When his mom called to say the results had returned, he almost said tear it up because I don’t want to know anymore.  However, his mom hung up before he could say it. So, he went to his parent’s home after work that day, dressed in long black pants and a long blue-sleeved shirt. His dad was out again.  

So, when he and his mom sat at the seven-piece mahogany table set in the grey and white bungalow, his mother slid the blue and white envelope with the results over to him. His mom, about an inch shorter than him, was dressed in a long blue and white floral skirt and a short blue-sleeved top. 

“How were you able to get a sample from Nigel?” he asked, looking down at the envelope, “you said you were not going to tell him about my doubts about Sam.”

“I didn’t tell him. I visited his parents and his mother, and I had a heart-to-heart, and she is the one who got the sample and signature for me,” she replied, glancing at the envelope.

The evening breeze from the ocean surrounding their island slowly flowed through the open windows. The still prevailing daylight was enough to brighten the house, so the lights were off. However, soon, darkness would descend, and the lights would go on, but for now, there was enough light for him to read the results.

“Really?” he asked.

“Yes, but don’t worry about that right now.” 

Okay,” he replied and opened the envelope.

Theo took a deep breath, slowly pulled out the black and white papers, and silently read the results. His hands shocked a little as he read.

Suddenly, he jumped out of the chair and exclaimed, “Theo, you are the father!”

His mother laughed, “I know you are.”

He pumped his fist several times in the air, saying, “Yes, yes, yes!” 

“Oh, Mom,” he said, laughing, “I didn’t realize how much this was destroying me inside. My heart knew the truth, but my head would not accept it for some reason. Thank God June doesn’t know about this.”

Theo took a deep breath and slowly let it out. Then, returning to the chair, he stared down at the paper.

“What does the next paper say,” his mom asked.

“Okay, let me see,” he replied, clearing his throat.

He put down the confirmation papers and began silently reading the other paper. A frown slowly formed on his forehead.

“Wait, why did they test Nigel and me, and according to the results, we are brothers?”

His mom took a deep breath, slowly letting it out and sinking into the chair.

“Mom,” he asked, “what is this? What’s going on here?”

She rested her hand on her forehead, and after removing it, she cleared her throat, then said, “It’s just as Cousin Mary said. Sam looks a little like Nigel because Nigel looks a little like your dad, and he does because your Dad is his father.”

“What? What do you mean? What are you talking about? You are not making any sense to me?” Theo said, his voice rising.

A look that he was familiar with covered his mother’s features, and he said, “I’m sorry for raising my voice, Mom, but what are you saying? I know Nigel’s parents; they live down the street from his apartment. Nigel is not adopted.”

“Alright. Alright,” she said, “I understand. Calm down.”

“Let me see,” he continued, “Nigel is a few months older than me, and I was born a few months after you were married.”

“If you’re thinking that your dad went outside of our marriage, then don’t because he didn’t,” she said.

“Then what? A good father to one son and a deadbeat to the other? No, that can’t be right. He always treats Nigel like a son, but not his son.”

“That’s because he doesn’t know he is his son,” his mom replied, pulling herself up to her full sitting position.

“What? Then how did Cousin Mary know?”

“Because Nigel’s biological grandmother and Cousin Mary are friends.”

“What? Nigel never told me he was adopted. Does he even know he’s adopted?”

“I don’t think so, but I could confirm some of what Cousin Mary and Nigel’s mother said because your father also told me the same things.”

She raised her hand to cut him off when Theo opened his mouth to speak.

“Let me explain,” she said.

“Okay. Okay,” Theo breathed out.

“Your dad had a high school sweetheart who cheated on him about three years after they left high school. She cheated with her boss’s son. So, they broke up, and he left his hometown to come and live here. He wanted a new start.”

Theo folded his arms across his chest.

“Shortly after he moved here, we met, and before we knew it, I was pregnant and saying my vows before a judge.”

She took a deep breath and continued.

“Through the grapevine, your father heard that his ex-girlfriend was pregnant. So, he contacted her to find out if he was the father, but she said no and explained that she was a surrogate for a couple because she was getting married to the boss’s son and needed the money for the wedding. Your dad did not believe her, though.”

Theo nodded.

“So, when the baby was born, he found out that the baby was given to the parents, and that was the end for him.”  

“What?” Theo asked.

“However,” his mom continued, “Cousin Mary’s friend never believed her granddaughter’s surrogacy story, and so she kept pressing her, but her granddaughter kept to her surrogacy story.”

Theo’s arms tighten across his chest.

“Then, when Cousin Mary came to visit us and celebrate your eleventh birthday, she met Nigel and immediately thought he resembled your dad and his mom. However, she only shared that thought with her friend, the grandmother, when she returned home.”

“She said nothing to you then?” Theo asked.

“No, because there was nothing for her to tell,” she replied, “but she had her suspicions.”

“What did she suspect?”

“That the child was your dad’s, and the granddaughter, for some reason, did not want to keep the baby, and she knew that your dad would never sign away his paternal rights, so she lied to him.” 

“This is crazy,” Theo said, unfolding his arms and shaking his head, “how crazy is it that all these years, my best friend was my big brother, and neither of us knew it?”

His mom nodded.

“Here I was, thinking I would lose my family, and I still might after I tell June how I found out that Nigel is my brother, but instead, I found my brother.”

His Mom stood up from the dining room chair and wrapped her arms around him, saying, “Stop worrying, son, because you will not lose your family. When you get home, wait until I talk with your father before you say anything to June about this.” 

 “Okay, Mom, I’ll do that,” Theo said, nodding.

Then, as if on cue, Theo and his mom heard the jingling of his dad’s keys at the front door. 

The End