Chapter 6 - THE WOMAN WHO RAISED AVA
Ava hung up.
Thomas said her name.
She turned on him.
"Don't."
"Ava, Malcolm is manipulating you."
"Is Evelyn my mother?"
"No."
The answer came fast.
Too fast.
Ava watched his face.
"Is Mom my biological mother?"
Thomas looked away.
Helen said nothing.
Ava laughed.
It was not humor.
"Unbelievable."
Thomas finally spoke.
"Marianne raised you."
"That's not what I asked."
"She is your mother."
"Biologically."
Silence.
Ava's voice became dangerously calm.
"Biologically."
Thomas whispered:
"No."
Ava turned toward the window.
Snow blurred the highway.
She thought of Marianne Mercer.
Her mother.
The woman who had packed school lunches, screamed at referees during soccer games, sat beside Ava during her first heartbreak, helped her choose a wedding dress, and cried when every fertility treatment failed.
Ava didn't feel less love for her.
She felt robbed of the truth.
"Who gave birth to me?"
Thomas answered.
"Evelyn's mother."
Ava looked at him.
"You said Evelyn was your daughter."
"She is."
"Then how can her mother be my mother?"
Thomas closed his eyes.
Helen intervened.
"Malcolm is twisting the terminology deliberately."
Ava stared at her.
"Then untwist it."
Helen took a breath.
"The woman Thomas loved before Marianne was named Rebecca Cole. Rebecca gave birth to Evelyn."
Ava nodded slowly.
"Okay."
"Years later, Northstar preserved embryos created during Rebecca's treatment."
Ava's hands went cold.
"Embryos."
"Thomas didn't know."
Thomas said, "Not until much later."
Helen continued.
"One embryo was implanted into Marianne."
Ava stared at them.
"My mother carried me."
"Yes."
"But genetically..."
"Rebecca was your biological mother."
Ava processed the impossible geometry of it.
Marianne was her gestational mother.
Rebecca her genetic mother.
Thomas her biological father.
Evelyn her full genetic sister.
"Why would Marianne agree?"
"She didn't know whose embryo it was."
Thomas's voice cracked.
"We had been trying for years. Doctors told us it was ours."
Ava sank back.
"So Northstar swapped embryos."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Helen answered.
"To preserve the Mercer line."
Ava laughed bitterly.
"I keep hearing that phrase."
Thomas stared at the floor.
"Samuel wanted a female descendant with Rebecca's mitochondrial line."
"So he used my mother as an incubator."
Thomas flinched.
Ava continued.
"And then you signed me into their research when I was twenty-one."
"I didn't know the truth then."
"When did you learn?"
"The year before the boat attack."
"So fifteen years ago."
"Yes."
"And you didn't tell Mom."
"I was afraid it would destroy her."
Ava's voice hardened.
"You don't get to decide which truth destroys people."
Thomas accepted the rebuke.
Helen's driver turned off the highway.
"We're almost there."
"Where?"
"A safe residence."
Ava shook her head.
"No. Take me to my mother."
Thomas looked alarmed.
"Absolutely not."
"Take me to Marianne."
"Northstar may be watching her."
"Then they're already watching her."
"Ava—"
"Fourteen years ago my father disappeared. Tonight I learned my husband engineered our marriage, altered my body, and may be connected to a secret medical organization. I am not spending another hour obeying men who tell me I'm safer without the truth."
Thomas stared at her.
Then nodded to the driver.
They changed direction.
Marianne Mercer's Boulder house looked peaceful beneath snow.
Porch light on.
Kitchen window glowing.
Ava's chest tightened.
Her mother often woke at four.
Insomnia.
Ava entered using her old key.
Marianne sat at the kitchen table drinking tea.
She wore a robe and reading glasses.
When she saw Ava, she smiled.
"Honey? What are you doing here?"
Then she saw Thomas standing behind her.
The teacup slipped from her hand.
It shattered.
Marianne did not scream.
She did not faint.
She whispered:
"You selfish son of a bitch."
Ava stared.
"You knew?"
Marianne rose slowly.
Her eyes filled with tears.
"You knew Dad was alive?"
"Not at first."
"When?"
"Eight years ago."
Ava stepped backward.
"Eight years."
"I couldn't tell you."
"Everyone says that."
"Ava."
"No."
Marianne ignored Thomas.
"I received a letter. He explained enough for me to understand you and Ryan might be in danger."
"Ryan too?"
Marianne looked at Thomas.
Ava followed her gaze.
"What aren't you telling me now?"
Thomas spoke.
"Ryan isn't my biological son."
Ava shut her eyes.
"Of course he isn't."
Marianne slammed her hand against the table.
"Enough, Thomas."
He stopped.
Ava looked at her mother.
"Whose son is he?"
Marianne whispered:
"I don't know."
Ava stared.
"What?"
"The clinic told us I was pregnant with our embryo. After Thomas discovered what happened with you, we had Ryan tested."
"And?"
"He isn't genetically related to either of us."
Ava felt the air leave her lungs.
Ryan.
Her brother.
Not related to either parent.
Marianne began crying.
"I didn't care. He was my baby."
Ava moved toward her and held her.
For the first time that night, Ava allowed herself to cry too.
Then the kitchen phone rang.
Everyone froze.
Marianne's landline almost never rang before sunrise.
Thomas reached toward it.
Ava stopped him.
She answered.
"Hello?"
A distorted voice said:
"Mrs. Hayes?"
"Who is this?"
"You should ask your mother what happened to the other baby."
Ava looked at Marianne.
"What other baby?"
The line disconnected.
Marianne's face went white.
Thomas whispered:
"Marianne."
Ava lowered the phone.
"What other baby?"
Her mother gripped the table.
"Ryan wasn't the only child delivered that night."
Ava stared.
May you like
Marianne continued.
"There were twins."
