Prologue- A New Beginning
"All set, sis?" Raye Sandoval-Cole asked, standing away from the boot of his car as he saw his twin approaching.
"…Yeah…let's get this over with," Ruby Sandoval-Cole muttered.
Her brother nodded and after putting a consoling hand on Ruby's shoulder hopped into the driver's seat. Once his sister sat in the passenger seat, he started the car pulling out of the house they would be leaving behind forever.
An hour-long drive later, the twins arrived at Leona's Law. Turning off the engine, Raye glanced to his right and wasn't surprised to see tears slowly tracking their way down his sister's cheeks.
"Come on, Rubes, this has to be done," he pointed out.
"I know…I just wish…" Ruby gulped, wiping her eyes before looking at her twin sadly. "It's just us now…"
"That's why we're selling the mansion here and moving to the one in Lima," Raye reminded her gently. "That's what our parents' plans for us should anything happen to them were, according to their will, and…honestly, I kind of want to leave New York behind since…" He trailed off, unwilling to make his sister even more upset.
"Since they're gone…" Ruby finished for him anyway, a fresh wave of tears flowing from her eyes.
"Yeah…"
Letting his sister cry for as long as she needed, Ruby eventually dried her eyes again and nodded. Taking that as a sign that she was ready, the twins got out of the car and made their way into the building's foyer where they were greeted by the receptionist.
"How can I help you two?" the man behind the desk asked.
"The Sandoval-Cole twins here to see Judith Sanchez; we have a ten o'clock appointment," Raye replied. He hesitated for a moment before continuing. "She's finalizing our parents' will with us today."
A sympathetic look crossed the receptionist's face at the younger man's words. Pressing a button on his intercom he said, "Miss Sanchez, the Sandoval-Cole twins are here for their ten o'clock appointment."
"Good, send them in, thanks George," a woman's voice replied from the other end.
"Go on through, kids," George smiled.
Thanking him, Raye and Ruby walked through the door indicated and into the office of their family's lawyer. Judith stood up from behind her desk where she had been writing and moved to hug Ruby.
"How are you doing, Rubes?" she asked, smoothing the younger girl's long hair. Having known the twins since they had been born, the Columbian woman had a soft spot for them, especially the shyer Ruby.
"As good as can be expected, Judy," Ruby muttered, wrapping her arms tightly around the tall woman. "And please, don't ask again; Raye's already bugged me about it a dozen times on the ride here."
"Hey, I'm just looking out for my twin," Raye protested, though he smiled faintly at the attempted humor his sister had used. "As the elder twin, kind of my duty."
"You're only five minutes older, Raye," Judith grinned, having heard the argument between the two many times before. She then released Ruby and went back to sit behind her desk. "Anyway, shall we get down to business? You're leaving soon, aren't you?"
"Yeah, I saw the movers off before we left to come here," Raye nodded, sitting down in the left-hand seat opposite Judith while his sister took the other. "They'll probably reach Lima before us, but Uncle Tobias promised that he'd be there to take care of things on that end."
"Good, I'm glad that Tobias was able to take time off from the army to help you guys out," Judith smiled. She looked down at the document in front of her, which the twins knew was their parents' will. "It just sort of sucks that he can't take care of you permanently. I feel sort of uncomfortable knowing that you two will be living alone now."
Raye grimaced. "I guess it's a good thing that our parents' made sure that we'd have somewhere to stay if they died, even with Uncle Tobias as our only other living relative. I dunno if I'd be able to stand going into foster care." Ruby nodded along at her brother's words.
Judith sighed before signing the bottom of the will. "Right, well, with my signature you are now officially in charge of your parents' financial and property assets. As stated in the will, half of the funds from selling the mansion up here will go to the Paraplegic Recovery Society, the charity that you chose, correct?" After the twins had nodded, Judith smiled slightly and handed a copy of the will to Raye. "I'll keep the original here for safe keeping, that copy is more than sufficient for the rest of the legal stuff."
"Thanks, Judith," Raye murmured, looking down at the document in his hands. He let out a sad grunt when he saw his parents' signatures above Judith's.
The older woman watched him for a moment before she asked, "If I may, why did you choose to buy a house all the way down in Lima?"
Ruby was the one who answered, a small smile playing across her face. "Because it's where our parent's first met. I'm surprised you didn't know that."
"To be honest, I never really asked your parent's that sort of personal stuff," Judith admitted. "Even though I've been…had been…friends with them since before you guys were born, that was one of things I ended up asking about." A regretful expression appeared on Judith. "I'm afraid that our friendship was certainly more on the professional side than the personal one." She grinned then. "But I am glad that I got to know the both of you through them, even if you were two terrors whenever I had to babysit you."
"It was our way of seeing if you were worthy of hanging out with us," Raye joked.
"And you passed, so yay you," Ruby finished, giggling slightly.
Judith mock groaned, before looking at her wall clock. "Alright, get out of here you two, and don't forget to give me a text once you get down to Lima."
"Will do, Judith," Raye nodded, shaking her hand before moving out of the way so that his sister could engulf the older woman in another tight hug.
"We're gonna miss, you, Judy," Ruby mumbled. "Me especially since I'll have to live with just Raye from now on without being able to go to you to vent about his stupidity."
"Hey…!" Raye protested as the other two laughed.
With one final goodbye, the twins left Judith's office and made their way back to Raye's car. Looking back up at the building, they saw Judith waving sadly at them from her office where she had opened the window.
"Drive safely!" she called down to them.
Waving back, Raye and Ruby got into the car and, after squeezing his sister's hand briefly, Raye started the engine and drove off in the direction of Lima, Ohio, leaving behind the city of Los Angeles behind them.