Blood Type

Authors Note: This is a story of coincidences.....yes, it isn't likely, but in the loving wives category, what is.

Thanks to GamblinLuck, BumblinFool, Sigmanfraud and Vintage_DM for their feedback.

As someone is likely to comment, I thought I would get ahead of it. There are four blood types. "A", "B", "AB" and "O" I decided to simplify the blood type discussions in the story to reduce the complexity. What I have written is correct, so adding the additional parent-to-child discussions by adding "O" and "AB" in some places wouldn't have added to the story, but it would have made the discussions more complex than they needed to be.

All characters involved with any sexual activity are 18 or older. All of my works on this site are copywritten by CurrentParameter and may only be used or reused with permission.

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Ted Saunders was having a bad day. The new sales guy that had been hired had filled in all the forms incorrectly, and now Ted had to figure out how to clean up their mess.

His phone rang. He thought, "What now?"

He answered the phone. Due to his mood, he answered it by saying, "What?"

The woman on the other end of the phone asked, "Is this Ted Saunders?"

Ted sighed and said, "Yes."

The woman said, "My name is Officer Shirley Thompson of the Police Department. Do you have a wife, Audrey, and a daughter, Beth?"

Ted sat straight in his chair. He replied, "Yes."

Officer Shirley said, "Well, they have been in a car accident and are being treated at Point Hill Hospital. I don't have the details on their condition, but you need to come down here."

Ted jumped out of his chair. He crossed the hall to his boss's office. He knocked and opened the door. His boss was on the phone and looked crossly at him. Ted said, "Sorry, but I just got a call that Audrey and Beth were in an accident and are in the hospital."

His boss's expression changed to concern, and he told him, "Go! We will cover for you."

Ted ran from the office to his car and sped off. Fifteen minutes later, he pulled into the Hospital parking and ran into the ER.

He ran to the ER reception and desperately asked, "Where are my wife and daughter?"

The nurse behind the counter asked, "Can I see some ID?"

Ted pulled out his driver's license and showed it to her.

She said, "Sorry, but we have to make sure that we are sending the right person to the room. Your daughter is in room 12. Down the corridor and on the left."

Ted thanked her and ran down the corridor. He stopped and took a deep breath before entering the room. He walked in to hear his daughter yell. "Daddy!"

He stepped in to look at her. She had scrapes on her face, and her left arm was in a sling. There was a large bandage on her left leg. He went to her to give her a hug when he noticed the police officer sitting in the corner.

Ted asked, "Are you, Officer Shirley?"

She said, "Yes, Beth has been a brave little girl. They are going to take her to the X-ray in a few minutes."

Ted asked, "What happened?"

Officer Shirley nodded towards the hallway. Nolan told Beth, "Daddy has to talk to the police officer. I'll just be outside the door."

He followed the officer.

Officer Shirley said, "They were t-boned by a driver running a red light. Your wife got the brunt of it. She is in surgery right now."

At this time, a doctor and an orderly joined them. The Doctor asked, "Are you the father?" Ted nodded. The doctor continued, "Your daughter should be fine. We think she has a concussion, and she had a bad laceration on her left leg, but we have already stitched that up. This orderly is going to take her for X-rays to check her left arm. We think it is a simple break but want to double-check before we put a cast on it."

Ted said, "Thank you. And my wife?"

The doctor looked more somber, "She took the brunt of the damage. She is in surgery now and will be in surgery for several more hours. We will know more then."

A tear started down Ted's face, but then he heard "Daddy." Coming from the room. The orderly wanted to move her to a wheelchair to wheel her down to the X-ray room.

The doctor said, "We will let you know when she comes out of surgery. Because of the possible concussion, we would like to keep Beth here overnight. We will admit her once we have her arm in a cast."

Ted thanked the doctor and joined his daughter in the room. Officer Shirley came over and said, "If it is OK, I have to go. Here is my card if you want to contact me."

Ted nodded, and she left. Ted followed the orderly and Beth to the X-ray room. They covered both of them in those lead aprons and quickly completed Beth's X-ray.

Once back in the room, Ted pulled out his phone and called his parents. They lived in Letter Creek, about two hours away. He updated them on the situation, and they said they were jumping in their car and would get there as soon as possible. Audrey had no parents to call. She was a single child, and her parents passed while they were in college.

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Ted never met Audrey's parents. They passed in her freshman year. Ted and Audrey met at a frat party when she was a junior, and he was a senior. His parents almost adopted her on sight, and if he hadn't proposed to Audrey shortly after she graduated, his parents would have proposed on his behalf.

They were married a year later, a year after Beth was born. They had started talking about having another baby, but Beth had just received a promotion from a legal secretary to a law clerk at the legal firm she worked at. She wanted to settle into the new role before they tried. She said she was only 26, and they had lots of time.

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Beth got the cast on her arm, and she was admitted to the children's wing for observation. The doctor was sure that there was nothing to worry about and that she should be able to go home in the morning.

Ted was trying to keep Beth entertained but was worried about Audry. The last update was that she was still in surgery, which had been going on for three and a half hours.

Fortunately, Ted's parents showed up. Beth was happy to see them and spent time showing all her boo-boos to her grandparents.

Ted excused himself to get an update on Audry.

According to the Nurses, they expected the surgery to last at least another hour, and then Audrey would be going to Intensive Care.

Beth had gone down for a nap, so Ted was able to update his parents. Audrey had taken the afternoon off to take Beth to the dentist. On the way back home, a driver had run a red light and then t-boned them.

Ted's mother held his hand and said, "Don't worry, Audrey will be fine."

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The next day, Beth was free to go home. She was going home with Ted's parents so he could stay at the hospital with Audrey.

He was filling out the form to sign Beth out when he spotted something. He asked the nurse, "What's this?"

She looked at what he was pointing to. Beth's medical chart was sticking out underneath the release form. She said, "That is your daughter's blood type. They probably ran her blood type when she came into ER in the event that she needed blood or surgery. Standard procedure in bad car accidents."

Ted signed the form but wanted to break the pen in half. His emotions were playing havoc with him.

He pulled himself together for the sake of appearances in front of Beth and his parents.

His mother detected his change in mood. She asked, "What is it?"

Ted forced out a smile. He replied, "Nothing. Just tired and worried about Audry."

She said, "Don't worry, she will be fine."

A tear ran down his cheek as he watched Beth leave with his parents.

He went to the Intensive Care Unit and patiently sat there, watching Audrey. The nurse said that they expected her to regain consciousness in a couple of hours. Due to the nature of the surgery, they told him that her breathing tube would remain in place for at least one more day. The surgeon had been candid with him once the surgery was completed. He said it was still 50-50 for her.

He just sat there thinking that if the accident didn't kill her, then he would.

Ted noticed her move. He got up and stepped up to the head of her bed. He noticed her eyes opening and then recognized in her eyes that she recognized him.

He whispered, "You have a breathing tube, so don't try to speak. You were in a car accident. Beth is OK, she is with my parents. I just have one question for you. Beth is blood Type 'AB'. We are both type 'A'. Who is Beth's father? Ben?"

He saw tears coming from her eyes. Then all the alarms went off. The nurses came rushing in and ordered him to stand back. She asked, "What happened?"

Ted said, "I noticed her eyes opening, and then all the alarms went off."

The nurse said, "Please stand back." She then yelled, "Bring a crash cart!"

A doctor and the nurses worked on Audry for fifteen minutes as Ted stood and watched. The doctor finally looked up sadly, went over to Ted, and said, "Sorry, we did all we could, but she is gone."

Ted sat in a chair and started to cry. However, everyone in Intensive Care assumed that he was crying due to the loss of his wife. He was sad that she died, but he was crying mostly due to her betrayal as he wasn't Beth's father. You see, in order for a child to have a blood type of "AB", at least one parent must have a type 'A' in their blood and the other a 'B' in their blood. As both he and Audry donated blood, he knew that they were both type "A".

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The next days were a blur. Due to Audry's death, Beth's recovery, and Ted knowing that he wasn't Beth's father. His parents handled all of the funeral arrangements.

Around the time that they conceived Beth, Audry had a work retreat. Ted had been worried about the retreat as Ben Anderson, one of the legal firm's lawyers and son of one of the partners, was going, and Ted thought that he had been inappropriate around her.

Ben's wife had died in childbirth about a year before, and there had been rumors that he was looking for a new wife from amongst the secretary staff. He was looking for someone quick who could help him look after his one-year-old son.

It really burned Ted that Ben dropped by to give him their condolences, but it was neither the time nor the place for Ted to make a scene or get revenge.

However, after the funeral, the reality of being a single father took over. Revenge against Ben took a back seat to caring for Beth. Eventually, his parents had to go home, and Ben fell further back in Ted's priorities.

Then, a job opportunity in his parents' hometown drove him to relocate due to the support that his parents could provide him and Beth. This meant that Ben was now fully in his rear window.

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Seventeen years later, Ted was sitting at home with his wife of eleven years, Sheila, and his ten-year-old son, waiting for Beth to come home for a visit at March break. She was a sophomore and was bringing home her boyfriend, Jeff, who was a senior at the same college. He was passing through and staying overnight before continuing to his home. Their place was on his drive home.

After an amazing dinner, during which the talk was mostly about school, Ted sat on the back deck with Jeff for the traditional father grilling of the boyfriend.

Ted started the usual grilling, "Jeff, what are your plans after you graduate."

Jeff answered, "Well, I am going to go to law school and be a lawyer, like my father. I likely will be joining his firm once I pass the bar."

Ted asked, "That's great. So, where are you from?"

Jeff said, "Point Hill."

Ted sat for a second. Years of forgotten bad memories pour back into his mind. He asked, "What is your last name again?"

Jeff said, "Anderson."

Ted looked concerned, "Is your father Ben Anderson?"

Jeff smiled, "Why yes, do you know him?"

Ted jumped to his feet in a furry. "Get the fuck out of my house!"

Jeff stood, "What do you mean?"

Ted yelled, "No one connected to Ben Anderson is allowed in my house!"

Beth and Sheila came to the deck to see what the yelling was about.

Ted again yelled at Jeff as Jeff looked at Beth, "Move, get out of my house."

Beth ushered Jeff to his car as Sheila tried to calm Ted down.

Beth asked, "What happened?"

Jeff said, "I don't know, he asked about what I was planning to do after graduation and then asked my dad's name and then he freaked out."

Beth was crying. Jeff hugged her.

By this time, Sheila was coming out of the house carrying Jeff's overnight bag. She said, "Jeff, I must apologize. I have never seen Ted like this. I know you planned to stay overnight, but it looks like you might as well continue home. We will get to the bottom of this."

After Jeff drove off, Sheila and Beth stormed back into the house to confront Ted.

Sheila asked, "Ted Saunders, what in the hell was that all about?"

Ted was sitting with his head in his hands, crying.

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After several minutes, Ted finally pulled it together. He said, "Both of you need to sit down. I will be back in a minute." Sheila and Beth watched Ted as he went into his office. After a few minutes, he came out, holding a piece of paper. He handed it to Beth.

Beth looked at it. She asked, "What is this?"

Ted sighed, "This is a DNA test I did on you when you were four. It confirmed something that I discovered the day your mother passed that I am not your birth father."

Beth and Shela went pale. Beth said, "Wha..Wha...but you have to be my father."

Ted said, "That day in the hospital, I saw your blood type. It is 'AB'. Both your mother and I are 'A', and I knew because they find your blood type when you donate blood. To have 'AB' blood, you have to have one parent that has 'A' and another that has 'B'. That meant that your mother had an affair, and you were the result."

Beth sat there stunned. Sheila moved over beside her and put her arm around her in support.

Beth then asked, "But what does this have to do with you kicking out Jeff."

Ted sat back and started to cry again. He then took a breath and said, "Because there is only one person that she could have had an affair with, and that was her boss at the time, Ben Anderson. Jeff's father. Jeff is your brother."

Beth started to cry. She stood and started to pace. She blubbered, "No. No. this can't be happening."

She then sat beside Ted. She said, "I wish you had told me about this earlier. I don't care about this." She picked up the paper with the DNA results and ripped it in half. "You are my father, no matter what that said. I love you, dad."

They sat and held each other. They talked late into the night.

Later, Beth received a text from Jeff asking, "Are you OK? I arrived at my parents' house fine. Did you find out what happened?"

Beth sighed. She needed to get her head around this more. She then texted, "I'm OK. I will call to explain in the morning."

Then, she remembered that they participated in a campus blood drive. She sent, "Hey, do you know your blood type?"

Jeff's reply came quickly, "'A'. Why?"

Beth was stunned. She replied, "Just 'A,' not 'AB' or 'B'?"

He replied, "No, just 'A'. Why?"

Beth jumped out of bed while texting, "Nothing, just a big misunderstanding. I love you. I have to talk to my dad now and straighten this out. Will talk to you in the morning."

She then barged into Ted and Sheila's room, turning on the light to wake them up. She exclaimed, "It's all good. I may not be your daughter, but Jeff isn't my brother."

Ted, trying to adjust to the sudden brightness, asked, "What do you mean?"

Beth said, "If I am type 'AB,' then my brother must be type 'AB' also, correct?"

Ted said, "Yes, I think so."

Beth jumped on the bed to show him her phone. "Jeff is type 'A', so Jeff's father can't be my father."

Ted sat in bed, staring at the phone. He said, "All those years I hated him, and it wasn't even him that did this." He sat there for a minute. He stated, "I need to apologize to Jeff, but I need to do that in person. Can you ask him if we can take him and his parents out for lunch tomorrow? We will drive there in the morning. Tell him that things will be OK."

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The next day, Ted, Beth, and Sheila arrived at the Anderson residence just before noon.

Ben Anderson welcomed them into their house and introduced them to his wife Tiffany.

Ted asked if they could sit down so he could explain his behavior the previous night.

Once they were all sitting in Ben's living room, Ted started, "Jeff, I need to apologize. First, as part of my explanation, I have to tell you what I told Beth for the first time last night that I am not her birth father."

Ted didn't notice it, but Ben's face blanched, and Tiffany glanced at him. Ben's grip on Tiffany's hand tightened.

Ted looked down and then looked back up at them. He continued, "When Audrey passed in the hospital, I found out that Beth had blood type 'AB' from the hospital charts. I knew that Audrey and I were both types 'A,' so that meant that in order for Beth to be 'AB', I couldn't be the father."

He stared directly at Ben. He said, "I knew that Audrey had spent a weekend with you at a work retreat around when Beth was conceived. I concluded that you must be the father since I wasn't." Ted also looked at Jeff. He told them, "I apologize to both of you."

Ben stared at Ted and then glanced at Tiffany. She nodded. Ben said, "Tiffany is aware of what I am about to tell you. My therapist told me that if I was to be in any meaningful relationship, I needed to be upfront about my past."

Ben paused for a minute. He then continued, "Ted, after Jeff's mother died in childbirth, I was in a very bad place. I had lost my wife and was expected to take care of a newborn baby. Fortunately, my parents stepped in to help with Jeff, but I became self-destructive. I started to drink, and I started to chase any women that I found desirable. Now, my mental state is no excuse for what I did. I was a bad person at the time. I did have sex with Audry that weekend. We were both really drunk, and I brought her to my room. I take full responsibility for that. I wanted to tell you after she passed, but I remembered what it was like after I lost my wife, and thinking that you didn't know about the affair, I figured that it would have caused you even more pain." Ben then paused and added, "It is me who should be apologizing to you."

Ted was astonished. He sat there with different emotions boiling up inside him. Sheila grabbed his hand, got his attention, and smiled at him to reassure him.

Ted glanced back at her. He took a deep breath and said, "After Audry's death, I had so many emotions going through me, but I had to take care of injured Beth, and then we moved away to be closer to my parents for their help. I really wanted to come back and beat the crap out of you, but with time my anger refocused on Beth, and since we weren't in the same town." Ted trailed off.

Ben laughed, "You didn't beat the crap out of me, but the next guy did. I had slept with one of the other women in the office. Her husband found out and put me in the hospital. He knocked my head partially back on straight, though. I realized the bad path I was in and started therapy. I couldn't undo what I did to them, so I offered to pay for their couples therapy and also pulled in a few favors and got her a better-paying job at another firm so her husband wouldn't have to worry about the two of us being in the same office. Fortunately, they are still together to this day, although whenever I see them, he has the same look as the day he beat the crap out of me."

They all sat in silence.

Beth broke the ice and said to Ben, "But we know you aren't my father because Jeff and I have different blood types."

Ben asked, "Well, if you are 'AB,' I guess Jeff is then type 'B'?"