I Had a Baby without You novel · Chapter 10 of 24

Chapter 10: Second Test

Nobody in the diner moved.

The envelope shook a little in Morton's hand, and I realized he was enjoying it.

"Open it, Roark," he said. "Or have it read to you. That's usually how it goes."

Roark took a slow step toward his uncle's voice.

"You ran a test on my daughter."

"On a child your waitress is using to bleed you."

Morton's smile never cracked.

"I didn't want you to be made a fool of in front of the board."

"Who gave you her DNA?"

"A lock of hair was left on a napkin last Friday. A courtesy of the staff."

Last Friday.

I thought of the napkin dispenser and a man in a gray coat standing at the counter, asking for coffee to go.

Rage came up my throat so fast it burned.

"Give me that," I said.

I crossed the floor and plucked the envelope out of his fingers.

The paper inside was thick and official, with a blue logo and a column of numbers.

*Probability of paternity: 0.00%.*

My knees went soft.

I held it out to Roark.

He took it and ran his thumb down the page.

"Morwen," he said. "Tell me."

"It's wrong."

"Tell me what it says."

"It says she isn't yours." My voice cracked. "It's wrong, Roark. She has your eyes. She has your hands. She's yours."

Poppy was pressing her face against my leg, silent.

I picked her up.

Roark's jaw worked.

He turned the page over in his hands.

Then he folded it very carefully and put it in his pocket.

"I don't believe this," he said.

"The numbers don't lie," Morton said. "I'm sorry."

"Then we'll run another one. Today. Here."

"Roark."

"In front of the doctor of Morwen's choosing. With the sample taken in front of me." He faced Morton. "You can come."

Morton's eyes flicked once toward the door.

"If you insist on humiliating yourself."

"I do."

By noon, the doctor from the free clinic down the block had come.

She was a gray-haired woman in a puffy coat who had delivered half the neighborhood.

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