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had been born with the name ‘Hatch’! And if her husband had had the same last name, it was either one heck of a coincidence, or...
    Glynis didn’t fall asleep again.
    An hour passed. She couldn’t stay in bed anymore. She got up in her pajamas, tiptoed into her mother’s room, and watched the woman she had known all of her life, her back rising and falling slowly underneath the blankets. Glynis stared at that face, squished against the pillow, and searched for a hint of the truth, a hint of the trauma. There was none. It was the same face she had always seen.
    By morning, Glynis had an obsession for her family. She had an uncle she’d never heard of. She had two deceased grandparents she’d never met. She had a father she’d never seen and who might actually be her grandfather. And her mother’s life, which, until yesterday, Glynis had taken for granted to be nothing but ordinary, was now shrouded in uncertainty. Uncertainty that seemed to hide behind it frightening possibilities. Everything she’d understood about her family had been obliterated. Nothing could be taken for granted.
    What did she know of her mother? She was a theoretical psychologist, working at the McCourt Research Institute. She was married to her work. At times she’d pull eighteen-hour days. She worked weekends. She never dated. She had no friends except Ron and his wife, Elizabeth – and the both of them worked for her. Glynis never heard of her talk of anything that had to do with friends or family. But was she at work all day? Did she have nothing outside her life?
    Glynis accessed the Net and began to collect information about her mother. Olivia had been working at the McCourt Research Institute since 2001. Her address was 120th Ave and 88th St. This was interesting, because they actually lived on Wilmot Mountain, outside the town. The computer records claimed that her mother had moved to 120th Ave. from another address five years ago. That old address, also in Wilmot, was not this place, either. And they’ve been living here at least since Glynis can remember. Almost immediately she discovered another doozy: her mother had been married to a man named Steve Caspi. He had worked at the McCourt Research Institute, as well, until twelve years ago.
    Glynis put both hands on her cheeks nervously and took a few breaths before pressing the link.
    Steve and her mother had been married for three years, between the years 2005 and 2007. Glynis had been born in 2006, exactly one year and eight months after her mother had married this Steve Caspi!
    Glynis couldn’t take any more. She got up, went to the kitchen and made lunch.
    Maybe he was her father. Maybe her mother had lied, as she had about so many things. Maybe Glynis did have Jonathan’s eyes, but Jonathan was not her father. Her real father was this Steve guy. Perhaps she should check all information about Steve, as well. Perhaps she should try and contact him, tell him that he has a daughter. But then... He knows he has a daughter. He got a divorce a year after she’d been born. Was Glynis the cause for the breakup? Why had he left?
    Too many emotions. Too many possibilities. Nothing to grab.
    After she ate, she couldn’t return to the computer. She turned on the television, and watched a meaningless, boring movie for two hours. Meanwhile, her mind drove around in endless, fruitless circles.
    At the end of the two hours, she was ready to face the computer again. What she should do, she thought, was look up this potential father of hers.
    She went back to her room. Information about Steve Caspi was still on the screen. He had left the Institute shortly before he had divorced her mother. Perhaps what had broken them up was not the child but a dispute over work-related issues. Yeah, right.
    His homepage was easy enough to find. He was working now for the Romulus Foundation in New York. The name sounded familiar. But what interested Glynis more, though, was his picture. He bordered on