Page 93 of Good Sisters

Marco’s voice was calm. ‘You say you have DNA test. How you have mine DNA?’

‘A few weeks ago an English detective I hired to find you came here and took a glass that you had drunk from. But if you don’t believe it, and I understand that, I have brought a DNA kit with me. I have Clara’s hair and we can do another test.’

Sometimes my sister astonished me. Louise was now in crisis-control mode and she was incredible. She was all practicality and zero emotion.

‘All the proof is right here.’ Dad tapped the folder.

Marco’s voice wavered as he spoke to his friends. There was a lot of hand movement and raised voices. Finally, Marco nodded. They all turned to look at Louise.

Lorenzo asked, ‘Do you have photo?’

‘Of course.’ Louise pulled out a folder. She handed it to Marco. It had six A4-size photos of Clara.

The three men bent over to look at them. Marco’s hands shook.

‘Dio mio.’

‘Incredibile.’

While his friends exclaimed, Marco was quiet. He stared at a photo of Clara where she was smiling. We all watched as he recognized himself in her.

Finally, he looked up. There were tears in his eyes. ‘No DNA. She is my mother.’

‘È identica a tua madre!’ Lorenzo agreed.

‘Il naso!’ Tommaso pointed to her nose and shook his head in awe.

‘Yes, the nose is what proved it to me, more than any DNA test,’ Louise said.

‘The nose did it for all of us.’ Dad doubled down.

‘Mia figlia.’ Marco’s voice was full of raw emotion.

Sophie wiped her eyes and I worked hard to swallow the lump in my throat. The whole situation was completely bonkers. We were in the middle of nowhere, telling a stranger that Clara was his daughter, yet it was also beautiful and moving and heart-warming.

‘Well, to be clear, she’smydaughter and you are her biological father.’ Louise cut through the emotion.

‘Louise is the boss here,’ Dad said.

‘Why are you coming now?’ Lorenzo asked.

‘It’s not my choice, believe me, but Clara wants to know who her father is. I have a very hazy memory of the night I met Marco, so I had to hire a private investigator to find him.’

I winced. She could have made it sound a little less clinical.

‘Is Clara ’ere?’ Marco asked.

‘Absolutely not. I had to see if you were suitable first. I had to see if you were someone I could introduce her to. Clara is the most important thing in my life. She is a very special girl. She’s unique and fragile and …’

There it was, the emotion buried inside my elder sister finally welled up. I loved that Clara had brought out such a tender side to Louise. Clara had knocked down her mother’s thick walls and melted her heart.

Louise let out a sob and Sophie and I instantly reached out to put a hand on her shoulder.

‘Clara is the most important person in our family. We’re all mad about her. My wife was crazy about her. She loved that child more than anything,’ Dad croaked, choking up too.

‘Mia figlia,’ Marco said again, shaking his head in disbelief.

Turning to him, I explained, ‘Clara is a very sensitive child. She has autism spectrum disorder. She is very intelligent, like her mother, and sweet and lovely and talented and gifted and we all adore her. She is lucky to have an incredible mother. Because of Louise, Clara is living her best life.’ I began to choke up then.

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