The package came in the mail and Stefan left it on his bed unopened for days. There was too much going on, people to check up on and money to get and move around. It didn’t matter that Esme had returned, even if he hadn’t seen her. Illy was family, blood aside, and he had a good amount already saved for her schooling. Now he just needed more and his days were spent on various jobs. Any free minute he had was spent at the hospital, checking in on her, checking in on Rose. When he came home to check up on Nico, he went straight for the bills. The package, which he assumed was just something he randomly bought on eBay like he often did, was left for another day. And then another day. And then another day.
It was almost a week when he finally had time to open it. Illy was home, Rosalie was… well, getting better, and that did much to ease his mind. The necklace spilled out on this waiting hand first, brow furrowing as it was definitely something he hadn’t ordered. He fumbled for the letter, eyes honing in on the Russian, reminding him of family, of back home and of grandparents and a lot of other things that he didn’t dwell on too much. When he read the rest of it, he realized it wasn’t any small coincidence.
Rodnya. His fingers drifted over the word slightly as he ran over his mother’s family tree in his mind. He couldn’t recall any aunts or cousins but really, he’d been too young to notice any in the absence of his parents. And when his grandparents took him in he always assumed that was that. There was no one else. Knowing now that he had family out there, here, made him… He wasn’t sure how he felt about it. Family was everything to him but family these days had the last name Grigore. It was hard to wrap his head around another Chernyaev. Still, it wasn’t an unwelcome surprise. Just a very big surprise.
She’d been in Chicago, her letter said, and his hand gripped the necklace tightly for a second before he released it, not wanting to break it. He could connect the dots. Chicago had her sick, or worse. She was well enough to write at least but who knew what had happened. He wanted to ask Ileana if they had seen her but hell, he didn’t even know what she looked like.
One of his phones rang and he checked the back label to see who he was supposed to be answering as. As he ran through the plan one more time on the phone, his mind was turning with all this new information. If she was sick, she probably had been in the hospital. Even if there weren’t any bills on that front, she might need medication in the long run. She might be a stranger, but she was family, apparently. He knew better than to abandon blood. He was lucky that these cons were getting easier, and he knew – although he was hesitant to give it a name - that something about his tale was helping him along, getting people to do what he asked easier than before. But the bills kept coming, now on all fronts and that meant more money to be made, more jobs to be had. The little magic helping him along wasn’t going to work all the time, and who knew how long it would last.
Once he heard the click he closed his phone and stuffed it into his pocket. The letter and the necklace went into a drawer, not caring if anyone saw or read it, but not wanting the dog to play with it. He’d talk to Illy if he had a chance, but he’d make it a point to go to Esme’s and see this cousin of his. Later though. Right now, he had his work cut out for him.