.”

I thought for a few minutes. “What is your idea for my “summer of fun?”?” I questioned.

“I’m not telling until you do,” he teased.

I made my decision pretty quickly. Afterall, I had missed out on a lifetime of knowing my parents. Sure, I KNEW them but I didn’t know them as my parents.

“I’ll stay,” I told my new found brother.

He grinned, grabbed my hand and made me run back to my car.

“We have to tell them right away. ESPECIALLY if you want your summer to be awesome ‘cause we’ll have to convince them it’s a good idea.”