2350. Family secrets

Even though Stacy had been told all her life that she was adopted she suspected in fact that her mother was her real mother and her father was her real father. Stacy was number six in a family of six children. In fact, four of her brothers and sisters were her full brothers and sisters, and even though she was ten years younger than they were there was nothing unusual in that. One of her brothers, the fifth sibling, had the same mother but the father was different; “Swedish” the DNA tests were to reveal.

To prove her point, Stacy had had secret DNA tests done of the family and the results proved her point: her mother was her real mother and her father was her real father. So why the adoption story?

Just as Stacy was about to confront her parents to learn the truth they were both killed in a traffic accident. Perhaps one of her brothers and sisters might know the story. Her oldest sister might know; mothers often divulged family secrets to daughters. But Yolanda, the oldest sister, knew nothing. Perhaps the Portuguese family living next door might know something; they had been great friends of the family. Possibly Stacy’s mother had divulged something, woman to woman, over a nice cup of tea. Nothing. Jorginho, the Portuguese husband, said that even if he knew something he was staying out of other families’ personal affairs. He didn’t know anything of course.

That was when Stacy’s “half Swedish” brother, Björn, stepped forward with an explanation. Their mother had had a torrid affair with a passing Swedish tennis player. The marriage broke up. The parents got divorced. Several years later the parents reconciled and Stacy was born “out of wedlock”.  After the re-marriage Stacy was formally adopted by her father.

All this doesn’t help to explain what the DNA tests missed: that all the brothers and sisters except for Stacy and Björn, were half Portuguese.

744. Can you keep a secret?

Elva was in her first year at university. She was expecting a baby. She told her two friends, Christina and Margaret.

“But don’t tell anyone,” said Elva. “I haven’t told my parents yet, and I don’t want anyone else to know for a while.”

Christina and Margaret promised. Christina told Shirley and Helena. Margaret told Martha and Josie.

Shirley told Clare and Francine. Helena told Suzanne and Agatha. Martha told Jane and Mary-Lee. Josie told Camilla and Ann.

Clare told Myrtle and Ivy. Francine told David and Paula. Suzanne told Michelle and Lance. Agatha told Madison and Quentin. Jane told Rachel and Charlie. Mary-Lee told Angela and Elizabeth.

Myrtle told Naomi and Jennifer. Ivy told Jill and Diana. David told Keith and William. Paula told Harold and Norman. Michelle told Cynthia and Lisa. Lance told Yvonne and Fay. Madison told Trinity and Gwen. Quentin told Bonnie and Giles. Rachel told Ricky and Tony. Charlie told Mervyn and Sheila. Angela told Philippa and Minnie. Elizabeth told Agatha (“I already know,” said Agatha) and Davinia.

Naomi told Leo and Freddy. Jennifer told Barry and Florence. Jill told Mary and Stacey. Diana told Graeme and Peter. Keith told Roy and Eva. William told Esme and Max. Harold told Zane and Clement. Norman told John and Andrew. Cynthia didn’t tell a soul. Lisa told Brittany and Claude and Victoria and Dwight. Yvonne told Wayne and Lawrence. Fay told Beryl and Karen. Trinity told Marlene and George. Gwen told Justine and Miriam. Bonnie told Eadlin and Lilian. Giles told Pierre and Christian. Ricky told Bernard and Benjamin. Tony told Hinerangi and Bart. Mervyn told Beatrice and Robert. Sheila told James and Bert. Philippa told Catherine and Janice. Minnie told Josephine and Grant. Agatha told Pablo and Oscar. Davinia told Serena and Zachary.

Elva told her parents.

“Thank goodness you’ve told them,” said Christina and Margaret. “We didn’t know how much longer we could keep it a secret.”

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