Chapter 51
Benjamin could not stop bouncing his leg against the couch as they waited for the video call with Judah to start. Even Summer’s hand on his knee wasn’t enough to calm him. It had only been two weeks since they’d gone to Cleveland, and the genetic test results had come back much faster than they’d expected. He couldn’t decide if that was a good sign or a bad sign.
Next to him, Summer sat completely still, but he could tell by her clenched jaw that she was nervous too.
“Whatever happens—” He turned to her suddenly, and she jumped. “We’re going to be okay.”
Summer nodded, but she looked so tired, and Benjamin had to work hard to push down the lump of worry. Of course she was tired. She’d been with her mama almost every spare moment since bringing her home two days ago.
But he was going to be strong for her, whatever they found out.
“Can you hear me?” Judah’s voice suddenly burst into the room, and they both spun toward the laptop that rested on the coffee table.
“We hear you.” Benjamin adjusted the screen so that they were both in the frame.
“Good. How have y’all been?” Judah looked tired too, and a little bit sad, and Benjamin’s heart clenched painfully.
“We’re good,” Summer answered when Benjamin couldn’t. “How are you?”
“I’m . . . fine.” His hesitation made Benjamin sure his heart was going to stop altogether. Judah was going to give them bad news, Benjamin could feel it.
“Dr. Fowler is sorry she couldn’t be here today. She’s at a conference, but we’ve gone over everything together, and we didn’t want you to have to wait for the results.”
“Thank you,” Benjamin croaked.
“Of course.” Judah cleared his throat. “Let’s start with the good news.”
Benjamin closed his eyes.
If Judah was starting with the good news, that meant there was bad news too.
“Max’s testing reveals that he does not have any copies of the gene variant that TJ had. So he neither has nor can pass on the disease.”
“Thank you, Lord,” Summer gasped, dropping her head to her hands. Benjamin rubbed a hand up and down her back, his relief over Max’s clean bill of health warring with dread over what Judah was going to say about Summer.
“What’s the bad news?” The words found a way out of his mouth.
Summer lifted her head, as if it hadn’t occurred to her that there might be bad news as well.
“It’s mixed news, actually,” Judah said slowly, his face grave. “Summer, you do have one copy of the gene variant.”
“What does that— I don’t—” Summer looked to Benjamin as if he could explain, but all he could do was shake his head over and over again. This couldn’t be happening.
“It means that though you don’t have the disease yourself, you are a carrier of the gene.”
It took a moment for the words to penetrate Benjamin’s brain. “You mean—” He hardly dared to believe it. “She’s okay? She’s not going to— She’s okay?” He couldn’t seem to form any other words.
“She’s okay,” Judah confirmed.
Benjamin turned and snatched Summer close to him, burying his face in her hair. He held her, letting her apricot scent envelop him, until Judah cleared his throat.
Benjamin eased back. “Sorry. I just— Thank you.”
Judah’s expression sobered. “We should talk about what this means for your children.”
“Okay.” Benjamin tried to make himself sober too, but his heart was bouncing around too joyously for that.
“If you also happen to be a carrier of the gene variant,” Judah said. “There’s a twenty-five percent chance that any of your children would have the disease.”
Summer pressed a hand to her mouth, but Benjamin wasn’t worried. “I can get tested before we have kids, right?”
Judah nodded. “I would recommend that, yes.”
“And we can always adopt if I do have it. Simeon and Abigail adopted a little girl last year, did you know that?”
Judah shook his head.
“And Ava and Joseph have a little boy who was born the same day. And Asher and Ireland have a little girl, and they’re expecting again.” They’d just told everyone after church on Sunday.
Judah looked a little overwhelmed by all of the news, and Benjamin stopped. “You should come visit sometime.”
“Yeah,” Judah said vaguely. “Listen, I have to run, but if you have any questions at all, give me a call or text. And make sure you go get that testing done.” He said goodbye, and the meeting ended.
“Well,” Benjamin turned to Summer. “That’s the best news I’ve ever gotten in my life.”
She nodded, but worry still darkened her eyes.
“What is it?” He slid his hands through her hair.
She seemed to shake herself. “Sorry. Nothing. I was just thinking about what he said about you getting tested.”
“We have plenty of time for that.” He brought his lips softly to hers. “But for now, I say we celebrate.”