Skip to content 
Because he didn’t know.
How.
Part 4
The tests came back the next morning.
Both of them sat in a doctor’s office.
Still in their wedding clothes.
Neither of them had slept.
The doctor placed the results on the desk.
Looked at them carefully.
“I need to ask,” the doctor said.
“Before I share these results.”
“Are you certain you want to know?”
“Yes,” they said.
Together.
Without looking at each other.
The doctor opened the folder.
Read the first line.
“The results are inconclusive,” he said.
They both looked up.
“What does that mean?” the bride said.
“It means the test cannot confirm or deny a biological relationship,” the doctor said.
“Between the two of you.”
“The markers are unusual.”
“We would need a third sample.”
“From a direct blood relative.”
They looked at each other.
“The boy,” the groom said.
The doctor nodded.
“If his mother is who she claims to be,” the doctor said.
“His DNA would give us a definitive answer.”
The groom called the neighbor who had taken the boy in.
The boy came to the office an hour later.
Still in his torn shirt.
Still barefoot.
He sat in the chair across from the doctor.
Looked at the groom.
At the bride.
At the results folder on the desk.
“You need my blood,” he said.
Not a question.
“Yes,” the groom said.
The boy rolled up his sleeve.
Looked at the bride while the doctor prepared.
“My mother said something else,” the boy said.