May 11, 1865.

The American Civil War had ended, the states of both North and South had be united as one whole nation under God and slaves had finally been freed. Though many lives were lost in this war and for some who had survived would be going home to be reunited with their families who had been praying for their safe return. But then there were those who had survived but they didn't have anything to go back to. One of which was Confederate solider Homer Jay Simpson.

He was twenty years old, in perfect health but had absolutely nothing to return to. No home, no family, and no friends. His mother had died when he was just a child and his father had died of a heart attack while he was away at war. He and his father Abraham "Abe" Simpson were never real close. He was always very rough with him and he had been prepping Homer for war ever since he was five. He decided to go back to the old farmhouse where he had grown up in to see if his father had left anything for him.

Unfortunately the farm house where he had been destroyed by a tree that had fallen during a storm. He searched the remains of the house for anything valuable like money or stuff he could sell but he found nothing of value though he wasn't surprised, they were always as poor as dirt. After failing to find something useful or valuable he went to the local cemetery to pay respects to his father's grave. He and Abe didn't have the best relationship but he was still his father.

"Sorry Dad but we lost." He told the tombstone that bore his father's name. "But it doesn't really matter to me. I never wanted to join the army anyway but you forced me into it."

He ran a hand through his thick brown hair, stood by the grace for a few more minutes, then went to the church to pray. The priest who worked there recognized him as Abe's son and gave him a letter.

"Before your father died he told me to give this to you, should you return from the war alive." The priest said handing Homer an envelope.

Homer opened the envelope, unfolded the letter inside, and read the message written inside.

"Dear Homer,

If you're reading this then that means I'm dead and you survived the War.

Good thing I'm dead because if I wasn't I would have owed Jasper Beardly fifty dollars.

We made a bet over if you would live or not."

"Oh Dad." Homer huffed.

"Anyway I have somethings that I need to confess to you.

Number one I know that I wasn't the best father, granted you weren't the best son but I know that I was really hard on you and acted like I hated you."

"No kidding." Homer muttered.

"But the reason I was so hard on you was because I wanted you to be tough and hopefully you are. I know I've never said it but I love you son and I'm proud that you made it back.

Now for confession number 2. You have a half brother."

"Huh?!" Homer said confused.

"Twenty-one years ago before I married your mother I had a brief fling with a prostitute and I knocked her up in the process. She had a son which she gave up for adoption but I never saw him again.

I later found out that his name is Herbert Powell and that he also fought in the war. The Confederate side, thank God. No Union soldier could ever come from my loins.

So those are my confessions. Hope that you do better in life than I did.

Sign, Dad."

Homer didn't know what to think. He had a brother, he couldn't believe it. He had an older brother and he spent twenty years never knowing about him. He wondered why his father never told him about him sooner. Then again his parents were always fighting so he figured that if his mother knew that his father had cheated on her then she would have left him. Homer then realized that maybe he actually had a family.

It wasn't hard to find a record on Herbert Powell, he just told his former Lieutenant that Herbert was his brother and he wanted to know if he was okay. He found out that he was one of the soldiers who had been given the medal of honor. Or rather he would have been given the medal of honor if he had lived. Apparently he was shot and killed in battle.

"I'm sorry for your loss." The Lieutenant said. "If it's any consolation he died a hero."

Homer sighed in disappointment. He knew that it was too good to be true. Of course his brother would be dead which meant he didn't have anybody now. Still he was curious about his brother. What did he look like? What was his personality like? Did he have a family?

"Do you have a picture of him?"

The Lieutenant handed him somethings that had belonged to Herbert which included some letters and photograph of himself. Homer was surprised by how much he and Herbert resembled each other. He was a little slimmer than he was but he had the same chestnut brown hair, same black eyes, same face. They could have been twins.

"So will you be delivering the news to his fiance?" The Lieutenant asked.

"Fiance?"

"Yes Herb was engaged. Didn't you know?"

"Not really, we weren't all that close."

"Well everything you need to know is in those letters."

Reading the letters, Homer learned that Herb lived in Southern Springfield and was supposed to marry Marjorie Bouvier, who's father Clancy Bouvier was a land owner and she was due to inherit that land once she and Herb were married meaning Herb would have been rich for life.

"Am I to assume that you'll tell Miss Bouvier the awful news?" The Lieutenant asked.

"I guess so. Why not?"

"Good saves me one less family to upset. Oh and uh by the way you might wanna keep your face covered when you tell them the news."

"Why?"

"Well you look so much like Herb, everybody in Southern Springfield might think that you are Herb."

At that moment an idea went off in his head. He did look like Herb and anyone who didn't know him in Southern Springfield would think that he was Herb. Maybe, just maybe he could pass himself off as Herbert Powell, marry his fiance, and get rich off the land she would inherit. No, no that was sick and twisted he just couldn't marry his brother's fiance and steal what was rightfully his. So he thought of another idea, he would pass himself off as Herbert Powell, live at his place until he got a job and made enough money to live, skip town, and leave behind a note explaining everything. That plan didn't sound any better but he was desperate. He needed money and he needed a roof over his head so he decided that he would feel bad about it later.

With that decided he asked the Lieutenant for directions to Southern Springfield and was on his way.