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‘After what you’ve just revealed,’ Freya said, biting back tears as she eyed Omar, ‘how can you be so sure without a DNA test?’
Emily nodded her head, agreeing with that argument.
‘I don’t need one to know.’ Alice continued, ‘Remember that night, Omar, you said what you wanted more than anything was to have a son?’ Alice glanced at Tarek. ‘I knew I couldn’t give you that.’
Omar shook his head from side to side. ‘There are no certainties in life, I understand that. But we could have tried, if we’d stayed together.’
Alice breathed a heavy sigh. ‘I’m afraid no amount of trying would have given us a son. You see, our marriage problems …’ her eyes flickered to Jeffrey, ‘were stemming frommyproblem. I’m infertile. I can’t have children.’
Jeffrey took her hand, surprising her by his gentle touch as she added, ‘I didn’t know until after I was married and we started trying for a family.’
Freya said, ‘But that’s just not true – you had me!’
Alice cast a gaze at Jeffrey, Wendy and Gerald, her eyes finally settling on Freya. ‘I amsosorry. We should have told you.’
Chapter 49
‘Am I adopted?’ asked Freya.
‘Not officially.’
‘What does that mean?’ She looked around the room. Everyone was seated in the lounge. Tarek had joined her because she needed him to be there, and Omar was seated next to his son.
‘And what do you meanweshould have told you?’ She turned from her parents and eyed Wendy and Gerald. They stared at the floor, heads bowed, avoiding eye-contact. ‘Youallknew?’
There were nods of heads, but no one said anything.
‘I don’t understand.’ She turned to her parents. ‘I don’t know these people. What’s it got to do with them?
‘It’s got everything to do with them – isn’t that right, Jeffrey?’
Freya caught him glance sheepishly at her before answering, ‘Er, yes.’
Freya’s breath caught in her throat. ‘Wait, are you trying to tell me that Wendy and Gerald are myrealparents?’
Alice and Jeffrey furiously shook their heads. ‘No, of course not,’ Alice replied. ‘Look, let me explain.’
Freya folded her arms and eyed her suspiciously, the look in her face clearly suggesting she didn’t know what to think of all this.
Alice continued, ‘We’d returned to the guest house on our second wedding anniversary. We’d honeymooned here. But this time we weren’t in a good place. I wasn’t in a good place. It was the night we rowed and I … took off.’ she glanced at Omar. She’d already told them what had happened that night. ‘Well, in the morning …’
‘In the morning …?’ Freya prompted her.
‘It was a miracle.Youwere a miracle, Freya.’
‘What are you talking about?’
‘I heard a baby crying. That wasn’t unusual in this household at that time. Anthea had a baby girl.’ Alice paused, glancing at her. ‘Or should I call you Wendy?’
Wendy stole a glance at her and shrugged.
Alice continued. ‘I thought she had twins.’
Emily looked at her mum. ‘Twins? What made you think that, Alice?’
‘There weretwobabies. At first, I wasn’t aware one of the babies wasn’t hers. It was the summer when we were there, and that week I enjoyed sitting on the lawn in the summer with the babies lying on blankets, and I often accompanied Anthea – I mean Wendy – to the beach, pushing them down there in their strollers. I became very attached to one of them – it was very wrong of me. Then I discovered the baby, another girl, had been left with Wendy by a relative.’
Alice turned to Wendy. ‘You weren’t coping but couldn’t face the thought of putting the baby up for adoption to go to strangers.’
