“I think you’re right. If your mother ever got pregnant, she’d keep the baby. The problem was…and what your dad suspected all along…that if she got pregnant, it probably wasn’t going to be his child.”

Gabe was quiet.

Decker said, “I think the paper your dad saw wasn’t an abortion receipt, but an OB checkup billed as an abortion for your mom’s own protection. When your dad hit the roof, your mom calmed him down by saying it was for your aunt and not herself. And she even registered under your aunt’s name. But for whatever reason, she kept her own middle name. If your dad would have checked—and maybe he did—he would have found out pretty easily that your aunt’s middle name is not Anne, like your mom said, but Nicole.”

Gabe looked sick. “Do you know this for certain? That she was pregnant?”

“No, I don’t. It’s all conjecture. But I did notice when I saw your mom that she was wearing loose clothing and her face was a little rounder. Like you said, she would have never had an abortion. She could hide a lot of things from your father, but she couldn’t hide a pregnancy. And she couldn’t pretend the child was Chris’s when the actual father was a dark-complexioned Indian. She had a decision to make and she chose the life of her baby.”

Gabe started to speak but couldn’t. Tears pooled in his eyes, then ran down his cheeks. Then he whispered, “Dump one, get another. She wanted a new start without Chris but also without me.”

“She would have taken you if she could have.”

“So why the hell didn’t she?” He was enraged.

“Gabe, your father might let your mom go, but he’d never let her take you. You’re his only child. The only thing he has in this world.”

“Chris doesn’t give a shit about me!” Gabe sputtered out. “You know he doesn’t even believe I’m his biological son. And after what you told me, maybe I’m not.”

Decker looked at him intensely. “You can’t seriously believe that.”

“It’s what Chris thinks and maybe he’s right.”

“Your dad was wrong about a lot of things. Chris never thought your mom would have the gumption to fall in love with another man. He never thought she’d have the nerve to leave him. He never thought she could hide from him, and he never thought she could lie. He was wrong about all those things and he’s dead wrong if he thinks you’re not his kid. The Terry back then is not the Terry now. Your mother was completely smitten with him. Back then, in her eyes, your father walked on water. For better or worse, Gabe, you are Chris Donatti’s son.”