“This family is really good at surprises,” she said sarcastically. “So yeah, maybe!”
Birdie spent the next several minutes shoveling food in her mouth.
She finally stopped long enough to say, “So . . .”
I tilted my head. “Yes?”
“I have a visitor coming over tomorrow night for Christmas Eve.”
Sebastian’s brow lifted. “Visitor?”
“Yeah. My . . . boyfriend.” Birdie looked like she was bracing herself for his response.
I could literally see the vein popping in Sebastian’s neck. “Boyfriend . . .”
“Yeah. You know . . . I am almost nineteen.”
“What’s his name?” I asked.
“Don’t laugh.” She wiped her mouth with a napkin. “It’s Duke.”
“No way!” I said. “That might be a good omen.”
“Or it could mean . . . he’s a dog,” Sebastian deadpanned.
“Dad.” Birdie rolled her eyes. “He’s a good kid.”
“I’ll be the judge of that!” Seb Junior shouted out of nowhere. He totally got that line from Sebastian, who said it often.
We all turned to him and laughed. He was so smart for his age, like a little adult. Even at six, he sure was protective of his big sister.
Sebastian sighed. “I’ll try to be on my best behavior.”
“His family lives in Brooklyn. It’s a coincidence that we’re both from New York.”
I reached my hand over to hers. “Well, we can’t wait to meet him.”
Over the next hour, we polished off all the food as Birdie told us stories from her first year at school. I’d made gingerbread men cookies for dessert. Not a year went by when I didn’t make them in honor of Amanda over the holidays.
Birdie finished taking a sip of water before she lifted her index finger. “Oh, I forgot to tell you guys. In my genetics class, we were studying genotypes and traits. One of the perks of the course is that students get a big discount on one of those DNA tests. You know, the kits you order online and send in a saliva sample? Remember, Dad, I used to put one of those on my Christmas list every year, but Santa never brought me one?”
Sebastian glanced over at me, then said, “Yeah, I remember.”
“Well I got mine done, finally. The results were really intriguing. I’m basically a mutt. But you know what’s really interesting?”
“What?” I smiled.
“I’m part Chinese.”
My smile faded as her words set in. I felt a rush of blood course throughout my body.
Sebastian and I just looked at each other.
And we just . . . knew.
Now we knew.
Wow.
Just wow.
We hadn’t been seeking the truth, but it seemed the truth found us. And like every single part of our journey—it was magical.