‘Why are you so invested? You did your own last month, I’m sure my results won’t be that different,’ I replied as I typed my email and password into the 23andMe homepage.

‘I mean we’ll definitely have some similar results from our dads’ Italian heritage,’ Andie said as she reached forward and grabbed my glass of red wine, taking a swig.

‘You could get your own glass you know; the bottle is on the kitchen counter like five feet away. Our apartment isn’t that big.’

Andie ignored me, ‘But it’ll be fun to see what comes up from your mom’s side.’

‘Oh, you mean Italian, Italian, and some more Italian? I feel like these will be the least diverse results of all time,’ I said, laughing, mimicking the large hand gestures as I spoke that were so common when anyone in my house was talking.

Andie laughed. ‘It’s 2019, Lizzie, get with the times. Everyone is checking their DNA these days and who knows, maybe you’ll have some mixed heritage from way far back that you didn’t know about. Plus, we know how much you need to know everything, all the time. I thought this would be right up your alley.’

‘Hey, I can’t help it if I have an inquisitive mind,’ I said with a smirk. Andie rolled her eyes dramatically. ‘But okay, I concede. It’s a cool gift, alright? Let’s just look at it,’ I said as I clicked ‘Sign In’. I could feel that familiar tingle of excitement I always got when I was on the verge of learning new information. ‘Okay, so now what?’

‘Click there,’ Andie said, pointing to the Ancestry icon under ‘Quick Links’ on the left side of the page. I obeyed and a new page loaded showing a colorful wheel and a few geographical regions. ‘Well that’s weird.’

‘What?’ I asked, leaning forward to inspect the screen closer.

‘I don’t think those are the same as my main regions. Maybe your mom’s genes influenced you more than your dad’s. Click “View your ancestry composition” so we can get a more detailed breakdown,’ Andie instructed.

I obliged and a new screen showing a list of what percentage of each region made up my complete DNA profile appeared on the page. ‘That’s interesting,’ I said as my eyes scanned the information. ‘It’s saying my relatives are mainly from Mexico and Northwestern Europe. How is Italy not in the top two? What did yours say?’

‘Predominately Southern European, with lots of Italy and Spain or Portugal.’ She hesitated for a moment, her normally lively eyes looking a little anxious. ‘Click the “Family and Friends” thing at the top and let’s look at your relatives list so we can compare our results,’ Andie said after a long pause.