Chapter 10 - The Choice Made Thirty-Five Years Ago.
Vivian stared at Robert's face in the photograph for nearly a minute.
The man had been dead for four years, yet his decisions still seemed to control the room.
"Robert did not switch the babies," she said finally.
Daniel's eyes stayed fixed on her.
"That is a very specific defense."
"Because it is true."
Vivian explained that Robert had received a call from St. Catherine's six weeks after the births.
A nurse had found duplicate bracelet numbers during an audit.
Two babies might have been discharged to the wrong families.
The hospital requested blood testing.
Robert agreed without telling Vivian.
Diane's face hardened.
"They never called me."
Vivian looked ashamed.
"Robert said the hospital was afraid of liability."
"So he tested Daniel?"
"Yes."
Daniel leaned forward.
"And?"
Vivian's hands trembled.
"The result excluded Robert as your biological father."
Daniel recoiled.
Ava frowned.
"But the current DNA test only compared Daniel to Vivian."
Vivian nodded.
"Robert was not Daniel's biological father either."
That changed everything again.
Daniel stared at the floor.
Diane looked confused.
"My former husband, Thomas Mercer, could have been his father."
"Robert knew that," Vivian said.
Diane's face sharpened.
"How?"
Vivian explained that the hospital had privately tested blood samples from both families after the audit.
The results strongly suggested the babies had been exchanged.
Robert demanded that the hospital correct the mistake quietly.
Then he learned what that would mean.
Daniel would be taken from the Hales and placed with the Mercers.
Caleb would be taken from the Mercers and placed with the Hales.
Both infants were six weeks old.
Both mothers had bonded with the babies they were raising.
Robert refused.
"He told the hospital the boys should stay where they were," Vivian said.
Diane stood so quickly her chair tipped backward.
"He decided that?"
Vivian flinched.
"The hospital agreed it would be less harmful."
"No one asked me."
"No."
"No one asked you either, did they?"
Vivian looked down.
"Not at first."
Daniel's voice was barely audible.
"When did he tell you?"
"When you were three months old."
Daniel closed his eyes.
There was no uncertainty left.
Vivian had known for almost his entire life.
"And you chose the same thing."
Vivian began crying again.
"I chose you."
Daniel's eyes opened.
"You chose for everyone."
That sentence silenced her.
Ava looked at Diane.
"What about Caleb?"
Diane swallowed.
"He knows there was a question about his birth."
"Does he know about Daniel?"
"Not by name."
Daniel looked stunned.
"There is another man walking around with the same hole in his life."
Diane nodded slowly.
"Yes."
Vivian whispered, "Do not call him yet."
Daniel turned on her.
"You do not get to decide the timing anymore."
Vivian recoiled.
"Daniel, please."
"No."
His voice remained controlled.
"You wanted a DNA test because you thought blood gave you the right to judge Ava."
Vivian looked toward the baby.
Daniel continued.
"Now blood has shown that the family you were policing was built on a truth you buried."
Vivian wiped her face.
"What do you want me to do?"
Daniel looked at Diane.
Then at Ava and Grace.
"Start answering questions without deciding who deserves the answers."
Claire quietly righted Diane's chair.
Ava's phone buzzed.
A message had arrived from an unknown number.
It contained one photograph.
The image showed a man around Daniel's age standing outside an auto repair shop.
He had dark hair, broad shoulders, and Vivian's unmistakable green eyes.
Beneath the photograph was a message.
May you like
My name is Caleb Mercer.
I think your family has been looking for me.
