Red and Agnes sat side by side at his dining table, fully engrossed in the process of creating a masterpiece with a fresh set of crayons, while Liz puttered around cleaning up what was left of the mess from breakfast.

In quiet moments like this, Liz found herself comparing their faces, noting similarities in their features and their expressions. Similarities she had noted absently in the past, but shrugged off—first as her mind playing tricks on her, then as the logical result of Red being her own father, and after that as an unexplained coincidence. Now, though…

It couldn't all be in her head. It just couldn't be.

Tidying finished, Liz sat down across the table from the pair; Red glanced over at her with a smile so unguarded it made her feel a little lightheaded.

"Hey," she said, reaching for his free hand on the tabletop. "I want to thank you and Dembe for a wonderful breakfast. I know Agnes is gonna be talking about those triple chocolate waffles for days."

"They were delicious, weren't they?" Red leaned over and whispered conspiratorially to Agnes. "Do you think we could convince Dembe to go out and pick up another batch for lunch?"

"Red! She'd be bouncing off the walls!"

"No, I won't, mommy! I promise."

Agnes and Red looked up at Liz with matching puppy dog eyes. She shook her head ruefully—she was going to be in a world of trouble with the two of them together.

"You can have them again for breakfast tomorrow and not a second sooner."

"That sounds like a pretty good deal to me. What do you think?" Red stage whispered; Agnes nodded sagely. "It's a date! Triple chocolate waffles for breakfast in the morning. But that means you should go to bed early tonight like a good girl, because then tomorrow will be here sooner."

"That's not how it works."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah!"

"Well, OK. But you should still go to bed when your mother tells you so you can grow up big and strong like her."

Liz swallowed around an unexpected lump in her throat. For Red, suggesting that Liz was strong wasn't just an empty platitude—he meant it, deeply and viscerally. And hearing him say it so casually meant more to her than words could describe, because there were certainly enough times when she feared her ability to impart strength to Agnes would be hindered by how often she doubted her own strength.

Red didn't share those doubts. Red believed in her, even when—especially when—she didn't believe in herself. She still hadn't quite mastered accepting that belief in the face of her own issues, but it wormed its way beneath her defenses, little by little.

Liz dug a tooth into her tongue to stave off the tears that threatened to well up in her eyes. She didn't want Agnes to worry—she was the opposite of upset.

She was startled out of her reverie by Agnes standing on her chair and leaning over the table to show her her drawing.

"I'm finished! Look!" Agnes pointed to each colorful stick figure in turn. "That's you, mommy, and that's me, and that's Red."

"Where's Dembe?"

"Getting waffles."

"Ah, and here he is now! Sans waffles, unfortunately," Red said.

Dembe had returned carrying a small case and nodded to Liz to let her know he was ready.

"Agnes, honey? Since you're done drawing, it's time for the second part of today's adventure."

"What is it?"

"We need you to take a special test."

"A test?"

"It's not a hard test. Or scary. Red's gonna do it, too. Watch him—he'll go first."

Dembe set the case down on the table and opened it, pulling on a pair of gloves while he waited for Red to take the seat in front of him. He opened a test swab and held it up. Red pulled a funny face, which made Agnes giggle, but he opened his mouth wide and allowed his cheek to be swabbed.

"Tastes like cotton. Yuck."

"You're silly."

"You know what? You're right. I am silly," he said. "Your mother has made that very clear over the years."

Dembe capped the swab.

"All set?" Red asked.

"Yes."

"All right. It's your turn, sweetie." Red lifted Agnes up and placed her down again in the chair in front of Dembe.

"Does it hurt?"

"No, not at all," Red reassured her, giving her little shoulders a comforting squeeze.

Agnes imitated Red's pre-swab facial expression to a T, surprising a belly laugh out of Red and a quiet chuckle out of Dembe. Warmth spread through Liz's entire body as she watched everyone giggling and smiling and teasing each other, and words echoed in her mind, words from a dream she had years ago now that popped up at random, sometimes inconvenient moments throughout her life.

"What do you want, Agent Keen? What do you really want?"

This. This was what Liz wanted, really and truly. Her subconscious knew it long ago, and she had to dig her way through sticky layers of muck and mire in her mind to unearth the truth once it had been buried.

Liz shook herself, forcing herself to focus on the present and the matter at hand.

"OK, Agnes, on three. The sooner you do it, the sooner you can get back to playing."

Agnes waited for the end of the countdown and opened her mouth. Dembe took the sample and capped her swab as well.

"That's it!"

"It is?"

"Yep. You're all done."

"Mommy, you don't have to take the test, too?" Agnes asked.

"Nope. It's special, just for you and Red."

"Good." She jumped down from her chair and grabbed Red's hand. "Now I can show you what I packed."

Agnes tugged him away from the table to unload the wide array of toys and books she'd managed to stuff into her backpack onto the couch. She painstakingly explained what each and every item was and what it was for, and Red listened like she was sharing the secrets of the universe with him.


When Dembe returned with the results, Red was dozing with Agnes tucked into his side with the book they'd been reading together open on his stomach. Liz had put in her earbuds with the intention of listening to a podcast half an hour ago, but pressing play slipped her mind quickly enough in favor of watching Red and Agnes slumber in silence.

Dembe was quiet as he came up behind Liz and he laid a gentle hand on her shoulder to draw her attention away from the sleeping pair. When she looked up at him, she couldn't decipher his facial expression at all, but she didn't want to start projecting her own worries onto it. It looked neutral enough, but perhaps purposely so. What if…?

No. She couldn't allow herself to go down that road.

Liz cleared her throat. "I'm almost afraid to ask…"

"Don't be," he said, and he cracked a tiny smile, which grew broader with every word he spoke. "There is no question. Raymond is Agnes' father."

Liz put her head back and covered her face with her hands. "Thank god."

A restless energy overtook Liz's body as relief washed over her; she had to move or she would vibrate out of her skin. It felt something like fight or flight, but in a positive way instead. Without anywhere to go to burn off her sudden excitement, she pushed herself to her feet and pulled Dembe into an awkward, but heartfelt hug.

"I am happy for you, Elizabeth. For all three of you."

Liz searched his face after she pulled back.

"Did you know this was a possibility?"

"No. In the past, Raymond hasn't often shied away from sharing information about his romantic entanglements, but he never shared details about what happened between the two of you while you were on the run. The only time I truly suspected that the nature of your relationship had changed was the night you were exonerated, but everything afterwards seemed to contradict it. Also, the fact that he never brought Agnes up as a potential avenue to address his health problems made me even less likely to consider it."

"You always knew he wasn't my father."

He shifted on his feet. "Yes."

"Don't worry—I'm not gonna ask why you didn't tell me. I know how much keeping your word means to you," she said, giving his arm a reassuring squeeze. "I just wish it didn't take so damn much to trigger my stolen memories or else I never would've believed it in the first place. We lost so much time."

"I don't know if this is at all a solace to you, but I do not believe that you and Raymond were prepared back then to face the reality of what had happened between you."

"You're probably right. I remember coming back and being blindsided when he suddenly wanted to keep me at arm's length again, but now I can't be sure how many of those memories are true, or how many of his reactions were in response to an inexplicable change in my behavior as my real memories were chipped away. I doubt I'll ever know."

"I'm sorry you have to live with that uncertainty," he said. "It must be maddening."

"Sometimes. Maybe less now," she said, quietly, looking down over Red and Agnes. "It all came out in the end despite their best efforts to bury it for good."

Red began to stir, his eyelids slowly fluttering. Once his bleary vision cleared, he noticed Agnes first, his lips curving into a soft smile that disappeared as he shrunk back a bit in surprise when he looked up and found Dembe and Liz standing over him, watching him.

"What's the verdict?" he asked, quietly enough not to disturb Agnes.

There was a heavy moment of silence before Dembe answered. "Yes, Raymond," he said. "She's yours."

Red looked down again at the little girl snoozing in his arms. A whole gamut of emotions played out across his face—happiness and love and sadness and relief. Tears welled up in his eyes and he turned back to Liz and Dembe, overwhelmed and almost helpless in his reaction.

"Congratulations, brother," Dembe said, bending to brush a kiss against the crown of Red's head. "I'll leave you three alone."

Liz crouched down at Red's side and he reached out for her hand.

"Elizabeth…"

"I know."

"I never dreamed…"

"I know, I know."

"She's so beautiful. I can't believe she could possibly have anything to do with me."

"Hey. Hey. Don't talk like that. We made a great kid together. You and me," she said. "And if all goes well, maybe soon we'll be able to breathe again."

Red pressed his lips fiercely to the back of Liz's hand.