Page 178 of Nocere

"Did she tell you the results?" I asked, my heart giving a great squeeze in my chest.

"She didn't. But she did say she called Anita. Did you tell her about Anita?"

I shook my head and sipped my coffee. Sam cocked a brow at me and I smirked.

"Some of it, but not all. I'm a grown up. She'll get over it."

"I know but she thinks you have support. And now Anita knows your business."

"I would've told her anyway. I mean, if I talked to her," I said, thumbing the rim of the cup.

"Do you miss her?" asked Sam before sipping her own drink.

"I miss knowing that she exists. I could've gone months without seeing her just fine, but knowing I had someone there if I needed her. That part is the hardest."

"Understandable, honey." Sam gave my forearm a squeeze. "You have me now. And Stella and Ainsley, Jordan."

"Yeah. I know." I turned my hand over to hold hers.

"What are you most afraid of right now?"

I didn't get a chance to answer her because Rebecca arrived at that moment, and brought Juniper with her. To my surprise, she didn't arrive alone. A man stood in the hall with a small smile on his handsome face and a little boy with white-blond hair perched on his hip. The child couldn't have been more than two. Juniper kissed both of their cheeks before she followed Rebecca inside. They turned and headed off down the hall before Rebecca shut the door. Sam stood to greet them, but I gripped my mug tighter.

"Hi, Rosie," said Juni, her eyes on me after greeting Sam.

"Hi," I said, glancing to Rebecca after gulping down the lump in my throat. "Who was that with you?"

"My fiancé and our son," she said, a soft smile turning up the corners of her mouth.

"Girls, why don't you come sit over here?" Rebecca gestured to the sofa and Sam held her hand to me. I took it and heeded Rebecca's call. Juni and I landed beside each other on the couch while Sam perched on the arm of it next to me, her hand on my shoulder.

"Can we just get this over with?" I blurted out. "Do you know?"

"I didn't open it, sweetie." Rebecca sat down on the coffee table in front of us, a sealed envelope held in her palms. "Ainsley is the only one who knows the truth."

"She ran it?" I blinked away the tears that tumbled from my lashes.

"She's who I trust." Rebecca looked between us. "How do you feel about this, Juni?"

"Nervous. I want to know, too," she said, and we shared a quick glance.

"All right." Rebecca opened the envelope and reviewed the papers inside. Her expression remained neutral while she turned it around to show us. Numbers and boxes filled the page with items I didn't understand, but my hands trembled too much for me to focus on the narrative below.

"What does it say?" I asked, nearly choking on my words.

"That...we're sisters," said Juni, sniffling through it.

"Whole sisters," said Sam, her voice soft as she rubbed my back while looking over my shoulder. "Both of your parents are the same."

"Whole sisters?" Juni covered her mouth now, and for once, her reaction matched mine.

My heart pounded in my chest as I folded myself against my lap. I prevented myself from thinking about my relation to Juni, but allowed for the possibility that she was my half-sister. I never considered that we shared all of our genetics. Rebecca leaned down and kissed the top of my head.

"You have a sister, sweet girl. Would you like to meet her?" she whispered and I leaned up, nodding as I looked to Juni as if seeing her for the first time. A wash of clarity punched me in the gut, and our resemblance became something I couldn't deny anymore.

"Hi," she said, chuckling softly.

"Hi." I wiped my eyes on my sleeves and drew in a shaky breath.

"Can I hug you?" She hiccupped. "I've never hugged anyone in my birth family before."

I nodded and returned her embrace when she squeezed me.

A single piece of paper changed everything for us that day. I had a sister; a secret kept from me for my whole life. With the warmth of her against me, we both cried while my brain spiraled to places I often didn't allow them to go. I thought of my grandmother and wondered if she knew about Juni, and if she didn't, how much she would've loved to meet her. Knowing that Juni was a social worker, a good person with a family, calmed the fear in my heart that I kept tucked away. I always believed that because of my mother's evil, I also had the ability to do terrible things to other people. But I had a sister, a good sister who did good things for the world. Maybe my tender heart wasn't a fluke after all. Maybe our mother was capable of producing goodness. And just maybe, it could start with us.

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