She stares at Allison, "You're her daughter?"
"Now, what? Maura?" Allison poses the question.
Maura stares at them, blankly.
"Now what are you going to say? How do you respond to that one?"
"Why are you doing this?"
"Because you won't. You never would. I'm sick of it. I am sick of lying. I am sick of pretending. I have always known. I have never understood. I can't do this, anymore. This is my birthday present, to me."
"Allison..."
"I'll be in the guest room," she excuses herself.
Jane stares blankly, at Maura, as Allison disappears from the room. Maura tries to come up with what to say next.
"I always say that I am an only child, because that is the truth. I am an only child."
"She's not your sister?"
"That is what my parents would like everyone to believe."
"And do they?"
Maura nods, "Yeah. Some people can be convinced of anything."
"So, she's not your sister. Which means..."
"She's not my sister."
"Why would your parents want anyone to think that she is?"
"It was better than the alternative, I guess, at least in their minds."
"Which was what?"
"They just told everyone that I had gone to another school for a year, because I needed a change of pace."
"Did you?"
"If you consider Quebec abroad."
"Why Quebec?"
"They had a vacation home there. It was a recent purchase, so no one knew them, there, yet."
"And?"
"And six months into my stay, they brought Allison home."
"And you stayed there?"
"No. I came home. They told everyone that I was still away at school."
"Because?"
"If anyone knew that I came home at the same time, they would think that I had a baby. My parents didn't want that. They wouldn't want anyone to think that their daughter, who wasn't even seventeen yet, had a baby. They didn't want their reputation to be tarnished."
"What really happened?"
"I didn't really plan on telling them."
"What did you think was going to happen?"
"I don't know. I hoped that something would happen, and it would all go away."
"But, it didn't."
"No," Maura shakes her head.
"How did they find out?"
"My mother bought me a dress for the sweetheart dance. When I tried it on, it didn't fit."
"And?"
"I was already four months along."
"They didn't know?"
"It was fall. I wore sweaters. Besides, I rarely ever saw them."
"So their solution was what?"
"Send me away. Bring me back after the baby was born, and forget about it."
"That's not what happened?"
"No, not at all."
"Maura, I don't understand how you got pregnant in the first place. Weren't you a nerd?"
"I was a complete nerd."
"How did you get pregnant?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean A; I know that you knew where babies came from, and how to prevent them, and B; who were you having sex with?"
"I was still a naive sixteen year old, girl. I was tutoring some lacrosse player. It was late, and... I was naive."
"Uh huh."
"He was as dumb as a brick, but he was cute."
"Sometimes you can't see past cute."
"And charming," Maura adds.
"So..."
"I had her, and I didn't want to give her up for adoption. They insisted that I go to college. And med school. By then, she was halfway grown. I was selfish, I am selfish. I chose this, over her. I always have. She's spent her whole life watching me walk away."
"I can't believe that you have a daughter. Why didn't you ever tell me?"
"I have never told anyone."
"Nobody knows, but you, Allison, and your parents?"
"I would assume that my Ob/gyn knows."
"You've never told anyone about her?"
Maura shakes her head, "No. Her father doesn't even know about her."
"And she's twenty one?"
"Uh huh."
"You never once thought she would be better of with you?"
"Of course I did. My parents didn't spend anytime rearing children, that is what nannies, and nuns, and boarding schools are for, in their minds."
"Then why didn't you take her?"
"They wouldn't let me. I didn't want to. By the time I was done with school, she was a teenager."
"And that doesn't bother you?"
"It does."
"So why didn't you do something, at that point?"
"Because she wasn't talking to me, then."
"How old was she, when she found out?"
"Three. She found out on her third birthday."
"How?"
"She overheard a conversation. She's always been smart. Luckily she takes after me, in that respect. But, it is still very difficult to explain to a three year old, that her sister is really her mother."
