The Green Lace Corset, стр. 40
“How?” Fay prompted.
“It made me miss Sergio all the more. Two days later, he came to town, and, well . . .” She paused. “You know.”
Fay guffawed. “You tart, you!”
“It’s not funny,” Anne said, and began to cry.
“I’m sorry. Come here.” Fay handed her a tissue, opened her arms, and put them around Anne while she sobbed.
Finally, Anne pulled away and dried her eyes. “What am I going to do?”
“How far along are you?”
“Almost eight weeks.”
“This is marvelous. Our babies will be like cousins.”
“But I haven’t decided whether I’m keeping it or not,” Anne blurted out.
“Don’t be daft. Of course you’re keeping it.” Fay scrunched up her lips.
Anne blubbered, “But my life was just getting back on track.”
“Maybe this is part of that track?” Fay’s voice was soft as she handed Anne another tissue. “Have you been to the doctor yet?”
“I have an appointment at Planned Parenthood tomorrow, after my interview.” Anne blew her nose.
“Good. I’m ordering you a book.” Fay grabbed her computer and started typing. “I’d loan you mine, but it’s my bible. What to Expect When You’re Expecting. Next step is to find out who the father is.”
“But I can’t learn that for another seven months. Don’t I need to wait until the baby’s born?”
Fay paused her typing and looked at Anne. “Not anymore. I’ve heard there’s new technology that makes it possible to find out in utero. Come sit here.” Fay patted the bed beside her.
Anne sat next to Fay and looked at the screen while she typed, How early can you get a paternity test?
Several articles popped up.
Anne pointed at the screen. “Let’s see that TIME article.”
Fay clicked it and read aloud: “It’s from 2011. ‘DDC, a privately held company, now offers various genetic tests and has the exclusive US license to market the clunkily named noninvasive prenatal paternity test, which analyzes what’s known as circulating cell-free fetal DNA in the mother’s blood to suss out Daddy’s identity.’”
“It doesn’t really say that.” Anne leaned over. “‘Suss out’?”
Fay continued, “Yes, it does. DDC says it receives ‘four hundred thousand calls annually from people inquiring about paternity tests. Until now, only amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling could determine paternity in utero, and both carry a slight risk of miscarriage.’ Blimey, that’s all hard to pronounce.
“‘Barring those options, couples had to wait until a baby was born. The new test is able to separate fetal DNA from that of the mother and father.’ Who knew?”
Anne shrugged. “I didn’t. How much does it cost?”
Fay scrolled down. “One thousand, six hundred twenty-five dollars.”
“That’s pretty pricey.” Anne didn’t even have half that in savings.
“I’ll loan you money if need be.” Fay clicked and found a more recent post. “Yes, you can get a paternity test while pregnant, and the safest way to do so is with a noninvasive prenatal paternity test (NIPP). This test requires only a blood sample from the mother and a simple cheek swab from the possible father and can be performed as early as eight weeks into pregnancy.”
“Wow.” Anne was relieved she would be able to learn who the father was soon.
Fay scrolled down the list of companies. “Here’s one: Who’s Your Daddy? It says here it’s the holy grail of paternity tests.”
Anne and Fay both laughed.
“Doesn’t sound very scientific. Let’s try another,” Anne said.
Fay read, “‘Home DNA paternity test starting at one hundred ninety-nine dollars. Order online today.’”
Now Anne really felt relieved. “Thank God the price has come down.”
Quietly, they read more reviews.
“Looks like a good one.”
“Let’s get it.” Anne pulled her credit card from her backpack and handed it to Fay.
“Now all you need to do is tell one of the guys you’re up the duff and get a sample.”
“I don’t ever want to see that unhottie again.”
“What’s his name, by the way?” Fay asked.
“Barnaby.”
Fay laughed.
“Yes, I know.”
“You’ll need to ask Sergio, then.”
Anne groaned. “But I don’t have the heart to tell him I’ve been with someone else and he might not be the father.”
“Girl, you’ve just gotta do it.”
“Also, if he finds out he’s the father, he might bring up marriage again, when I’m just getting over him.”
Fay raised her arms. “You aren’t over him. You just slept with him two months ago.”
28
Good morning!” Anne slipped into the conference room and sat across the table from the three committee members—Mr. Willingsby, Fredricka, and Priscilla—hoping they hadn’t noticed she was a few minutes late. She set her old-lady purse on the floor beside her and put the box of horseshoes on the table.
“Morning,” Mr. Willingsby said. He wore a bolo tie with his gray suit.
Fredricka smiled and fingered her necklace, filled with colorful Zuni animal fetishes. Fay had told Anne Fredricka had pledged another donation toward the program if she could sit in on the panel now.
Priscilla had a bored expression on her face, tapped her pen on the table, pursed her red lips. She didn’t have on those big glasses. Maybe she’d gotten contacts.
No one said anything, so Anne twisted the lucky key in her pants pocket and sat quietly, waiting for Priscilla to begin. Today, Anne had on the same outfit she’d worn to the previous interview but had looped a turquoise scarf around her neck instead of the pink. She felt woozy and put her hand on her stomach. The mint tea and saltines she’d had for breakfast didn’t seem to have worked.
Mr. Willingsby and Fredricka glared at Priscilla. She stopped tapping the table but didn’t say anything.
Let’s get this show on the road. Anne took the horseshoes from her box and lined them up in front of her. “My young artists created these using found objects. Mr. Willingsby, you’ll recognize the horseshoes.”
“It’s fun to see what the students have done with these.”
“Feel free to pass them around.”
Mr. Willingsby and Fredricka reached for them.
Priscilla pushed out her hands. “Stop.”
Everyone froze.
“Let’s wait