Donna's Dilemma
It all started to fall apart when my fifteen-year-old daughter, Shelly. received one of those DNA kits for Christmas. I don't even remember who gave it to her. She was all excited as she carefully filled out all of the submission requirements and mailed it in. Six weeks later the results finally came back and she was not happy.
Donna and I quietly sat in the living room reading, when our daughter decided to vocalize her discontent. We couldn't make out the actual words, but things were not going well. After fifteen minutes or so she stormed out of her room and announced that she was going over to her girlfriend's house. Donna reminded her to be home by suppertime as she rushed out of the door. I sat there with an amused grin on my face and noticed that Donna seemed a bit more concerned. We both just shrugged and went on with our reading.
Donna and I got married eighteen years ago, right after I finished my residency. After five years, I was considered the leading gall bladder surgeon in the tri-county area. I had all the work I could handle, and life was good.
And then it all went to hell.
We were attending a social affair sponsored by Donna's company, Gilbert Enterprises when I had some type of seizure, which left me with some Parkinson-like neurological tics. It wasn't Parkinson's, but it appeared to be similar. I had a constant tic in my right eye and my lower right arm would twitch sporadically at inopportune moments. They never did figure out exactly what it was, and for some reason, I was so glad that I was just still functional at all, that I didn't pursue it any further. My days as a surgeon were over, however, so I found a new position as a radiologist.
Nine months later, Shelly was born.
Things seemed to move along as well as could be expected. I was not happy with my new affliction, but I was still fully functioning in most areas. I did very well in my new medical position and the compensation was still quite adequate. My home life and my sex life did not suffer, in fact, Donna seemed to be a bit more accommodating. She turned into a sort of 'Stepford' wife. I figured that she felt a bit guilty because I had my seizure while we were at one of her company functions. In any event, I was enjoying her extra attention, so I didn't complain. I truly loved the woman.
We lived that way for fifteen years.
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"Donna, any ideas why Shelly got so upset about the ancestry thing?
"I have no clue. I do think that it is best if we just let it slide. I am sure that she will get over it in a few days, no matter what it is." Something about the way that she said that did not sit right with me. I got the feeling that she was trying to divert me away from it without looking obvious. I just smiled and nodded my head.
I didn't get much reading done the rest of the evening, but I did a hell of a lot of thinking. I tried to relate Shelly's attitude with anything else that might be going on, but nothing popped up. Other than the normal squabbles that all families have, we were in good shape. No money difficulties, no problems in the bedroom, and definitely nothing that could relate to our daughter. I had to get a look at that DNA report.
Donna left for work at Gilbert, and Shelly went to school. I stayed home. I found what I was looking for in her study desk drawer. Donna's family is mostly Irish and mine is mostly Scottish with a bit of German tossed in. It seemed that Shelly was 48% Eastern European. I had to laugh a little at the poor quality of the report. As I read further I noted that there was a list of close matches. Of course, Donna's name was right up top, but my name was nowhere on the list. There were also a few names of relatives from Donna's side of the family, but none of mine. I guessed that the only people that would show up on the list were people who had actually had their DNS documented. Donna, Shelly, and I had ours done five years ago as part of an annual physical. Mine should have been on there if Donna's was.
I was starting to get concerned and then I noted a strange name high up on the list. Teresa Haugen was a 46% match. Who the hell was Teresa Haugen?
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"Doctor McCall! This is John Terrell."
"Yes, John. Good to hear from you. Is everything okay?"
"Yeah. No problems. I still have that damn twitch and the eye tic, but other than that I am fine. However, I have a small question. A few years ago you took DNA samples from all of us for our medical records. Could you check something for me?"
"What do you need?"
"I am trying to figure out if there are any glitches in the DNA results between Shelly and myself."
"Glitches? What do you mean by glitches?"
"Look Doc. This is embarrassing, but I am trying to find out if Shelly is my biological daughter or not. I don't want to stir up any trouble, I just need to know."
"Oh, Shit! Pardon my French, John. You know you have access to all those files. You could check it yourself."
"I know, but I would prefer if you did it."
"Let me pull up the files, and I will get back to you. Okay? Give me an hour."
"Thanks, Doc. I really do appreciate it."
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I think that Donna could tell that I was troubled. Doctor McCall verified that I was not Shelly's father. I did not tell Donna. For the last three days, I have been trying to figure out what I wanted to do. I was surprisingly calm about the whole situation, and I was able to think about it without blowing my cool. It took me several days to locate Teresa Haugen. For some reason, I assumed that she would be about Shelly's age, and I felt like I was a stalking pedophile. I finally found her in the white pages under a listing for Malcolm Haugen. Malcolm was my age and lived in West Chester. I assumed that she was his daughter.
Malcolm agreed to meet me Saturday morning at a Denny's in Exton. I am not sure that he knew who I was, but I detected a bit of apprehension in his voice.
He was early. I was on time. We exchanged formalities.
"Malcolm, I don't remember ever meeting you before. Have you ever lived in Reading?" That brought a slight grimace to his face. He squirmed in his chair a bit as if trying to get comfortable.
"I worked for Gilbert Enterprises about fifteen years ago or so. I believe we met at one of the company functions back then. I left Reading right after that." He seemed relieved to have said it, but still a bit uncomfortable.
"I take it that you knew my wife Donna?" It was a question phrased as a comment.
He didn't answer; he just nodded.
"Do you know why I am here?"
"Not exactly, but I have a good idea." The few moments of silence were stressful.
"What took you so long?"
"I just found out." More silence.
He let out a deep sigh. "I was young; I had been drinking too much and I was caught up in the moment. I know that that was no excuse and I know it was wrong. I think I caved into the peer pressure more than anything else. Donna, your wife, was one of the most fascinating women I had ever met. I knew she was married, but nobody seemed to care at the moment."
"Who was nobody?" He was still squirming a bit.
"The three of us were from the engineering department; Freddy Springer, Clayton Mankey, and I. Donna was being extra friendly with all of us and we were having a great time. There were a lot of innuendos going around and some of them were getting serious."
"Did anybody think about me at all?"
