Chapter 14 - I’M YOUR REAL SONThe argument came that evening.
Cole had been drinking.
Not heavily.
Enough.
He stood in the living room holding a glass of bourbon.
“You made Jonah power of attorney.”
Dorothy looked up from her book.
“Yes.”
“You planned this.”
“Yes.”
“Before you even came home.”
“Yes.”
His anger grew because she would not deny it.
“Sabrina was right.”
“About?”
“You were always waiting for an excuse.”
“For what?”
“To choose him.”
Dorothy stood.
“I am not doing this.”
“No.”
Cole stepped closer.
“You are.”
“Cole.”
“He’s not even—”
He stopped.
Too late.
Dorothy stared.
“Say it.”
He looked away.
“Say it.”
“I’m your real son.”
Silence.
Sabrina appeared at the staircase.
Dorothy’s face changed in a way Cole had never seen.
Not anger.
Grief.
“That is what you think.”
“I didn’t mean—”
“Yes.”
Dorothy’s voice trembled.
“You did.”
“Mom.”
“Jonah became my son the day I chose him.”
Cole’s eyes reddened.
“You gave birth to me.”
“Yes.”
She nodded.
“You became my son the day I gave birth to you.”
Then:
“Neither love is counterfeit.”
Cole looked down.
Dorothy continued.
“You have spent years believing biology gave you a better claim to me.”
“That’s not true.”
“Then why say it?”
No answer.
Sabrina finally spoke.
“He’s upset.”
Dorothy looked at her.
“So am I.”
Then at Cole.
“You have no idea what you just broke.”
She walked upstairs.
Cole remained.
May you like
For the first time, Sabrina did not defend him.
Because even she understood that some sentences could not be packed back into the mouth.
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