Brothers in Arms 12
While they sat and waited, Mac wondered about Kermit and whether he was more than just a friend and war buddy to him. As he thought, he realized that Stella was looking at him and as she reached for his hand again, he knew how glad he was that she was there with him, supporting him.
Stella hugged him. "Mac, what do you think about asking for a blood test when Dr. Sabourin comes out. Then you could know for sure who Kermit is in relation to you."
Mac looked at her and a smile spread slowly across his face. "Stella, you are a God send. It's a good idea; it could provide the answers to a lot of unknown questions..." Then he became serious again. "But if it's true, that he's related to me as a brother, I need to find out how that is possible; that I have a brother and never knew it."
Stella watched him and saw how confused he was, how many questions there were and how few answers for him. "What about you call your mom and ask her about this situation? Maybe she knows more than you know and can give you some answers."
For a moment he stared straight ahead of him, silent. Then, decided, he turned to Stella. "I'll call her." Hugging Stella, he took out his cell phone and walked away down the corridor, Stella watching him all the way.
As soon as he found a quiet, private place, Mac took a deep breath and called his mother. At first, the conversation was ordinary, with both of them establishing that the other was well. Then Mac knew he had to ask what was on his mind and plunged in, telling his mother about the present situation.
"Mom, I've given blood to my long time friend and it turns out he has the same rare blood group. It's a pretty big coincidence; how is that possible?"
For more than a minute there was silence on the end of the line, just the sound of his mother breathing.
"Mom, are you okay?" he asked, worried now about her.
Finally, she responded. "Mac, my son, I always vowed that when the time was right, you would find out the truth. That time is now and so I need to tell you a long time secret."
Filled with trepidation, Mac waited to hear more.
His mother said, pausing again before she spoke. "It's a long story..." Another pause and Mac heard her sniff and clear her throat. "Mac, honey, you are adopted. The woman who gave birth to you was my best friend, Martha. She died after giving birth to you. You were a miracle, a preterm delivery and you had to fight for your life. Martha had no relatives and no husband or boyfriend. She'd confided in me that she'd had a one night relationship and found out that she was pregnant. She wouldn't tell me who the man was, only that he had gone to war and that she would tell him about the baby when he returned." There came another sad sigh from his mother. "As far as we know, he never did return. But, before your birth, Martha told me that she wanted your father and me to adopt you if anything should happen to her. We promised her that we would do that and that we would love you like our son and give you a family. When she died, we kept our word and you have been our son all your life..."
There came another silence but still Mac could not find any words and his mother soon continued. "Mac, I know it's hard for you to find out this way and I'm so sorry we didn't tell you sooner, please understand why we didn't. We wished to have a child so much and it just so happened that you came into our life and we've never thought of you of as being anything other than our son. You will always be my son. I - I hope you can forgive me someday that we didn't tell you all this before..."
She broke off, crying, leaving Mac still stunned and wordless. It was almost too much for him to find out this way. Overall though, he knew that he would always love his parents and that he'd had a happy and loving childhood: they would be his family always. But still he wondered who Kermit was to him.
Finally, after a long silence, he spoke. "Mom, above all, I want you to know that I love you and dad and I always will. I know you know that this has been a big shock. I'm sorry it's upset you to tell me. But, I think that I may have a brother; this man who shares the same rare blood group as me may be connected with my father. I need to go now and find out how he is. He was shot and saved my life. We'll talk later, I promise."
"I wish I could help you," his mom said, sighing sadly, "but I don't think I can... All I can do is try and find any old pictures or letters that might give you some more answers. I have some of Martha's things saved here. When you come here, or I come to you, we can look through them together. Oh, and Mac, please say thank you to this man Kermit for me - he saved your life. God bless you and him. Take care and be safe, and always remember I love you."
"I love you, too, mom," he said, ending the call with a little more peace in his heart. Walking slowly, with heavy footsteps down the corridor, he found Stella and sat down beside her, taking hold of her hand in his as he told her everything that his mother had told him.
She hugged him tighter when he had finished, kissing him on the cheek. "We'll find out all the answers you need, Mac. This is a big shock, I know, finding out this way, but you're not alone with this. I'm here with you and together, we'll find the answers."
She took his hand and together they waited to find out whether Kermit had survived.
