Cian surveyed his new domain, the antique shop, the original, that had been started in Moonlight Gorge. This is where it had all began where his adoptive aunt had run the shop after her father had mostly retired. This was the town that had a lot of history for the family. This was where his aunt, Shonda Walters now Hotchner had grown-up along with her best friend Jazzlyn Lincoln now Rossi.
The two had known each other ever since kindergarten and this is where it all began in this town.
That Walters Antiques still existed, even after so many hundreds of years really said something, especially since Moonlight Gorge was no great metropolis though according to his aunt it was a lot bigger than it had used to be. There were now more like 50,000 instead of the original 10,000 people and Moonlight Gorge had been built up and expanded.
Cian had arrived a few days ago, long enough to get himself a nice apartment and to let the family here in town know that he had arrived, but other than that he hadn't done much of anything, except get settled in. He had also been shopping for furniture too furnish his apartment and had waited for it to be delivered but that hadn't taken long.
Tonight, was the official welcome to Moonlight Gorge dinner at the Hotchner house and the Rossis in town would also be there as well. There had been Rossis and Hotchners here, in Moonlight Gorge ever since that fateful meeting between his Aunt Jazz and Uncle Dave and three years later his Aunt Shonda and Uncle Aaron.
Cian well knew that small towns like this often ceased to be because the jobs dried up for some reason, so that people had to go elsewhere for work in order to survive. That hadn't happened here and Cian was very glad for his adoptive aunt's sake.
In fact, branches of both the Rossis and the Hotchners still resided here in Moonlight Gorge, even if the ones that had started the family lines had long since moved on.
The family that still resided here in this town knew he was here and had already welcomed him warmly. He knew that his Aunt Shonda and Uncle Aaron would have told the family that lived here that he was coming to run the antique store since their daughter that had been the proprietor had had to move on.
Cian was looking forward to exploring the town since he heard so much about it from his aunts Shonda and Jazz. They still remembered there original home fondly and talked about their lives here sometimes.
The story of their beginnings here in this town had always fascinated Cian whenever they talked about being kids and the trouble they got into.
One subject that his two aunts never brought up was one Jorge Mason as he had at one time caused his Aunt Jazz quite a bit of heartache. He knew the whole story, but understood why none of the family liked to remember that particular period of their lives. His Uncle Aaron hadn't been around back then just Shonda, Jazz and Dave had been here in Moonlight Gorge having to deal with Jorge Mason's obsession with his Aunt.
He went up to the counter where the register was and where he had been told that there was a list of everything that was left in the shop after one of Shonda's numerous children had left for another city. The child in question had been Amelia Hotchner and she had run Walters Antiques for over 40 years and it had been way past time for her to move to a different location before people started to notice that she hadn't aged. Yes, lifespans were considerably longer in this century then they had used to be, but still, it was just pastime for Amelia to leave Moonlight Gorge behind. Amelia was technically, over 170, but she had moved here to take over her mother's antique store, at its original location, as none of the family that was in town had been interested in running the business. The Hotchners that were here in town had their own ideas of what they wanted to do with their lives and that didn't include running Walters Antiques.
Also, Cian was well aware that his Aunt Jazz's original bakery, was also still open and being run by one of hers and Uncle Dave's descendants, one that had inherited his aunt's bakery magic.
He intended to patronize that bakery quite frequently, because whenever he did whoever was running one of his Aunt Jazz's bakeries to wherever location he had moved to never charged him for whatever he got there. If there is one thing he had learned was that family didn't pay for whatever they got one at of the bakeries owned by the Rossi family. He'd probably be there about every day as he just loved sweets, especially his aunts just like everybody else in the family.
There were bakeries in a lot of cities now as it had been centuries since Dave and Jazz had moved on and they had lived in most cities in the US at one point in time. She always started up another bakery whenever she and his uncle moved, which is why they were now bakeries under different names scattered around the US.
Cian found the list exactly where Amelia said it would be and pursued it identifying everything. The list was quite detailed actually and described every item in the shop and also the prices for them. Amelia had left him in really good shape, because of all her hard work before she had left for newer pastures and he was grateful, as it saved him considerable trouble in getting everything sorted.
The list Amelia had left him was pages long but listed every item that had not been sold. This would definitely make it easier for Cian to take control of Walters Antiques at this location.
Finally, Cian noticed the time and that it was getting quite late and he had dinner plans at the house of the Hotchner family home. He had been invited to dinner as an official welcome to the town and he had accepted so he needed to head back to his apartment that he had rented in order to get ready.
Cian tucked the list away beneath the counter so it wouldn't get lost and headed for the front door of the shop making sure to lock it and set the alarm as he left.
~~~Cian and JJ~~~
"Welcome to Moonlight Gorge," Maverick greeted Cian at the front door of the Hotchner home.
"Thank you for your warm welcome," Cian answered, as he shook Maverick's hand.
Maverick was the grandson of Aaron and Shonda and had blonde hair instead of black or red or even brown, which some of their children and ended up with. That didn't mean he wasn't still a handsome man with blue eyes instead of brown or green but other than those slight differences he indeed looked like his adoptive aunt and uncle. He had the same chin as his Uncle Aaron and the same cheekbones of his Aunt Shonda. The shape of the eyes as well as the lips were also his uncle's, as was Maverick's height
"Come on in, dinner's nearly ready," Maverick said. "The rest of the guests should be here shortly. You're a few minutes early."
"I always try to be a few minutes early, as it's rude to arrive late," Cian said.
"I'm very happy to finally meet you, as I've heard a lot about you over centuries when my grandparents adopted you," Maverick said.
"There's nothing like the family grapevine," Cian agreed smiling.
"So why don't you tell me some of your history while we're waiting," Maverick requested. "You know how rumors are."
"Rumors can be exaggerated," Cian agreed easily knowing what Maverick meant. "Basically, I was living on the street after my mother died and I didn't want to end up in childcare, as I'd heard rumors about how bad some foster parents were, you see. I was only six when my mother passed away and Uncle Aaron and Aunt Shonda figured that she'd probably taken a bunch of sleeping pills and took too many on accident. They were just guessing though, as they figured she hadn't died on purpose, because she had me to look after. I just wandered into your grandmother's antique shop one day and she took one look at me and decided to take me in if it wouldn't bring attention to the family and so long as child services wasn't looking for me. That's my story in a nutshell."
"That's just the short version," Maverick said and Cian nodded.
"It is, but we could talk for days, if you really wanted to know my whole history and we really don't have time for that right now," Cian said. "I am ever so grateful that they did take me in and gave me a good childhood after my mother passed."
"They changed you into an immortal when you were...what?"
"35, I had to agree to it of course, as they'd never have forced me if that's not what I wanted," Cian said and Maverick nodded, as the man standing front of him did look slightly older than he did which meant and he had been changed a few years later then most immortals looked.
"No, that's not the way they operate, none of the family does," Maverick agreed. "Call me Rick by the way, as I almost never use my full name."
"Rick it is," Cian said. "I can admit, that it was nice to have a family, as I grew up in what was basically the slums of Detroit Michigan until your grandparents took me in. It's very likely I wouldn't have lived to see adulthood if not for Aunt Shonda and Uncle Aaron as the streets were and are a rough place."
"There was no way that grandmom and granddad wouldn't've helped you once they knew about your existence," Maverick told Cian.
"I know that now, but at the time I was amazed that they were willing to take on a strange kid, someone who just had wandered into Aunt Shonda's Antique Shop. They could easily have turned me over to child services or Aunt Shonda could've shooed me out of her store and forgotten about me afterwards."
"You'd never met anyone so nice and willing to help you, had you?" Maverick asked and Cian shook his head.
"Not at that point in my life I hadn't," Cian agreed soberly. "The people of my neighborhood were a rough crowd and would rather knife you in the back then help you, even a kid who was just trying to survive. After my mother was gone, I had no one, and I didn't want to end up in foster care, as I have already stated."
"I can't blame you there," Maverick agreed. "Anyway, welcome to Moonlight Gorge and we'll get to know each other better soon, but the others should be arriving in just a minute.
"Sounds good," Cian agreed. "I'm looking forward to getting to know the town. Really, this where it all started. This is where Aunt Jazz met Uncle Dave and were Jazz and Shonda grew up. This is where the whole Rossi and Hotchner families started. There's a lot of history in this town and I'm looking forward to discovering all the stories, and the history here."
"Well, you sure are enthusiastic," Maverick smiled, even as the doorbell rang.
"I like history and also stories based off of things that actually happened in real life," Cian shrugged. "I know I was adopted into the Hotchner family, even if that wasn't officially, since Aaron and Shonda wanted to keep my existence quiet, but I would like to discover everything I can about our family line. It's been a fascination of mine ever since I became an adult and was turned immortal. I have to do something with my immortality after all. It's a lot better to be into history than a lot of other things like becoming a criminal or starting to use drugs. My aunt and uncle would be very disappointed in me if I did either one, and I would never disappoint them for anything in the world. They took in a kid after all, one that had no one."
"True, not that drugs would affect us, considering what we are, but still I get your point," Maverick admitted smiling, even as he went to answer the door after the doorbell had rung.
~~~Cian and JJ~~~
Cian walked into Jazz's Stupendous Delights for the first time several weeks after he had moved to Moonlight Gorge. He had been looking forward to coming here to see in his aunts original bakery and getting himself a cup of the bakery's signature blend coffee as well as something to snack on.
"Can I help you?" asked the woman at the register not seeming to recognize him. The woman behind the register had the looks of the Rossi family with dark hair and eyes and a tall slender frame. She was a very pretty woman whose name tag said Aletha
"Yes, I'll take a dozen of those cookies the ones with chocolate chunks and nuts in it, a cinnamon roll to eat here," Cian said pointing. "Oh and also a large cup of your signature coffee, black."
"It'll be ready shortly," Aletha said. "Name for the order?"
"Cian Hotchner," Cian said giving Aletha a wink.
"Oh!" Aletha appeared startled, as she learned his last name. "You're the one that took over the antique shop," Aletha said quietly. "Rick, told me about you."
"That's right," Cian agreed. "I've been here only a few weeks and this is the first chance I've had to come here. I don't remember you from dinner that night soon after I arrived, so I'm assuming you weren't there."
"They'll be no charge," Aletha said quietly so the other customers didn't hear her and Cian nodded as that's what he expected. "No, I wasn't there, as I was working here at the bakery, but I'm sorry I missed it. Family doesn't ever pay for anything here."
"With as many sweets as our family eats that's probably a good thing or they'd all probably go broke," Cian said smiling.
"That's true," Aletha laughed before she input Cian order into the register just so the other customers wouldn't complain that he hadn't paid and demand the same treatment. "I hope we get to know each other better soon."
"We will now, that I've settled into my new apartment and got everything sorted with Walters Antiques," Cian promised before going to sit at one of only remaining free tables to wait for his order to be called.
~~~Cian and JJ~~~