Turning back to Travis and Andie, I said, ‘Yeah, I feel like my life is a bunch of puzzle pieces right now and I’m not sure where any of them go. It’s so disorienting. Sorry for my mini meltdown, it’s all so hard to wrap my head around.’

‘You don’t have to apologize to us, Liz. That’s why we’re here. To help you put it all together, right Trav?’ Andie said, looking at Travis.

Travis nodded his head enthusiastically. ‘What’s crazy to me is that you can’t get a copy of your original birth certificate. I mean, I understand the ethics behind it, but that sucks for adoptees like you.’

Andie turned to me nodding, ‘Totally. This major piece of who you are, that most people take for granted, is hidden from you like a dirty secret. It just doesn’t seem fair.’

‘Yeah,’ I replied sadly.

‘Did they tell you about any other family members?’ Travis asked.

‘Not really. My great-grandmother Dorina died quite young and was an only child, so that was a dead end. On the Dominio side, Cris only mentioned a cousin named Adam but they don’t know how to contact him as they lost touch a long time ago.’

‘He’s one lead at least. Have you been able to track him down?’

‘Not yet. If there’s anything I excel at, we all know it’s social media. But Adam Dominio wasn’t on any of the usual sites when I did a search. Considering he’d be in his sixties or seventies now, I guess that’s not shocking. I haven’t had time to do a deeper dive yet.’

Before Travis could respond, my phone dinged, indicating the unknown caller had left a voicemail. I picked it up and turned up the volume. Before hitting play, I said, ‘Wanna hear me get hit up for money? I swear,’ I said, shaking my head, ‘I only donated ten dollars to Anderson’s campaign because she’s amazing and I really want her to win, but it’s like I’ve opened the floodgates. I get calls from unknown numbers asking for more money at least once a day.’

I hit play and an unfamiliar male voice rang out over speakerphone. ‘Hello, Ms. Catalano. This is Special Agent Mark Hannigan. You recently uploaded your DNA to the GEDMatch database, and we’d like to speak with you about a potential familial connection to a case we’re working. If you could call me back at this number, I’d greatly appreciate it.’

I scrunched my face up as I stared at the phone.

‘Whoa, Special Agent? As in FBI?’ Andie said, looking wide-eyed at Travis.

‘Yeah, sounds like it,’ Travis replied.

‘Call him back!’ Andie exclaimed, jumping up and down in her seated position on the couch.