“I’ll try, but don’t get your hopes up. I remember very little from my childhood as well.”
Laughter bursts from my lips as I consider the group of misfits in this room. Parentless, raised by strangers, or conceived under horrible situations, we all found each other.
My entire life I’ve felt like the outsider hiding the shameful feelings that I couldn’t explain, but not anymore. In this room, with this group of individuals, we’re equals, sharing in the struggle life set before us and similar in our circumstances. It’s as if God brought us together to normalize our feelings and give us each other to lean on, confide in, and support in return.
She shrugs one shoulder. “You know, looking back on it, Dominick had a type.” Her gaze meets mine. “Mary was a very beautiful woman. And Dominick loved to break the beauty in all things.”
“My mom, from what I’ve read, was very broken.”
“I’m sorry for your loss, but as a mother speaking for another mother, I can say she would’ve been very proud of you, Rex.”
I swallow the knot that forms in my throat at hearing those words. “Thank you.”
Sadie’s soft cries come from the stroller. “I’ll get her.” Milena takes the baby and Raven pulls out a blanket and a bottle.
The door swings open. “Mrs. Slade and Mr. Carter, we have the results.”
Gia looks at me, her warm gray eyes offering a mix of anticipation and comfort.
“Rex?” Raven’s standing beside me. “Would it be all right if just you and I go back?”
Jonah’s eyebrows drop low. “Baby . . .?”
She looks at him. “Please, Jonah. If the results turn out the way we think they might, let us hear it together, alone”—her gaze swings to Gia—“if that’s okay with you.”
Gia wraps her arm around my waist and pushes up on her tiptoes, pressing a slow warm kiss to my jaw. “Of course.”
Jonah pushes back Raven’s long hair and dips down to place a kiss at the side of her neck. “We’ll be waiting. I love you.”
Raven nods and reaches out for my hand. I take it and we move from the room and follow the lab tech to a private one.
Once inside, he asks us to take a seat. Raven drops into a chair but doesn’t let go of my hand. Too antsy, I stay standing.
“After taking a look at both of your DNA profiles, it would seem that you two share a significant amount of genetic markers that would lead us to conclude you share one parent.”
My heart races and Raven’s grip on my hand tightens.
“So you’re saying . . .” I need to hear him say it, plain and simple.
“You’re half brother and sister.” His eyes go back and forth between us. “Although, it’s pretty obvious just from looking at you two that you share some dominant genes.” He smiles and hands us each a piece of paper. “Here’s a copy of the results. It’s 98.9%, which is admissible in court.”
Raven doesn’t look at the paper but lifts her chin to look up at me. She drops my hand and stands; her eyes glisten with tears. “Brother.”
“Guess so.” I smile and hook her around the back of the neck, pulling her in for a hug. “Sister.”
She giggles through her tears. “I thought Jonah already gave me everything, but here I am getting more.”
My chest swells with the warmth of her words, her love for her husband, a man who’s been there for me from the day I met him. And now we’re officially related. “Who would’ve thought the two of us coming from nothing would end up with more than our fair share?”
“Speaking of fair share”—she grins—“I’m signing over 50% of all Dominick’s assets to you.”
What the fuck? “Raven, no. I don’t want that—”
“Too bad.” She shakes her head. “You share his blood; you share his burden.”
“Keep it for Raven’s Nest.”
“We have enough to keep Raven’s Nest funded for the next thousand years. Now it’s your turn. Do your part to break his legacy and use his money to do it.”
Yeah, that’s what I’ll do. There’re group homes that are overflowing with kids who’re too old to be adopted, children who’ve been abused who need counseling, so much need and not enough people trying to eradicate it. I could use that money to help, do what I can to ensure that a child doesn’t suffer the way I did.
“Okay, I’ll do it.”
She smiles. “Great. Now let’s go tell that brother-in-law of yours that he’s finally getting the little brother he’s always wanted.”
We thank the lab tech and move back to the waiting room. Before opening the door, we take a collective breath.
Jonah, Milena, and Gia are all standing up, anxious for the results.
“Well?” Jonah’s eyes move back and forth between us.
My eyes move to Gia, the girl who dropped into my life, ripped me to shreds, and then put me back together to be better, stronger. “You were right.”