Page 67 of Wish I Were Here
But then Luca’s gaze swings to mine, his eyes wide. He saw it, too. Somehow, that gives me courage to step forward.
“No children?” I ask. “None at all?”
“No,” Melanie repeats, but her typing slows.
Luca slides his feet off the bed so he’s sitting on the edge. “So the name Catherine doesn’t ring a bell?”
Melanie’s spine stiffens and her gaze flies to Luca. “What did you say?”
“Catherine.” I cross the room and step up to the bed so I’m standing in front of her. “I’m Catherine. Catherine Lipton. And I’m pretty sure I’m your daughter.”
Your father told you everything, I suppose.”
I have to hand it to my mother, she recovers quickly. Melanie stood there for only about ten seconds with her mouth hanging open, staring at me before she pulled her shoulders back and regained her poise. I’m jealous of her ability to do that, honestly. I wish I’d inherited a bit more of that self-possession along with her blue eyes. Because right now, my insides are churning, and on the outside, I’m pretty sure I’m shaking.
“No,” I say. “Dad didn’t tell meanything.”
“Then how did you find me?”
I glance at Luca, who gives me a reassuring smile.
“A friend helped me figure it out. Does it matter how I found you?”
Melanie takes a deep breath and blows it out slowly. “I suppose at this point, it doesn’t.” Her gaze slides to Luca. “And you? Who are you?”
“The friend.”
Melanie purses her lips. “I’m going to go ahead and assume that you didn’t eat gas station sushi, and this food poisoning is all a ruse?”
“That’s correct,” I say.
“So you lied to get in here and talk to me.”
“Yes.” I shrug.
“And what is it that you—” She stops and clears her throat. “Why now?”
“I need my birth certificate.” I stare in her direction. “Myrealbirth certificate. And I believe you have it.”
Melanie hesitates, and then she nods.
I lean back against Luca’s hospital bed for support, and he inches closer. “Did you really think I would never need the original? That the fake you and Dad gave me would fool me forever?”
Melanie sighs. “We were young when we had the copy made, and probably naive to think nobody would ever notice the forgery. But those were different times.” She leans forward. “How did you discover it?”
I search for signs of how she’s feeling about the fact that I’ve suddenly shown up in her life. Is she angry that I’m here? A little bit happy to finally meet me? Did she ever wonder about how I turned out? Her face doesn’t give anything away.
“I recently landed my dream job as a mathematics professor,” I explain. “But there were some… issues with my paperwork. Dad only had a copy, and when I tried to get the real thing, it turned out that not only doyouhave it, but the one I’ve been using is a fake.” I cross my arms over my chest. “Maybe we lied about a little food poisoning, but you and Dad lied about my entire identity.”
Melanie’s pale cheeks flush just the smallest hint of pink. “We didn’t mean for it to harm you or disrupt your life. LikeI said, we were young, and I suppose we didn’t fully consider your future.” She leans back in her chair, looking at me from head to toe as if she’s really seeing me for the first time.
I straighten my posture, suddenly glad I chose this blue dress.
“You’re a math professor now?” Melanie asks after a beat.
“My specialty is computational science and numerical analysis. And Iwillbe a professor if I can get this sorted out. It’s a tenure-track position, which is hard to come by these days.”
Her eyebrows rise. “Very impressive.”
