“Yes.
And she chose someone specific.
Not a stranger from the registry.” Diane opened the folder on her desk and turned it to face me.
“The donor relationship field on that intake form — the four words you read last night.”
I already knew what it said.
I had read it a dozen times in the car on the way home.
But seeing it again on Diane’s desk, in the daylight, with Joel beside me, made it land differently.
*Brother of intended surrogate.*
My brother.
Daniel.
Penelope had used my brother’s genetic material to create this baby.
Without telling Daniel.
Without telling me.
Without telling Marcus.
“Does Daniel know?” I asked.
“I don’t believe so,” Diane said.
“Based on what Marcus told me, the clinic approached Daniel as an anonymous donor.
He would have had no reason to connect his donation to Penelope’s surrogacy arrangement with you.”
Joel made a sound beside me.
