Travelling Vets - 7. TV Chapter 7

After a bit more discussions, the lawyer said he would inform Ms Brooks of the family connection, and that he would talk to us again soon, and I gave him my business card, so he could get in contact with me easily. Leaving the school, we went for a bit of a look around Liverpool, which is famous for being the home of the Beatles. We visit the British Music Museum, as well as the statue of the Beatles walking along the Liverpool Waterfront, plus the Titanic Memorial Statue, and the impressive Liverpool Town Hall.

When we arrived back at Julia’s home, I smiled as I wondered how she was going to react to the news that we are related. “Come in Great nephew,” she said to me as she opened the door, and Marcus roared with laughter, as I must have looked shocked that she already knew.

Once back in the sunroom, we all sat down, “So, Great Aunt Julia, how did you know? Did the lawyer contact you?” I asked, “No, I had my suspicions as soon as I first saw you, but I needed to do some research to confirm that you are Augustine’s oldest grandson, and I am so happy that you are here to take good care of my grandsons,” Julia replied smiling.

“We are family Aunty, so you know that I will. Now the lawyer has given us a brief rundown of the situation, regarding your son’s and daughter-in-law’s assets etc. I hear that they had a fairly flash-looking house to the north of Liverpool, which I will leave the lawyer to manage. As you know I have a very successful Veterinary practice back home, and my mother has a substantial property portfolio in the same region as where I am based, so I have no need for additional money to look after the boys.

What I would like to know, is if you would be interested in joining us in Western Australia, to live in a comfortable home and be able to see your grandsons regularly, as we do need to return home soon,” I said to my great aunt. “I will think about it and let you know Jexon, now tell me all about your family. I believe you have quite a few brothers and sisters,” Julia replied.

We spent the next half an hour getting to know one another and she was fascinated that our family lives and works in such a remote area with so much land. After lunch and some more talking, I left Marcus to keep Julia company, while I drove back to Liverpool to collect the boys from school. “Hello, where is Uncle Marcus?” Ryley asked me as the boys approached me, and wrapped me in a tight hug. “Hey boys, he is with your grandmother, keeping her company, while I collect you and take you back there,” I replied, a little surprised at how Ryley asked the question.

Once in the car with seatbelts on, I hesitated a moment then turned to face the boys. “We discovered some very interesting news today… While meeting with the lawyer, we learnt that your grandmother has an estranged, which means lost contact with, a first cousin of hers, who moved to Western Australia, which is where I am from,” I announced to the boys.

“So are we going to go and live with her, since Nana isn’t able to look after us?” Langley asked which made me smile a little. “No, because that lady passed away some years back. But she does have family… a daughter and five grandchildren,” I replied.

“So, are we going to live with them?” Ryley asked me, “Well, you are going to live with the oldest grandson, who is the same generation as you, but he is about 18 years older than you boys,” I responded, and I saw that the boys were not too happy about this news, and I decided to drive back to their grandmother's place before explaining any more to them, so I started the car and turned on some music before driving out of the school car park.

“Nanna, Uncle Jex has said that you have a first cousin in Australia and that her grandson will now be looking after us…” Langley said as soon as they entered the sunroom, where Julia and Marcus were sitting enjoying some afternoon tea. “That is correct, I am not fit enough to look after two growing boys, but I do know that my great nephew will be capable of looking after you both,” Julia replied smiling as she looked at me and I smiled back and winked.

“Did Uncle Jex tell you anything else about the 2^nd cousin of yours?” Marcus asked the boys and I could see they were thinking carefully before they answered no. “Did he tell you that your 2^nd cousin is married and that he is a veterinarian who lives and works in far northern Western Australia? That he used to be in the Army and that he has a commercial pilots licence?” Julia asked and once again the boys said no.

At that point, I retrieved my wallet, where I have a photograph of me and Marcus standing outside the Limestone Veterinary Clinic just out of Marble Bar, with my former Biplane in the background, and I am holding Spike and Marcus is holding Frilly, and I handed it to Marcus, who laughed, before handing it over to Julia to see.

“Oh my, that is not what I expected,” she stated, “that was in the very early stages of our business, and we still have that clinic, but we are based further north of there now,” I said, as Julia handed the photograph to the boys to look at, and we watched them as they carefully studied the photograph.

“Uncle Jex, you and Uncle Marcus work at the Zoo… are you both vets and what are you doing holding a porcupine and a lizard?” Langley asked, “Firstly boys, yes we are both vets, and we are married to each other, secondly in Australia, they are called Echidnas, and the lizard is a Frilled Neck Lizard, both of which I rescued and helped them to recover from their injuries, and afterwards they kept coming back to the clinic because they wanted to stay with me, and they now have a special enclosure at my home,” I responded.

“Wow… that is so awesome… wait a minute… Nanna, is Jexon my 2^nd cousin?” Ryley asked his grandmother. “Yes, as it happens, Jexon is the grandson to my late 1^st cousin, my Great nephew and your 2^nd Cousin, and yes you will be moving to Australia to live with him and his husband Marcus,” Julia replied. “But Nanna, we won’t get to see you anymore,” Langley stated sounding very upset.

“Yes you will, I have agreed to move to Australia with you all too, so we can see each other all the time. I have a niece that I am looking forward to meeting and getting to know, as well as two more great nephews and two great nieces,” Julia replied. “What your Nanna is saying, is that my Mum and my two younger brothers and two younger sisters also live in the area, where I live,” I explained.

That evening, Marcus and I returned to Backford as we still had work commitments back at Chester Zoo, and we would be travelling north to Birkenhead on Friday evenings, to spend each weekend with Julia and the boys. On our first weekend trip, at lunchtime on Sunday, we finished early as we had a special telephone call to make, with it being 8 pm in Western Australia.

“Hello Mum, Jex and Marcus here, is the whole family there?” I said when the call was answered, having sent a text message earlier, asking for the whole family to be gathered when we call. “We are all here bro, what is so important to have us all here together?” Rhodes replied, “We have some important news to tell you, but firstly Mum, we have someone here who wishes to speak to you,” I said and I nodded to Julia.

“Hello Amanda, this is your Aunt Julia Appleton speaking,” Julia said into the phone and there was a period of silence, “Oh my goodness, you sound just like my mother,” my Mum responded, “probably because she and I were first cousins, dear,” Julia replied. “What happened… how did this come about?” Mum said sounding a little shocked, “That my dear mother is a very long story, but the short version of it is, that while here in the UK, Marcus and I have been looking into adoption.

One evening on returning from a weekend on the Isle of Man, the Child Services Caseworker who we have been dealing with, appeared at our temporary home here in Chester, asking us to consider being foster parents for two boys, aged 11 and 9, who are brothers, that have lost both parents in a car accident the night before, as their grandmother is not able to take care of them full time.

Their grandmother is Julia, your Aunt, which means the boys we have been asked to take care of, are my 2^nd cousins, and we have been spending some time with them to help them cope with the loss of their parents. We have a funeral to attend tomorrow, which will be a bit tough for all of us, but for now, we just wanted to let you all know that we now have three newly discovered family members, who will be travelling back to Perth with us in about six weeks,” I replied.

“Aunt Amanda, my name is Ryley and I am 11 years old,” Ryley said, “And my name is Langley and I am 9 years old,” his younger brother added. “Hello boys, it is nice to meet you, we look forward to seeing you in person very soon,” Mum replied. “Hey Cousins, my name is Mary, I am Jexon’s oldest sister, and Rhodes is my twin, and we are 6 years younger than him,” Mary said which started the introductions for the rest of my siblings. “I will write down their names and ages later, and I have a few photos of the whole family I can show you later too,” I said to the two boys who nodded in understanding.