Chapter 9 - When the Family Secret Entered the Real World
Milo's genetic counseling appointment took place at Children's Wisconsin.
Bernadette brought him.
Shana attended with approval from the caseworker and sat on the opposite side of the room.
Colby did not come.
The genetic counselor explained that Dean carried a variant associated with an inherited heart-rhythm disorder. It did not mean Milo had the condition, but testing was medically justified given his fainting episodes.
Milo listened quietly.
Then he asked, “Is Dean my real dad?”
Shana closed her eyes.
The counselor looked to Bernadette.
Bernadette answered.
“Dean helped you be born. Colby raised you as your dad.”
Milo thought about it.
“Those can both be true?”
“Yes.”
It was the simplest honest sentence anyone in the family had given him.
The test was ordered.
Outside the hospital, Shana cried in the parking structure.
Not loudly.
She leaned against her car and covered her face.
“I wanted to keep him from ever feeling different.”
Bernadette said, “So you taught him that the truth was dangerous.”
Shana lowered her hands.
“I know.”
The consequences spread beyond the family.
Hale Custom Millwork's board met to review Colby's company spending and his conduct with employees.
The controller documented prior complaints.
Two managers, learning Bernadette was finally asking, described years of explosive behavior.
Nothing criminal.
Nothing dramatic enough to force action on its own.
Together, it formed a pattern.
Colby was removed from day-to-day operations while the review continued.
He blamed Bernadette.
Then his attorney challenged the kinship placement, arguing that Bernadette was alienating Milo from both parents.
CPS did not immediately agree.
But the challenge mattered.
Bernadette was warned not to discuss the case with Milo beyond what therapists recommended.
One careless comment could be used against her.
That evening, Milo asked why his father was angry at her too.
Bernadette almost said, Because he needs someone to blame.
Instead she said, “That's an adult problem.”
For the first time in her life, Bernadette chose restraint over being right.
The next morning, Shana arrived at Bernadette's condo with the original fertility file.
“There is something in here Colby doesn't know I kept,” she said.
May you like
Bernadette looked at her.
Shana corrected herself.
