Nyla's mother Ayana led them into the house and informed them that she had been living with her youngest son since her second husband died but that she bounced back and forth between her children's homes to help with the chores. Settling into a chair by the fire, she gestured for the rest of them to sit down as well.
Nyla looked at the two of us in a new light now that she knew that she and Al were related by blood. Finding long-lost family members had been about the last thing I had expected going into this.
I tried to gauge Al's reaction but he still seemed shell-shocked. Hopefully, he would get the answers he was seeking without suffering a complete mental breakdown. Right now things were pretty up in the air.
