DNA - It's Complicated

This is a story about the desperate acts of a loving sister and the complications those actions cause.

"Thanks for helping me out, Jimmy," I said as I pushed the mower back into its place in my parent's garage.

"No problem, bro, besides I promised Mom I'd be here. She was afraid Dad would try to run the mower one-handed. She's right, he probably would have."

"Yeah, he's a tough old goat. Well, it didn't take us long, so how about I treat us to a milkshake at DQ?"

We went inside and told Mom we'd finished the lawn. Dad was napping on the couch, so we didn't disturb him. He had fallen at work and broken his left arm. It seemed to be mending well, but Mom didn't want him to overdo things.

"Thanks for coming over boys. I knew that stubborn old man would have tried to do the mowing himself because he's too proud to ask for help."

"Glad to help out, Mom. With Jimmy's help, it took no time at all."

"Do you boys want to stay for dinner, or do you have plans?"

Jimmy spoke up, "I don't know about John, but I have a date tonight. We're going to that new restaurant that just opened on Broad Street."

"I have a darts match at the Pub. I plan to win a free pizza from the losers," I said, and laughed.

We got to the DQ and the lot was pretty full. Our local DQ was quite old and didn't have a drive-thru, so we had to go to the window to order. As I joked with my brother about his date, I couldn't help noticing an adorable ass on the girl in line ahead of us. She was wearing a pair of skin-tight shorts and a cropped-off tee shirt. The shorts accentuated her ass and showed off her tan legs and tiny waist.

My brother caught my stare and turned to see what had grabbed my attention. We both enjoyed the view for a few moments and then the girl turned to look over her shoulder before stepping away from the window. I quickly locked eyes with her and she smiled.

"Do I pass inspection?"

I stuttered for a second and tried to speak, 'oh, uh, sorry. ... Yes, Yes indeed!

Her smile broadened and she said, "Glad you approve. Now, if two will excuse me ..."

"Oh, sure ... sorry," I said and stepped out of her way. She walked past us, and I couldn't help staring at her ass as she walked away. I enjoyed the view until my brother thumped me and I turned back to the window to order.

We got our shakes and started back to the car. Jimmy nudged me and lifted his chin toward a bright red Miata. The girl I'd ogled was sitting in the passenger seat licking her cone and talking to another girl in the driver's seat. As we neared the car, I said, "Nice car."

The passenger smiled and said, "Oh, so you also inspect cars?" Then she and her friend laughed at her joke.

"Well, I only do my inspections when I see something truly worthy of inspection."

The girl in the driver's seat lightly punches the other girl in the arm. "Uh oh, Sis! I'd watch out for this one, he's pretty smooth."

"Not too smooth, after all, I DID catch him staring at my ass."

The four of us laughed, and I stuck out my hand. "Hi, I'm John Rollins, and this is my brother, Jim."

The passenger shifted her cone and then took my hand. "Glad to meet you, John. I'm Amy Mathews and this is my sister, Jill."

We spoke casually as we finished our ice cream. Then Jill started her car.

"Oh, uh Amy, could I get your number? You know, maybe call you?"

Amy smiled, "Give me your phone." I handed it to her. She punched in some numbers and her phone buzzed. Then she handed back my phone. "There, now we have each other's number."

They both waved as they drove off. Jim and I got back into my car and I saved her number as a contact. Then I turned and grinned at my brother.

"Bro! She is fine! And her sister is just as cute! I wonder if she's seeing anyone? Hey, when you call Amy, get Jill's number for me."

It's funny, I remember that day like it was yesterday, not thirteen years ago. Of course, I called Amy, we dated, it got serious, and we got married. Jimmy married Jill about two years after I married her sister. Jim and I started our own Electrical Services company and Amy runs our office. Jill is a nurse at a specialty clinic and now has two daughters with Jim.

It was quite a struggle, but after many months of trying, Amy presented me with a screaming eight-pound baby boy. We named him Bryan. He was born a couple of years after Jim's youngest daughter and is now eight years old. He's bright, energetic, and looks exactly like me, which is why I never once doubted I was his father, until today. I looked again at the DNA results from the kit he had used. It was one of those kits that shows your family tree. His cousin's family had each submitted a sample and gotten their results and encouraged him to do the same.

Bryan thought it was kinda cool, so several months later, he ordered a test kit for our family. Somehow the order got messed up and he had to reorder them a few months later. Those delays meant our samples were sent almost a full year after his cousin's results were received.

The kits show any blood relatives that had also submitted samples, so the cousin's report had not shown Bryan, Amy, or me as relatives, just the girls as daughters of Jill and Jimmy.

When our test results arrived, they showed Jill and the cousins as relatives. It showed Bryan was Amy's son and I was a relative. ... It showed Jim was his father.

I read the report several times to make sure I had not misread it. No, it was quite clear, I am related to Bryan, but NOT his biological father. I sat back in my chair. How the fuck did this happen? My fucking brother? I just couldn't fathom the possibility that Amy would have cheated on me, not in a million years!

Just then I heard the garage door go up, Amy and Bryan were home. I stuffed the report back into the envelope and carried it upstairs. I put the envelope in my dresser drawer and went back downstairs.

Bryan made a bee-line to the kitchen, grabbed a bag of chips, and a soda, and bounded up to his room. I'm not sure he even saw me sitting at the table. Amy breezed into the kitchen and set her purse on her desk. She saw me and stopped.

"John? I wasn't expecting you until later. Didn't you go to Miller's and look at that panel?"

"I went, but he wasn't there. I called him and he said he got tied up and asked me to come back in the morning. It was my last appointment, so I just headed home. Is that OKAY with you?"

I had said the last sentence in a bit of a snarky tone and she caught it immediately.

"Of course, ... John? ... What's wrong? ... Is there something bothering you?"

"Yeah, you could say that. Something is very wrong. I need you to come upstairs with me...NOW!"

"John, you're scaring me! What the hell is going on?" Amy scurried to keep up with me as I stomped up the stairs.

Our bedroom is at the opposite end of the hall from Bryan's. I could faintly hear the explosions and gunfire from his Xbox, so I knew he'd be occupied for a while. I marched into our room and held the door for Amy. "Sit!" I commanded as I pointed at the bed. Then turned and snatched up the DNA report.

"Do you want to explain this to me? Do you want to tell me how it is possible that you could have done something like this to me?"

Amy looked at the envelope with a confused look on her face. "John, YOU helped him order this, I didn't. I thought it was silly, but YOU wanted it, so what's the problem?"

"OPEN IT!" I shouted, I was losing control. I took a step back and closed my eyes, and took a deep breath. "Read it. ... Read it and explain it to me."

Amy quickly started reading over the report. She gasped loudly "NO! This can't be true! They've made some kind of mistake! John, I swear to you this is NOT true! It can't be!"

"Amy! It clearly says Jim is his father! How long have you been fucking my brother?"

"I'm NOT! I've NEVER! Are you crazy? He's my sister's husband, for god's sake!"

"DNA does not lie! I know we were pretty desperate to get pregnant, but I never would have believed you two could have done something like this! Jesus Amy! He's my fucking brother!

"John, please stop. I swear to you I never had sex with Jimmy. Honey, this has to be a mistake. Let's just calm down and think about this. There has got to be a logical explanation."

I took several deep breaths. Could it be wrong? Was I jumping to the wrong conclusion? I snatched up the phone and punched in Jimmy's number.

"Hello'

"Jimmy! Have you ever fucked my wife?"

Laughter ... "Sure bro, we just finished, she was great, I'll send her home as soon as she gets dressed" ... more laughter.

"I'm not joking, asshole! When was the last time you fucked my wife?"

"John? ... Are you out of your fucking mind? What in hell's the matter with you? Why would you say something like that? Jesus, please tell me this is some kind of sick joke."

"Yeah! It's a joke and the joke's on me! You two can deny it all you want, but DNA doesn't lie!"

"Oh my God! ... Please tell me you didn't accuse Amy of cheating on you! ...(Silence) Fuck! ... You did! You stupid bastard. I don't know what kind of drugs you've taken, but you're fucking up BIG TIME. I'm on my way over there!"

I dropped the phone. Amy was crying loudly. She kept shaking her head saying NO! NO! NO!

"He's on his way over. When he gets here I want the truth from both of you."

"John, please I am telling you the truth. The report must be wrong. I swear to you, I have never cheated on you. Never once!"

I looked at her, the person I trusted above all others, the woman I loved deeply and completely. She looked up at me, pleading with me, begging me to believe her. My anger began to fade. A few tears slipped down my face. She stood and reached out to me and I pulled her into my arms.

"I'm sorry, I want to believe you, but the report is clear. Is it possible you did something with him and thought it was me? When you went to one of those sales conventions, early on, could he have taken advantage of you after you'd had a few drinks? Please, I've got to know what happened."

"No Baby, No! Nothing like that ever happened. Jim is your brother, he loves you, and he'd never do anything to hurt you."

I heard a car screech to a halt in my driveway and a few seconds later I heard Jim calling my name. Amy and I went to the top of the stairs and started down. Jim was pacing back and forth, a very angry expression on his face. He saw the tears on Amy's face and before we got down the stairs he turned his anger on me.

"Did you hurt her? You stupid bastard, I'll kick your ass!"

"NO Jimmy! He didn't touch me. It's this!" Amy thrust the report at Jim.

He snatched it out of her hand and began reading it. ... He staggered back and plopped onto the couch. "What the Fuck? This can't be right! There's no fucking way! ... John, I wouldn't do this, you have to believe me. This is some kind of awful mistake. You need to sue these bastards!"

I looked at the two of them. I could see it in their faces, they were telling the truth, it was obvious. I shook my head. "I believe you, ... BOTH of you. I just freaked out when I read the report. You're right, it must be some kind of screw-up. I'm sorry."

"Damn right you're sorry! How could you ever believe I would betray you like that? Jesus! You're my big brother! And with AMY! Good god man! You have got to know she would never do that!"

Amy hugged me. "Baby, I know reading that must have made you mad, but it hurts me that you could believe it was true."

"I know, I'm so ashamed. I'm sorry honey, I lost my mind there for a bit. I owe you both a big apology. I love and trust the two of you more than anyone else on earth, I'm so sorry for doubting you."

Jim stood up. "Well, I think you should order another test from that other group and when those results come in, you should ask for your money back from these clowns," he said shaking the report at me.

I hugged him and apologized again. "I hope I didn't upset Jill too much when I called."

"Thank God Jill didn't hear it. She's at soccer practice with the girls."

"You're lucky, I'm sure my little sister would not be happy if she heard you accuse her husband of having sex with her sister!"

Jim gave an exaggerated shudder, "Whoa, I don't even want to imagine that! Let's just wait for the new test results and then we can tell her the whole story."

"Good idea, then when she hears John thought I was fucking you, she can join us in laughing at my silly husband."

"Okay, Okay, I guess I deserve that. I'll get another kit and tell Bryan the first results got lost."

Two weeks later, my parents were hosting their mid-summer weekend fishing trip for all of their grandkids. My Dad has a nice boat and the kids always love going out on it.

With all the kids gone, Amy and I were looking forward to some Adult time. Jill called and asked us to come over for dinner and drinks and maybe a swim in their pool Saturday night. Amy quickly agreed.

I had some yard work on Saturday, and Jim planned to do the same. Jill picked up Amy and they went shopping for new swimsuits and then food for the evening. I was finishing up when Amy called and said she was going to help Jill get everything prepared and I should drive over when I was ready.

Just as I was walking out to my car, a small delivery van pulled up and the driver ran up to my front door. I detoured around to the front of my house and found a priority mail envelope on my porch. It was the new test results. I had forgotten I had paid extra for a rapid response. I tucked the envelope into the back pocket of my jeans and headed for my car.

I walked into my brother's house and the kitchen. The girls were busy putting together a salad and preparing some veggies for the grill. I showed Jill the two bottles of wine I had brought and she asked me to pour her a glass. "Me too!" Amy said.

After giving the gals their wine, I went out the back door and onto the deck. Jim was fussing with the grill and I handed him a beer.

"Those are some fine-looking steaks, Bro."

"Yeah, I got them at Smith's. Inch and half thick, prime-cut porterhouse. Hope you're hungry!

"Starved! I skipped lunch to get the lawn finished in time."

We chatted as he grilled the steak and veggies, then the sisters joined us and all enjoyed our meal. As I was helping clear the dishes, Jim asked what I had in my pocket. It took me a few seconds to remember I had stuck the lab report into my back pocket. I pulled it out.

"It's the new lab report. The guy delivered it just as I was leaving."

Amy and Jill came back out onto the deck and Jim told them I had something to share. We sat at the table and I showed the envelope to Amy.

"What's that?" Jill asked.

'It's the Family DNA results Bryan had insisted we order. He thought the one you guys got was cool, so he begged me to order one for us."

"WHAT? ... Uh, er, I thought you said it wasn't necessary since ours showed the whole Rollins family tree. You said it would be a waste of money. Why did you order it?" Jill looked ashen as she gushed out those words.

"Jesus Jill, relax, it didn't cost that much," said her sister. "Open it up, honey."

I ripped open the envelope and retrieved the report and handed it directly to Amy. "Here you can see it first."

She unfolded the report and Jim leaned in to read it over her shoulder.

"WHAT THE FUCK!!!" They both said in unison.

Amy shook the papers at me. "Did you do this? This isn't funny! Now, where is the real report?"

I snatched the report from her hand - There it was; John Rollins - Relative, and James Rollins - Father. My mind was reeling! "My God, it's true!" I looked at Amy, "It's true! I'm not his father, oh my god! How...how could you two have lied to me like that? I... I believed you! Oh my god, this can't be happening."

I looked up at Jim. His mouth hung open his face showed utter bewilderment as he shook his head in denial. I looked at Jill. Her ashen face was now streaked with tears as she sobbed. She slowly lifted her eyes to mine. "Please forgive me, John. She's my sister, I love her, I had to do it. Please, John, she was suffering. I couldn't let her suffer anymore."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Jim screamed at his wife. "What the fuck did you do?"

Amy turned to her sister and spoke in a whisper, Jill? ... What do you mean you did it for me? Tell me what you did. Tell me how this is possible."

Jill looked at each of us in turn then began to speak, "At the clinic when you two were trying to get pregnant and it failed three times, and then you said you were going to give up. I begged you to try one last time and you took a long time to finally agree to one last procedure."

She turned to me, "You were reluctant to do it because each failure had caused Amy such pain. You said you just didn't want to put her through it again. I understood. I saw her pain. I knew how desperately she wanted a child. She was so depressed after each failure, I just couldn't stand seeing her suffer."

She looked at Jim, "Baby, remember when you agreed to get the vasectomy? I told you we needed a "Before" sample to make sure you needed the procedure. That was a lie. I wanted the sample for Amy."

She turned to her sister, "I scheduled you both in on the same day. Jim was there an hour before you arrived with John. I mixed the samples. I knew if you got pregnant it was likely from Jim, but it was still possible it could be from John. When we learned you were pregnant, you were so happy. Both of you were so happy.

I convinced myself that a miracle had happened and Bryan was John's. He looks so much like his dad, I just forced myself to believe he was not Jim's. I mean, even if he was, their DNA is so close, it wouldn't matter."

Amy was shaking her head, Jill, ... how could you do this to me? You could have asked me. We all could have talked it over, but you just did it ... my god, I have a baby with your husband!"

Jim grabbed me, "John! I swear I knew nothing about this. Had you come to me and asked me to do this, I ... I, I can't honestly say what I would have done."

Amy dove into my arms, "Oh god John, what are we going to tell Bryan? What are we going to do? ... YOU" RE his FATHER! The only father he has ever known! How can this be happening to us?"

I gathered Amy up as I stood. "We've got to go, we need some time. I'll call you tomorrow," I said as I moved Amy towards the front door.

Jill sobbed, "I'm so sorry! I never meant to hurt anyone."

When we got home I carried Amy up to bed. She sobbed and clung tightly to me. I laid her on the bed and she pulled me down beside her. We held each other and cried ourselves to sleep.

I slowly came awake and everything flooded back to me. I turned to Amy, but she was gone. I got out of bed and went looking for her. I found her asleep in Bryan's bed, hugging his pillow. I had no idea how long she had been in his bed.

I went downstairs and made coffee. I sat at the table with my head in my hands. My emotions were all over the place. Of course, I was furious with Jill for putting us in this situation, but if she hadn't, Bryan would never have been born. But she could have come to us and asked if we wanted Jim to help us out. FUCK! There's no guarantee Jim would have said yes. Hell, there's a guarantee I would have said yes! And Amy, I know she was hurting, but that doesn't mean she would have opted to have Jim father her child!

Jesus, Jill must have had all those same thoughts. That's probably why she just did it on her own. ... But why? She gave away her husband's child! How could she be okay with that? And Jim! I know he loves his girls, but every man wants a son. How the hell is he going to deal with Bryan thinking Jim is only his uncle? Uncle ... Shit, I'm his uncle! God, what a mess!

My coffee had grown cold, so I stuck it in the microwave to reheat it. As I stood in front of the machine, Amy padded into the room. I turned to her and she slipped into my arms. I held her tightly and waited for my coffee to ding. When I turned to retrieve my coffee, she went to the coffee maker to get her drink.