Birthright

though it seemed to drag out endlessly—everyone stood in awkward formality, like a posed photograph.
    Then Lana stepped forward, her hand outstretched. “Thank you for coming, Mrs. Cullen, Mr. Cullen. I’m sorry, I didn’t realize Doug would be joining you. Let me get another chair.”
    “I’ll stand,” he told her.
    “It’s no trouble.”
    He only shook his head. There was another slice of silence, like a knife cutting through the strained pleasantries. “Sit down, Mrs. Cullen. Please. Mr. Cullen. Can I get you some coffee? Something cold?”
    “Lana.” Doug put a hand on his mother’s shoulder, turned her toward a chair. “We can’t make this normal. This is hard on everyone. Let’s just get it done.”
    “It’s a difficult situation.” And nothing she could do, Lana admitted, could make it less so. She moved back behind her desk, separating herself. She was here only as liaison, as legal assistance. As, if necessary, arbitrator. “As you know,” she began, “I’m representing Callie’s interests in the matter of her parentage. Recently, certain questions and information have come to light regarding—”
    “Lana.” Callie braced herself. “I’ll do this. The preliminary results on the tests we agreed to have taken are in. These are pretty basic. The more complex DNA studies will take considerably more time. One of the tests, standard paternity, is really a negative test. It will show if an individual isn’t the parent. That isn’t the case here.”
    She heard Suzanne’s breath catch and curled her hand tight. She had to keep level on this, logical, even practical. “The results so far give a strong probability that we’re . . . biologically related. Added to those results is the other information and the—”
    “Callie.” Doug kept his hand on Suzanne’s shoulder. He could feel her trembling under it. “Yes or no.”
    “Yes. There’s a margin for error, of course, but it’s very slight. We can’t know conclusively until we locate and question Marcus Carlyle, the lawyer who handled my adoption. But I’m sitting here looking at you, and it’s impossible to deny the physical similarities. It’s impossible to deny the timing and the circumstance. It’s impossible to deny the scientific data gathered to date.”
    “Almost twenty-nine years.” Suzanne’s voice was hardly more than a whisper, but it seemed to shake theroom. “But I knew we’d find you. I knew you’d come back.”
    “I—” Haven’t come back, Callie wanted to say. But she didn’t have the heart to say the words out loud as the tears spilled down Suzanne’s cheeks.
    She got to her feet, an instinctive, almost defensive move when Suzanne leaped up. It seemed her heart and mind collided, left her with shattered pieces of both when Suzanne flung her arms around her.
    We’re the same height, Callie thought dully. Almost exactly the same. And she smelled of some breezy summer scent that didn’t suit the drama of the moment. Her hair was soft, thick, a few shades darker than her own. And her heart was hammering, hard and fast, even as she trembled.
    Through her own blurred vision, Callie saw Jay get to his feet. For an instant their eyes met and held. Then, unable to bear the storm of emotion on his face, the shine of tears in his eyes, the horrible regret, Callie closed her own.
    “I’m sorry.” She could think of nothing else to say, and didn’t know if she was speaking to Suzanne or herself. “I’m so sorry.”
    “It’s all right now.” Suzanne stroked Callie’s hair, her back. She crooned it, softly, as she might to a child. “It’s going to be all right now.”
    How? Callie fought a desperate urge to break away from the hold and run. Just keep running until she found the normal cycle of her life again.
    “Suze.” Jay touched Suzanne’s shoulder, then drew her gently away. He was there, arms ready when she turned to him.
    “Our baby, Jay. Our baby.”
    “Ssh. Don’t cry now. Let’s sit down. Here, you need to sit down.” He eased her down, then took the glass of water Lana held out to him. “Here, honey, come on, drink some water.”
    “We found Jessica.” She gripped his free hand, ignored the glass. “We found our baby. I told you. I always told you.”
    “Yes, you always told me.”
    “Mrs. Cullen, why don’t you come with me?” Lana slipped a hand under Suzanne’s arm. “You’ll want to freshen up a bit. Why don’t you come with me?” she repeated, and drew