Chapter 6 - JONATHAN’S STORAGE BOX
Jonathan Bell’s old law firm found three archive boxes.
Ainsley’s estate file was in the second.
Not everything.
Enough.
There was a sealed envelope.
Label:
SORREL — PATERNITY / PRIVATE.
Naomi, Jonathan and I opened it together by video record.
Inside:
A laboratory invoice.
A chain-of-custody form.
Two collection receipts.
A cover letter.
No result.
I almost laughed from frustration.
The lab name:
North County Genetic Services.
Collection date:
Sorrel was four months old.
Participants identified only by initials on the invoice.
S.M.
G.M.
The child’s initials and Garrick’s.
My hands started shaking.
Collection location:
North County office.
Not an at-home kit.
Witnessed.
Government identification verified for adult.
Guardian consent signed by Ainsley for infant.
Result issued six days later.
Where?
Missing.
Jonathan said:
“Ainsley must have removed it.”
Or Garrick had a copy.
Then cover letter from the lab:
Results delivered separately to Ainsley Mercer and Garrick Mercer at their requested addresses.
There.
Garrick had received an official result.
Whatever it said.
Then Ainsley’s handwritten memo.
Not the result.
AINSLEY:
I asked because uncertainty was becoming another kind of lie.
Then:
G has the same report.
Then:
I have not told Bram because I am afraid that telling him now will sound like I am asking him whether he still wants the baby he already loves.
My chest broke.
Sorrel had been four months.
I remembered those months.
No sleep.
Bottles.
Ainsley singing terribly at two in the morning.
Me falling asleep with Sorrel on my chest.
She had watched us becoming father and son while carrying this result.
Then:
I know silence is also a choice.
Then:
If G lets Eudora treat Sorrel as an outsider, I will no longer protect him from the consequences of the truth.
There.
Ainsley knew Mother might turn cruel.
Then:
Bramwell is Sorrel’s father in every daily meaning that matters. Biology does not erase what he chose before he knew the name.
That line mattered.
But still no result.
Then Jonathan found a second envelope.
Empty.
Marked:
Lab result — original removed by client.
When?
No record.
Ainsley took it.
Maybe hid with the note.
Maybe destroyed.
Maybe somewhere at home.
Then Naomi said:
“We can subpoena the lab records if they still exist.”
Six years.
Medical/genetic labs retain records depending policy.
Likely.
We requested.
No web magic.
Paper process.
Authorization from Ainsley’s estate might not be enough for Garrick’s result.
Privacy.
The lab could confirm whether a test occurred and release child-related portions under legal process.
Garrick objected.
Of course.
His lawyer argued:
Bramwell had no legitimate need to expose private genetic data when legal paternity was settled.
Partly reasonable.
Naomi replied:
Medical history and ongoing family litigation make biological information relevant.
The court would decide limited disclosure.
Then Mother filed formal grandparent-visitation petition.
Not guardianship.
Not custody.
She wanted:
One weekend a month.
Two weeks summer.
Selected holidays.
She claimed I had cut off all contact as retaliation for the camping dispute.
She cited Ainsley’s death and her prior relationship with Sorrel.
That became the case that would last the longest.
I was furious.
Naomi said:
“She may have standing to ask. That does not mean she wins.”
Then:
“Do not make Garrick’s paternity the entire visitation case.”
“Why?”
“Because even if he is biological father, Eudora is already Sorrel’s grandmother through you legally and emotionally.”
Right.
The blood revelation did not create her relationship.
It exposed her hypocrisy.
The court would care more about safety, boundaries and Sorrel’s best interest.
May you like
Harder.
More honest.
