Chapter 4 - Two Children
I did not sleep that night.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw two embryos.
Not microscopic cells beneath laboratory glass.
Children.
Noah.
And someone else.
Somewhere across an ocean.
Or perhaps nowhere at all.
I kept reminding myself that a positive pregnancy test did not guarantee a birth.
I hated myself for hoping it had.
I hated myself for fearing it had.
The next morning, Dana arrived at my apartment carrying coffee and a legal pad thick with handwritten notes.
“We found Heather.”
“Where?”
“Hotel outside Richmond.”
“Is she safe?”
“For now.”
“She agreed to meet?”
“She agreed to give a sworn statement if we arrange protection.”
“Protection from Marcus?”
Dana did not answer directly.
“She believes he is capable of ruining her life.”
“He already ruined mine.”
“I reminded her.”
I handed Dana a mug.
“What exactly did Heather do?”
“She handled laboratory records.”
“She says Keller instructed her to replace several reports in your chart.”
“With what?”
“Altered versions showing poor egg quality and failed embryo development.”
My jaw tightened.
“Why?”
“According to Heather, Keller said the changes were part of a legal matter.”
“What legal matter?”
“She didn’t ask.”
“She falsified medical records without asking?”
“She was paid forty thousand dollars.”
I stared at Dana.
“By Marcus.”
“Through a consulting company.”
“The same shell company?”
“We’re checking.”
I walked toward the window.
Below us, the bookstore owner was unpacking a shipment.
I envied him.
Books had endings already written.
Mine kept changing.
“What about Prague?”
Dana opened her folder.
“Asteria International is a legitimate fertility network.”
“That sounds almost reassuring.”
“It shouldn’t.”
I turned.
“Why?”
“Because according to the shipping documents, your embryo was received under a gestational carrier program.”
My hands went cold.
“Carrier?”
“Yes.”
“Someone was paid to carry my embryo?”
“That appears to be the claim.”
“Who?”
“Asteria won’t disclose without a court order.”
“Then get one.”
“We’re working on it.”
“Today.”
“Elena.”
“Today.”
Dana stared at me.
Then she nodded.
“I already filed.”
I looked away.
“Thank you.”
The genetic results regarding Noah were expected within forty-eight hours.
They arrived in eleven.
Dana called me from the courthouse.
“Elena.”
I heard something in her voice.
I sat down.
“What?”
“The preliminary laboratory comparison is complete.”
I stopped breathing.
“Tell me.”
“Noah is genetically related to Marcus.”
For half a second, relief arrived.
Then confusion.
“So Marcus is his father.”
“Biologically, yes.”
I closed my eyes.
Marcus had not been entirely incapable of fathering a child.
Dr. Thorne had explained that severe male-factor infertility did not always mean absolute sterility.
With advanced procedures, viable sperm could sometimes be isolated.
“And Chloe?”
Silence.
“Dana.”
“No biological maternal relationship.”
My fingers went numb.
“And me?”
Another pause.
I already knew.
“Elena, the probability of maternity exceeds 99.99 percent.”
The room disappeared.
I pressed the phone against my ear.
I could hear Dana talking.
I could not understand the words.
Noah was mine.
My child.
My son.
The baby Chloe had held while Marcus called me barren was biologically mine.
My legs gave way.
I slid down beside the sofa.
A sound came from me.
Not a scream.
Something smaller.
Broken.
I put my hand over my mouth.
“Elena?”
“I’m here.”
“Do you want me to come over?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
I started laughing.
Then crying.
Then both.
“I have a son.”
“Yes.”
“I have a son.”
“Yes.”
“He’s ten months old.”
“Yes.”
“I missed everything.”
That was the sentence that destroyed me.
His birth.
His first cry.
The first time he opened his eyes.
The first night someone walked the floor with him.
The first time he smiled.
The first tooth.
The first cold.
The first time he recognized the person he thought was his mother.
All of it belonged to someone else because Marcus decided I should not know my child existed.
Dana’s voice softened.
“You didn’t miss it willingly.”
“That doesn’t give it back.”
“No.”
Nothing could.
“Where is Noah?”
“With Chloe.”
“Marcus?”
“Judge has scheduled an emergency custody hearing.”
“When?”
“Tomorrow morning.”
I wiped my face.
“What is Marcus arguing?”
“That the embryo transfer was consensual.”
“That I donated my own child to my best friend?”
“Yes.”
“He knows the signature is forged.”
“He claims you signed it during an emotionally unstable period and forgot.”
I laughed.
Of course.
The same story.
Always the same story.
Elena was unstable.
Elena was bitter.
Elena could not trust her own memory.
Elena needed Marcus to explain reality to her.
“What is Chloe saying?”
“She hired her own attorney.”
“Finally.”
“She claims Marcus told her the embryo came from an anonymous donor.”
“But she admitted he later told her it was mine.”
“Yes.”
“She continued pretending Noah was biologically hers after that.”
“Yes.”
“That matters.”
“Very much.”
The next morning, Marcus entered family court as if he were arriving at a board meeting.
He wore navy.
He carried no papers.
Grant carried everything.
Chloe sat across the aisle with a young female attorney.
She never looked at Marcus.
Noah was not present.
A temporary guardian had been appointed for him.
The judge entered at 9:03.
Judge Miriam Vale was perhaps sixty.
She read the preliminary genetic report in silence.
Then she looked at Marcus.
“Mr. Mercer.”
“Yes, Your Honor.”
“You are the biological father.”
“Yes.”
“And Ms. Mercer is the biological mother.”
Marcus hesitated.
“That appears to be what the testing indicates.”
Judge Vale’s expression hardened.
“Science is not a matter of your opinion.”
Grant touched Marcus’s arm.
“Yes, Your Honor.”
The judge looked at Chloe.
“You carried the child?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know before implantation that the embryo belonged genetically to Elena and Marcus Mercer?”
“No.”
“Did you know later?”
Chloe swallowed.
“Yes.”
“When?”
“About fourteen weeks into the pregnancy.”
A murmur moved through the courtroom.
The judge lifted her hand.
Silence returned.
“What did Mr. Mercer tell you?”
Chloe looked at Marcus.
“He said Elena had donated the embryos.”
“Did you verify that with Ms. Mercer?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
Chloe’s voice broke.
“Because I was having an affair with her husband.”
No one breathed.
“And you feared speaking with her.”
“Yes.”
“Did you represent yourself publicly as the child’s biological mother?”
“Yes.”
“Did Mr. Mercer?”
“Yes.”
Judge Vale looked at Marcus.
“Did you know Ms. Hale was not the biological mother?”
Marcus leaned toward Grant.
They whispered.
Grant stood.
“My client invokes his right not to answer questions that may implicate him in a criminal matter.”
That changed the room.
Judge Vale stared at him.
“Understood.”
My heartbeat accelerated.
Criminal.
Until that moment, I had been thinking about custody.
Medical fraud.
Divorce.
Forgery.
But stealing reproductive material without consent was something larger.
The judge continued.
“I am ordering the child to remain temporarily with Ms. Hale pending evaluation.”
My heart dropped.
Dana touched my wrist.
Judge Vale continued before I could react.
“However, neither Mr. Mercer nor Ms. Hale may remove the child from the state.”
Marcus frowned.
The judge looked at me.
“Ms. Mercer will be granted supervised contact beginning immediately.”
I stared at her.
“Today?”
“Yes.”
My voice failed.
Dana answered for me.
“Thank you, Your Honor.”
The judge’s expression softened slightly.
“This court recognizes the extraordinary emotional circumstances.”
Then it hardened again.
“But this child is not evidence.”
“He is not property.”
“He is a ten-month-old human being who currently recognizes Ms. Hale as his primary caregiver.”
The words hurt.
They were also true.
“Any transition must consider his emotional security.”
I nodded.
“Yes, Your Honor.”
Marcus suddenly stood.
“This is insane.”
Grant pulled him down.
Judge Vale’s gaze sharpened.
“Mr. Mercer, one more outburst and you will be removed.”
Marcus sat.
He looked at me.
I expected hatred.
Instead I saw panic.
Why?
The custody hearing had not gone well for him.
But the judge had not taken Noah away.
Then Grant whispered something to Marcus.
I caught only one word.
Prague.
My stomach turned.
Dana had heard it too.
We stepped into the courthouse hallway after the hearing.
Her phone rang immediately.
She answered.
Listened.
Then looked at me.
“What?”
I demanded.
Dana slowly lowered the phone.
“Asteria responded to the emergency order.”
My chest tightened.
“And?”
“They identified the gestational carrier.”
“Who is she?”
“Her name is Sofia Novak.”
“Where is she?”
“Currently in Virginia.”
I stared.
“Virginia?”
Dana nodded.
“She entered the United States nine days ago.”
“Why?”
Dana’s face had gone pale.
“Elena.”
“What?”
“She came here with a baby.”
My heart slammed against my ribs.
“How old?”
Dana looked at the message again.
“Seven weeks.”
I gripped the wall.
“Boy or girl?”
“A girl.”
I closed my eyes.
“And according to Asteria?”
Dana swallowed.
“The embryo identifier matches your second missing embryo.”
I could not breathe.
Dana caught my arm.
“There is more.”
I opened my eyes.
“What more could there possibly be?”
“Sofia did not come to America voluntarily.”
I stared at her.
“What does that mean?”
“She says Marcus paid for her flight.”
A cold wave moved through me.
“Why?”
Dana looked toward the courtroom doors.
“He wanted the baby brought to him.”
May you like
And across the hallway, Marcus Mercer suddenly started running.
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