I looked back to Sophia. "I'm named after your sis
ter?"
She nodded, but the lingering silence worried me. When she finally spoke, her voice was as soft as a stroke of a feather.
"It's where your middle name comes from. We were extremely close."
"Where does Adrianna come from?"
"Francesca and I picked it together. She loved the name Adrianna Francesca and thought it sounded good with Rossi." Sophia paused. "I can't believe how much you look like her," she said again.
"That's funny because I feel like I look like you."
She covered her mouth and I noted that her hand was shaking. "I've seen pictures of you over the years, but in person…" She shook her head in disbelief and glanced at Dad. "I've watched you do gymnastics for years. Francesca was a gymnast too."
I wasn't sure how she’d seen pictures of me, but that wasn't important right now. Dad stepped closer to her and took her hand in his, helping her sit down. I frowned. It was like they were well-acquainted. In a sense they were, but I didn't expect them to be after all these years.
Just then, Thomas walked in carrying a tray of drinks, thankfully breaking the emotional reunion. Our eyes met and guilt shown in his. I didn't fault him. I just smiled and thanked him silently. He looked relieved.
"I know you said you didn't want your coffee, Miss Rossi, but I thought you could use it."
He handed my dad a crystal tumbler of amber liquid and Sophia a tall glass with fresh mint leaves and slices of cucumber in a clear liquid.
"Is there anything else I can get you?" he asked, almost like he was begging to wait on us. We all declined and he departed the room.
Dad sat near Sophia on the love seat, and I took a spot in the cushioned chair. He crossed his leg over his knee and relaxed casually. I wanted to be angry, I wanted to yell at him and demand answers, like why she was here, why he’d lied to me months ago and told me he had no idea where she was when he clearly did, where she'd been my whole life, but I couldn't find it in me. I wanted to ask why Sophia gave me up, how much money she got for me, and how her family didn't know about me. All things my dad once told me, and yet all of that didn't matter anymore.
"Well, this is weird," I said more to myself, and took a sip of my favorite java.
"Not that I'm not happy to see you, sweetheart, but why are you here? Don't you have practice? Does Konstantin know you're here?" Dad said. "It's not usual for you to show up like this, and it has me worried."
I swallowed. He was right. Reacting on my emotions wouldn't get me anywhere, and I needed to think straight and remember why I came. I shot a nervous glance at Sophia, wondering how this would go since it was about her.
Her lips quivered. "I can leave. You probably need to talk your dad privately."
She moved to stand, but I stopped her. "No, stay. It actually kind of involves you."
They looked in my direction, both bewildered. Couldn't say I blamed them.
"Are you sure?" Sophia asked. She glanced at Dad for guidance, but he was just watching me. I nodded and took a big sip of my coffee and decided to just be out with it.
"So I went to the doctor today, and found out some interesting things." My heart suddenly started jackhammering in my chest. I was more nervous than I thought I'd be. Looking at my dad, I said, "I came home to talk to you about my biological mom to hopefully get some explanation. Imagine my shock to find her here after everything you told me."
His face fell. "Adrianna, I know you're probably upset with me over that, but I can explain."
For some unknown reason, him withholding information from me didn't bother me as much as I thought it would. Maybe when I got home tonight it would, but right now, I needed a different explanation.
"It's okay, Dad. I won't lie and say I'm not upset, because I am. I'm pretty hurt by a lot of things, but there are more important things we have to talk about right now."
Deep creases formed between his eyes. "I'm listening."
Exhaling a huge sigh, I looked down at my mug and watched the steam rise into the air. I stared at it as I spoke. "I haven't been feeling well lately. More tired than usual, headaches, my chest hurts. I thought it was because I was training too hard, pushing too hard, too many competitions and not enough rest—"
"Fucking Konstantin." Dad sneered.
I glanced up, eyes hard and defensive. "It's not his fault. He has nothing to do with this. If anything, he's the reason I went to the doctor in the first place," I said quickly. "I'm going to sum this up. The doctor asked me about my family history and I could only give her one side. At first I was fine with that because I figured there was nothing wrong with me except for exhaustion, until she came back and told me she needed to run more labs." I looked up into my dad's fearful eyes. "She believes I have an autoimmune disease, lupus, and she said my markers aren't adding up, they're still too high. Something about my red blood cells being too low and there’s protein in my urine. She's concerned about it affecting my organs." I paused, feeling my emotions rise. "She said lupus can affect my heart, lungs, and kidneys."
Sophia's glass slipped from her hands and shattered to the floor. Liquid spilled everywhere, the ice rolling over the wood floor, the mint leaves stuck on the sharp edges of the jagged pieces. She broke out in hysterical tears and in turn that made me get teary-eyed. I didn't know if it was because of what I’d just said or because she finally got to meet me and the first thing I said was that I'm sick.