Parker’s tablet is connected to the TV, the screen mirrored so we can all see. She’s got the email pulled up, cursor hovering over it like she’s afraid to click.
“You sure you want to do this now?” I ask, even though I know the answer. We’ve been putting it off, all of us dancing around it,but Silas is healing, and the boys are safe, and there’s no reason to wait anymore except cowardice.
“We need to know,” Parker says, her voice steady even though I can see her hands shaking slightly. “We’ve been operating on assumptions, math, and eye color for two months. We need to know for sure.”
She clicks.
The email opens. Three attachments. Three PDF files labeled with clinical precision.
DNA Paternity Test Results - Noah Carter & Calvin Voss
DNA Paternity Test Results - Liam Carter & Jace Moreau
DNA Paternity Test Results - Noah Carter & Liam Carter & Silas Vale
Parker opens the first one. My results.
The document loads, full of scientific terminology and genetic markers and percentages that all mean the same thing.
Probability of Paternity: 99.9%
Result: Calvin Voss is the biological father of Noah Carter
I already knew. Have known since I saw him. But seeing it in black and white, official and undeniable, makes something in my chest crack open.
Noah is mine.
My son.
I have a son.
The thought still doesn’t feel real, even though I’ve been living it for two months. Even though I’ve held him, played with him, taught him how to shift gears on a motorcycle, and how to make the perfect hot chocolate. Even though he calls me by my name but looks at me like I hung the moon.
He’s mine.
“Cal?” Parker’s voice is soft. Careful. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” I manage, and my voice sounds rough even to my own ears. “Yeah, I’m good. I just—” I stop, swallow hard. “He’s really mine.”
“He’s really yours,” she confirms, and there’s something in her eyes that might be tears or might be relief or might be both.
Jace is watching me with that steady expression he wears when emotions are running high, and he’s trying to keep everyone grounded. But I can see it in the set of his shoulders, the way his hands are gripping the arms of the chair.
He knows what’s coming next.
Parker opens the second file.
DNA Paternity Test Results - Liam Carter & Jace Moreau
Probability of Paternity: 99.9%
Result: Jace Moreau is the biological father of Liam Carter
The silence in the room is deafening.
Jace doesn’t move. Doesn’t react. Just stares at the screen with that blank expression that means he’s processing something too big to show on his face.
Then his jaw works. Once. Twice. And I see the moment it hits him. Really hits him.
