My husband refused to do a DNA test for our daughter’s school project – so I did it behind his back, and the results prompted me to call the police.

“Are you hungry?” I asked. “I was going to make tacos.”

“Can we have nachos?” Tiffany’s face lit up.

“But you’re not angry with me?”

We busied ourselves in my kitchen as if we’d done it a hundred times before. I put on some music, Tiffany hummed along while Lindsay chopped tomatoes.

At dinner, Tiffany leaned towards her and asked, “Are you still my aunt?”

Lindsay didn’t even flinch. “Forever, my darling.”

“Are you still my aunt?”

**

That night, when Tiffany asked questions about Mike, I told her the only truth I could live with.

“He’s your godfather,” I told him. “Nothing more. And that’s how it will stay.”

Because biology can explain the beginning. But it’s confidence that decides what happens next.

I told him the only truth I could live with.