Deoxyribonucleic Acid

© 2024 JoshFrom53

Dear reader.

Again, welcome to my fantasy world. You know, the one between my ears.

In several stories I'm working on, deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA is playing a major role.

This is the first.

Disclaimer.

All likeness to persons, institutions and companies in my stories are completely incidental. Actually: nothing in this story has any relation to reality

Oh, and of course everything and everybody engaged in any sexual activity is 18 years or older.

[=][=]

Turning502019, edited this story, but don't blame him when you find mistakes. I make a lot of them and they're all mine.

Will, I can't thank you enough.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A week after her graduation Elise had another look at the pictures her brother Alex had taken.

Alex sitting next to her on the couch was scanning a magazine, after all he had seen them all, photoshopping some to enhance them, when he heard a sharp intake of breath.

"Look here, she said. "Doesn't that man look like Dad?"

"Let me see." Alex replied and scooted over.

He studied the picture, "I'm not sure. It looks like it, but this man seems much older and thinner than I remember Dad before he ran off. Wait a sec."

He walked to the door where he had dropped his backpack and retrieved his laptop. Back on the couch he opened it, started it and went searching for the digital version of the picture.

"Got it, he exclaimed, "Let's take a better look."

Alex enlarged the picture and enhanced it. "Yes, that's Dad!"

Silently they looked at the nondescript figure in the picture. Both had tears in their eyes. They hadn't seen him in over two years and had been told that he just disappeared and after that confronted their mother with a divorce.

"Odd, that someone who didn't want to have anything to do with us anymore and walked away without a word, shows up like a ghost, at your graduation. It's also very odd that he didn't come forward to congratulate you." Alex said softly to his sister.

Elise whispered back, her mother was not far away and seemed to be able to overhear almost any conversation even when she was at the other side of a room full of people talking. The children called it her 'saloon-ears'.

"What do you remember of that time? I still can't shake that feeling that something was seriously off kilter."

Alex nodded, "And all the crying and shouting to Granny that it was just a joke and Granny shouting back that if she didn't understand what that kind of joke can do to someone like her son-in-law, she doesn't deserve him and probably will never get him back."

Elise frowned, whispering again, "And suddenly Uncle Brian comes to tell us that Dad abandoned us. The longer I think about it, the less I trust the story..."

Alex whispered back, "Maybe it's time that we try to find out for ourselves what happened?"

Rachel, their mother stuck her head around the doorsill, "What are you two up to? She asked. "You'd better stop it and wash your hands because dinner is ready."

Alex quickly replied, before his mother would come over and saw the enhanced picture, "We were looking at the graduation pictures from Elise again."

"Ah, okay. Dinner in ten minutes."

After dinner Alex decided that the best way to find out what had happened and why their uncle is constantly trying to interfere with their lives, is a full-frontal attack.

He opened his laptop again and looked for the picture with his father in it.

Alex made a cut-out of the picture, which he enlarged. When done he made a cut-out of the result and enlarged that one so that his father was clearly shown.

He called out, "Mum! Can you come and have a look?"

"What am I looking at? I've seen all those pictures already, Alex." Rachel said warningly.

"You didn't look good enough. Watch." Alex replied and showed her the first enlargement.

"See someone familiar?" He asked.

"No, who should I see?"

Alex showed her the second enlargement with his father's face clearly visible.

Rachel went white as a sheet stammering, "Oh my God, no, no no. He was there." And ran into her bedroom.

Baffled, the two young adults looked at each other and after a while Rachel said, "What for fuck's sake happened. That man walked out on us and she cried all over the sight of a blow-up of him? I don't understand it one bit, you?"

The next morning.

Rachel was already preparing breakfast when the siblings entered the kitchen.

"Good morning, you two. First I'd like to apologize for my behavior yesterday and if you can spare me the time, I will try to explain why I reacted like I did."

Elise and Alex looked at each other and then to their mother. Alex replied for both of them, "It's Saturday and this is very important to us. So anytime you're ready."

After breakfast the three of them seated themselves in the living room

"Your father didn't abandon his wife and children. That was all my fault, oh and that of uncle Brian. At the time he disappeared he was convinced that you weren't his children, but from someone else."

Both children looked at their mother with eyes filled with disbelief.

"What? I, uhm, I don't understand. We are his children, aren't we?" Elise asked, disbelief leaking from her voice.

Eyes tearing up Rachel answered, "Of course you are, but your father is convinced that you're not.

"But, Alex said, "Uncle Brian told us that Dad abandoned us, told us the whole story and asked us not to bother you with painful questions.

"The conniving manipulating, dirty liar. I'm going to burn him to the stake. Rachel mumbled under her breath.

She looked up at the children saying out loud, "I told everyone that Ben left me. Just like I told you two because we couldn't agree about some private issues. That goes for your dad's parents too. Everyone has the same story, except Granny. I never talked about Ben abandoning us. He is paying ample maintenance and there is a gigantic trust for your education. He only refused all contact with me during the divorce. He didn't even show up at the trial. Your uncle told me that he hired a P.I to find him, to no avail. I tried everything to find him without result.

You're telling me now that Brian claims differently?"

Both nodded affirmatively.

Rachel took up the phone and called her former in-laws. "Betsy, Lex, what did Brian tell you about my divorce with Ben?"

It was quiet for some time, while Rachel's mother-in-law Betsy recalled what Brian had told.

"Mum," she said, "He is lying through his teeth. Can you come over here so I can clear this up?"

At the same time Alex was typing furiously on his laptop. Suddenly he had a hunch. He turned around and asked, "Mum, what's the name of the PI uncle Brian told you, he used?"

"I have a receipt, somewhere."

Rachel delved into the drawer where she had her administration, found the bill and handed it to Alex.

Again, Alex was mistreating his laptop and suddenly and angrily, "That asshole. There is no PI with that name at all. This receipt is a fake."

"Mum, Elise said after Alex had calmed down, "Why did you and Dad divorce each other? It must be something bad, I presume".

"Can it wait until Grandpa and Grandma Hubbard are here too? It's time to talk about some ugly truths."

An hour later, Rachel's in-laws were seated in the kitchen together with Elise and Alex.

Rachel cleared, with difficulty her throat, "My God, this is difficult. I've lived so long, too long with this lie."

She looked up and met the eyes of her children and went on with her story. "You all know that Brian works at a high-end forensic laboratory where they also test DNA for, among others, paternity issues in court. He is the one who signs off on the validity of the tests and writes up the accompanying results and conclusions. He does that in an official capacity as a majority shareholder that allows him to give evidence in court.

Two and a half years ago, Brian came to me with the idea of pranking Ben.

He proposed, as a prank, to do a paternal DNA-test for Elise and Alex, but to make the outcome that they were his instead of that of his brother's.

Because Ben and Brian have the same initials it would be easy for him to falsify the report so that in using his DNA the children wouldn't show to be Ben's children.

I was very much opposed. I knew that if I would willingly cooperate with this my marriage would be in serious trouble. Ben wouldn't accept the debasement of such a prank. Also, I pointed out that he would put his job and the company on the line if this came out because Ben certainly would make a ruckus.

Another thing you should know is that before I met Ben, I had, for a short time, a sexual relationship with Brian. When Ben introduced me to you, Mum and Dad, Brian was there too and the situation for me was very awkward.

"In a private moment in the kitchen we decided to keep our fling to ourselves. That went until I told Brian that I refused to cooperate and continued to stubbornly refuse.

"He was hell-bent on it and threatened to divulge it and lie that it went beyond the moment I met Ben.

"That moment I desperately wished that I had told Ben before we married, because however you look at it, it looks like I've been hiding something.

"Three months later Ben found the results of the falsified tests Brian had planted in our desk without letting me know.

"He went to Brian with them. Till today, I don't know what has been said, but Ben never returned and a week later I was served with divorce papers. Ben, for all means and purposes, had disappeared out of our lives."

It was silent for a moment. Both in-laws started to talk at the same time. Trying to make sense of Rachel's story and not really believing what they had been told.

That was until Alex came with the receipt of the PI.

Both were aware of Alex's computer skills and proficiency with searching on the internet. He was obviously the son of their youngest son. Very intelligent, analytical and creative and the mentality of a terrier when confronted with something violating his sense of justice.

"I have a receipt here; Brian gave Mother for a PI he had supposedly hired to find Dad."

"Uncle Brian." His grandfather tried to correct him.

"'Uncle' is an honorary title." Alex replied. "He doesn't deserve that anymore. I used this receipt to try and find the PI mentioned. I can tell you that I'm 99.9% certain that he, or she doesn't exist."

"Did you have to reimburse Brian?" Lex asked Rachel.

"Yes." Whispered Rachel. "I paid it all back."

"So," Alex sneered at his grandparents, "Brian pocketed twenty-five grand for doing nothing.

"He is no uncle of mine anymore. It took me five minutes to find a lead as to where Dad could be."

"WHAT! How?" The three adults exclaimed.

Dad is an accountant and accredited accountants are registered in a public database. If an accountant wishes to work as such, they must take an oath and be included in the register. That register is public and for everyone to see on the internet. It must in any case include a postal address. I have found a PO box. The rest should be easy."

Silence ensued while the adults stared at an adolescent who had outperformed everyone in the room.

"After a while Rachel's mother-in-law said, Ï think I need to have a good long conversation with my eldest son".

[=][=]

One early afternoon, Ben Frederick Hubbard was sitting on a bench overlooking the little lake in the park. The former gravel pit and its surroundings had, over the years, been landscaped into a beautiful park and Ben was lucky to find a small house nearby that he could rent to buy.

Two years after finding the damaging results of the DNA tests and the disastrous conversation with his brother telling him that he fathered the children because his wife thought his little brother wasn't man enough to father them himself.

The conversation was brutal and tore the soul out of Ben. His older brother had always been his hero and he couldn't even start to believe that Brian would be lying to him, so he just walked away from it all.

In the week that followed he resigned from the company he worked for and visited a lawyer.

The lawyer spelled out what Ben could expect from a divorce and the financial consequences thereof.

Ben, emotional in a too dark place to think straight, didn't even want to think about confronting Rachel. He found himself a very shabby place to live and worked out the end of his marriage.

He split all their savings in half and from his half he ensured the schooling from the children. His lawyer explained that even though the children were not from his DNA, he took care of them long enough that any judge would see no difference and he was the responsible parent.

When done he wrote a letter to Rachel that he can't live with such a betrayal and told his lawyer to handle the rest, giving him power of attorney.

A week later he accepted a position within International Forensics and Accountancy, IFA for short.

IFA was a semi government organization with far reaching jurisdiction, hunting down white-collar criminals, criminal organizations, and, last but not least, corruption within the government, or semi-government institutions.

Ben besides an accountant was also an analyst in global currency traffic streams. Combined these two disciplines made him excellently suitable for his new job.

His salary increased over 30% and he started at the bottom of the pay-scale. There were 10 yearly increments plus bonuses for performance, if he was not promoted in the meantime.

The downside was that he had to move to the other side of the country and had to be listed in the international quality register for accountants and had to take an exam for that.

He passed the exam, had himself listed in the registry and buried himself in his work.

Time passed.

Ben's mental stability was slowly deteriorating, and he was sliding into a depression. He was a family man. His family had always been his anchor and now he was drifting.

The betrayal was still eating at him and it had changed him from an empathetic gentle husband into a ruthless and therefore a very successful investigator.

He had just completed an investigation that determined that several politicians would never be allowed to hold public office again. Two of them were certain of a very long prison sentence for among others, an attempt on his life.

During that investigation they tried to bully him, threatened him and once tried to run him over when walking to his car. He could jump to safety, but his car was totaled.

He looked at the lake. His thoughts were as cold, dark and deep as the water.

Ben was pondering if his life was worth living. He didn't feel that he was living his life. It felt more like hee was existing in it.

His thoughts were slowly spiraling down a singularity of despair and the metallic gray water looked inviting.

Suddenly his thoughts were disturbed by a man who sat next to him, while at the same time a woman did the same at his other side.

The man put an arm around his shoulders and said, "We're so sorry son. You didn't deserve this."

Ben was shocked out of his dark musings and looked sideways at the two elderly people taking place in the bench. "Dad? Mum? What are you doing here?"

"We want to set right a wrong, Son."

"How did you find me? My address is not listed. I thought that I for all means and purposes had disappeared."

"To make a long story short. Your son is very much like you. He found your PO box and took it from there."

"I don't have children. My family was all a lie. Brian told me everything." Ben replied with anguish in his voice.

His mother turned to him, took her son in her arms and cuddled her grown-up son as if he was a toddler.

She whispered, "That was the lie, dear. That and the falsified DNA test. I beg you, test your children, I stress, YOUR children again and you will see that there is a match. Brian pulled an extremely cruel prank on you and forced Rachel to participate.

"She refused and so he slipped that damning envelope into the drawer where you would find it."

"So, I need to come back with you, knock on Rachel's door and ask for some DNA material? How do you envision that?"

His father smiled and said, "Spare yourself the trouble Ben."

He raised his balled fist and out of nothing Ben heard two voices shouting, "Dad, Dad!"

He got to his feet only to be bowled back down by his two children jumping him.

It was an extremely emotional moment for the three of them only to be interrupted by his mother pulling his sleeve. "There is also another one who is desperate to see you.

Ben turned around and noticed Rachel standing 10 feet away, looking to the ground and biting her lip.

"Hello Rachel, long time no see." Ben said softly after taking in his ex-wife.

She had lost weight, and she didn't look good. Worry-lines next to her sunken eyes, black bags under them. She had always been dressed to the nines, but now not so. Her clothes were ill fitting and somehow not according to the dress-code she used to adhere to...

A bit baffled, he asked, "What happened to you? Are you ill?"

Rachel started to cry and hiccupped, "You left. You left us. I didn't even have a chance to explain. You just disappeared and I was so worried about you."

Ben was taken aback and wanted to shout his answer but was restrained by the hand of his father on his shoulder and saying, "Here is not the place, nor the time for blaming each other. Can we do that somewhere in private please?"

Ben, already tired from a strenuous day at work, deflated and just giving in replied, "You're right. I live about half a mile from here. Let's walk.

When he stood, Elise and Alex immediately took to his sides and wouldn't let him go.

While walking Elise whispered, so that only the three of them could hear, "We are going to do that DNA test again, won't we Dad? We're your children not those of that Asshole-deluxe. Let's take two, just to be sure."

Ben was a bit miffed at the attitude of Elise until Alex interjected, "Mum paid Brian for a PI he hired to find you. At least, that's what he told her and gave her a receipt for $25,000. He told her that you couldn't be traced. I found out because I found your PO-box within 5 minutes and asked mum about that PI.

Rachel looked around in the house before she seated herself on the couch. "Did you decorate it yourself?" She asked.

Ben just nodded before, "It's a rental. It was cheap because it wasn't furnished. Because there is a possibility of buying it, I started to renovate it. It's small. Downstairs the living and the kitchen and a half bath. On the first floor there are three bedrooms and a bathroom. At the attic an office that can be utilized as a spare bedroom. Lots of rooms, but little floor space."

Rachel sighed, "I have a story to tell."

After Rachel related what had happened Ben was silent for a while. Finally, he said, "I need to move. I need to be alone for a while."

With a fair amount of disappointment in their faces the family made ready to leave.

"That's not what I meant. Ben interrupted, "I meant that I will be out for about two hours. You can stay here, if you like. You've come all the way here to see me and I reckon that you didn't arrange for a hotel as such. You're welcome to stay the night. There are plenty of rooms to accommodate you all for at least one night if you'd all want to lean in a little bit. But I desperately need to clear my mind."

With that he walked into his bedroom to change into his running gear.

He took up running and worked out since he arrived here and the contract with IFA also stated that he had to take a course in self-defense.