Lymber craft's Arc

Chapter 48 of 70

Friday afternoon Lymber sat in her office with the ultrasound sleeve on the desk. Paul came in without knocking and shut the door behind him. He held a folded paper in one hand. His face was flat in a way she had not seen since the first year. He said, I found this in the file box in the closet. She said, What is it. He set it on the desk in front of her and did not sit down. She unfolded it. It was a paternity report on clinic letterhead with Violetta's name at the top and a date from four years ago. The result line said Paul Craft was excluded as the biological father. Lymber's hands went cold. She read it twice. She said, Where was this. He said, Bottom of the box, under the tax folders. She looked at the header again. The clinic name was right. The doctor name was wrong. She said, This doctor never worked there. Paul said, You're sure. She said, I sat in that clinic every week. I know the names. She picked up her phone and called her mother. She said, Mom. There's a paternity paper in my closet that says Paul isn't Violetta's father. Polly was quiet. Then Polly said, I remember that one. Someone slid it into your locker the week you announced. I pulled it out before you saw it. I thought I burned it. Lymber said, You kept it. Polly said, I kept everything from that year. I'm sorry. Lymber hung up and looked at Paul. She said, It's fake. Someone at school made it and put it in my locker when I was pregnant with her. My mom found it and kept it in a box and forgot. Paul picked up the paper and looked at the doctor's name. He said, Fake. She said, Fake. He stood there a long second. Then he took the paper to her shredder in the corner and fed it in. The machine ground it down. He said, I believed it for about ten minutes. She said, I know. He said, I'm sorry. She said, Don't be. I would have too. He came around the desk and put his hand on the top of the bump where Missy was. He said, She's mine. Violetta is mine. She said, Yes. He said, We're getting that box out of the closet tonight. She said, Every paper. He nodded and went to get Violetta from Maggie. Lymber sat with the empty shredder tray and pressed both hands to her stomach. Four months to the twins. She wrote a note on a card: check every folder before Sunday. She stuck the card to the monitor and stood up to help with dinner.