just felt like writing it down.
For the first 16 years of my life, I believed to have four cousins. My mother's sister has two daughters, and my father's brother has two sons - so I believed.
After those 16 years, my mother told me one evening there was a fifth one. Alcohol makes you talkative, I guess. She didn't tell me his name, just the following story.
When my uncle was about 20, he made his girlfriend pregnant, and left her the moment she told him. He never told anyone. Two decades later - I was one or two years old, so I don't remember, and my parents were still married - the product of that pregnacy showed up in front of our house, a young man, 18 or 19 years old, maybe 20. He had found out his father's name, and as my parent's last name was the same as my uncle's, he thought he'd find him there. He talked to my mother for a while, she listened and gave him the right adress. My father wasn't there, luckily, he would have kicked him out immediately - which is exactly what my uncle did when his illegitimate son showed up. Everyone said he only wanted money (even if he had wanted it, it would have been completely justified), and they were all furious about my mother helping him.
I don't know what ever happened to him. My mother doesn't know, and the rest of my family chose to deny his existence until today.
I thought about him a lot since then. I wish I could meet him, see what he's like, what happened to him after this whole incident. Sure, he's an illegitimate child and my entire paternal family pretends he doesn't exist, and I don't even know his name, but he's still my cousin, a close relative.
After those 16 years, my mother told me one evening there was a fifth one. Alcohol makes you talkative, I guess. She didn't tell me his name, just the following story.
When my uncle was about 20, he made his girlfriend pregnant, and left her the moment she told him. He never told anyone. Two decades later - I was one or two years old, so I don't remember, and my parents were still married - the product of that pregnacy showed up in front of our house, a young man, 18 or 19 years old, maybe 20. He had found out his father's name, and as my parent's last name was the same as my uncle's, he thought he'd find him there. He talked to my mother for a while, she listened and gave him the right adress. My father wasn't there, luckily, he would have kicked him out immediately - which is exactly what my uncle did when his illegitimate son showed up. Everyone said he only wanted money (even if he had wanted it, it would have been completely justified), and they were all furious about my mother helping him.
I don't know what ever happened to him. My mother doesn't know, and the rest of my family chose to deny his existence until today.
I thought about him a lot since then. I wish I could meet him, see what he's like, what happened to him after this whole incident. Sure, he's an illegitimate child and my entire paternal family pretends he doesn't exist, and I don't even know his name, but he's still my cousin, a close relative.