Another day dawned on the royal holiday, and Mia was instant messaging her mother on the computer, sharing details of Pierre's arrival, their family dinner, the progress at the orphanage, and of course her engagement to Nicholas. Helen sent a picture of Trevor, which Mia immediately printed out and took with her as she headed off to see her grandmother.
Clarisse was already going through another box of photographs as Mia lightly knocked on the door of the suite. Joe opened the door and bade her a good morning as he went off again to help the orphanage caretaker.
"Grandma, I got a new picture of Trevor from Mom this morning, do you want to see?"
"Of course, darling." Clarisse took the paper and held it up. "He's a handsome little boy, and look at that blond hair. He's adorable." Clarisse noticed the look on Mia's face, not at all the look of a proud sister. "What's the matter, Amelia?"
"Oh, grandma, it's silly, but…well, Trevor doesn't look anything like me at all. I mean, shouldn't there be even a small similarity between us?"
Clarisse took a long look at her granddaughter. "Well, Mia, sometimes siblings don't look all that much alike, and well," she stopped and said quietly, "you do have different fathers. Perhaps that's the reason." Mia slumped down onto the couch clutching the picture. "I guess you're right. I suppose I'm a little depressed because he's my brother and I'm missing him grow up, and he doesn't even look like me, how am I supposed to feel he's even related?"
"Mia, why don't you arrange a trip for them all to come this spring for the pear festival? That'll give you a chance to get to know your little brother."
Mia brightened up at the thought, and gave her grandmother a hug. "That's a wonderful idea, thank you Grandma!" Mia went back to her computer to talk it over with her mother.
With a faraway look in her eyes, Clarisse watched her leave, and then picked up a faded picture of her own young sons, Pierre and Philippe at 5 and 4 years old. They looked nothing alike.