A weak looking house sat on the end of a street called Novera Drive, which contained a family of six. The Regg family. Their problem was poverty. But, even though they weren't proud of their house or their lives, they still tried to find a way to make it work. "Jordan, please find your textbook, we're starting your lesson soon!" shouted the mother.

        “I’m coming!” yelled Jordan, as he rushed out of a room, carrying his textbook. The mother sat in a chair, just waiting.

            Ding Dong!

            The mother got up from her chair and went to get the door. When she opened it, the youngest child, Jamie, ran to greet his father, who was on the other side of the door. “Hi, daddy!”

            “Hello, Jamie.”

            “James, did you find a job?” asked the mother.

            “Afraid not, Jennifer. No one was willing to give me a job. I asked in restaurants, stores, car shops, and even some engineering companies.”

            He came in and hung his jacket.

            “But how will we pay our bills? Our friends can’t keep lending us money,” worried the mother, as she sat down to resume the children’s lesson.

            “We’ll have to find some other way. How about you find a job and I teach the kids. Or, you can try to find a job as a teacher and we can send our kids to school.”

            “We won’t be able to afford school!” the mother argued.  

            Just as they started to argue about what to do with the kids, the doorbell rang again. Ding Dong!

The father walked towards the door, and slowly opened it. “Hello, Mr. Regg, I’ve got some mail for you here!”

            “Thank you.”

            The parents closed the door and the dad started opening the letter. “What is it, daddy?” asked Jamie.

            “Our rent.” But then, there was something else. A letter. A letter that was folded nicely and from the Court.

            “What’s this?” the mother took the letter from the father’s hand.

            “Open it!” shouted Jenna.

            The mother unfolded the letter and this is what she found:

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Regg,

I hope you two are having a good day. My name is Mr. Stewart. I work with the Court. I recently heard that your great cousin, Harold, has passed away. I am very sorry. However, since you two are family, and you are located the nearest to him, you have inherited his money. One million dollars to be precise! I know you must be excited. Come to the nearest court, and we’ll get your money situated. Have a nice day.

Congratulations,

Mr. Stewart

 

             The mother stared at the letter in awe. The rest of the family’s faces were in awe. The father’s face looked like it had exploded.

            “We got….one million….dollars,” Jordan rephrased, trying to make sure.

            “That’s what the letter says,” replied the mother, in shock.

            “But how can this be?” asked Jessica, one of the middle-aged children.

            “Yeah, how can that be? I don’t have a great cousin Harold. Do you?” She looked toward the father.

            The father shook his head, while keeping his reaction. “Let’s go...get our...money.”

            “Let’s first visit our genealogist,” said the mother. They all ran out the door and climbed in their old truck, with the dad still staring at the white walls with his explosive-looking face.

            “James! Hurry up!”

            “Wait, what’s a genegist?” Jenna asked as the father started driving towards Mrs. Blanchard’s office.

            “Genealogist,” the mother corrected. “It’s a person who keeps track of your family history and records.

                                               ***

            We’re here!” said the mother. Everyone climbed out. The father opened the door for everyone, and they all hurried into the office, the mother leading everyone, and the father tagging along from the back. They approached Mrs. Blanchard sitting in her desk, rummaging through some files.

            “Good evening, Mrs. Blanchard,” said the mother, kind of impatient.

            Mrs. Blanchard looked up from her work. “Oh hi, you must be the Reggs. I heard about the inheritance you received from your great cousin Harold.” She pointed at Jennifer.

            “Yeah, about that. I don’t have a great cousin Harold.”

            “What? That’s preposterous. Off course you do. We’ve confirmed it. Now, you guys better be heading along to go get your money. The court is going to close in an hour.” With that, she looked back down at her work.

            James looked at Jennifer, waiting for her to leave. The kids did the same thing. But, she didn’t seem to want to leave.

            “Listen, Mrs. Blanchard, I’ve never heard of a great cousin of mine named Harold. I think you guys have got it wrong.”

            Mrs. Blanchard looked up again. “Well, your grandfather had a son named Harold.”

            “Really?” Mrs. Blanchard nodded. Jennifer sighed, “Well, okay.”

           

            The Reggs were in their rusty, old truck, driving to the nearest Court, which was enough for their truck to handle. However, the truck did screech one time or the other.

              “Mommy, does this mean that we can buy a TV and pizza and dresses?” asked Jenna.

            “How about a video game console?” asked Jordan.

            “Do we get to go to school?” asked Jessica.

            “How about a Lamborghini?” asked Jamie.

            “A barbie doll house,” said Jenna.

            “Fancy restaurants,” said Jessica.

            “A brand-new iPad,” said Jordan.

            “Toy cars,” said Jamie.

            “A computer,” said Jordan.

            One after the other, the kids all yelled out things they could buy using their money.

            “We’ll buy all of those things,” replied the father. The kids all yelled in excitement. The mother stayed silent.

            Pretty soon, they had arrived at the nearest Court, and had received their money. On the way home, they deposited their money in a bank account.

            When they arrived at their house, Jennifer was the first one to get out.

            “Hey, Jennifer, where are you going?” asked the father.

            “To get to the bottom of this.”

            “Oh, come on, Mother, the money’s ours. Stop worrying,” replied Jessica. But, she didn’t stick around to listen.

           

            “When are we going to use our money?” asked Jessica, when they got inside.

            “Well, we don’t have your mother’s approval. And, I hate to say it, but she could be right.” All the kids groaned. “And, I also need to try to find a job.”

            “A job? Why?” asked Jamie.

            “Our million dollars will run out pretty soon due to all our demands.”

            “What are deminds?” asked Jenna.

            “Demands. They’re something we want. Anyways, you guys stay here, while I go look for a job.”

           

            The kids played with at each other in the meantime, waiting for the time when they could use their money.”

            “I really wish we could use our money,” said Jessica.

            “Yeah,” agreed Jordan.

            The doorbell rang an hour and a half later. Jordan went to open it. In walked the father, looking ambitious.

            “Good news, kids, I’ve found a….” Just right then, Jennifer stepped out and said, “Hey, James, come in here. I think I’ve got a theory.”

            “What’s a thi-ry?” asked Jenna, completely clueless.

            Jennifer pulled the father inside and said, “Okay, so my grandfather, he left our family. I think he divorced my grandmother. Anyways, he started dating a woman named Amelia. Amelia Dunova. But, he never married her. And he died. I’m guessing she married someone else and had Harold.”

            The father looked furious. “What’ve you found that proves this?”

            “Oh, well, I got some records from another genealogist working with Mrs. Blanchard. I looked through it all, and there is no marriage license indicating that my grandfather married Amelia.”

            “Okay, but, wouldn’t you have already known that?”

            “No. My grandfather divorced my grandmother, and she never talked about him. But the important thing is, that the money isn’t ours. We have to return it,” the mother argued.

“What? No! Just because you didn’t find it in here, doesn’t mean your grandfather didn’t marry Amelia. There could be several explanations. The Court has concluded that we get the money, so we get the money!” And with that said, he stormed out of the room. Jennifer followed.

            “Mother, when are we going to use our money?” asked Jessica.

            “The money isn’t ours. I’ve proved it.”

            “But the Court said it was,” argued Jordan.

            “Well, they were wrong.”

            “Should we go back to the genegist to ask her?” asked Jamie.

            “That’s a good idea,” said Jessica.

            After a few moments of silence, and the faces from the children, the mother finally said, “Okay, we can go again.” They all climbed into the truck, with the father storming from behind, and drove to Mrs. Blanchard’s office again.

            When they arrived, Mrs. Blanchard was yet again at her desk, going through papers. The Regg family knocked on the door, seemingly starting her. “Oh! How are you, Reggs? I was just filling in some papers, making sure you got your money, and….”

            “The money’s not ours,” interrupted Jennifer.

            “What?” asked Mrs. Blanchard, confused. “Off course it is. We’ve confirmed it. No need to worry.”

            “Well, I’ve proved it. I’ve looked through several records and licenses and there is no confirmation that Amelia married my grandfather.”

            “Well, that’s because they married in secret. So, their marriage license would not be public. But, they did marry, and your grandfather is the father of Harold. So, the money is yours.”

            “Whattt?” asked Jennifer, surprised. “Really?” Mrs. Blanchard nodded. Jennifer turned her head around to face the family. They all nodded.

            “Now, if you don’t want the money then we can give it to someone else. Harold has a lot of relatives.”

            “Nooo!” shouted the father.

                                             ***

            A few years later……….

            The Regg family was outside their mansion, sipping cold drinks and swimming in their pool. Meanwhile, the sun was shining its brightest, and their maids were running around the house, cleaning.

The Regg family smiled, for this had been their one dream come true. The children went to school, they all lived in a mansion, and no one had to worry much about spending their money.

One day, Jennifer received a phone call from an engineer company wanting Jennifer for an interview. But before that, James had found a job at Apple.

.           “Jennifer! Apple has agreed to hire me!” exclaimed James.

            “Me too!” exclaimed Jennifer. They weren’t in poverty anymore, and their old house was given to someone else. Novera Drive wouldn’t house the Reggs anymore.

                                         The End.