Free The Switch by Heather Justesen Page B

and Dad’s already paid for the test kit.”
    Her comment seemed to have the desired effect because Mona started swabbing like mad. “I could have paid for the kit. I’m perfectly capable on my own. I don’t know why you insist on letting him pay for everything.”
    Tia held back a smile and timed her mom, then switched swabs and put the used one in the provided pouch.
    “This is so unnecessary,” Mona said as she handed the second swab back after finishing with it.
    “Thanks for humoring me.” Tia passed over the final test and sighed in relief as her mother took care of it.
    “I don’t understand why you’re making such a big deal about this,” Mona protested.
    “You’re the one making a big production out of it.” Tia took the final specimen and sealed it in the package. “If everything comes back on this like you expect, then there’s no harm done. The only reason you should be upset is if you believe the results will be negative.” She eyed her mother, wondering again if there was more going on than she would admit. But if Mona had suspected something, she would never have opened this can of worms by insisting the blood type was wrong.
    “My heavens, a mother knows her own baby! The problem is you don’t trust me. If you did, you wouldn’t have put us through this ordeal.”
    Tia decided it was too late to argue now. She was tired and had another full day ahead of her. “Thanks for taking the girls tonight, Mom. They had fun and I appreciated the break. I got a lot done.”
    “I remember what it was like to have young ones at home and how hard it was to get anything accomplished.” Mona kissed her cheek. “Take care, and make sure you let me know when the results get back.”
    “I will.” Tia was grateful for the momentary reprieve from hostility. All she could do now was wait for the results.

Eleven
    The next week passed entirely too slowly. Tia had spoken with Danny on the phone a couple of times about the chili cook-off, and they had submitted info about the event to her supervisor at work. The station manager thought it a great publicity opportunity for Tia and the station, as well as good for the charity. Samantha was still poking at her to go to the fire shed to see Danny and the ambulance, and Mona had started calling, asking about updates on the DNA test before the envelope could have even arrived at the company that would run the tests.
    The days seemed to stretch, lasting far longer than they should have. Finally Tia sat at the computer, logged onto the website and checked her results.
    She stared at the screen for a long moment, stunned.
    There was no biological relationship between her and either of her parents. Though she’d had a niggling thought about this, she hadn’t really believed it. How could it be possible? She couldn’t have been adopted, or her parents would’ve told her when all of this came up—beside that, she had pictures of her mom, dad, uncle, and grandmother all holding her in the hospital, and she had her bracelet from her birth tucked into a scrapbook. Hers and her mother’s hospital bracelets, in fact.
    Tia stood and walked away from the computer, then turned and paced back again. Emotions roiled in her: worry, loss, sadness, and concern for the future. Tears poured down her face as she tried to understand everything. Hadn’t she been through enough with Lee dying? Did this have to happen too?
    Now she had the answers she’d looked for, she didn’t know what to do about it. She had to tell her parents, of course, but she could already see the recriminations, hard feelings, and finger pointing—and that was just her mother. Samantha ran into the apartment with Casey hot on her heels. “Mom, can we go see Danny now? Pleeeease? We’re bored!”
    Tia’s first instinct was to say no, then retreat to her room to curl up in the fetal position. She followed her second instinct, which was to avoid thinking about it entirely. She dabbed at her eyes, trying