Chapter 4 - The Samples Had Been Collected Like Evidence
Cole returned to his mother's house without Lena.
Not because Lena trusted Meredith.
Because she wanted Cole to finally enter a confrontation without using her as the reason.
Arthur went with him.
Meredith had cleaned the dining room.
That disturbed Cole.
Yesterday's garbage was gone.
So were Ethan's crushed present and the manila envelope.
The table had been reset with flowers.
As though humiliation could be vacuumed.
“Where did you get Ethan's DNA?”
Meredith did not invite them to sit.
“I had sufficient samples.”
“From where?”
“You're making this sound sinister.”
“It was my five-year-old son's DNA.”
She folded her arms.
“You leave cups and straws everywhere when you're here.”
Cole stared.
Arthur's expression hardened.
“You used discarded biological material?”
“I paid a laboratory to answer a family question.”
“Without parental consent?”
“I am his grandmother.”
“That is not the same thing.”
Meredith dismissed him with a look.
Cole continued.
“My sample?”
“A toothbrush from the guest bathroom.”
His stomach turned.
“And Dad?”
Meredith hesitated.
There.
Cole saw it.
“What did you use?”
“His shaving brush.”
Arthur shook his head.
“A compromised historical sample could complicate interpretation.”
“The lab obtained usable DNA.”
“You don't know that without reviewing the methodology.”
“I reviewed it.”
Cole stared at his mother.
She sounded practiced.
“You've had the report how long?”
Meredith did not answer.
“Mom.”
“Three weeks.”
The birthday had been scheduled for six.
She had known for twenty-one days that the report strongly supported Cole as Ethan's biological father.
Twenty-one days to cancel her plan.
Twenty-one days to reconsider.
Twenty-one days to speak privately.
Instead, she had wrapped garbage.
Cole felt suddenly nauseated.
“You knew Ethan was mine.”
Meredith's chin lifted.
“The report raised questions.”
“No. Arthur read it.”
“I don't trust Arthur's interpretation.”
Arthur almost smiled.
“Then why bring the report to a room where you knew I would be?”
Meredith had no answer.
Cole moved closer.
“You wanted somebody to read it.”
She looked away.
That was unexpected.
Cole stopped.
“Why?”
Meredith walked toward the fireplace.
“Your father spent his whole life obsessed with legacy.”
“Dad adored Ethan.”
“He died before Ethan was born.”
Cole frowned.
David had died when Lena was pregnant.
Eight weeks before they learned they were having a boy.
Meredith looked at the photograph on the mantel.
“Your father believed certain things about family.”
“What things?”
“You wouldn't understand.”
“Try me.”
Meredith's jaw tightened.
“The Mercer name mattered to him.”
Arthur's face changed subtly.
Cole noticed.
“Arthur?”
The retired physician removed his glasses.
“David said many things about family over the years.”
Meredith turned sharply.
“Don't.”
Cole looked between them.
“What does that mean?”
Arthur remained careful.
“It means I don't remember David speaking about blood the way your mother is describing.”
Meredith became visibly angry.
“You were his friend, not his wife.”
“True.”
Arthur put his glasses back on.
“But he once told me something very specific.”
Meredith stepped toward him.
“Arthur.”
Cole stared.
“What?”
Arthur looked at Cole.
“Your father once said the bravest decision he ever made had nothing to do with his career.”
Meredith's face whitened.
Cole felt the room tilt.
“What decision?”
Arthur hesitated.
Then shook his head.
“I don't know enough to answer responsibly.”
Cole turned back toward his mother.
Meredith had already begun walking away.
“Mom.”
She stopped at the doorway.
Cole's voice changed.
“I'm repeating the test.”
Meredith turned.
“Don't.”
That single word carried more fear than anything she had said since the birthday.
May you like
Cole finally understood that confirming Ethan's paternity was not what frightened her.
Confirming his own was.
