Page 81 of Family Bonds- Kelsey & Van

“Kelsey remembers things about Barry,” he said.

“She saw one side of him most times. A funny side that joked around, but she didn’t see him much. The rest she knew through me or overhearing things.” Kyle stopped and tilted his head. “Do you want to know about your grandfather?”

“I’m getting there,” he said. “I opened the envelope.”

“Which one?” Kyle asked, grinning.

“You know what he did? Those numbered envelopes?”

“I do,” Kyle said. “Barry was concerned you were going to be resistant to things. He felt information in smaller doses was better. Considering it took you months to come to me, I think your grandfather called that one right.”

“It seems it,” he said.

“How many have you opened so far?” Kyle asked.

“Do you know what is in the envelopes?”

“Some things,” Kyle said. “And we’ll leave it at that. When you get to the end you’ll know more and why I asked this.”

He nodded. “He has pictures of me from birth until my graduation from the academy. Pictures of my mother from before I was born until a few years before she died.”

“And you want to know how he got those pictures?” Kyle asked.

“Do you know?”

“The ones before you were born, Lauren lived here. The ones after you were born and Lauren had moved away, he’s had people over the years look into you and your mother to make sure things were fine. That is where most of the pictures came from.”

“My mother had no idea?” he asked.

“I don’t believe so,” Kyle said. “The pictures of you though, those early ones. Your mother sent them to your grandfather.”

“She did?” he asked. “But I thought he cut her off. At least that is what I was told.”

“I can tell you what I know if you want,” Kyle said.

“I think maybe I need to hear some of it.”

“Your mother dropped out of college. Mind you, this was before I knew Barry. So what you’re hearing is what I’ve been told.”

“Understood,” he said. This was going to be one of those things he’d have to weigh.

“Barry didn’t care for your father.”

He snorted. “Not a shocker there.”

“Your mother was in love. They’d met at college and Adam was a little controlling.”

“More than a little,” he said quietly.

So far what he was hearing wasn’t much of a shock and didn’t feel as if it was bad information.

“Barry had said several times that he could have handled things differently than he did. He forbid your mother to continue to see Adam.”

“She would have been pissed. She could be stubborn.”

“That is my guess,” Kyle said. “They had more than one falling out over it. Adam and Barry had words multiple times. No reason to go into them. Adam convinced your mother that she’d be better off with him and they left when Adam graduated. They moved back out West where he was from.”

“My father’s family was hours away though from where I grew up,” he said.

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