‘Hey Aunt Carmela!’ Andie called out, leaning into the frame, almost pushing me out of it.

‘Oh, hi Andrea. What are you two up to this evening?’ My mom’s enthusiastic smile radiated on the screen, and I was thankful for the change in topic away from my struggling love life.

‘I’m not sure if I told you, but Andie gave me a DNA ancestry test kit for my birthday after we got back from the party at Gram’s, and I just got my results in,’ I said, trying to take the frame back over from where Andie had squeezed in.

‘Oh, really? A DNA kit?’ I noticed a twitch in my mom’s smile as it fell. The color drained from her normally rosy cheeks.

‘Yeah,’ I hesitated, nervous by my mom’s reaction. ‘It tells you, based on percentages, what regions your ancestors came from and connects you with other family that have done the same kit. But it’s weird, Mom.’ Now, my mom was definitely fidgeting, her eyes darting out of the frame. And was I crazy or did I see the glint of a tear on her lashes? Maybe it was just the lighting, I rationalized, but then a crazy thought popped into my head. Did my mom have an affair? Is my dad not really my dad? A wave of fear swelled inside me but I quickly tried to tamp it down. ‘Andie isn’t showing up on my relatives list even though she did a kit too and our geographic regions are totally different. Is there something you have to tell me? Why wouldn’t Andie and I be related?’

‘Gary!’ my mom called out over her shoulder.

‘Mom, what’s going on?’

‘Gary!’ she shouted out again instead of answering me. ‘Can you come in here for a minute? I’m on FaceTime with Elizabeth.’

‘What’s our little Lizard up to tonight?’ My dad said in his usual I’m so funny voice as he descended down the stairs and came into the frame.

‘She did one of those DNA kits, Gary,’ she told him, looking somber.

‘Oh,’ he said as the smile dropped from his face, sitting down next to her. He looked anxious, not an emotion I was used to seeing from my charming, goofy dad. He averted his eyes and looked at my mom. ‘Well, we knew this day would come eventually.’

‘Can someone please tell me what’s going on?’ I demanded, sharing a confused glance with Andie who was watching with rapt attention.

‘Oh, Lizzie,’ my mom said, a wobble in the video as she readjusted her grip on her own phone. ‘There’s something we have to tell you.’ My dad nodded.

‘Well, what is it?’ I asked, on the edge of the couch cushion. My dad put his arm around my mom’s shoulders before answering.