Chapter 8 - DNA
Arthur requested an independent DNA test.
Madeline agreed on one condition.
No Collins laboratory.
No Collins doctor.
No family attorney.
Federal chain of custody.
Arthur accepted.
The results arrived forty-eight hours later.
Probability of paternity: greater than 99.99 percent.
Arthur read the report alone.
Then asked to see the babies.
Madeline permitted a supervised visit in the pediatric unit.
Arthur stood beside the bassinets.
Noah slept with one hand near his face.
James kicked beneath the blanket.
Lily watched him with wide gray eyes.
Arthur did not know what fathers did.
He had money, teams, staff, private aircraft, and no useful skill for this room.
He asked Madeline, “Can I hold her?”
Madeline hesitated.
Then nodded.
A nurse placed Lily in his arms.
She weighed almost nothing.
Arthur looked down at the child whose existence had been hidden by forged forms and unopened letters.
Lily yawned.
Then wrapped one hand around his finger.
Arthur cried without hiding it.
Madeline watched.
Her expression remained guarded.
May you like
One moment did not repair six years.
But it began one truthful hour.
