Chapter 8 - The Decision Shana Could No Longer Undo
Shana admitted it during her second CPS interview.
She had contacted Dean Mercer two years earlier.
Not romantically.
Not secretly at first.
Milo had developed recurrent migraines, and Shana wanted more complete family medical history than the donor profile contained.
The clinic facilitated one exchange.
Dean answered her questions.
That should have been the end.
Instead they kept occasional contact.
A Christmas photo.
A school update.
A message when Milo learned to ride a bike.
Shana never told Colby.
“I told myself it was medical,” she said to Bernadette afterward. “Then it became… I don't know. Gratitude, maybe.”
“Toward Dean?”
“Toward the person who made Milo possible.”
Bernadette understood why Colby felt betrayed.
She also understood why the feeling did not excuse what followed.
“Did Dean know Colby didn't know?”
“Eventually.”
“And he continued?”
“Yes.”
That was the second betrayal.
Not an affair.
Something emotionally messier.
Three adults had built separate definitions of family around one child without asking what secrecy would cost him.
Shana made the decision she had been avoiding.
She retained her own family-law attorney and moved out of the Brookfield house.
She told CPS she would not return to Colby while Milo's case remained open.
Then she called Bernadette.
“I want supervised visits with Milo when he's ready.”
“That isn't my decision.”
“I know.”
It was the first answer Shana had given that did not try to control the outcome.
The cost came quickly.
Colby froze their joint credit card.
The mortgage payment was due in eleven days.
Shana had been freelancing from home and had no income capable of carrying the house.
Her attorney explained that financial arrangements would take time and that abandoning the property permanently could complicate matters.
So Shana stayed with her sister while lawyers handled temporary expenses.
For once, there was no dramatic solution.
Just forms, bank statements, legal fees and a child who woke at three in the morning whenever a car door slammed outside.
Then Dean Mercer called the cardiologist again.
The genetic finding had been confirmed.
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Milo needed testing.
And because Colby was still Milo's legal father, the hospital needed both medical history and cooperation from the family.
