AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I had no idea what to do about any of this. I never expected for a mother to suddenly appear in my life, especially during this period of it. I had just discovered I no longer had to be on the run from dangerous criminals that wanted my head on a silver platter. Plus, I was pregnant and now fake married. Having someone show up all of a sudden in the middle of that was too much.
“It’s hard to know. I don’t think she is lying. I think her story is too intricate to be a lie. There are too many details that she gave that we could verify, so it does her no good to lie about it. That doesn’t mean you are her daughter that she had to say goodbye to. She could easily be mistaken. It happens a lot. You read the papers or see on the news parents discovering that someone they thought was their child wasn’t.”
“I don’t think she’s lying either. After hearing her story, that’s part of the reason why I figured we should stay. Even if I don’t believe she is my mother, she is still a human being, and the hurt was very much real to her. I didn't want to be rude and leave her sitting there all alone with that pain.”
She wasn’t my mother; she couldn’t be. That couldn’t be my story. That my father was a drug dealer, a very big one from the sounds of things, that left my mother to rot in prison to save himself from getting more time. That he overdosed while in prison, which I still didn't understand how that was possible. And my own mother gave birth to me in some jailhouse infirmary because she refused to open her mouth against a guy that didn’t love her. The problem was, it sounded exactly like so many other stories I had heard from the other foster kids. When I was around Zoey’s age, I used to get teased so horribly because all the older foster kids told me my mother was probably some drug addict. That she never wanted me, and she was never coming to get me. I had always refused to believe it, and at that age I wasn’t shy to tell people that she would come back for me. I used to make up ridiculous stories about how I must have been kidnapped or she was a spy. Anything that would allow me to have even a glimmer of hope.
Despite the fact that I didn’t believe she was my mother, she was clearly a mother in search of her child. She didn't need me making her pain worse by leaving her sitting there all alone.
“I agree, but I also think it’s going to be difficult for her to see that she isn’t your mother. We also have to consider that maybe she is telling the truth. You don’t know anything about your biological parents; there is a chance she truly is your biological mom.” I could hear the hesitation within his voice. He understood that this would be a difficult topic for me, but the odds of my own mother finding me after twenty-five years, all from some dumb luck with a photo on Facebook. I mean the odds had to be astronomical for that.
“There’s no way. She can’t possibly know that I am her biological daughter from a feeling that she got from a photograph.”
He pressed a kiss to the side of my head as he spoke, “You haven’t discovered this yet, but you will once this little one comes into the world. What she said about having a special feeling when you see your child, she was right. I could pick Zoey out of a crowd of lookalikes as if she was the only one in the room. You feel something, and it’s unlike anything you have ever felt before. It’s the same as when a parent knows something is wrong with their child. It’s instinctual and rooted deep inside your very soul. It might seem crazy to you, but I promise you once this baby is born you will understand that feeling completely.”
“That sounds terrifying.” I couldn’t imagine being connected to someone so deeply that you just know them or know when something was wrong. If that was true, then how do parents survive when their child goes missing? How do they survive the death of their child? I wasn’t certain I wanted that level of connection with someone.
“Parenthood is terrifying, but also deeply rewarding and fills you with the most joy you will ever feel. I’m not saying Hellen is your mother; chances are she isn’t. I am simply saying that what she feels when she looks at you could be real.”
“So, what, I’m supposed to trust some stranger’s feelings? I can’t just play along.” It wouldn’t be fair to Hellen for me to pretend to be her daughter. Her actual daughter might be out there, and maybe she was waiting for her mother to show. Hell, maybe she was looking for her.
“I’m not saying that. I would never say that. I will reach out to Lucas and let him know what is going on and he can look into her story. However, it might be true, which I think it is, but that doesn’t mean you are or are not her daughter. We need irrefutable proof one way or the other. I think the best course of action would be to see if Hellen would be willing to do a DNA test. We can utilize a private lab in another city and have them put a rush on it. Then we will know for certainty one way or the other.”
He was right. A DNA test would be the perfect way to resolve this. I just didn't know how I felt about seeing her again. About having her staying in town while we waited for the results. I didn’t want to get attached to her. I didn’t want to allow myself to get used to seeing her around town only for the results to come back that she wasn’t my mother. Even though I didn’t believe she was, there was that small part of me that was hoping she was. My inner child that had been so desperate for a parent to save me.
“I guess that’s the best thing we can do. You can’t argue with DNA, and then we will all finally know.”
“And if she is your mother?” he hesitantly asked.
“I can’t think about that right now.”
That was not a thought that I could allow myself to entertain. I had no idea what would happen if that was the case. I had no idea what I would feel or what I would want to do. I couldn’t handle that right now. I had enough going on; I didn’t need this tossed into the mix. There was no point in even thinking about it because the odds were not in my favor. It would be best to keep an objective mind and not linger on the what ifs.
“And that is perfectly fine. I’ll call a lab and get the test set up and then we can go from there,” he said, as he wrapped his arms tighter around me.
I curled into his chest more and just enjoyed the feel of his arms around me and the heat of the water. Tomorrow we could worry about everything else that had to be done.
Charlie
“Knock,knock.”Thesoundof Lucas’ voice had my head snapping up from the mountain of paperwork that I was working my way through.
“Town’s starting to grow on you, eh?” I said with a smirk as I sat back. I knew Lucas had still been in town. He was enjoying the time he was getting to spend with Zoey. I also suspected he wanted to hang around for a few days to make sure that no one came for Maya now that she was removed from the program.
“It’s a nice town. I gotta get back to work in a couple of days. Thought I’d come by and see if you wanted to grab some lunch.”
“I’m good right now. I’m just waiting for when Maya gets back.”
“Where is the radiating beauty?” he asked as he went and took the chair across from me.
“She is on her way to grab lunch with a woman claiming to be her mother.”
“I’m sorry what?” Lucas asked, completely shocked.
“That’s something I wanted to talk to you about. Yesterday, Hellen Cabot, came in here and claimed that Maya is her daughter. She knew about her birthmark on her arm and what her legal name was.”
“And you took her for her word over that?”
“Of course not. We both told her she was mistaken, but she was adamant. Apparently, she had been looking for her daughter that she had to give up for the past seven years, when the child would be eighteen. She just happened to see a photo that someone local posted on their Facebook page with Maya and me in the background. She said she just knew that was her daughter. We ended up meeting for dinner, and she told us her story. Maya is meeting with her today to see if she would be willing to do a DNA test.”
