Page 138 of The System

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“Carina said you found your birth mom?” Ripley asked.

Kieran glared across the table at Kenna.

“Hey, what did I do?”

“She’s not asking this question on your behalf?”

“No, she’s her own person,” Kenna said. “I’m off the proverbial clock tonight.”

“You’re a reporter. That’s not possible,” Ada said.

“It is when it’s moms’ night out because our kids are staying with my sister. We have tonight and tomorrow night, and I got us a very nice room that I plan to enjoy my whole weekend in with my wife. I’m not working tonight.”

“So, everything I say here tonight is off-the-record?”

Kenna nodded, and Kieran looked over at the dance floor, where Marin was standing awkwardly next to Frank as if she wanted to dance with him but didn’t know how to ask him, and he didn’t know that she wanted to dance with him. Kieran couldn’t wait for them to get married one day and be this awkward together all the time.

“We found her, yes,” she shared. “The DNAdiscovery kit connected me with a third cousin who didn’t know much about that part of the family, but I got to his mom who had more information. Not much, but enough to connect me with our uncle. He said that his sister was our mother. She got pregnant at fourteen.”

“Fourteen?” Ripley said. “Jesus.”

“Yeah, I know. It gets worse.”

“Worse than being pregnant at fourteen?” Ada asked.

“I figured out why we were dropped in an alley,” she replied as Carina placed her hand on the back of her neck and started to massage it gently. “Our father was actually the church deacon. Our mom had us early and didn’t know what to do. She tried to take us to the church, but there was choir practice, and a bunch of people were leaving, so she put us in the alley and ran off.”

“Wait. The deacon? Did he–”

“Technically, yes. She was only fourteen, but she was in love with him, according to the diary our uncle had. It was that kind of puppy love. The deacon was only twenty-two himself. I guess he thought they’d planned on keeping us, but when he saw one baby outside the church because the homeless woman had taken Marin already, he didn’t put it together that I was his daughter. He turned me in without knowing. He didn’t find out until my birth mother told him what happened.”

“Where are they now?” Dylan asked.

“Our birth mother is around. She lives in Georgia now and has a new family. We have three half-siblings.”

“And the deacon?” Ada asked.

“He’s dead now. He passed away from cancer a few years ago after my dad, but yeah, he’s gone. My uncle on my mom’s side was cleaning out the old family home and found the diary she had around that time and gave it to me. Marin and I read through it. She wanted to keep us. She just didn’t know how. She thought that he could raise us better without her. I get it. I mean, it hurts still, but I understand.”

“Did she try to find you after she learned what happened?” Kenna asked.

“I don’t know. We haven’t talked to her yet.”

“You haven’t–” Ada was interrupted.

“We’ve talked about it, but we’re just not there yet. She knows we’re here, though, and she hasn’t reached out, either. It’s complicated. She has a husband and three kids. My guess is that none of them know we exist. I’m not mad, but Marin’s still pretty pissed. I have a mom who loves me, and she’s already adopted Marin as her other daughter, even if it’s not a legal thing, so I–” Kieran stopped and smiled.

“What?” Carina asked.

“I just had an idea,” she replied.

“What?”

“I need to call my mom.”

“Right now?” Carina asked.

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