Chapter 4 - THE DNA RESULT NONE OF US EXPECTEDWe did the testing properly.
Not a drugstore kit.
Not a secret swab.
Court-admissible chain of custody.
Me.
Lily.
Daniel.
Ethan.
And, eventually, Margaret.
Why Margaret?
Because the preliminary result raised a strange possibility.
First result:
Daniel was not Lily’s biological father.
Expected.
Ethan was also excluded.
That was not expected.
Then the lab found something else.
Lily had a biological relationship to Margaret.
Not grandmother-level through Daniel.
Something different.
The genetic counselor reviewed the markers.
Then said:
“The most likely relationship is that Margaret is Lily’s biological great-aunt.”
Silence.
Margaret stared.
“What?”
The counselor continued.
That implied Lily’s biological father was likely from Margaret’s sibling line.
Her younger sister Caroline had one son we knew.
Ethan.
Excluded.
But Caroline had apparently had another child.
A son no one had told us about.
I looked at Daniel.
He looked just as shocked.
For once, I believed him.
Then Margaret whispered:
“That’s impossible.”
The counselor asked:
“Did your sister have another pregnancy?”
Margaret went white.
No answer.
May you like
There.
A family secret older than our marriage.
Related Stories
