Chapter 2
Rachel arrived twenty-six minutes later.
I counted every one.
None of us went to prom.
My dress suddenly felt ridiculous.
The silver shoes I'd spent weeks choosing pinched my feet while I sat on the living-room sofa beside Marcus.
We weren't touching anymore.
That hurt more than I expected.
Dad stood near the fireplace.
Mom sat in the armchair with her hands locked together.
Nobody knew where to look.
When headlights swept across the front window, Marcus stood immediately.
His mother entered without knocking.
She looked exactly like the photograph, only older.
Same dark hair, now streaked lightly with gray.
Same eyes Marcus had.
She saw Dad.
Stopped.
For one second, eighteen years disappeared from both their faces.
“David.”
Dad swallowed.
“Rachel.”
Marcus stepped between them.
“No.”
They looked at him.
“Don't do that.”
Rachel frowned.
“Do what?”
“Look at each other like this is some sad reunion.”
His voice cracked.
“This is my life.”
Rachel's eyes filled.
“I know.”
“Then tell me.”
She looked at me.
My stomach tightened.
“Am I his son?”
Rachel closed her eyes.
“I don't know.”
Marcus laughed once.
Bitter.
“You don't know?”
“I never tested.”
“Why?”
“Because I was afraid.”
He stepped back.
“Of what?”
Rachel sat slowly.
Dad remained standing.
Mom looked toward him, but I couldn't read her expression.
Rachel took a breath.
“When David and I broke up, I was angry.”
Dad's jaw tightened.
“You ended it.”
“You gave me a reason.”
Mom looked at him.
“What reason?”
Dad's face changed.
Rachel laughed bitterly.
“You never told her?”
“Rachel.”
“No.”
She looked at Mom.
“Ask your husband why we ended.”
Mom turned toward Dad.
He stared at the floor.
“David?”
Dad finally spoke.
“I kissed someone else.”
My stomach dropped again.
Mom went still.
“Who?”
Dad looked at her.
“You.”
Silence.
I felt like someone had opened the floor beneath us.
Mom whispered, “What?”
Dad's face filled with shame.
“The night we met at Christopher's party.”
Mom stood.
“You told me you were single.”
“I know.”
“You weren't?”
“No.”
Rachel wiped her eyes.
“That was why I left him.”
Mom stared at Dad as if thirty years of memories were rearranging themselves.
“You started our relationship by cheating on her with me?”
“It was one kiss.”
Rachel snapped.
“It was enough.”
Dad rubbed his face.
“I told you the next morning.”
“You told me because Christopher saw you.”
Mom stepped away from Dad.
He looked terrified.
Not about Marcus anymore.
About his marriage.
“Laura—”
“Don't.”
Her voice shook.
I had never heard Mom speak to him that way.
Marcus looked furious.
“Can somebody please remember why I'm here?”
Rachel immediately turned to him.
“You're right.”
She wiped her face.
“I left David in November.”
“When did you find out you were pregnant?”
“December.”
Marcus stared.
“And you didn't tell him.”
“No.”
“Why?”
Rachel's voice became quieter.
“Because Michael came back into my life.”
Marcus stiffened.
“My dad?”
“Yes.”
That word sounded important.
Rachel continued.
“Michael and I had dated before David. We had been separated almost a year.”
Dad looked at her sharply.
“You never told me that.”
“You didn't ask.”
Marcus asked, “Were you sleeping with both of them?”
Rachel flinched.
I did too.
“No.”
“Then why don't you know who my father is?”
Rachel's tears started again.
“Because Michael and I reconciled two weeks after David and I ended.”
Marcus stared.
“That timing doesn't make sense.”
“It does.”
Her voice cracked.
“I was with David near the end of October.”
She swallowed.
“Then Michael in November.”
Marcus covered his face.
“So either man could be my father.”
“Yes.”
I felt nauseous.
My mother sat down again.
“What did Michael think?”
Rachel looked ashamed.
“That Marcus was his.”
“Did you lie?”
“I told him the baby might not be.”
Marcus slowly lowered his hands.
“What?”
That surprised everyone.
Rachel continued.
“Michael knew.”
Marcus stared at her.
“All my life?”
“Yes.”
“And he raised me anyway.”
“Yes.”
“Did he ever ask for a DNA test?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Rachel smiled through tears.
“He said if the baby came and he loved you, genetics wouldn't change anything.”
Marcus started crying.
The anger disappeared from his face.
Just for a moment.
“My dad knows?”
“Yes.”
“Right now?”
“He knows there's a possibility.”
“Does he know I'm here?”
“No.”
Marcus took out his phone.
Rachel stood.
“Marcus.”
“I need him.”
“I understand.”
“No, you don't.”
He called Michael.
His father answered immediately.
“Hey, champ. How'd meeting the scary dad go?”
Marcus broke.
He couldn't speak.
Michael's voice changed.
“Marcus?”
Rachel reached for the phone.
Marcus shook his head.
“Dad.”
“I'm here.”
“I need you.”
“What's wrong?”
Marcus looked at me.
Then Dad.
“Do you know David Bennett?”
The line became quiet.
Michael exhaled slowly.
“Yes.”
Marcus closed his eyes.
“You knew?”
“I knew there was a chance.”
“How big?”
“I don't know.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
Michael's voice cracked.
“Because your mother and I agreed we'd tell you when you were old enough to decide whether you wanted to know.”
“I am seventeen!”
“I know.”
“You were waiting until when?”
“Eighteen.”
Marcus laughed bitterly.
“One year would've prevented me from dating my possible sister.”
The silence on the phone was horrible.
Michael whispered, “What?”
Marcus couldn't say it again.
I forced myself.
“My name is Emily Bennett.”
Michael inhaled sharply.
I continued.
“I'm David's daughter.”
“Oh God.”
His voice broke.
“Oh God.”
That was when everything became real again.
Rachel sat down.
Mom covered her mouth.
Dad turned toward the window.
Michael said, “Marcus, listen to me.”
“No.”
“You didn't know.”
“I kissed her.”
I started crying again.
“You didn't know.”
Michael repeated.
“I don't care.”
“You need to care.”
His voice became firm.
“You did nothing wrong.”
Marcus looked at me.
I could see disgust in his face.
Not toward me.
Toward himself.
That made it worse.
Michael continued.
“Do you hear me?”
Marcus whispered, “Yes.”
“Whatever the test says, nothing you did before tonight was wrong.”
I wanted to believe that too.
I wasn't there yet.
Dad finally turned around.
“We should arrange a DNA test immediately.”
Rachel nodded.
“Yes.”
Marcus wiped his eyes.
“How fast?”
Mom answered.
“There are private labs that can do expedited testing.”
I looked at her.
“How do you know?”
She gave a sad little smile.
“I've been searching since Rachel called.”
That was Mom.
Heartbroken and still organizing the emergency.
Dad asked Rachel quietly, “Why did you never tell me?”
Rachel looked at him.
“Because I hated you.”
He flinched.
“At first.”
She continued.
“Then Marcus was born and Michael loved him completely.”
“So you decided I didn't matter.”
“I decided biology didn't need to destroy a family.”
Dad looked toward me.
“And now?”
Rachel's eyes filled.
“Now biology may have done exactly that.”
I stood abruptly.
“No.”
Everyone looked at me.
My voice shook.
“Don't say that.”
Rachel frowned.
“Emily—”
“We didn't destroy anything.”
I pointed toward Marcus.
“We didn't know.”
He looked at me.
I forced myself to keep going.
“If we're related, then what happened before tonight ends here.”
My throat tightened.
“And we'll deal with it.”
Marcus stared at me.
“And if we're not?”
I had no answer.
Because something had already changed.
Even if a test told us we weren't siblings, I didn't know whether I could ever unsee this room.
Dad found an emergency DNA laboratory forty minutes away.
They agreed to take samples that night.
We drove separately.
Marcus went with Rachel.
I went with my parents.
Nobody spoke.
At the clinic, a technician swabbed Dad's cheek.
Then Marcus's.
I watched through glass.
The technician sealed both samples.
“Expedited results usually take twenty-four to forty-eight hours.”
Marcus looked at her.
“Can you make it faster?”
“We'll mark it urgent.”
Urgent.
As if urgency could undo seven months.
Outside the clinic, Michael arrived.
Marcus ran to him.
Michael wrapped both arms around him.
I had never met the man before.
He didn't look like Marcus.
Not much.
But Marcus buried his face against his chest like a little boy.
Michael whispered something I couldn't hear.
Then he looked at Dad.
The two men stared at each other.
Possible biological father.
Actual father.
My dad walked over.
Michael stiffened.
Dad held out his hand.
“Thank you for raising him.”
Michael looked at the hand.
Then at Dad.
“I didn't raise him for you.”
Dad lowered his hand.
“I know.”
Michael continued.
“He is my son regardless of what that laboratory says.”
Dad nodded.
“Yes.”
That answer seemed to surprise him.
Marcus looked between them.
Then he said something that made all of us go quiet.
“I don't want the test to tell me who my father is.”
Rachel frowned.
“Then why did we do it?”
Marcus wiped his face.
“I want it to tell me whether Emily is my sister.”
May you like
He looked at me.
“That's the only answer I need tonight.”
