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There is a huge part of me that would rather protect her from whatever trauma she experienced before. She’s here and she’s happy and she’s safe, that’s good enough for me. Bringing back whatever happened to her will undoubtedly cause her pain. But then again, the pain and fear I saw last night were very real. It’s not as if she’s free of it, and we can’t just ignore her past.
“You said something last night,” I tell her softly. “You said ‘I can’t let them find you’. Does that ring any bells?”
She shakes her head, looking helpless.
“It could have been nothing,” Lukas says. “Sometimes nightmares are nonsense. And sometimes they are confused responses to trauma. Even without your memories, the past few days have been a lot.”
“Yeah,” she says softly, looking down. “I’m ashamed to admit that I keep forgetting why I’m here, why you are all here with me. You have your lives to get back to and I’m over here enjoying myself like I’m on some kind of fantasy vacation.” She eyes our various states of undress.
I chuckle and waggle my eyebrows. “Fantasy, eh?”
Luis speaks up for the first time. “You don’t need to worry about us, pretty girl. We all chose to be here, and we continue to choose to stay. We can come and go as we please, but right now, I’d rather be here with you.”
She doesn’t say anything to that, and I feel like she’s avoiding looking at Luis. I wonder what that’s about.
Micah chimes in with a nod. “Let’s worry about getting healthy, and then we can try to unravel the mystery.”
Her stomach answers with a rumble.
“It’s nearly 8:30, I’m surprised Bennet hasn’t come in with a whip and a funnel for your protein drink,” I joke.
Micah stays to help her get dressed and I run back to my cabin to put some clothes on for the day. It might be best if I move back up to the big house after all.
Everyone is standing around the dining room when I get back, staring at an envelope in Bennet’s hand.
“Is that what I think it is?”
Bennet nods. “Sure is. I wasn’t expecting it so soon, but they expedited the order, and this was delivered via courier a few minutes ago. I intended to open it between the three of us, but I didn’t want the rest of them to think I was keeping secrets.”
“Family style, I like it,” I say approvingly.
“What’s going on?” Asks Six, a worried look on her face.
I suppose there’s no time like the present to break the news. “Bennet, Luis, and I had a conversation yesterday. Long story short, we think that Bennet’s father might also be my biological father. And Luis’ too.”
Six gasps.
“You actually helped us put it together,” Bennet says. “The other day in the hospital when you noticed that I have green eyes. There were some other clues that we had suspicions about, but that moment kind of sealed it. So yesterday morning we sent off for a DNA test, and these are the results.”
As Bennet is about to open the envelope, Mr. and Mrs. Coolson walk in with trays of food, setting it out on the buffet. When we don’t immediately start filling our plates, they give us curious looks.
“Is everything alright?” Mrs. C asks, looking around at how we are all standing there in silence. Eyeing Bennet to make sure he’s okay with me sharing, I let my surrogate grandparents in on the news.
“Well, long story short, we have a sneaking suspicion that we might know who my father is.”
Mrs. C drops the tray she is holding. I think I see something akin to fear flash across her face, but she quickly covers it with apologies about how clumsy she is.
Everyone is still staring at the envelope.
The three of us all have a strong feeling about what the results in that envelope will say. A huge part of me still isn’t that concerned, no matter who he is, he has nothing to do with my life and is therefore inconsequential. But Bennet and Luis both seem to think there’s something more to this. What’s truly in that envelope is the beginning of a whole new mystery. For them, at least. But I’ll be here to help where I can.
“Does anyone want to do the honors? Drumroll?” Everyone else is predictably taking this a lot more seriously than I am. But again, I already know the answer. There’s no way that Jackson Adley isn’t my father or at least related to me in some way- the picture that Luis showed me sealed that fate.
Bennet opens the package and pulls out three smaller envelopes. He passes one to Luis, and one to me.
I rip it open and pull out the paper inside. My results: Confirmed. 25% DNA match suggests a 100% chance that Bennet and I are related by one parent. Same with Luis.
We’re brothers.
