Chapter 48
Ever since Robyn had begun her story, Maggie had tried to reserve her judgment. Was she telling the truth? And as the story
continued—insemination, switched sperm—it seemed a little outlandish. But now her assertion that Ethan wasn’t the father of
her child had hope surging to the surface like a sunken buoy. Maggie’s upper body shot forward. “What?”
“Wait, Maggie,” Josh said, then addressed Robyn. “If that’s true, why didn’t you tell Maggie when she was here before?”
“The cryobank couldn’t tell me who the switched sperm came from. All I had was a donor number. And when she showed Ethan’s
photo—Will is a replica of him. I just knew he had to be Will’s biological father.” Robyn pressed a hand to her chest. “She
blindsided me. I was scared! I was suddenly faced with having to share Will with some family I didn’t even know. I was afraid
to lose him. It was selfish. I know that.”
She turned pleading eyes on Maggie. “I’m sorry I responded the way I did. When the shock of your visit faded, I felt terrible
about my part in tarnishing his memory.”
Maggie’s head was spinning. Whirling. But she pressed ahead. “So you didn’t even know Ethan.”
“ No. I swear.”
Maggie pressed her palm to her chest. Her husband was innocent. He hadn’t cheated on her. Hadn’t even known this woman at all. The relief of the revelation made her dizzy.
Josh planted his elbows on his knees, his attention laser focused on Robyn, who was wringing her hands. “You’re not telling
us everything.”
Maggie’s gaze shot to him. “This is good news, Josh. Why would she make this up?”
“But it doesn’t explain why Will’s the spitting image of Ethan,” he said softly before pinning Robyn with an unswerving look.
“You said Will wasn’t his.”
“He’s not.”
“We’re supposed to believe that some random sperm sample produced a child who’s practically a replica of Ethan?”
***
Something flashed in Robyn’s eyes.
Something that sent a bolt of fear through him.
“The sperm sample wasn’t random,” Robyn said. “It was yours, Josh.”
“Mine?” Josh went still. Everything inside him froze. Except his mind. Thoughts reverberated through his head. The cryobank in Wilmington. The sperm sample. He struggled to process the information through the fog that swept into his brain.
He’d been fourteen, facing chemotherapy, when his doctor advised him to put back “samples” for future fertility. He’d been so embarrassed that day, walking into the clinic. Slipping into that room, the pretty nurse knowing what he was about to do. The mortification on top of the disease seemed cruel. When he left the clinic, he was angry and embarrassed as his mom drove him home. He vowed he wouldn’t go back.
“I was sick and facing chemo.” He gave his head a shake. “They told us they lost the sample.”
“I didn’t know any of that. Only that there’d been a mix-up at the lab.” Understanding dawned in Robyn’s eyes. “That’s why
they couldn’t provide me with a donor file. You were never a donor.”
He sat back slowly, mind spinning. A shiver passed through him as reality sank in. The room and everyone in it faded until
it was only Josh and his thoughts.
Will was his son .
The boy resembled Ethan because Ethan was his uncle.
A tear slipped down Robyn’s cheek. She silently handed him a sheet of paper.
It had the My Legacy logo at the top and just below it: Will’s DNA . Under Matches— Joshua Reynolds: parent/child .
“He’s mine .” Josh looked at Maggie, his vision blurring with tears.
“Oh, Josh.” Maggie breathed the words.
He had a son. And the proof was right here in his hands. He was overwhelmed with emotion.
“When I called this morning, I wasn’t 100 percent sure you didn’t already know the truth. You couldn’t have hired Will randomly.”
“Back in June I spotted him at the carnival,” Maggie said. “It was like seeing my husband’s ghost. We had to find out who
he was.”
Josh barely heard them through the chaos in his head. All these years of infertility. He’d resolved himself to never having
a biological child. The sudden shift of fortune was disorienting. “Does he know? Does Will know about this?”
Robyn nodded. “He’s been searching for his biological father in one way or another all his life. Maggie, when you came to the door before, Will overheard some of that. He thought, like me, that your late husband must’ve been the sperm donor. A couple years ago he submitted his DNA to that database, and just last night, Josh, your name popped up as a match.”
That DNA test Josh had taken actually came through—but not in a way he’d ever expected. He must have an email with the match
sitting in his own inbox.
“From there, he got online and pieced it all together.”
Josh glanced down the hall. Was Will upset Josh had hired him under false pretenses? Was he disappointed to discover his biological
father was just some riverboat captain? Not a military hero who’d died in the line of duty? Maybe Josh couldn’t live up to
years of hopes and expectations.
“He’s dying to talk to you,” Robyn said. “I left him in his room, chewing up his nails.”
Josh shot to his feet. “Can I go see him?”
Robyn offered a watery smile. “Second room on the right. He’ll be the one with his ear pressed to the door.”
Excitement bloomed even as his nerves frayed. Insecurity swelled. His gaze darted to Maggie.
Her eyes swam with tears even as a smile trembled on her mouth. “What are you waiting for? Go say hello to your son.”
It was all the encouragement he needed. His legs wobbled as he walked the length of the hall. When he reached the door, he
gave it a few soft raps. The door swung open immediately.
Will stood there, eye to eye with Josh. Blue eyes— his , not Ethan’s—stared back at him. His cheeks were mottled pink, his hair tousled as if he’d raked his fingers through it a
dozen times. He ran his palms down the sides of his pants.
Josh frowned. “You okay?”
“Did you know?”
Josh shook his head. “I thought you were my nephew.”
“Your brother, Ethan—Maggie’s husband? I did some research last night.”
“Late husband, yes. We thought he was your biological father.” Josh steeled himself for a round of questions. “Can I sit down
before I keel over?”
“Uh, sure.” Will stepped aside, ushering him toward his neatly made twin bed.
Josh’s legs gave way. “It’s not every day you find out you have a nineteen-year-old son.”
Will sat beside him, seeming just as stunned as Josh felt. “It’s not every day you find out your boss is your dad.”
“Touché.”
Will studied his face. “How old are you anyway? You don’t look that old.”
“Thirty-three.”
“Dude, you were fourteen when I was born.”
He’d done the math in a split second. Smart kid, his boy. His boy. His son. It would take some time to sink in. “I was sick back then—lymphoma. It’s a type of cancer so I had to have chemo.”
Will frowned. “Wow, you were just a kid. That’s rough. I’m sorry.”
“I got through it just fine. But before I had chemo, they recommended I bank some sperm in case the treatments made me sterile.”
Will winced. “No offense, but I’ve heard enough about your sperm to last me a lifetime.”
Josh chuckled. “Fair point.”
“Anyway, I want to know how all this started. How did you even find out about me?”
He told her about Maggie spotting him at the carnival. “She about fainted dead away because you’re the spitting image of Ethan.” Josh reached for his phone. “Let me show you his picture. You won’t believe it.”
“I already saw him online. There’s a good resemblance.”
“Not the younger photos probably.” Josh showed him several pictures of Ethan in his late teens and early twenties, photos
he’d saved to his Favorites album after Ethan’s passing.
Will studied the photos, swiping until he’d seen them all. “Wow. You weren’t kidding.”
Then Josh relayed the whole story, from their trip to Rock Hill to the day they’d finally found him at the carnival.
“Did you think I was your nephew then? When you hired me?”
“We didn’t know for sure. But we were determined to find out. The similarity was too great to be a random fluke.”
“Why didn’t you just ask me? If not right away, then later after you’d hired me?”
Josh gave him a sheepish look. “I’m sorry for the subterfuge, Will. I hope you can forgive me for that. I didn’t ask you questions
because I didn’t know anything about your family situation. What if you thought your dad was your biological father? We didn’t
want to blow up your homelife.” Josh shot him a humorless grin. “So much for that, huh?”
“Yeah, no joke. It’s been kind of hard on my mom. She’s been frazzled since Maggie came by that night. But my dad... We’re
not very close. He came along when I was six, and I’ve always known he wasn’t my biological father. Since the divorce we don’t
see much of each other.”
“I’m sorry about that.”
“I don’t think I lived up to his expectations, you know? We don’t have much in common. He’s kind of disappointed in how I turned out or something.” Will averted his eyes as he blinked back tears.
Josh’s heart went out to the kid. “Believe it or not, I know what that’s like. We’ll have a talk about that sometime.” He
wrapped his arm around Will’s shoulders. “For what it’s worth, Will, I think you turned out pretty awesome.”
Will’s gaze slid hopefully to Josh. “Yeah?”
“Yeah, I really do.” He pulled Will into a hug, some part of him still dazed that this amazing young man was his kid.
When Will latched on, Josh let out a sigh. His throat closed up at this unexpected blessing. He stared heavenward as his eyes
filled.
Thank You.
When they parted, Josh squeezed Will’s shoulder. “You know, it turns out I did end up sterile and the cryobank lost my...
Well, we won’t go there again.”
Will gave a strangled laugh.
“The point is, I’d given up hope of ever having a child of my own.” Josh’s eyes filled with tears. “This is pretty much the
best gift I ever got.”
Will’s lips trembled. “Thanks, man.” He blotted his eyes with the heels of his hands. “Hey, you can’t tell the crew I blubbered
like a baby.”
Josh chuckled as he dried his own eyes. “Right back atcha, kid.”