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Chapter Twenty-Two
“Uh oh! Down he goes. Come on, Buddy. Let’s try again.”
Bo lifted Matthew back into a standing position. He had a firm grasp on each of Bo’s index fingers as Bo walked behind him through the living room. They had made several trips through the living room, into the kitchen, down the hall, and back.
“Look at my big boy, Mommy,” Bo said as they made their way past her desk. Matthew raised his little knees high as he held to Bo’s fingers and practiced his “walking”.
“You are a big boy! So big!” Nora exclaimed as they passed. Matthew flashed a smile.
It was a lazy Saturday morning, the first Saturday in November. Nora, seated at her desk, was going through a stack of unopened mail. As she pigeonholed the bills and tossed the junk mail, an envelope caught her eye. It was from the Blood Testing Clinic at Llanview Hospital. Wondering why they would be contacting her, she opened it and began reading. Her heart started racing.
“Bo…” She stood beside her desk, pale and gripping the letter. “Bo.” she said again more firmly.
Bo looked up. He scooped Matthew up and approached her. “What is it, Honey? Everything alright?”
She looked at him. “Did you receive one of these?” she asked showing him the envelope.
“I don’t know...I could have. I have a stack of mail I haven’t gone through at home. Why? What’s it about?”
She just looked at him. “Read it,” she said as she handed him the letter.
He read through the letter, then handed it back to Nora. Without a word, he carried Matthew over to the rug and gave him some toys to play with.
Nora watched him settle Matthew then asked, “Bo? What are you thinking?”
He sighed. “Honestly? It makes me angry. I can’t believe that we have to go through all of that anxiety again because of someone else’s incompetence. I’m not sure I want to go through it all again,” he said seating himself on the couch.
“ Bo...this letter is telling us that the testing done at that clinic was compromised...our paternity test results could have been wrong...”
“Or they could have been right. Just because some of the tests done that week were compromised, it doesn't mean ours were. I just don’t want to get my hopes up again. Besides...it doesn’t matter to me. I’ve accepted Matthew as Sam’s, and I love him anyway. I do, Nora. The tests won’t change anything…”
“If the tests were incorrect, it could change everything,” she continued. “Think about it. We wouldn’t have to worry about shared custody...we could live and work wherever we pleased...oh Bo...so many things would change...life would be perfect…”
“And you’re already getting your hopes up. Please, Nora, don’t do this. Let’s live in reality.”
“We can’t just ignore this,” Nora continued. She sat beside him on the couch. “Bo...we have to have this done...for Matthew. He’ll need to know for medical reasons...so that he knows his medical history...and...someday...he’s just going to want to know the truth. He deserves the truth...and maybe we’ll be surprised...there’s a fifty-fifty chance…”
“See? You’re already dreaming. Don’t!”
She looked down for a moment.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I don’t mean to be such a pessimist.” He entwined his fingers with hers. “It’s just that...things that are too good to be true, usually aren’t true. But, I’ll do it. I’ll take the test for Matthew’s sake. I just want you to know that it’s not going to change how I feel about him...and I don’t want you getting your hopes up.”
“Okay,” she agreed.
“When you schedule, try to schedule on a Monday morning.Then I can be tested and fly straight back to Llanview.”
“I’ll see what I can do...and we’ll have to talk to Sam.”
“Of course,” he grumbled.
* * * * * * *
When Nora called the Rhode Island Blood center, they originally told her they had no available appointments for three weeks. An hour later, they called to say there had been a cancellation, and they could see them at 9:30 Monday morning. Both Sam and Bo agreed to stay over until Monday to get the test done.
The clinic was in Providence, about thirty minutes from Bristol. They met Sam in the waiting room. Nora, holding Matthew, sat next to Bo on a couch, Sam sat nearby. There was no small talk or interaction. Each sat deep in their own thoughts. Sam couldn’t help but notice how Matthew leaned across Nora’s lap toward Bo.
“You want to come over here?” Bo asked Matthew quietly. “Come on,” he said gently taking Matthew onto his lap. Matthew stood on Bo’s lap fingering the flag pin on his lapel. Then he put his hands on Bo’s head messing his hair and held his palms toward Bo’s mouth for kisses.
Nora smiled and smoothed Bo’s hair back into place.
Just then a nurse appeared…”Buchanan?” she asked those in the waiting room. Bo, Nora, and Sam stood and followed her down the hall. They were all taken to the same room to dispel any possibilities of tampering with the results. Each had DNA removed by swab on the inner cheek. Matthew fought it a bit, but they were able to get a good sample from him also. The samples were labeled immediately and packaged securely to be sent to the lab which was housed in the same building.
Finally, the nurse told them that the testing was finished and they could expect results via mail within two to three weeks. That sounded like an eternity to all who were involved.
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