I read Ben's message twice.
His parents were waiting.
That was all it said.
No explanation.
No apology.
No attempt to make things sound less frightening.
I handed the phone back to Luke.
"Do you want to go there?"
He shook his head.
"I don't know."
"Then we don't have to go tonight."
He looked at me.
"I can't keep waiting."
I understood.
He had already spent two days trying to discover the truth.
Every hour had made him more uncertain.
And now he knew that the people with the answers were waiting for him.
"Would you like me to come with you?"
He nodded.
"Yes."
I stood up.
The dinner was still untouched.
I switched off the remaining kitchen light and checked the stove.
Then I picked up my handbag.
Luke took the two documents and placed them inside a folder.
He handled them carefully.
Almost respectfully.
I wondered how many times he had opened those pages in the apartment.
How many times he had read them while Ben slept in the next room.
How many times he had considered asking me the same questions he was asking now.
We walked to the front door.
I stopped before opening it.
"Luke?"
He turned.
"I need you to understand that I might not remember every detail perfectly."
He looked at me.
"That's fine."
"But I won't deliberately hide anything from you."
He nodded.
"That's all I want."
I opened the door.
The evening air was cool.
Luke walked beside me toward the car.
Neither of us spoke during the drive.
I kept thinking about Diane.
I remembered her sitting in my living room when Luke was small.
I remembered how she had helped him with his shoes.
I remembered her bringing soup when I had the flu.
There were so many ordinary memories.
I wondered how many of them would feel different after tonight.
When we reached the apartment building, Luke pointed toward the entrance.
"That's it."
I parked.
He got out before I had removed my seat belt.
I followed him upstairs.
The hallway smelled faintly of fresh paint.
Somebody had left a pair of shoes outside one of the doors.
Luke stopped in front of the apartment.
He looked at me.
"Are you ready?"
I wasn't.
But I nodded.
He unlocked the door.
Ben was standing inside.
He looked tired.
His hair was messy, and he was wearing the same gray sweatshirt I had seen in the photograph from moving day.
When he saw me, his expression changed.
"Hi."
I looked at him.
"Hello, Ben."
He stepped aside.
Luke walked in first.
I followed.
The apartment was still filled with boxes.
The kitchen counter had two mugs and a half-empty bottle of water.
One of Luke's jackets was hanging over the back of a chair.
Everything looked normal.
That was the strange part.
Nothing in the room suggested that two boys had just discovered a secret capable of changing their lives.
Diane was sitting on the sofa.
Robert stood near the window.
Both of them looked toward us.
I stopped walking.
Diane rose immediately.
"Thank you for coming."
I didn't answer.
Robert lowered his eyes.
Luke placed the folder on the coffee table.
"Can we talk about these?"
Diane looked at the papers.
Her face became pale.
"Where did you find them?"
"In the folder you kept at home."
She looked at Ben.
He didn't speak.
Robert moved toward the sofa.
"Perhaps we should all sit down."
Luke remained standing.
"No. I want to know what they mean."
Diane pressed her hands together.
"Luke, this is difficult."
He gave a small nod.
"I know."
Robert looked at me.
"We never wanted things to happen this way."
I felt anger rise.
"Then how did you want them to happen?"
He didn't answer.
I stepped closer to the coffee table.
"Why did you keep those papers?"
Diane looked at me.
"Because we didn't know what else to do with them."
I shook my head.
"That doesn't explain anything."
She sat down slowly.
"I know."
Luke opened the folder.
He removed the first document.
Then the handwritten letter.
He placed both in front of Diane.
"Did you write this?"
She looked down.
Then she nodded.
"Yes."
"Why?"
Diane looked at Robert.
He gave a small shake of his head.
Not a refusal.
More like a warning.
But Diane ignored it.
"Because I was frightened."
"Of what?"
She looked at Luke.
"Of losing my family."
I felt my chest tighten.
Luke frowned.
"What does that have to do with me?"
Diane's eyes filled with tears.
"More than you know."
Robert moved closer.
"Maybe I should explain."
Diane turned toward him.
"No."
He stopped.
She looked at Luke again.
"You deserve to hear this from me."
I sat down.
My knees felt weak.
Diane reached for the letter.
She touched the folded edge.
"I wrote this after you were born."
Luke didn't blink.
"Why?"
She took a breath.
"Because something had happened at the hospital that I couldn't pretend hadn't happened."
I looked at her.
"What happened?"
She closed her eyes briefly.
Then she looked directly at me.
"You know what happened."
I felt my throat tighten.
"I know some things."
"No," she whispered. "You know what you were told."
The room became silent.
Ben was standing near the kitchen.
He looked at his mother.
Then at Luke.
I noticed his hands were shaking.
He hadn't known everything either.
Or perhaps he had known enough to be afraid of what remained.
Diane continued.
"Robert and I made decisions during that time that we should never have made."
Robert lowered his head.
Luke leaned forward.
"What decisions?"
Diane looked at him.
"Before I answer, I need you to understand that none of this was your fault."
Luke stared at her.
"I didn't ask whether it was my fault."
She nodded.
"I know."
He pointed to the document.
"Then tell me why my name is there."
Diane looked at the paper.
For several seconds, she didn't speak.
Then she finally said something that made Ben step forward.
"Because your birth was connected to a decision we made before either of you was old enough to understand it."
Luke looked at her.
"What decision?"
Diane's tears began falling.
And Robert finally moved away from the window.
He sat opposite us.
"There's something about the hospital records that we need to explain."
I felt my fingers tighten around my handbag.
The truth was finally coming.
But I had a terrible feeling that it would be harder to hear than anything Luke had shown me.
Click here to continue reading: PART 8: The Explanation Began With Two Families, One Hospital Room, and a Decision That Had Followed Both Boys Since Birth
My Son Had Barely Been Gone Two Days When He Returned With a Secret That Changed Everything I Thought I Knew
Part 7 of 20
