The Green Lace Corset, стр. 53
How have you been feeling? I’ve got the Ebola virus. You know how contagious it is. You should get tested too. I have the chicken flu, rotgut, scurvy, the heebie-jeebies.
Maybe she could send him an anonymous letter, as if it were from the DNA company.
Dear Sir:
Due to unforeseen circumstances, a sample of your DNA is requested.
Anne crossed out “requested” and wrote:
Urgently needed. Read the directions below and submit back to us in the addressed envelope. Have a good day.
Nope—she crossed out that last sentence.
Best regards,
Dr. Daniel No-Nonsense Andrews, DNA
She was losing it. No way Sergio would send his DNA to some crank letter.
She swallowed and called him, trying to keep the panic out of her voice. “I have good news and bad news.”
“What?”
“I’m pregnant.”
He laughed. “You’re kidding.”
“No.”
“I’m FaceTiming you.”
“No, no, I’m not decent.” She didn’t want to see his face when she told him.
“I’ve seen you indecent before! Come on—this is too important.”
She answered his call.
His blurry face came into view. “But it was only that one night.”
“That’s all it takes.”
“But still.” He raised his voice. His face showed disbelief.
She felt like he’d thrown a can of paint on her. “Don’t worry. I’m thinking of having an abortion anyway.”
He raised his voice even louder. “You can’t make that decision. I’m part of this too!”
“That’s where the bad news comes in.” She brushed the hair out of her eyes.
“That’s not the bad news?”
“No.”
“What?”
There might have been a thousand things she could have said to smooth over the shock, but she couldn’t think of any. She turned her face from the screen. “I need a DNA sample from you.”
“What? Why?”
She turned back to the screen; she couldn’t get any more words out and just stared at him.
“You’ve been with someone else.” He looked like she’d slapped him.
“Are you saying you’ve never been with anyone else?” Anne asked.
“I’m not saying that . . .”
“Double standard?”
He winced. “It just drives me crazy to think of you with another man.”
“How do you think it makes me feel to know you’ve been with someone else too?”
His voice softened. “I’m sorry. I’m just surprised. You must have been with him close to the time I was there. When are you due?”
“Mid-January.”
“But I’m scheduled for a ski vacation in St. Moritz then.”
“Boo-hoo. How shallow.”
He hung his head. “Sorry.”
“Will you take the test?”
“Of course. What do I need to do?”
“I’ll have a kit mailed to you. All you do is scrape four Q-tips inside your cheek and send them back to the lab. I’ll check the results online and let you know. I’m so sorry.”
He smiled. “No, I’m sorry to have overreacted. You’re the one going through this.”
“Thanks.” He was so sweet.
“I love you,” he said.
“I love you too.”
She ordered the kit to be sent to him. If it was his baby, she’d need to keep it.
Anne played the waiting game again. Sergio called every day, and she kept checking for the test results.
Finally, a week later, the fifth time she checked that day, she got a message from the DNA company. She paused and put her hand on her stomach. God, please let this be Sergio’s. She inhaled and clicked the link.
36
Relief washed over Anne. Now she knew for sure she would keep the baby, but she needed to speak with Sergio before she made her final decision.
She FaceTimed him. “Ready?”
“No matter what, I’m behind you.”
That was exactly what she’d longed to hear; she took a deep breath, let it out and read, “DNA results confirm Sergio Parmeggianno is the father.”
He didn’t even smile. “I know it wasn’t planned, but we’ll work it out.” His voice was flat. “You can move to New York and live in the condo. I’ll hire an au pair.”
Anne had been afraid of this. Would he even propose again? She glanced at the engagement ring on the altar and then back at him. “Hold your horses.”
“What? You aren’t still thinking of having an abortion, are you? Don’t I have prenatal paternal rights?”
“Of course you do. I just don’t want to move to New York. I tried before, and it didn’t work, remember?”
“How could I forget? But everything’s different now, and we still love each other, don’t we?”
Anne hoped the baby would have his dark brown eyes. “Of course. But just because you’re the father doesn’t mean I’ve changed my mind about New York, or even about whether we should get back together.” She couldn’t do that East Coast–West Coast back-and-forth thing again, especially with a baby.
“But I’ll need to be part of your lives. A child needs a father.” She’d never heard him whine before, and it wasn’t pretty.
“You can. You have a right to, but I also have a right to stay here in San Francisco. Besides, if I moved there, you’d be gone most of the time for work, anyway.”
“You can’t raise a baby there alone.”
“I won’t be. I have a support system.” She smiled—a confident front.
He squinted. “I’ll come to town soon, and we’ll talk it out further. Please consider moving here.”
“Okay. I’ll think about it.”
“Please do. Arrivederci.”
The call ended. What a mess. He might be right that it made more sense for her to move there.
She stepped through the kitchen door and out onto the deck. The fall sky was foggy and gray. Her residency started next week. She was excited about her project but had a lot of trepidation concerning Karl. Outside her Michigan bedroom window, the maple leaves had probably turned and started to drift toward the ground.
Time to break the news to her mom, but Anne didn’t want to crush her heart like those fallen leaves. She’d be hurt Anne was having a baby without being married. In small-town Oscoda, rumors flew fast as wildfire, and Anne didn’t want her mom to be embarrassed, either. It would be best to tell her with the whole family around for moral support.
Back inside Anne texted her cousin Pootie: I’ve got news. Need favor, have Brian hook up a computer to Mom’s TV so