David looked toward the sleeping baby.
“That if anything happened to her, I would protect her daughter.”
My mouth went dry.
“Her daughter?”
He nodded.
“Grace.”
I shook my head violently.
“Then why does she have my DNA?”
The doctor answered.
“Because your sister was carrying your embryo.”
Silence.
Absolute silence.
I couldn’t breathe.
Years earlier, before my third son was born, Sarah had struggled with infertility.
She had asked me for help.
I remembered the conversations.
The tears.
The hospital visits.
The doctors discussing fertility treatment.
But there had been one thing David had never told me.
My sister had secretly used an embryo created from my egg.
An embryo that had been frozen after my fertility treatment.
An embryo I had forgotten about.
An embryo that contained my DNA.
Sarah had carried it.
She had given birth to Grace.
And then she had died.
I stared at David.
“You knew.”
“I found out after Sarah died.”
“And you hid my daughter from me for seventeen years?”
His face collapsed.
“Because Sarah made me promise.”
“She was my sister!”
“I know.”
“You should have told me!”
“I wanted to.”
“Then why didn’t you?”
David looked down.
“Because your father threatened to take Grace away from me.”
I froze.
“My father?”
He nodded.
“Your father knew the truth. He told me that if you discovered Grace was genetically yours, you’d try to take custody. He said he would expose everything.”
“Everything?”
David’s eyes met mine.
“There was another secret.”
He reached into the folder.
And this time, when he pulled out the final document, my blood ran cold.
It was a letter.
Written in Sarah’s handwriting.
And at the bottom were six words that changed everything.
Emily, Grace is not your only child.
I read the sentence again.
And again.
Then I looked toward the maternity ward.
Grace opened her gray eyes.
She looked directly at me through the glass.
And for the first time in seventeen years, I understood something terrifying.
My daughter hadn’t come back into my life by accident.
Someone had brought her to me.
And whoever had done it wanted me to discover the truth.
Part 3 — Grace
Part 3 — Grace
I couldn’t speak.
The letter trembled between my fingers.
“Not my only child?”
David reached for my hand.
I pulled away.
“Don’t touch me.”
He stopped.
I looked at the doctor.
“Did you know about this?”
He shook his head.
“I only know what was brought to me this morning.”
“Who brought Grace here?”
Neither of them answered.
That was when I heard footsteps in the hallway.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Someone stopped outside the office.
The door opened.
An elderly woman stood there.
My mother.
She looked at me.
Then at David.
Then at the letter in my hand.
Her face went completely white.
“You’re not supposed to have that.”
My heart stopped.
“Mom?”
She closed the door behind her.
For a moment, she looked like she had aged twenty years.
I held up the letter.
“What does this mean?”
She sat down.
“I hoped you’d never find out.”
“That’s what everyone keeps saying.”
My voice cracked.
“Everyone knew except me.”
She began to cry.
“Sarah wanted you protected.”
“From what?”
“From the truth.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Apparently the truth has been protecting me for seventeen years.”
My mother looked at David.
“You promised.”
David nodded.
“I kept my promise.”
“Then why is she here?”
He looked at me.
“Because I couldn’t keep it anymore.”
My mother covered her face.
I waited.
Finally, she whispered,
“Grace isn’t the only child Sarah carried.”
The room became silent.
“What?”
My mother looked at me.
“There were two embryos.”
I stared at her.
“Twins?”
She nodded.
“Your embryos.”
My hand went to my mouth.
“Where is the other baby?”
My mother began sobbing.
“We don’t know.”
I felt something inside me break.
“What do you mean you don’t know?”
Sarah had carried twins.
Two children created from my DNA.
One had survived.
