Because Emily and her partner could not have children, they decided to adopt. And one girl immediately stood out to the pair, as she had a very similar birthmark to Emily’s on her hand. It felt like a sign that they could simply not ignore. But maybe they should have ignored it. When Emily eventually got around to doing a DNA test, she made a shocking discovery… Emily was in the doctor’s waiting room, alone with her thoughts. He had called her in to deliver her the results of Sophie’s DNA test because he could not make himself provide them over the phone. And this was worrying Emily greatly. In her mind, this could only mean bad news… When the doctor finally came out of his office, Emily could see it on his facial expression immediately. This was bad news. The moment the office door closed behind them, she started begging the doctor to just give her the truth straight. And the sad-looking man obliged… The DNA results brought Emily to her knees. This was something she could have never expected in a million years, but there was no way around the truth anymore… But what did Sophie’s DNA results reveal? How did she and Emily have the same birthmark and why did Emily even want to do a DNA test in the first place?  From the moment that Emily and David realized they could not conceive children together, they started to discuss all the other options. Neither of them wanted to remain childless forever. Adoption was one of the first options brought to the table, but Emily expressed a lot of doubt about this… She did not like the idea of adopting for one specific reason. The child would not be completely hers. Not her flesh and blood. She was afraid the would feel like she was just a glorified babysitter. And on top of that, they would most likely miss most of the child’s baby years. Something that spoke to David, but not to Emily. But seeing as they wanted to give all the options an honest chance, David managed to convince Emily to at least join him on his visit to an orphanage. Emily did not see the purpose of this, as her mind was pretty much made up at this point, but she agreed to go with him. And against all her expectations, she would make a complete 180. Most of the children at the orphanage were already at least 3 years old. They were already fully formed children, which only enhanced Emily’s negativity toward this option. She understood that she could really help one of these children by adopting them, but it just did not feel like something she wanted. But then something drastically changed. Emily locked eyes with a sad-looking little girl and she immediately had a different feeling with her than with the other children. She could not explain it at first, but there was something that was drawing her toward this tiny sweetheart. The lady from the orphanage assisting the couple told them a little bit about Sophie. The girl had been dropped off anonymously at the orphanage when she was just one year old. She had been here for 2,5 years and nobody had shown any interest in adopting her. She was also getting to an age where children would be sent to foster homes, because the chances of finding adoption parents for them became slimmer by the month. Emily was doing her best to listen to the woman, but if she was being honest, she wasn’t paying any attention… She was just trying to figure out what was drawing her to this girl. Why did she feel this connection to her all of a sudden? And then Emily noticed about little Sophie that made the whole situation even stranger. But it only made her feelings for the girl stronger. She almost forcefully grabbed Sophie’s hand, scaring both the little girl and the woman who was assisting them. David wanted to ask Emily what the hell she was doing, but then he saw it as well. Right on Sophie’s hand was a strange-looking birthmark that he recognized immediately. Emily had the exact same birthmark on her hand! She was holding their hands next to each other and the resemblance was uncanny. It even seemed to be in the same spot. Emily could not believe what she was seeing. This could not be a coincidence! She looked at David and it seemed like he both the same way. They did not know how it was possible, but this was clearly some kind of sign. They had to adopt Sophie. The orphanage agreed to set the procedure in motion and Emily and David were excited to bring the girl home. The staff members at the orphanage had not been too happy about how Emily had behaved around the children, but they were willing to accept it, seeing as this was most likely Sophie’s last chance at finding a forever home. And the girl herself was also fairly excited. All Sophie had ever known was the orphanage, and it was something that she would very much like to leave behind her. She was treated well here, but she also knew that she didn’t receive as much attention as she would like to. In a place like this, she had to share with all the other needy children… Luckily, Emily and David managed to adopt Sophie quite easily. She was at home with them within 2 weeks’ time, and her new family hosted a big welcome-home party. Both sides of the family were present and Sophie seemed to enjoy all the attention she was getting. The rest of the family was beyond happy as well. For the parents of both Emily and David, it was the first time they had a grandchild. It had been their biggest wish to become grandparents for quite some time already. They all wanted to babysit as much as possible and even Davids’s sister seemed really eager to be involved. But Emily wasn’t a fan of this. David’s sister had only recently started recovering from some hard times. She had been dealing with substance abuse and addiction for quite a while and she was even exiled by her family until she got completely clean. Which, in fairness, she had been for nearly a year now… Emily thought it was still too early to completely trust her, but David wholeheartedly disagreed with her. He thought that they should give his sister a chance and Emily even felt like he was really pushing for it. It got to a point where she just could not refuse anymore. But, luckily, Emily was able to spend by far the most time with Sophie. While David worked a well-paying full-time job, she only worked 20 hours a week and spent the rest of the time taking care of things at home, being a mother and a housewife. And she loved it! This was what she had always wanted. Or was it?  The more time passed after they adopted Sophie, the more Emily felt like she was not really improving her connection with the girl. She had felt that instant connection when she first met her, but that never evolved to more. Sophie seemed to be really shy toward her. Which wasn’t something she could say about David… Sophie and David seemed to just click like they were 2 pies in a pod. During the week, he was working, and Sophie spent most of her time by the window, eagerly waiting for him to come home. And the weekends were even worse – Sophie only focussed on David, still not seeking any contact with Emily. Emily had asked David many times if he had any idea why Sophie behaved like this, as she was really feeling like she was doing something wrong being a mother. David assured her that she was doing everything right and that she should just wait for some time to pass. One can never predict how children are going to act. But was this actually the truth? Something else that stood out to Emily was that Sophie had formed a close relationship with David’s family pretty quickly, but – it was almost predictable – not with Emily’s side of the family. It was obvious that Sophie enjoyed spending time more with David’s parents and sister. Emily couldn’t stop thinking about it… She often watched them from a distance, through the window as they played in the yard. They looked so… complete, in balance. And to her sorrow, they never tried to involve her in their activities. She felt very left out and it slowly broke her heart. The connection that she had felt with the girl at first, probably because of their shared birthmark, had completely disappeared. Emily just could not shake the feeling that David was not telling her something. She had tried everything she could think of to bond with their daughter, but because of some reason, nothing seemed to work. She was starting to feel desperate and insecure, and her mind started spinning… The worst thoughts started popping into her mind… She didn’t want to believe them, but she also couldn’t just ignore them. It was obvious that David was keeping something from her. What if… Sophie was David’s biological child? Was it even possible?! He wouldn’t have done this to her… right? Emily tried to convince herself that David would never cheat on her. They had been faithful to each other since the beginning and she never doubted him for a second! And if he had had a child from a previous relationship, he would definitely have told her… right? Emily still didn’t want to believe it, but the more she thought about it, the more it started to make sense. And, she couldn’t think of any other reason why Sophie would love David so much more and feel absolutely no connection with Emily. What if he was actually her real father? But… How would that explain their birthmarks? Emily tried talking about it with David, but he rejected all her attempts to start a conversation. This made Emily doubt him even more… She decided to take matters into her own hands and she was determined to find some answers, even if she had to go behind his back to do so. Emily had decided to do a DNA test to determine whether David was Sophie’s dad. She knew that it was a little farfetched, but she didn’t know what else to do! She had to be very careful and make sure she did not get caught, because she didn’t want anybody to know what she was doing – and especially not David… She did some research and set the plan in motion. From the hospital, she had gotten two cheek swabs that she could use to get Sophie’s and David’s DNA. Now she just had to figure out a way to do it without them noticing… This was going to be a difficult task, but Emily was determined to make it work. Emily felt guilty about her plan, but she had to do something! David still pretended that everything was normal, but the two of them had grown apart considerably since they brought Sophie home. They had been in a good place before her, but the adoption had only created more distance between them… Distance and secrets. Emily wanted to know the truth. Emily thought of several ways to collect the DNA, but in the end, she decided to do it while they were asleep. She knew that David was a heavy sleeper and figured that this would be her best shot. She was going to do it tonight – she would collect David’s DNA first, then Sophie’s. She hoped they wouldn’t wake up and catch her in the middle of it… That night, Emily had set the alarm for 2 am, but she was so nervous that she couldn’t sleep. After they had gone to bed, David had quickly started snoring. She took a deep breath. This was the moment – she knew that she had to do it now. She quietly sat up and took one of the swabs from the drawer in her nightstand. She quickly opened it, making as little noise as possible. To her relief, David continued snoring – which was very convenient for Emily, as he was already laying on his back, with his mouth open. She quickly collected some saliva from his cheek and followed the rest of the instructions before putting the DNA sample away safely. Then, she went to Sophie’s room. Luckily, she was also sound asleep and Emily could take the sample swiftly, without Sophie noticing anything. Emily was both relieved and anxious at the same time… She was relieved that things had gone as planned and that she had been able to take both DNA samples without waking David or Sophie. But she was also anxious about what the test results would show… Were they going to be a match? She couldn’t wait to find out… The next day, Emily went to the hospital to drop off the samples. The doctor told her he would have the results within about a week. She had told him everything and he promised her he would be discreet. All she could do now was wait… The next week was difficult for Emily. She was tired of pretending everything was fine, and her secret started to weigh heavy on her. She didn’t want to talk about it with anyone, not even her parents or her best friends – she needed to be sure that nobody else would find out, and she could only trust herself with it In the meantime, nothing had changed. Sophie still spent most of her time with David and was always asking to visit his family. She didn’t respond to Emily’s efforts to bond with her. Emily felt more like a distant relative than a mother, but she decided to stop blaming herself – she had done everything in her power to form a relationship with Sophie. David and Emily had already grown apart since Sophie joined them, but things had only gotten worse now. Because Sophie was always asking to see her Nana and Papa, David took her to his parent’s house almost daily and he was barely ever home. Emily was getting more and more convinced that he actually was Sophie’s dad… And it broke her heart. But she still couldn’t be sure of it, of course. She was still waiting for the test results – that was the most difficult part! She felt very alone and decided to focus on her job instead, at least until she got the results. She didn’t know what was going to happen then… It all depended on the test outcome. One day, Emily’s phone rang. It was the hospital calling! Her heart was pounding in her chest. That must be the doctor calling her with news about the DNA test. What was he going to tell her? She knew that this phone call could change her life… She took a few deep breaths and picked up the phone. But she didn’t expect to hear this next… “Hello, Emily. This is Dr. Matthews secretary.” The secretary had called to ask Emily to come by the hospital. The doctor wanted to discuss the test results with her in person and the secretary managed to squeeze her in for an appointment the same day. Emily was shocked — this could only mean bad news… Emily sat in the waiting room, alone with her thoughts. She felt like she was going crazy! She was very nervous and hoped Dr. Matthews would call her in soon. She picked up a random magazine off the table and flipped through the pages mindlessly, and then the door to the office opened… “Hi, Emily. Good to see you, please come on in,” Dr. Matthews said. She got up with weak knees and walked into his office. As she sat down, she saw that the doctor had a concerned look on his face. She couldn’t wait any longer. What was he going to tell her? She could see that Dr. Matthews was searching for the right words. “Just say it. I want to know!” Emily told him. The doctor sighed and nodded. He took a folder from his drawers and laid it on the table in front of Emily. This was the moment of truth… Emily took a deep breath and prepared herself for the worst. She opened the folder and looked at the paper inside. She couldn’t believe her eyes, this must be a mistake… She looked at the doctor with questioning eyes and he just nodded. “The results are conclusive.” Emily burst out crying. How was this even possible? She still could not believe it. She had come up with many theories about Sophie, but she never could have imagined this. She needed to confront David about this. She felt angry, sad and deeply betrayed, all at the same time. How could he do this to her? How could they do this?! She thanked the doctor – who was, thankfully, very understanding of her reaction – and grabbed the folder on her way out. She needed the evidence for her confrontation with David, just in case he wanted to brush her off again. She wasn’t going to let him escape the conversation this time. When Emily arrived home, David was sitting at the kitchen table. He had left Sophie at his parent’s house while he finished some work. Heh, of course he did, Emily thought. But she didn’t complain – this way, they could talk freely. As soon as David looked at her, he saw that she had a face like thunder. “Woah! What’s going on, Em?” he asked her. She was furious. She decided not to show him the results yet; she would wait for the right moment. “Tell me the truth about Sophie.” David just sighed and told her they had already talked about this. He insisted that she and Emily just needed to spend more time together. Not this again… Emily thought. He had already turned away from her, when Emily said “Stop lying to me! I know what you did.” David froze. “What are you talking about?” he asked, without even looking at her. Was he still going to pretend that he didn’t know anything? Or was he finally going to tell her the truth? Emily took the folder from her bag to show it to him. His face turned pale and he stammered “What… What is that?” She knew that he would have to admit it now. She opened it and showed him the results. It was obvious: the DNA was a match. But, David wasn’t the father… After that, they talked for hours and David told her the entire story, from beginning to end. And even though she was extremely angry at him, she believed him. He begged her not to leave him, but she wouldn’t make any promises. She didn’t know if she could ever forgive him for what he had done… David confessed that the “birthmark” on Sophie’s hand was fake. He had known that something like this might convince Emily and so he had preemptively put it on the little girl the day before they went to the orphanage. As Emily now knew, he had wanted to adopt this girl specifically for very special reasons… Emily wanted to confront David’s parents and sister about the information that she now had. She couldn’t believe that they would lie to her and her family like that! She had already suspected that they knew something more than they were telling her, but they were involved a lot deeper than she could have ever imagined… As it turns out, Sophie was indeed related to David… He was her uncle! Sophie was actually his sister’s daughter. She had given her up while she was struggling with addiction and had only recently told her family about it. Their parents were determined to have their first granddaughter in their life, and they had thought of the plan to let Emily and David adopt her. David wasn’t a fan of the idea… But he couldn’t say no to his parents, and his sister was so very thankful that she got to see her daughter again. He didn’t regret helping them, but if it were up to him, he would have been upfront with Emily about it from the beginning. Now, it was probably too late for them… Once the truth came to light, Sophie returned to live with her real mother. Emily and David started seeing a marriage counselor in hopes of saving their relationship, and things are looking better for them already. However, they have decided that they do not want any children of their own anymore. They will live happily ever after, just the two of them.