‘We’ve debated telling you this for years, Lizzie, but the timing just never seemed right. You’re always going to be our little girl and we just wanted to protect you. We didn’t want to see you hurt or confused.’

‘Dad, you’re scaring me. Just tell me what’s going on.’ I could feel anxiety filling up my chest like an inflating balloon, ready to burst from the tension.

After a shared look, my mom finally said quietly and gently, ‘You’re adopted, sweetie.’

‘What?!’ I exclaimed in surprise. I looked at Andie, sitting next to me in stunned silence. She was staring at the screen, eyes wide and mouth agape. I had been mentally preparing for them to drop a horrible bomb on me about my dad, but to not be related to either of them? I couldn’t believe it.

‘We adopted you as a baby. You came home with us from the hospital only a few days after you were born, so you see, you’ve always been ours. We’ve never thought of you as adopted. We’d waited years to be blessed with a baby after we couldn’t conceive and you answered our prayers.’ My mom was openly crying now, Dad hugging her close to his body.

‘Adopted?’ I whispered in disbelief. My world, everything I knew about myself and my identity, seemed to be crumbling around me. It couldn’t be true. ‘How could you keep this from me? My whole life?’ My parents, the people who’d shaped who I was today, were not really my parents. Everything I knew about myself was a lie. Large, hot tears burned paths down my cheeks, crossing over my quivering lips. I felt Andie place an arm around my shoulders and squeeze.

‘Oh, Lizzie,’ my dad said. ‘You came from a tough background, kiddo. Your birth mother was young and troubled. She gave birth when she was in prison for drug charges, and we didn’t want you to think less of yourself or where you came from. We just wanted to protect you. We’ve always felt you are truly our daughter, regardless of who your biological parents are.’ His voice was begging for forgiveness and understanding but I could barely look either of them in the eyes.

‘I had a right to know!’ I shouted, upset and lost in a spiral of confusing emotions racing around my brain. I dropped the phone, jumping up from the couch and pacing the room. Absentmindedly, I swiped at the tears and snot that were streaming down my face. Andie scrambled to pick up the phone, but for the first time in my life, she was speechless.

‘Please sit down, Lizzie, so we can explain,’ my dad said. ‘We’re so sorry we didn’t tell you sooner.’

After a long pause, I circled back to the couch and sat down. I took the phone back from Andie and tried to compose my thoughts.