The Story I Never Knew
“Gracie,” he says, using the nickname he hasn’t used since I was a teenager, “there is something your mother and I never told you. We never told Claire, either. We thought we were protecting everyone.”
My mind jumps immediately to Claire. “Is she sick? Is something wrong with her? Is that why she collapsed?”
He shakes his head.
“No. Not like that.”
He rubs his hands over his face, searching for the right place to begin.
“You and Claire… you’re both my daughters,” he says, slowly. “I have loved you both from the moment you came into this world. That part is simple. The rest is not.”
I feel my stomach twist.
“Okay… so what isn’t simple?”
“Claire isn’t your full sister,” he says at last. “She is your half sister.”
I frown. “Half… how?”
“The man who raised Lucas,” my father says, “had a relationship outside his marriage years ago. It was a mistake that hurt a lot of people. Your mother was involved. Claire came from that.”
The words land in pieces.
I stare at him.
“You’re telling me that Claire’s biological father is Lucas’s father?”
He nods, slowly.
“So Claire and Lucas are—”
“Half siblings,” he finishes quietly. “They share a father.”
The room tilts. I grip the edge of my chair.
I think of family dinners where my mother seemed tense if Lucas’s parents were mentioned. I think of how she always changed the subject if talk turned to the past, to the time before I was born, to the early years of their marriage. At the time, I thought she was just tired of certain stories.
“When did you find out?” I ask.
