Page 24

NOW

August 2023

Lily

Phibsborough, Dublin

‘So, you see, it’s possible that after all this time we’ve found Robert. Or he’s found us,’ Lily said gently to her parents, who sat side by side on the sofa.

She watched her mother’s mug slip from her hand, crashing to the floor. Her parents looked down at the coffee as it spread across the wooden parquet flooring.

Michael rushed forward to pick up the mug, and this movement ignited the room, which swelled with confusion.

‘Son?’ Gaga asked, his face creased in concern as he watched Lily’s dad. As always, he was ready to catch him if he needed strong arms of support.

‘You must have so many questions,’ Lily said, her heart hammering in her chest. Her dad reached over to clasp her mother’s hands between his own. Her mum looked scared and tearful, whereas her dad looked shell-shocked. He shook his head in disbelief, his knees jiggling nervously.

‘I know it’s a shock. I’m still trying to process it all myself,’ Lily added gently. She watched her parents, waiting for them to say something, worried that she’d made the wrong choice in confiding in them about Zach’s assertion before the DNA results.

But then her dad jumped up and fist-pumped the air, finding his voice as he jubilantly shouted, ‘I told you! You all thought I was crazy, but I knew someone would recognise Robert from the age progression photographs!’

‘I’m proud of you, son,’ Lily’s Gaga said. ‘You never gave up. That says a lot about the man you are.’

‘I never thought you were crazy, Dad,’ Lily said, her voice trembling. ‘I just worried that this search had taken over every part of your life.’

‘It did,’ her mum whispered, speaking for the first time. ‘I think it was the only thing your father has been interested in since Robert disappeared.’

Her dad winced. ‘How could I not keep searching for our son?’ he asked, looking around the room for absolution.

Lily moved closer to her parents, and said gently to them both, ‘You each dealt with things in your own ways. While Dad concentrated on looking for Robert, you threw yourself into work, Mum. You found a way to cope with your grief differently – that’s all.’

Lily took a steadying breath, and pushed aside thoughts of her younger self, hurt and lonely, as she vied for her parents’ attention.

Her father looked downwards and her mother flushed. Lily hadn’t intended for her remark to shame them, but instead to offer them understanding of each other and deflect any bad feeling. She caught Michael’s eye and he smiled in sympathy. And knowing she had him in her corner bolstered her.

‘Zach doesn’t look like the last age-progression image at all. But his childhood photos are almost identical to the ones we have of Robert. And that’s what made Zach stop in his tracks when he watched your interview on Ireland AM .’

‘Can I see what he looks like now?’ Her mother’s voice cracked as she spoke, too thin to withstand her words.

Michael had gone to the local Fuji camera centre and printed out several copies of each image they had of Zach, which he now passed around.

Silence fell over the sitting room as they looked at Zach’s happy face, taken at the cycle run. The only sound in the room that drifted in from next door was Ben’s giggles as he watched Goofy chase Mickey Mouse around a garden.

‘I can see a resemblance to you, Kimberly,’ Michael said eventually. ‘Around the mouth. And I think he has Lily’s smile.’

‘I don’t see that,’ Gaga said. ‘But, either way, we need to call the Gardaí and let them take over the investigation.’

‘Zach doesn’t want that,’ Lily said quickly. ‘Not yet, at least. It’s difficult for him. If he is Robert, then it becomes complicated for his family. He has asked that he is given the time to confront his mother himself, before any authorities are involved.

‘No Gardaí,’ her mum said emphatically. ‘Not yet.’

Lily looked at Gaga and her dad, who both nodded their agreement.

‘That’s jumping ahead anyhow. First things first, Lily and Zach will do their DNA test, which is set up for Monday afternoon,’ Michael added.

‘Good.’ Her dad nodded. ‘I need to let my friends in StolenChild know. They will be so excited.’ When Lily threw him a warning look, he added, ‘Okay, I know. Not until after the DNA results.’

Lily’s father moved back to her mother, taking a seat beside her again. Their eyes met and they looked at each other in disbelief.

‘What do you think, Kimberly? Is it our boy?’ her dad asked.

Her mum’s hand touched the face in the image tenderly, then she answered in a voice little more than a whisper, ‘It’s him, Jason. I’m sure it is. I’d recognise those eyes anywhere.’ Tears glistened, and her hand began to shake. ‘I’ve longed to hold him and hug him close, to see the man he must have grown into. And now . . . Jason, I can’t bear it.’

And, as was their way, her parents forgot their differences as they clung to each other for support. The room became still and they sobbed quietly in each other’s arms.

Lily picked up a box of tissues and handed them to her parents, a lump lodged in her throat as she tried to control her own emotions.

‘Call him now. Ask him to join us here,’ her dad begged, wiping tears from his cheeks. His eyes glistened in excitement. ‘You’d like that, wouldn’t you, love?’ he asked his ex-wife.

Her mother’s face paled, and she didn’t answer. Lily had been afraid of this. Her father was moving things along faster than they should.

‘Dad, slow down. We’ve had hundreds of false leads over the years, and each time they have led us to disappointment. I know this must feel so frustrating, but we have to wait for the DNA test.’

Her mother whispered something to her father, and whatever it was made him pause. He sat back in the seat, and they leaned into each other again.

‘It will be the longest week of our lives, waiting for results,’ Gaga said, leaning into the cushions on his armchair. His face was drawn, and Lily could see the strain that this was placing on him. Another stab of guilt hit her as she worried that she’d burdened him with this.

‘I’d like to see the family that took him. Do you have any photographs of them?’ her mum asked.

‘Yes, we do,’ Michael said, handing her the photograph taken beside the fire pit of Zach and his parents.

Her mum’s hand shook as she reached out to accept it. She closed her eyes for a second or two before looking down at the image. A sob escaped her, and further tears fell.

‘They look happy,’ her mum finally said.

‘Is he tall? I can’t tell from the photographs. He was small for his age as a toddler,’ her dad asked.

‘I’d say about five foot ten. He’s a little shorter than me,’ Michael answered.

‘He looks so handsome,’ her mum said, almost wistfully.

‘He is,’ Lily agreed. ‘And clever too, by all accounts. He’s done well in his career. He’s travelled the world. He’s close to his three sisters.’

Lily felt a new lump lodge itself in her throat too. Because maybe Zach had four sisters, not three. And, if so, would she ever have the same relationship with him that he had with the girls he’d grown up with?

‘He’s had a good life, Mum. He was loved by his mother and stepfather.’

‘That’s not his mother!’ her dad exploded at her words. ‘Do not call her that. It’s an insult to your mum. This woman, whoever she is, needs to be arrested!’

Her mum trembled beside her dad as his voice rose in anger.

‘Hear, hear!’ Gaga agreed.

Lily looked over to her grandfather, beseeching him silently for support. She needed her father to remain calm.

Gaga nodded in understanding and cleared his throat before he added, ‘Son, your reaction is a hundred per cent normal. I feel the same. But we need to listen to Lily. There’s a process to undergo. Let’s confirm that Robert is who he says he is. And then we’ll have all the time in the world to meet him. And, mark my words, I’ll help you get the justice we all deserve for the pain we’ve endured at the hands of his abductor. I won’t rest till they are behind bars. But, first, we have to prove that, beyond any doubt, he is our boy.’

Her dad stood up, mollified by his father’s words.

Lily watched her parents, her brow furrowed with worry. They’d all waited such a long time to find out the truth. She shivered with the realisation that in a few more days they might finally find out what had happened to Robert.