Chapitre 11

    Je descends
    Je roulai sur le dos et fermai les yeux à nouveau avec un long soupir. Puis je rouvris un oeil et décidai de répondre avant qu’Ergis n’ait l’idée de chercher à m’appeler.

Moi non
On avait dit 8h30
Il est 6h20

    Je tirai la couverture sur mes épaules et me laissai lentement retourner dans les bras de Morphée.
    J’émergeai à nouveau peu avant huit heures, sensiblement plus enthousiaste. Je m’habillai et envoyai un message à mon frère pour savoir s’il pouvait venir me chercher à 9h00 comme envisagé, ou s’il avait besoin que je prenne un taxi.
    Puis je répondis à Bénédicte qui venait aux nouvelles par une photo du parc depuis la fenêtre de ma chambre, et regardai des messages d’Ergis et d’Aldan.
    Parti courir, retour à 8h15
    Je roulai des yeux pour moi-même.
    Good morning.
    Can you call me please ?
    Found something about BB
    Je terminai de me laver les dents avec une dédication renouvelée, et m’assis sur un fauteuil en me demandant si vingt minutes entre son message et mon appel c’était pas un peu bizarre. Incapable de me décider, je laçai mes chaussures et terminai de me préparer avant d’appeler.
    — Ah, thank you for calling.
    — Well you asked nicely, I said awkwardly.
    I heard a chuckle and suddenly felt even more stupid. Why on Earth did I make myself such an apocalyptic movie scenario about this call ?
    — So, I looked into some archives and I think Bootur knew exactly what he was doing. Before he had to retire because of the Disease he was a practician in one of our own ART clinics. And I found out he was an active breeding program reformation militant. Do you know what that means ? I think he was planning something…
    I swallowed hard.
    — Breeding program ? I managed to say, trying to hide my disgust.
    — Ah. Humans do not have one, right ?
    I sat on my bed, put my hand on my heart and breathed in slowly. I had stopped thinking straight at « breeding », but I did want to know instead of freaking out and ending the call.
    — Still there ? I guess to you it must sound weird to you…
    Weird didn’t even start to cover it.
    — Go on.
    — Its our way of doing things. Females choose a partner freely, if they want to share their life with someone. Who they live with help take care of the house and the littles. But if it is a male, he is lucky enough if he is allowed to sire even one of those babies. There is an institution that looks into bloodlines, consanguinity and such, and if a female wants a little they pick from a sperm bank for her.
    — Is that how you managed to increase your telepathic abilities in the first place ?
    — Yes, and now that is how we desperately try to postpone our extinction.
    I tried to put all this somewhere where I’d find it again when I would have stopped shaking and sweating.
    — You said you also had ART clinics, no ? Asked Aldan.
    — Only for those who can’t have children naturally.
    — Wait. I am sorry if I am being crude, but if a human woman wants a child, she still has to give herself to a man for it ?
    — In most places, yes.
    — Well. I would really hate to be judgmental, but that sounds barbaric.
    I laid down on my back repressing a hysterical laughter. This whole thing was getting worse and worse. So this psychotic telepath, not accepting to be terminally ill, had planned an exchange between my dad’s sperm and his ?
    I was the result of a scam.
    How could anybody, telepath or not, do that to my family. And why ?
    — Victoire ?
    Wait. If my brother was also his, for how long had this been going on ?
    — Are you alright ?
    — Aldan ? You think there could be others, right ?
    — We need to find out if your brother is also a chimera.

    I paced mechanically between the loggia leather seats, waiting for Steve’s car to show up. I could hear Perfecto Ergis talking to a colleague on the phone, but I failed at my beloved conversation-spying game.
    I had been around lawyers long enough to know what finding others chimeras could mean, in terms of increasing my own chances of not being condemned to death.
    Steve would leave to pick up Mom from the airport at 5. Which meant I had until then to find out exactly what he knew, in case Mom would try to lie her way around a too difficult truth.
    I swallowed heavily when the blue Audi pulled up in front of the stairs. Steve got out of the driving seat with a smile.
    — Hey ! Look who wanted to come pick you up too !
    I walked down the few steps while he opened the back door and showed me little Amelia in her car seat, dozing off.
    I swooned silently for a minute, then hugged Steve before he could find a way to avoid it. I let him put my handbag in the car while I went back to the hotel to find out why Ergis was taking so long.
    He was still on the phone with his grim face on.
    — Mon frère est là.
    Une minute. Je règle un truc.
    Aouch it hurts ! You could just have signed me that, you know…
    Je retournai patienter près de la voiture et excusai Ergis auprès de mon frère.
    — Sounds like an unusual name. Where is he from ?
    — He’s French, but I think his family comes from Russia. How is Laetizia ?
    — Organized and busy, as usual. I’m the panicked one.
    I chuckled.
    — Bonjour, said Ergis. Désolé pour l’attente.
    I let him take the front seat and happily buckled myself up next to Amelia whose eyes were following me behind half-asleep eyelids. She was even cuter now than a few months ago. And even better, she wasn’t mine. I lightly traced the line of her nose with a finger, which earned me a sleepy smile. I loved her.

    Tes résultats ont disparu à la benne avec le séquenceur
    Je peux dire adieu à ma promotion, j’espère que ça valait le coup

    I pretended to keep admiring baby Amelia for a bit. Steve knew I had not brought a boyfriend, but he could find it weird that we would use WhatsApp instead of talking to each other.
    Besides, Ergis had started discussing with my brother about various things to get acquainted, and I was listening in case anything interesting was being said.

    Pourrais-tu faire tester S si j’arrivais à récupérer son ADN ?

    I took the opportunity to take a picture of Amelia and sent it to Bénédicte so that she could coo over her with me, before looking up at the road lined with already brownish trees above old stone walls.
    This was going to be an awkward family gathering. I was already thinking so last month when I brought flowers to dad’s grave and realized he wouldn’t be there, but now it was even worse. I was a Trojan horse with the capacity to ruin the party for everyone.

On ne peut pas dire que le génotypeur m’aime beaucoup, maintenant.

    I rolled my eyes at the gas station passing by. Maybe talking through texts was making Ergis sound even worse. I could ask Mathis for help. But he would ask questions. And if confirmed that the DNA wasn’t fully human, he’d have to inform the national police anyway and god knew what would happen then.
    I sighted when called back to reality by five tiny fingers wrapping tightly around my thumb.
    — Qu’est-ce que tu veux manger ce midi ? Asked Steve, glancing at me through the mirror.
    — Saucisse ! I said. What is it called again ?
    — Longeole.

    Je peux tenter de l’envoyer au plateau technique, comme on le fait pour les traces.

    — Is it ok for you too Ergis ? Ah crap…
    — Don’t worry about talking English with me. I’ll manage. Yes, saucisse sounds good.
    I stared at him with frowned brows and an open mouth, until he got the clue that I needed excuses or I would find a terrible way to exact my revenge.
    — Sorry Victoire. You just assumed too quickly. And then I was having a lot of fun pretending. My bad.
    Steve burst out laughing, preventing me to switch to anger mode, and engaged into a narrow street lined with green hedges and parked cars.
    — Getting too used to French people, are we ?
    I rolled my eyes at both of them and went back to swoon at Amelia who was starting to stir and wiggle.
    We passed a couple of white trucks belonging to an electricity company I remembered from last time and pulled into a garage entrance.

    I drowned in a large bean bag with a cup of coffee while Steve was giving milk to Amelia.
    — She looks a lot like you. He said with a smile.
    I cringed. I hoped not. For reasons so numerous I couldn’t list them.
    — All babies look the same…
    Steve moved back a bit to look at the corridor where Ergis had gone looking for the toilets.
    — Mom called this morning. She is still coming. How did you find out ?
    I rubbed my ear and put my coffee down on the floor to give myself a minute to think. I couldn’t tell him everything. And even just telling him that someone had exchanged my dad’s sperm with another’s now, with his wedding tomorrow, felt absolutely wrong. If I could learn the clinic name without having to tell him the truth then I had to try.
    — Why was I kept in the dark when obviously you know about it ?
    — I was four when Mom and Dad decided they would like to have another baby. It took them two years of appointments at the clinic in Portland, hormones shots and difficult conversations when they thought I wasn’t listening. At some point I confronted them, and they had to explain.
    — So dad really is our biological father ?
    I spoke the words hating myself for lying to Steve.
    — Yes. I never felt the need to know the details, but after Dad died, when we were cleaning the Ardennes house for sale, I found his copy of the paperwork. It wasn’t using a donor. I’d have to look where I put the folder, but I could give it to you.
    — Thanks Steve. I’m sorry for freaking you and Mom out.
    I picked up my coffee again and sipped it, a heavy lump in my throat.
    — I’m not sure why mom refused to tell you. She and dad argued so many times about it…
    — I’m a weirdo, remember ?
    — But you’re a good and honest weirdo, he smiled, and I sniffled my tears up. Dad really wanted to tell you. He thought it would help if you knew that you didn’t just happen to arrive, but were really wanted.
    I couldn’t repress tears anymore.
    If I had learnt that a few years back, I would have felt so happy. But now it was all based on a lie. And I had become a liar too. For once I felt relief when Ergis came back into the living room, pulled a tissue from his perfecto and gave it to me.
    — So ! Here is milk-full Amelia, Steve said, handing me the baby. I have to start my own wedding prep marathon now, if you don’t mind. I made you a list of things to keep her busy until we come back for lunch. You know where the nappies and the stroller are. And when she cries, because believe me she will, remember Food-Cuddle-Sleep. In that order.
    I put Amelia on my knee and managed to clean my nose with one hand while Steve got up and put his jacket on.
    — Oh and watch out for cheese ! He said, wiggling his car keys to me.
    — I love you too !
    I pulled myself off of the bean bag as the entrance door slammed close.
    — Can you hand me the burp cloth ? I asked, purposely in English as a small pay-back.
    — The what ?
    — The blue fabric there.
    Ergis gave me the fabric just in time to save my t-shirt.

    — Ah. Je me demandais ce que c’était le « cheese ». He said.

    — You’ve never seen babies, uh ?
    — You’d be surprised. But our small ones like to keep their milk in. Did your brother tell you anything interesting ?
    — Lucky you. Yes, actually, and I have more trust in what he says than in my Mom. My parents paid for something without a donor. They went to a clinic around Portland.
    — Let me get my PC.
    I sat down on the chair Steve was on earlier, next to the dining table, handed a soft toy with bells to Amelia and fished my phone that was buzzing.
    Let me know when you could call
    Please
    My doc is coming at 10
    Doc is there
    Let’s call later
    I had been too caught up in talking with Steve to notice the first messages.

Sorry, was talking to my brother
We might have leads.

    I quickly pressed sent and focused back on Amelia. I pulled the « list » to look at it while Ergis was setting up his computer.
    — Tu as le mot de passe du Wifi ?
    — No, unfortunately I don’t. But I am positive that Steve wouldn’t mind if you went to the router and checked it. It’s in the office. First door to your left after the laundry.
    — Very funny, he grumbled, getting up again to look for the office.
    I played with Amelia, very satisfied with my little revenge scheme, then put her on the floor mat littered with sensory toys.
    — So… Ergis said, typing the password on his laptop. There it goes.
    I pulled my chair so I could see the screen. There were four clinics around Portland. But one only opened a couple of years after my birth, which left three to investigate.
    — Why did your parents go all the way to Portland when there were clinics in Los Angeles ?
    — Hard to say. Lucky guess would be : my Mom had sued the wrong someone in L.A.
    — Was your brother also conceived there ? Ergis said, now browsing through ART possibilities without a donor.
    — He does seems convinced of it.
    — Hum. So one of these clinics tricked your parents, at least once, maybe twice, over a period of 6 or 7 years.