Repentance

[Samuel Phillips]

Visiting Cess was not abnormal for Samuel as he met with her at least once a week so they could catch up on each other's lives over coffee or wine (or water since Cess announced she was pregnant). But visiting Cess unannounced while in a state of shock, with Jon by his side and two suspicious looking photos in his back pocket was completely out of the ordinary. Sam couldn't remember the last time he visited Cess so urgently, and without even calling in but this was an emergency that she could hopefully shed some light on. He exhaled as he stepped onto the porch of Cess' Boston home, pausing momentarily to share a glance with Jon before knocking on the wooden door. He hoped Cess would answer quickly as the longer he went without an explanation to the confusing and terrifying information he arrived home to that day, the more he felt whatever food was in his stomach begin to rise. He thought he had gotten over his father's passing and moved on with his life, but this confusion seemed to bring whatever progress he had made back to square one. Samuel felt pathetic for allowing this situation to bother him so much, but he couldn't help it when he was made to question everything he thought he knew about his life and family.​

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[Jon Phillips]

Jon's hands shook uncontrollably as he arrived on his mother's doorstep. This being the reason his hands were buried in the pockets of his hoodie while he stared blankly at the floorboards beneath his feet. He was so overwhelmed by learning he might have extended family, separated by a thirty year long feud and the possibility of seeing his new born half sister again, that he simply could not stare anywhere else until he looked towards Sam to share a look of mutual terror and confusion. Jon was not sure how this would play out and if Cess could explain or even conform any of the information Eduardo had told him. Heck, he wasn't even sure if he wanted the answers to the photo's in Sam's pocket and the endless list of questions forming in his mind. But he knew for a fact it was too late to turn back after Sam knocked on the door. He waited in a state of panic for his mother to answer, returning his eyes to the floorboards and hoping for the sake of his sanity that this wouldn't be more overwhelming. He was barely holding himself together as it was.​

 

[Cerise Allard]

Cess could not have been in a better place, she had a beautiful daughter, a daughter she and her husband together had made, and while she loved her sons dearly this was just another perfect addition to the family. She was surprised when she heard the door go, they'd moved out of the city and into a town house so beautiful Cess could barely get over it, it was perfect. Her perfect little family, with her husband, but they'd settled into a quiet life and though she did assume that it was her sons (or Sam visiting) it still puzzled her. She took the baby into her arms as she wandered to the door and opened it, greeted with the sight of her two sons, and the already bright smile grew as she let her eyes fall upon them both, "Jon! Sam!" she exclaimed, shifting the weight of the baby from one shoulder to another so that she could lean in and hug them both. She stood away from the door and invited them in, "Come on in, I'm so happy to see you both, and thankfully like Marietta is awake to meet her brothers again," though Sam was not her biological child he was her son, and she would never treat him as anything else, "What brings you both out here to our little neck of the woods?" she had a fond expression, almost wishing to go grab a camera to take a picture of this moment, the three children in her house together. Perhaps there would be time for that later.
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[Samuel Phillips]

Sam could not resist his instinct to smile when Cess opened the door, greeting them with her usual, infectious cheer. He leaned in to hug her and then stepped inside the quaint house, waiting for Jon to do the same before he turned back around, the smile erased from his features and replaced with an expression much more serious that reflected the confusion and fear coursing through his body. Sam glanced nervously towards Jon again and then moved his eyes to Cess. Unsure of how to bring up the subject, he decided to cut to the chase and ignore any formalities immediately after Cess asked what brought them to her doorstep that day. "Jon and I have, uh, figured out something crazy and we were wondering if you knew anything about it." As Sam said this he shared another glance with Jon, exchanging a nod of confirmation before pulling the photos out of his pocket and handing them to Cess, stepping forward and pointing at the photos while he continued. "You know that photo is of Jon and dad, yeah? But this other photo, here, was apparently taken at around the same time and though this looks just like dad, minus the hair style, it's apparently not." He cleared his throat, suddenly finding it dry and uncomfortable as he stood and waited for a response from Cess. If she knew anything about this he would feel an unusual mix of relieved to know the truth and betrayed that such a fact about his past, and Jon's past, was hidden from them.​

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[Jon Phillips]

Jon stayed silent when his mother answered the door and even when he moved to hug her. He was too confused, worried and anxious in general to act any different when he was in such an unusual situation at the same time he was in the presence of his infant half-sister who he went out of his way to avoid on the off chances he visited Cess' home. The presence of his half-sister alone being the reason he didn't visit as often as Sam to begin with. After he stepped inside the house, he returned his hands the pockets of his hoodie and like Sam, turned back towards his mother. He swallowed the frog that suddenly appeared in his throat and nodded when Sam looked towards him, allowing him to explain the pictures and the situation. He finally opened his mouth to speak when Sam cleared his throat, sounding uncharacteristically hoarse as he added "The other photo belongs to our roommate, Eduardo. He said that his dad was a triplet." The situation was ridiculous from the beginning but sounded furthermore so to Jon as he heard the words leave his mouth. He shook his head in slight disbelief, possibly even denial, of what he was saying when he asked "This can't be true, can it?". The coincidence of one of his colleagues turned roommate being his biological cousin was ridiculous and in theory, impossible but the pictures Cess was now holding and the similarities between both men were also impossible to deny.​

 

[Cerise Allard]

Cess was rather surprised with what they were presenting with her with, of course she had known about this, it just had never been her place to bring it up, and their father had died before he'd managed to even tell them a little about it, it was just rather unfortunate and so many years after it fell upon her to explain to them what had happened, or really she hoped that just a confirmation that it was true would satisfy both boys. She nodded at what they both said, shifting the wait of her young daughter from one hip to the other so that she could look at the picture that was being handed to her. Smiling somewhat fondly down at it, there had been a time when their father had been her entire life, though they'd never been together, Jon and Sam's father had been her friend and she couldn't help but feel a twinge of sadness towards it, especially the picture of a younger Jon and the father. Cess looked up at them both with an apologetic expression on her features, "It's true, I knew about it, but it was never my place my tell really," the woman explained to them both with an apologetic tone, "There seemed to be a right time after he died, I was pretty busy balancing you both with making money, I guess over the last few years it never struck me to bring it up," Cess explained to them both hoping they'd not look too negatively upon her for not telling them.
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[Samuel Phillips]

Though Sam visibly recoiled at Cess' words by crossing his arms over his torso and leaning back slightly, he tried not to show how much this revelation bothered him, and attempted to hear her side of it as he trusted her more than anyone else in his life. Sam was sure she would have a logical explanation for not telling either of them sooner, nor elaborating further on the matter besides saying it was true. Just as he was sure there was more to this story despite how crazy and unbelievable it was to begin with. He cleared his throat again to relieve some of the silence that had fallen before saying "Alright, so it's true. What else do you know? I can only speak for myself, but I want to know absolutely everything. Even the smallest details. I don't care how long it takes." He then looked from Cess and towards Jon, scanning his brother's face for a reaction and seeing if he had anything to contribute. Though Sam wanted to know everything, he didn't know if this would be the case for Jon, as the younger man avoided confrontation and any problems like they were a plague. This had been hidden from them for so long that leaving now would be pointless in the long run and undeniably stupid but Sam couldn't predict if Jon would leave or not or even what his reaction would be to this news.​

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[Jon Phillips]

Jon moved his gaze to the floor as Cess admitted it was true, that both men in the pictures were related, that Eduardo, despite his difference in ethnicity and upbringing and the fact they had met by nothing but pure chance, was their biological cousin and that his family history had been completely hidden from both him and Sam for their entire lives. He suddenly felt the urge to leave and to act like he only deserved to wallow in self pity alone, as his anxieties and low self esteem had him believe. But he instead kept his feet rooted to the floor, knowing that it would be pointless and unproductive to leave now and miss learning about whatever happened between their father and Eduardo's that kept the family separated for so many years. He only looked up when he realized all the attention was on him and looked between Sam and his mother in a bout of confusion before he spoke, voice still sounding hoarse regardless of his attempt to sound like this was not one of the most terrifying situations of his life. "I'll make some tea or something, yeah? We can get comfortable and you can tell us everything." He then turned around to the kitchen, filled the kettle and allowed it to boil, using the actions to distract himself from every single thought running through his mind as he waited for Cess to elaborate.​