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He doesn’t return the smile. "When they ran the genetic markers test, they found a maternal match."
My heart seems to stop in my match. "A maternal match?" I croak. Surely, he doesn’t mean—I shake my head. "Not sure I’m following."
He presses his lips together. "The tests indicate you’re Serene’s biological mother."
50
Tyler
"What?" Her mouth gapes open. She looks shell-shocked. As taken aback as I was when the doctor told me this news. It’s not possible. That’s how I felt then. That’s how I still feel now.
"For a moment, I thought you said—" She shakes her head, then chuckles. "Nah, I must have heard you wrong."
"You didn’t. I said you’re her biological mother.”
"I didn’t give birth to her. The first time I saw her was when she was dropped off on your doorstep."
"The genetic markers don’t lie. Lauren may have carried her to term, but you’re her mother."
She stares at me, then pulls her hand from mine. I release her.
"This is a bad joke." She jumps to her feet. "It can’t be possible." She locks her fingers together. "I have often wished I was Serene’s biological mother, but surely, this can’t be possible?” She shakes her head, a dazed look in her eyes.
“I agree this seems very far-fetched. And when I first heard about it, it seemed like the doctor had mixed up the results. But I had the reports forwarded to a friend of mine who’s a well-known doctor in London. He confirmed that you are Serene’s biological mother.”
She tosses her head. “I really don’t see how that’s possible—” She stills. “Unless?—"
I nod. “Unless you donated your eggs, and somehow, it’s your eggs that were used during the IVF process.”
She opens her mouth, then shuts it again. A look of comprehension flashes in her eyes.
I know then what she’s going to say. And I’m not surprised when she stutters, "I… I did donate my eggs. Right after I left university and was drowning in debt. I couldn’t find a job. I had no money so—" She exhales loudly.
"Do you remember which fertility clinic you donated to?"
She reels off a name which I recognize as the one Lauren used for her fertility procedures. When I tell my wife that, she looks stunned. "So, she used my eggs and?—"
"—my sperm." I rub at the back of my neck. "I donated sperm during a shore leave from the Marines." I narrow my gaze on my wife. "What are the odds that you and I would meet, and that she’d drop off the child conceived of our genetic material when you were with me?"
"Umm, I’d say impossible. There are too many coincidences here. It’s"—she wraps her arms about herself—"incomprehensible that something like this would happen."
I agree. There is definitely no earthly way this list of incidents would line up so precisely. "If it weren't for the fact that I saw the results of the genetic markers myself and heard it from the doctor—" I shake my head. "I’m still getting my head around it too."
"That’s—" She laughs nervously. "It still seems impossible."
"It’s a one in a million—or perhaps a billion—chance of that happening." I lower my chin. "Just as unlikely as my riding on the tube the day I met you."
She tilts her head.
"I had never taken the tube before that day. And never after. It was on that particular day, at that time, I decided to use it because my car was being repaired. There were no alternate chauffeurs or cars available from any of the services the office uses, no cars on the various ride-hailing apps. And I was late for my date. So, I decided to take the underground." I lean forward. "The fates conspired to bring us together that day. And they played an even bigger role in bringing Serene into my—intoourlives."
She half-smiles, but her eyes still carry the bewildered expression I suspect I had when I first found out. "I want to believe it; I do. I never thought I would be Serene’s mother, not by blood." She rubs at her temple again.
"Do you have a headache?"
"It’s a tension headache. With everything that happened, I guess I’m struggling to keep up."
"When did you last eat?" I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, noting how exhausted she looks. "You should go to the resort and rest."