“At their age, it’s better if I can speak directly with them.”
For a moment, I was worried he wouldn’t tell me the results, and considering his mood, I feared the worst. After a time, he slowly opened the two folders in front of him and cleared his throat. I hung in rapt anticipation. As I waited for him to deliver the verdict, I crossed and uncrossed my legs. When I shifted in my chair, I could feel my freshly waxed skin against the fabric of my panties.
“We have, at your request, performed a number of tests… which reveal that Daniil and Vanya are in perfect health.”
“They don’t have AIDS?” I collapsed back against the chair.
“No HIV, no hepatitis, no tuberculosis,” he confirmed.
I sighed with joy. They weren’t sick.
He paused. “And I can assure you of their blood types. As I told you, Vanya is AB-.”
A huge weight lifted from my shoulders. I listened to him, grinning like an idiot. The tests had put my worst fears to rest. I’d been so worried, I’d even started researching new AIDS treatments online. He continued, “And it looks as though Daniil is O+.”
None of that mattered anymore. My biggest worry was that one mistake in the adoption file could have been hiding others. I didn’t care that they weren’t the same blood type, so long as they weren’t sick. I thanked him enthusiastically as I picked up my things. I couldn’t wait to get out of the office to call Gregory.
The doctor said nothing else, but as he returned my enthusiastic handshake, he looked at me strangely, his eyes wide. I ran my tongue over my teeth, to make sure I didn’t have anything stuck in them, and left, thanking him a last time.
Gregory was in Toronto for the month. It was strange to phone him and know he was in the same city.
“Everything is fine. There’s nothing wrong with them!”
“Well, perfect, then.”
I could hear him eating on the other end of the line. He was on his lunch break.
“Do you have time to meet for a coffee? Could we meet on Queen Street? Just a quick half hour?”
“Hmm… We could meet at Dufflet, but no more than half an hour, okay? I have to lead a meeting at three.”
It was always hard convincing him to leave the office. When he was in Toronto, he filled his days to make sure he could get home early and have a little family time. But I needed to see him. This blood test business had really shaken me, and I wanted to celebrate.
We met at the bakery shortly after. Gregory let me have the banquette and took the chair himself. I ordered a tea and a cupcake, and Gregory had an espresso. The aroma of cake was everywhere; I had it in my mouth and lungs at the same time. All my pores seemed full of it.
“So. They’re not sick. This is such a relief. I feel so light, you can’t even imagine.”
“All the same, it would have been surprising to learn anything else. We know they’re healthy, they’ve never even been sick. Not a single childhood illness, nothing. In fifteen years, we’d have seen symptoms. You can’t hide tuberculosis for long,” he said, teasing. “Anyway, the important thing is that you’re relieved.”
I rolled my eyes and changed the subject. “How was your morning?”
Phone in hand, he responded evasively. I hadn’t paid close attention to his work in a long time. Nearly half the staff at the firm now were people I didn’t know. I found out about Gregory’s work through his publications, but I didn’t know anything about his daily life. We mostly talked about the children when we were together. I smoothed my hair nervously.
“You know what I found out…” I let my sentence hang, trying to create some suspense, but he said nothing. “Vanya has a girlfriend.”
“Oh yeah? That’s a good thing. He’s almost sixteen, it’s about time.”
I didn’t agree. I still thought they were too young to be having relationships.
“I wonder what Daniil thinks of that…”
I was thinking aloud. Gregory raised his eyebrows.
“That’s true, it could be a problem for him. He might feel left out.”
“Do you think we should do something?”
“Emma, what are you saying? We’re not about to start meddling in their relationships.”
I wondered if he meant the relationship between them, or with others. It seemed to me we had very little involvement in theirs… too little, perhaps.
Two female students sat at the table next to us, one wearing glasses with frames too big for her narrow face, and the other wearing high-waisted pants. I remembered wearing that very look in the eighties.
I rested my head on my hand, looking at Gregory, trying to remember what he looked like when we first started dating. I wasn’t as young as the twins, but nonetheless… it was so long ago. At the time, he wore T-shirts and faded jeans, and he had round, tinted glasses. His hair was much longer and formed a curly ball around his face. Now he gelled his hair back. He took less care of his appearance when he was a student. Now, the bathroom was lined with pomades, oils, and soaps. I think he owned more beauty products that me. Having said that, it worked for him. He had remained a handsome man, and had developed an elegance with age that he hadn’t had when he was young.
As soon as my plate was empty, Gregory tilted his head back to catch the last drop of his coffee and got up to pay.
I put on my old trench coat and left without waiting.
The rest of the week was a complete bore. Friday, I did a little shopping for dinner, some cleaning, then I lounged around with a cup of tea. I got out the photo albums, something I often
