**Diary Entry 15th Wedding Anniversary**
I never imagined our fifteenth anniversary would end like this.
“Happy anniversary, love,” Nicholas said, handing me a plain white envelope. I took it between two fingers, as if it might burn me. “A DNA test? On our *wedding anniversary*?”
He stood by the window, shoulders tense, watching the summer sun flood our garden. The remnants of our celebration surrounded ushalf-finished champagne, a cake with fifteen candles, a vase of roses. Our country home, bought five years ago, suddenly felt cold despite the heat.
“You had a right to know,” he said quietly.
“Know *what*? That Andrew isnt yours?” I threw the envelope onto the table. “This is a mistake. Ive never betrayed you, Nicholas. Never.”
He turned, eyes dark with hurt. “Then explain these results. Explain why the probability of paternity is less than *one percent*.”
The front door slammed. Our fourteen-year-old daughter, Emily, stood in the doorwaytall like her father, with his same piercing grey eyes. “Are you *fighting*? On your anniversary?”
I snatched the envelope off the table. “Just discussing work.”
“On a weekend?” She narrowed her eyes, inheriting his scepticism. “Fine. Im going to Lucys. Were seeing a film.”
When she left, I sank into a chair. “Wheres Andrew?”
“At the Parkers’. Hes staying over.” Nicholas poured himself more champagne. “Funny, isnt it? Fifteen years married, and Ive just learned I raised another mans child for ten of them.”
“Hes *not* another mans!” I shot up. “You held him when he was born, taught him to ride a bike”
“Because I *thought he was mine*!” He slammed his glass down, liquid spilling onto the tablecloth. “Who is he, Helen? *Whose* is he?”
“Mine and *yours*. Theres been a mistake with the test.”
“I checked *three times*,” he said, voice breaking. “I didnt want to believe it.”
My legs went weak. “When did you start doubting? *Why* did you even do this?”
He exhaled sharply. “Victor.”
“Victor? Your old colleague?”
“Ran into him at the hardware shop. Asked about you, the kids. Then he implied thered been something between you.”
My hands turned cold. “What?”
“He said youd had an affair. Around the time I was working away.”
“Thats *insane*! You know I couldnt stand him!”
“I *know*.” He dragged a hand through his hair. “But then I started noticingAndrew doesnt look like me. Or anyone in my family. And the timeline”
“You trusted *Victor* over me?”
“I *wanted* to trust you. Thats why I did the testto prove him wrong. But the results” He gestured to the envelope. “They say otherwise.”
Silence.
“What now?” I whispered.
“I need time.” He grabbed his jacket. “Ill stay with James for a few days.”
I wanted to stop him, but the words stuck in my throat. I watched him walk out of the house wed built together, and when the door closed, I buried my face in my hands and sobbed.
—
**Later, at James flat**
“I dont get it,” James said, handing Nicholas a mug of tea. “Why even do the test?”
Nicholas rubbed his tired eyes. “You saw how Victor looked at me when he said it. So *smug*. And Andrew *doesnt* look like me.”
“He looks like Helen,” James shrugged. “So? My Tommy takes after Sarah more, too.”
“But the *results*”
“Are you sure theyre accurate? Who did the test?”
Nicholas pulled a crumpled business card from his pocket. “*GenMark*. Private lab, good reviews. I checked.”
James turned it over. “So what now?”
“I dont know,” Nicholas muttered. “I feel like my worlds collapsed.”
“Did you talk to Helen?”
“She swears she never cheated. Says its a mistake.”
“Do you believe her?”
Nicholas looked up. “Fifteen years, I did. Now I dont know.”
—
**Meanwhile, at the lab**
I sat across from the director of *MedScreen*, my voice steady despite the sleepless night. “I need these results fast.”
The director, a stern woman in glasses, nodded. “Three days. But DNA tests are serious. If you doubt another labs findings”
“Theres *been* a mistake. My husband *is* Andrews father.”
—
**That evening, at home**
Emily caught me at the computer. “Mum, whats going on? Dads not answering my texts.”
I closed the laptop. “Hes staying with Uncle James. We had a disagreement.”
“About *what*?”
I exhaled. She was too sharp for lies. “Your father doubts hes Andrews biological dad.”
Her face paled. “*What?*”
“He did a DNA test. It says hes not. But its *wrong*, Emily.”
“Did you*cheat* on Dad?”
“*No*,” I grabbed her hands. “I *swear* to you, I never have.”
She jerked away. “Then how? DNA doesnt lie!”
“Labs make mistakes. People *fake* results.”
“Youre just making excuses!” she cried, storming out.
—
**The Truth Unfolds**
A week later, we sat in the state genetics lab, Andrew swinging his legs beside us, oblivious.
The doctor, an older man with kind eyes, laid out charts. “Standard tests *do* show no biological relation. But deeper analysis revealed something rarea mutation in Nicholas DNA that skews standard paternity tests.”
Nicholas gripped my hand. “Meaning?”
“You *are* Andrews father. The mutations inheritedhe has it too. One in ten thousand people carry it.”
Relief hit me like a wave.
—
**That night, at home**
Emily picked at her dinner. “So it was all a *mutant gene*?”
“And one jealous man,” Nicholas said. Victor had confessedhed resented Nicholas success and manipulated the first tests results. The second test, unknowingly, had mirrored the false outcome due to the mutation.
Andrew grinned. “Wait, so Im like the X-Men?”
We laughed, the tension dissolving.
Later, Nicholas pulled me close. “Im sorry I didnt trust you.”
“And Im sorry I didnt see your doubts,” I said. Andrew *didnt* look like himbut he was the spitting image of Nicholas grandfather, photos proved.
He kissed me. “No more test results for anniversaries. Just flowers next time.”
The moon shone through the window, casting soft light over the kitchen. The storm had passed, leaving behind a lesson sharper than any DNA resulttrust is fragile, and love, sometimes, needs more than science to prove it.
Maybe *that* was the real gift of fifteen years.
