Time to Call DaNA

Time to Call DaNA

Carlotta stared at the letter in her hand. It was drawing her to open it, but she resisted

the urge. It had been a long day, and she just did not have the mental capacity to

consume one more thing. She laid it on the table and walked to the couch. She flopped

down on it and closed her eyes.

“Good afternoon, Mrs. Reyes. Is Carlotta home?”

Carlotta heard the voice of her best friend Oscar as she walked down the hallway.

“Yes, Oscar, she’s home.” Mrs. Reyes always loved how polite he was.

“Can she come out to play?”

Carlotta slid close to her mom and looked up at her with pleading eyes. “Sure, but just

for an hour. I am getting supper ready.”

Carlotta ran out of the house and grabbed her bicycle. She had a much older sister who

was in college and two big brothers, so she preferred to play with Oscar. They walked to

school together each day and when the weekend came, they spent hours riding their

bikes or playing in the park. She could never imagine a day without her best friend and

thankfully she never had to. Her parents stayed in the same neighborhood her entire life

and even after high school, she and Oscar chose to attend the same college.

She could not remember when their friendship became a relationship. It happened so

naturally as if it was always meant to be. Oscar proposed to her on their graduation

night from college (it was the third time he asked, the first two times they were only 8

and 10 years old prospectively). This time she said yes, and they were married six

months later.

It was not until she gave birth to their first child that she began to wonder about her

biological heritage. Her little girl was born with the reddest hair she had ever seen. She

heard stories that sometimes children can pick up genes from family members way

down the line, but her mom could not remember anyone with red hair.

“Hello, my lovely lady. I thought I heard you come in.” Oscar walked in and sat next to

his wife. He picked up her legs and laid them on his lap, took off her shoes and began

to massage her feet. “Long day?”

“The longest. Where’s Sierra?”

“She is asleep. Do you want me to wake her so you can snuggle with her?’

“No,” she smiled at him, “she’ll be awake soon enough.” She sighed.

“Something wrong, my love?” he asked.

“Sort of, I guess, I am not sure. The letter came today.”

“What did it say?”

“I have not opened it yet. It is over there on the table.”

“If you want, we can open it together.”

“Yes, I need your strength right now to do that. Will you open it and read it to me, I am

not sure that I can.”

“Okay.” He gently placed her legs on the floor and went to grab the letter and opened it.”

He began to read “This report summarizes the results of a DNA paternity test performed

on samples from Carlotta Rachelle Wilson, Maria Hernandez Wilson, and Ross Andrew

Wilson. The test was conducted to determine the biological father of Carlotta Rachelle

Wilson. Do you want me to read all of this, my sweet?”

“Yes, it gives me time to prepare for the answer.”

“Okay”, he looked at the paper and continued. “The paternity test was performed using

a standard DNA analysis method, analyzing multiple genetic marker (loci) from the DNA

samples provided. Based on the analysis of the DNA samples, it is concluded that Ross

Andrew Wilson is excluded as the biological father of the child. The probability of

paternity is 0%. The markers analyzed do not support a biological father-child

relationship between Ross Andrew Wilson and Carlotta Rachelle Wilson.”

Carlotta felt as though she would faint.

“Babe, are you okay?”

“I knew it but why not tell me. Why did mom and dad lie to me? All my life. Are my

brothers even my brothers? Is my sister really my sister? I do not understand. Why,

Oscar, why?”

Oscar sat down and took her into his arms and held her close.

“The good part is this, they are both living and you can still get answers to your

questions.”

Just then they heard their little girl stirring. This conversation would have to continue

later. Right now, they had a beautiful little red-haired angel to deal with.

After dinner, Carlotta called her mom. “Hey, mom, do you mind if I come by tomorrow

after lunch?”

“Why sure, you know you do not have to ask. Is something wrong?”

“Not really, I just had something to ask you and dad. Will he be home?”

“Sure, he’s not working tomorrow.”

“Great, I will see you around noon. Love you.”

“Love you more.” Her mom said.

“Who was that, Maria?”

“That was Carlotta.”

“Is everything okay?”

“She said it was, but I could hear it in her voice that it was not. Ross, she knows.”

“Are you sure? But we have been so careful.”

“I know but when our granddaughter was born with that beautiful red hair, well she

figured it out somehow. She has been asking questions.”

“But how could she find out. I have not given her anything from which to get a DNA

sample.”

“As far as you know. She is a smart girl. She could have gotten it from your hairbrush or

tooth br--, didn’t you say about a month ago that you could not find your toothbrush?

Oh, my goodness, which must be when—oh me oh my. She knows, oh my Lord, she

knows.”

They sat down at the table. They hoped this day would never come but now it was time

that they told their daughter the truth. Would she ever forgive them? How would she

accept the news that the girl that she called Rayna, her big sister, was in fact her mom.

Ross took her by the hand as he began to pray.