Chapter 64

I thumb through the pages eagerly, blocking out the babble of voices. A copy of the newspaper cuttings – Baby found on Trinity Hospital stairs. A photo of baby Daisy, wearing a gold crucifix around her little body with a glimmering ruby in the middle. Oh, and now the prize – Ancestry Report for Daisy Murphy. I scan it hungrily:

Sort byRelationships

Match categories:

Parent/Child – Barry Gray.

And then, highlighted in yellow, there it is. The proof we all need. Jesus wept.

Georgia Harris – Possible relationship: First cousin once removed – Half uncle, aunt – Half nephew, NIECE! Oh, Liam, what've you done? You said it was only going to be a paternity test, you little shit. My pulse slams against the wall of my chest.

‘Bella, Bella, did you hear me?' Tina's voice becomes audible again, ‘Let Zelda see the documents, please.'

‘What? I utter, hair in my hot face. I feel as if I'm floating. I can't show this to Zelda, she'll blurt it all out, everyone will question me. Georgia will want to know how her details ended up on a DNA database without her permission, and, more importantly, who put them there. But before I can say anything else, Tina snatches the papers from my limp grasp.

‘No,' Daisy barks, hand out, and Tina recoils.

‘But don't you want them to…'

Daisy gives Tina a look, eyes hardening, and all I can do is sit there, panting, wishing I could dissolve into the fibres of the sofa. ‘That report contains confidential information,' Daisy says through gritted teeth, then looks at me, face softening. She knows about Liam and the paternity test. Of course she does, she must've emailed him thinking it was Georgia, and he told her everything, including where to find us. And now, Daisy is trying to protect me. I want to hug her. ‘Look, Tina, you shouldn't have even shown it to Bella, not without my consent.'

‘Yes, of course.' Tina gives me a fleeting, nervous look. ‘You're right. I'm sorry. I didn't think.'

‘Typical,' Zelda groans, impatiently. ‘Bella, did you see anything, anything at all that confirms Daisy's related to us?'

‘I um…' Swallowing, I glance at Daisy. ‘I didn't get a chance to read it all properly before…'

‘Bella?' Mum says crisply, clearly sensing my tension. She's no fool. ‘If there's anything you think you should share, please do. This is important.'

‘Yeah, Mum, come on,' Georgia agrees.

Zelda looks at me carefully. She knows something's up. ‘I don't think anything can shock us more today, Bella.' Oh, there is, Zee, there is. The room falls silent. I can feel everyone's eyes burning into every cell of my body.

‘Well, Barry Gray is the father, as Mum confirmed,' I curl my hair behind my ears. ‘Which means it's true.'

‘Bollocks. It means nothing.' Zelda's eyes slide to the papers in Tina's lap. Shit, she's going to snatch them. She goes to move but Daisy is like lightening. ‘I'll have those, Tina, thank you very much.' Daisy folds the sheets with one hand and for a moment I think she's going to tear them up, but then stuffs them into her open bag on the floor next to her.

‘There is no proof, is there?' Zelda spits. There's concrete proof, Zelda. Concrete. ‘You're just pissing in the wind.'

‘Zelda stop,' I say gently. Going over to her, I squat and curl my hands around her forearms and make her look at me. ‘It's true, love. It happened. We've got to accept what our father did.' Her face reddens. ‘Look, maybe he wasn't thinking straight. Maybe…'

‘I'm not accepting anything,' Zelda fumes, pulling away from me. ‘If you three have been taken in, I haven't. Those documents only prove that Barry Gray's her dad. End of.'

‘Zelda, love,' Mum says.

‘I should go, leave you to digest it.' Daisy goes to stand up. Tina fastens the belt of her coat in readiness, glancing at her watch. I bet she can't wait to get out of here.

There's a kerfuffle of movement, zips hissing, fabrics swishing, and then. ‘Daisy, wait,' Georgia pleads, then turns to me and Zelda, ‘I know you're upset about Grandpa, auntie Zelda. I would be too if I found out my dad had done something as horrible as this. But it's not Daisy's fault, is it? Yes, your parents divorced when you were little, but at least you grew up in a strong family unit. At least you knew where you came from – who you are.' My eyes fill. How can my fifteen-year-old child mature in such a short space of time? ‘Wouldn't you want to find your biological parents if you were in Daisy's shoes? I deffo would.' Zelda and I exchange looks. Tina nods, mumbles in agreement. Daisy leans against the doorframe, cradling her injured limb, while Mum continues to destroy the tissue in her hands, muttering to herself. I think she's cursing Dad. ‘Daisy didn't ask for any of this. Okay, she might've gone about it the wrong way, but we all love her. Why should this change anything?' She turns to Daisy. ‘Why don't you and Nan just do a DNA? Keep everyone happy.'

‘How did all this happen, Mum?' I ask. ‘I thought you and Daddy were happy.'

‘It's complicated,' Mum says irritably. ‘Look, your father was away working for months on end. I was young, head in the clouds. Barry was a looker. We had a brief fling, that was all. When I told Barry I was pregnant, he said he couldn't leave his wife and kids – not that I asked him to - said he'd see me and the nipper right, on the quiet. It's not what I wanted to hear.'

‘So why did you keep it?' Zelda demands, and Daisy gives her a deathly glare. Zelda presses on. ‘You had options even then, surely.'

‘An abortion was out of the question. I was too far gone.'

‘Hello?' Zelda says, ‘Didn't you miss any periods?'

‘I thought I was going through the change. My mother had an early menopause. But I wouldn't have done it, anyway.' Mum shakes her head defiantly. ‘I fobbed Barry off, told him I'd gotten rid of it, he was off the hook. About eight weeks later, Barry was gone. A stroke of luck, Stanley called it. We could stay in our home after all. I'd stay at the BB until I had the baby, with regular visits from Stanley, and he'd tell folk I was looking after my poorly dad. I had terrible morning sickness, couldn't travel.'

‘Hyperemesis gravidarum,' Tina says. ‘Some women suffer with it throughout their pregnancies.'

‘Is that what it's called? Anyway, I'd come back with the baby. No one would know it wasn't Stanley's. But after the birth, Stanley took one look at Cindy and ran for the hills. It was your shock of red hair.' Mum smiles at Daisy. ‘He was a very proud man.'

‘You were going to keep me?' Daisy's eyes fill.

‘Of course I was. Of course. Well, at least that was the plan until Stanley changed his mind. He gave me an ultimatum. You, or him and the girls. What kind of choice was that?'

A bloody impossible one.