No one spoke after Thomas said Emily\u2019s name.<\/p>\n
The kitchen seemed to hold its breath with us.<\/p>\n
Thomas remained on speakerphone, his breathing faint through the small metal grille. Jake sat beside the phone with his hand still resting over Michael\u2019s. Michael did not move it.<\/p>\n
I was the first to speak.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does Emily have to do with my embryo?\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas took so long to answer that I thought the call had dropped.<\/p>\n
Then he said, \u201cLeonard used one.\u201d<\/p>\n
The sentence made no sense at first.<\/p>\n
\u201cUsed one how?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTransferred it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo Emily\u2019s mother?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael whispered, \u201cJesus.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jake leaned toward the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Emily is\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas interrupted.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
His voice sharpened for the first time.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot Emily.\u201d<\/p>\n
I pressed my palm against the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen who?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEmily\u2019s mother received an embryo during an earlier cycle. That was part of the original Harris problem. Years later, after your remaining embryos disappeared from Vale\u2019s storage, Leonard transferred one of yours to another patient connected to the Harris family.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cConnected how?\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas exhaled.<\/p>\n
\u201cEmily.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re saying Emily carried my embryo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The words struck in pieces.<\/p>\n
Emily Harris Monroe.<\/p>\n
Forty-eight now.<\/p>\n
Older than Jake.<\/p>\n
She could not have carried anything when my embryos disappeared.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know how it sounds.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe would have been a child.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe transfer didn\u2019t happen when your embryos first vanished.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas paused.<\/p>\n
\u201cLeonard moved them.\u201d<\/p>\n
I gripped the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cMoved them where?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo long-term private storage.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor how long?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOne for approximately fourteen years.\u201d<\/p>\n
The kitchen disappeared around me.<\/p>\n
Fourteen years.<\/p>\n
Jake would have been sixteen.<\/p>\n
Emily would have been in her early thirties.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never understood the full reason.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen tell me the part you do understand.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLeonard was trying to conceal the chain of custody.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael spoke.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the investigation?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPartly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPartly?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom Daniel.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas\u2019s voice had changed.<\/p>\n
The name Harris seemed to carry its own weight for him.<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel had begun reconstructing what Vale had done to Emily\u2019s conception. He suspected other unauthorized uses of reproductive material. Leonard moved anything that could connect the cases.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at the copied ledger.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy keep embryos instead of destroying them?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI asked him that once.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou spoke to Vale after Jake was born?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSeveral times.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou never told me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was kept away from you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat stopped you from calling?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The answer was weak.<\/p>\n
Thomas knew it.<\/p>\n
I let the silence punish him.<\/p>\n
Finally he said, \u201cAnd I was a coward.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was harder to argue with.<\/p>\n
Jake asked, \u201cIf Emily carried one of Mom\u2019s embryos, did she know?\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas\u2019s breathing became uneven.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know what she was told at the beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the beginning of what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHer fertility treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n
I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n
Of course.<\/p>\n
Secrets replicating themselves through another generation.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Emily have trouble conceiving?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho treated her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot Vale directly. By then he was no longer practicing openly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen how did he get involved?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe consulted privately through another doctor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cName.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
I did not believe that completely.<\/p>\n
\u201cThomas.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI genuinely don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Michael.<\/p>\n
He gave the smallest nod.<\/p>\n
For once, he recognized the tone too.<\/p>\n
Jake said, \u201cHow do you know an embryo belonging to Mom was transferred?\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas took a breath.<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel found a storage identifier.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe E7 code?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cE7-A?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
My pulse jumped.<\/p>\n
Patricia\u2019s notebook.<\/p>\n
Successful pregnancy reported.<\/p>\n
That had been the embryo.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Emily carry the pregnancy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWas a child born?\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas became silent.<\/p>\n
My throat tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWas there?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jake sat back.<\/p>\n
The single word made him pale.<\/p>\n
I could not tell what I felt.<\/p>\n
There are moments when the mind refuses emotion because fact itself consumes all available space.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened to the child?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou just said there was a successful pregnancy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know a live birth was reported.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBoy or girl?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA girl.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow old?\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the dates I saw were accurate, twenty-three now.\u201d<\/p>\n
I did the arithmetic automatically.<\/p>\n
Jake was thirty-one.<\/p>\n
The girl would be eight years younger.<\/p>\n
A daughter genetically created from my egg and Thomas\u2019s sperm.<\/p>\n
Jake\u2019s full biological sister.<\/p>\n
Carried by Emily Harris.<\/p>\n
Raised by someone else.<\/p>\n
Possibly unaware of all of it.<\/p>\n
Michael sat down harder.<\/p>\n
Jake whispered, \u201cI have a sister.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cBiologically, probably.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cProbably?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe still need proof.\u201d<\/p>\n
His eyes flashed.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone keeps saying that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause people guessing instead of proving things is how this happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
That stopped him.<\/p>\n
Thomas said quietly, \u201cSusan is right.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked toward the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t use my judgment to make yourself useful.\u201d<\/p>\n
He accepted that too.<\/p>\n
\u201cFair.\u201d<\/p>\n
I asked, \u201cDid my mother know about Emily\u2019s pregnancy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re sure?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe knew about almost everything else.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was one of the things Leonard hid from her.\u201d<\/p>\n
That surprised me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause by then Margaret had begun threatening him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael looked up.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJake.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe became frightened about the degree of genetic relationship involved.\u201d<\/p>\n
I almost laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe arranged it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe understood the risk too late.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cConvenient.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t excuse her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce Jake was born healthy, she tried to convince herself it had worked.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jake flinched at the word worked.<\/p>\n
Thomas heard nothing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen Daniel raised concerns about long-term hereditary risk. Margaret wanted all remaining embryos destroyed.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe ordered them destroyed?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid she have authority?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Vale agree?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told her he had.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at the E7 records.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut he kept them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael asked, \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas sighed.<\/p>\n
\u201cLeonard believed his work belonged to him.\u201d<\/p>\n
The statement chilled me.<\/p>\n
\u201cMeaning?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe didn\u2019t see embryos as belonging entirely to patients.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt sick.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he see them as?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cResearch assets.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jake stood up and walked away.<\/p>\n
Michael closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
I said, \u201cDid Vale use my embryos experimentally?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOne was transferred to Emily during fertility treatment. The other\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
He stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about the other?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPatricia\u2019s notebook says released.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cReleased where?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI never found out.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Michael.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s E7-B.\u201d<\/p>\n
He nodded.<\/p>\n
Thomas said, \u201cDaniel searched for it until he died.\u201d<\/p>\n
That connected another thread.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs that why Harris was so concerned in 2008?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe saw my overdose admission as a chance to get genetic material.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot a chance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas corrected himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cAn opportunity created by a medical emergency.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat sounds better to you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he have my permission?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the test?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
My anger sharpened.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Harris was also willing to use me without consent.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe believed it was necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone believed that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas became quiet.<\/p>\n
I continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother believed it was necessary to choose your sperm. Vale believed it was necessary to retrieve my eggs under vague consent. Harris believed it was necessary to test me while I was unconscious. Michael believed it was necessary to let me stay ignorant.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael looked down.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd now all of you get to tell me you were protecting something.\u201d<\/p>\n
No one answered.<\/p>\n
That silence was the closest thing to truth I had heard all week.<\/p>\n
Jake returned to the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s the daughter\u2019s name?\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas inhaled.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know Emily carried her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know she was born.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know the age.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut not the name?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI never found it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jake did not believe him.<\/p>\n
Neither did I.<\/p>\n
\u201cThomas.\u201d<\/p>\n
He hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you know, tell us now.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know her full name.\u201d<\/p>\n
That phrasing caught me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA first initial.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jake leaned closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cM.\u201d<\/p>\n
My mind searched Emily\u2019s obituary, public profile, family references.<\/p>\n
Had there been children listed?<\/p>\n
I picked up my phone.<\/p>\n
Michael stopped me.<\/p>\n
\u201cSusan.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRemember what you said about not ambushing strangers.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m searching public information.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat becomes easy to turn into more.\u201d<\/p>\n
He was right.<\/p>\n
I hated that.<\/p>\n
I set down the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Daniel know the girl?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he consider her his granddaughter?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWas she raised by Emily?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe so.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why couldn\u2019t he simply test her?\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas became quiet.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Emily refused.\u201d<\/p>\n
That changed things.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe knew something.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEnough to distrust him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did Harris tell her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid she know the pregnancy came from donated embryos?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe she knew there had been donor assistance.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid she know I was the genetic mother?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think so.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jake asked, \u201cDid she know Thomas was the genetic father?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
The scale of the deception seemed almost impossible.<\/p>\n
Not one family.<\/p>\n
Several.<\/p>\n
Not one secret.<\/p>\n
Layers of them, each created to hide the previous one.<\/p>\n
Thomas spoke again.<\/p>\n
\u201cSusan, you should contact Emily carefully.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy carefully?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Daniel tried to tell her something before he died.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know exactly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStop saying that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe called me three weeks before his death.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said he had finally found the original storage transfer record.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the first time, Thomas sounded frightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did it show?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wouldn\u2019t tell me over the phone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said he wanted to speak in person.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy not?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe died first.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room became very still.<\/p>\n
Michael said, \u201cFrom what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHeart failure.\u201d<\/p>\n
I remembered the obituary.<\/p>\n
Natural causes.<\/p>\n
No mystery.<\/p>\n
No drama.<\/p>\n
Just a man dying before finishing a confession.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened to the record?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHis daughter might have it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Emily again.<\/p>\n
Every path led back to her.<\/p>\n
Jake sat down beside me.<\/p>\n
\u201cMom.\u201d<\/p>\n
I turned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. I mean I need to.\u201d<\/p>\n
His voice was steady.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe may have carried my sister.\u201d<\/p>\n
I nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked toward Michael.<\/p>\n
\u201cDad?\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael hesitated.<\/p>\n
Then said, \u201cI think you should know your medical and biological history.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jake gave him a tired smile.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat sounded painfully careful.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m learning.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo am I.\u201d<\/p>\n
I picked up the phone.<\/p>\n
This time I did not search for Emily\u2019s home.<\/p>\n
I called the nonprofit where she worked.<\/p>\n
A receptionist answered.<\/p>\n
I asked to leave a message.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is this regarding?\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Jake.<\/p>\n
He nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cHer father, Dr. Daniel Harris.\u201d<\/p>\n
The receptionist paused.<\/p>\n
\u201cMay I have your name?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSusan Carter.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cCould you spell that?\u201d<\/p>\n
I did.<\/p>\n
There was silence on the line.<\/p>\n
Then the receptionist said, \u201cMrs. Carter?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMs. Monroe left instructions several years ago that if anyone named Susan Carter ever contacted this office, we were to give you a different number.\u201d<\/p>\n
Every person at the table froze.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI have a sealed note in the administrative file.\u201d<\/p>\n
My heart began pounding.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe left that instruction?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know. Before I started here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCan you give me the number?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
She read it slowly.<\/p>\n
I wrote it down.<\/p>\n
After we disconnected, no one spoke.<\/p>\n
Jake stared at the paper.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was waiting for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at the number.<\/p>\n
So had Thomas.<\/p>\n
So had Patricia.<\/p>\n
Perhaps everyone had been waiting for the one person who had been deliberately prevented from asking.<\/p>\n
I called.<\/p>\n
It rang twice.<\/p>\n
A woman answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cHello?\u201d<\/p>\n
Her voice was controlled.<\/p>\n
Professional.<\/p>\n
I said, \u201cEmily?\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
Then:<\/p>\n
\u201cSusan Carter?\u201d<\/p>\n
I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Emily exhaled.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wondered if you would ever find me.\u201d<\/p>\n
No one spoke after Thomas said Emily\u2019s name. The kitchen seemed to hold its breath with us. Thomas remained on speakerphone, his breathing faint through the small metal grille. Jake … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25828,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25847"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25847\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25895,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25847\/revisions\/25895"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/25828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}