Charlotte could barely make herself eat breakfast that morning, she still didn't know if she was going to live with her brother or not. Carol arrived soon after breakfast with the news, her things had been packed and she was to make her final preparations to go to San Francisco.

"So I'm moving away." She inferred "Can I at least call my friends and tell them what is going on so they won't get worried about me when I'm not in school anymore?" she asked.

"Of course," Carol said, "our flight isn't for a few more hours"

They arrived at Hobby Airport and Charlotte started making phone calls to her closest friends to give them the news.

"Wow… wait what… this sounds like something out of a Novela." Her best friend Yolanda said. "So you're really moving to California?"

"Yes, Yolanda… and I'm… I'm really scared… I'm meeting family I never knew I had and I have to live with them..."

"Charlie, it's going to be okay, they're family… I'm sure you'll fit right in."

"But… what if they don't like me… what if I never see you again."

"Charlie you and I both know that won't happen, we have Skype and our phones we will never completely lose each other." Yolanda assured her.

"You don't know that, Yolanda." Charlotte said near tears.

"Charlie you're stressing yourself out over things you don't need to worry about, you'll be fine… do I really need to get Alicia into this call… I will do that you know…" Yolanda threatened good-naturedly

"As much as I don't want to break the bad news to her she deserves to know Yolanda." Charlie sighed

Alicia was dumbfounded when she heard what was going on.

"So you're at the airport now… this… this is the only goodbye we get?" Alicia said "That is so screwed up."

"I know, Alicia." Charlie sighed.

"So what is your brother's name?" Yolanda asked.

"His name is Thomas but apparently among friends and family he goes by 'Tommy'"

"Interesting… can you find out if you can call when you get there so we know you made it safely?" Alicia asked.

Charlotte looked at the escort who had heard the question and nodded in mute confirmation that she could call her friends from California.

"They say I can, and I will…" she wiped at her tears in vain this was hard and she only hoped her brother understood how hard this was.

The flight to California seemed excruciatingly long and Charlie couldn't wait to get off the flight and meet her brother for the first time she let her friends know she had made it and they sent well wishes to her. She then met with a woman with bright red, almost orange hair who introduced herself as Paige Matthews. Page seemed extremely understanding of her unique situation.

"You… you seem different, like you know how I feel better than Carol did."

"Well… Here's the thing I was actually adopted myself… granted the circumstances behind the adoption were different but I know what it's like to have the news that you were adopted dropped into your lap and suddenly meeting relatives you never knew existed. Up until a couple of years ago I was an only child I had no idea I had three sisters until two of them were dropped in my lap. This isn't going to be an easy transition for you, I'm not going to pretend that it will be, but I know Tommy, he's a very understanding person, selfless almost to a fault and if I had to choose someone I'd want to be related to it would be him. Just give him a chance before you judge him, I think you'll find you really like him."

"I just want to meet him; I don't even know what he looks like." Charlotte pointed out.

"Okay that's an oversight." Paige groaned and pulled out her phone and pulled up a picture of a man with dark brown, spiky hair and very expressive chocolate brown eyes. "That's him… this was taken at a dinner party my sister threw… he's kind of a friend of ours… how I managed to keep your case is a shock to even me since I know your brother so well."

"Who is the woman with him?"

"That's his wife, Hayley, she says knowledge is her business, she runs an internet café in town and likes to try and help all her teenage clients in some way so I don't see her coming into your life without doing something spectacular to help you."

"She seems nice." Charlotte commented.

"I know your name is Charlotte but do you have any nicknames you go by."

"Most of my friends call me Charlie."

"Charlie, interesting," Paige said as they got into her green VW Beetle.

Charlotte couldn't begin to imagine the type of home her brother had, San Francisco had a whole different flavor from Houston, and it would take a lot of time to get used to the transition.

Paige knew Charlotte was nervous and in a way wished her sister Phoebe was there to make setting the girl's mind at ease a little easier, being an empath and advice columnist had its perks when it came to comforting people.

They got to the house and Tommy was standing outside waiting for them as Paige had messaged him to let him know when they were on their way. She could see the compassion and worry in his expression, Tommy had expressed how he didn't understand why this had to happen after so many years of Charlotte being happy and healthy with her adoptive family, Paige had explained to him that the fact that the adoption was illegal made the whole thing actually kidnapping and required she be returned no matter how traumatic it was for her but at the same time she understood why he felt this way.

"That's him, isn't it?" Charlotte asked.

"Yeah, Charlie, that's your brother." Paige replied as she put the car in park and shut the engine off.

To Be Continued…