The DNA Result
Chapter 05 - The DNA Result
Claire did not sleep.
By seven the next morning, she had called Alvarez six times.
At 9:14, the detective finally answered.
“We have preliminary results.”
Claire could hear her own heartbeat.
“Tell me.”
“The maternal match is conclusive.”
Claire sank onto the bottom stair.
“Conclusive?”
“Claire, Eli is your biological son.”
The phone slipped slightly against her ear.
For seven years, Claire had imagined this moment.
In her dreams, Noah ran toward her.
He remembered everything.
He called her Mommy.
They went home.
Reality was quieter.
Her missing son was alive.
But he was not three anymore.
He was ten.
His name was Eli.
He had memories Claire had not been part of.
Scars she could not see.
Years she could never get back.
Daniel sat beside her.
Claire moved away.
“He’s ours,” she whispered.
Daniel began crying.
Real tears.
Ugly, helpless tears.
Claire watched him.
Part of her wanted to hold him.
Another part wanted to ask how many years of their son's childhood had been stolen because Daniel had kept secrets.
By noon, Claire and Daniel were allowed to meet Eli at a child advocacy center.
Eli sat at a table drawing.
Owen waited at home with Claire’s sister.
Claire entered first.
Eli looked up.
Neither moved.
Alvarez stood near the door.
“You don’t have to call me Mom,” Claire said.
Eli’s eyes dropped to the paper.
“Okay.”
“You don’t have to call yourself Noah either.”
That made him look up.
“Okay.”
Claire sat across from him.
“But I need you to know something.”
He waited.
“I never stopped looking for you.”
His chin trembled.
Claire nearly reached for him.
She stopped herself.
Eli noticed.
Then, very slowly, he placed his hand on the table.
Palm up.
Claire placed hers over it.
His fingers closed around hers.
Daniel made a broken sound behind them.
Eli looked past Claire.
“Who’s that?”
Claire's throat tightened.
“Daniel.”
The boy studied him.
Daniel stepped forward.
“I’m your father.”
Eli pulled his hand away from Claire.
“No.”
Daniel froze.
Eli pushed back from the table.
“My father is dead.”
Claire looked at Alvarez.
The detective’s expression changed.
“Who told you that?” she asked.
Eli’s face hardened.
“My mother.”
“June?”
“Yes.”
Daniel whispered, “Who was June?”
Eli looked directly at him.
“June Carter.”
Daniel staggered backward.
Claire had never heard the name.
May you like
But Daniel clearly had.
And suddenly the DNA result was no longer the biggest revelation in the room.
