I’m not gonna tell you everything he said. Some of it sounded like excuses. Some of it sounded like a man who genuinely didn’t know. I don’t know which was worse.

Bridget doesn’t know yet. That’s the part that wakes me up at 3 AM. She’s 14.

She has braces and a biology project and a beagle she loves and NO IDEA that the man she calls Grandpa is actually — I can’t type it again.

I’ve got a lawyer. I’ve got the DNA results saved in three places. I’ve got the board records showing Gerald’s signature on Dale’s promotion paperwork. I’ve got $211 in my checking account right now because I moved everything else into a separate account Deborah helped me open at a credit union.

Nolan is at Georgia State. I haven’t told him yet. I don’t know if I should.

I drove past Gerald’s house once last week. Not on purpose. Okay, maybe a little on purpose. The eggs smell was gone but his car was in the driveway and there was a Publix bag on the porch and that somehow made everything worse. I don’t know why. It just did.

I still have the 23andMe app on my phone. I keep meaning to delete it but I don’t.

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*If your best friend needs to see this, you know what to do.*

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