The next few days were a flurry of activity, all of them stressful. It was almost as if the decision to move ahead with DNA testing cemented all of their fears into place, rooting them until they knew one way or another how things were going to turn out. It was not the time to lose their cool, but both households were in more than one way facing their inner demons. The only saving grace perhaps was the fact that many phone calls were exchanged between the Dixons in Georgia and Michelle in Virginia. The Dixons even had the opportunity to speak with Aaron. It was these kinds of calls that made them get to know their maybe daughter.
Michelle had officially become an unidentified living person, being added to the list of unidentified individuals in the country-wide Namus database. This cleared the way for her to be swabbed for DNA testing to be done. The Dixons had in turn been swabbed at their local police station, their DNA being automatically compared to any unidentified person, living or deceased nationwide. It was sobering knowing that the computer system would automatically be excluding tens of thousands of unidentified persons from the Dixons. It was a tool that the Dixons were thankful for, but it also gave a new fear. If Michelle was not Sophia, and if Sophia had survived her birth, there was always the possibility however faint that she could be among the unnamed victims on the computer rolls. Even though the chances were infinitesimal, it was a reality that the Namus contact was required to explain to them.
The decision not to wait for testing and their phone call with Michelle in the car necessitated that the Dixon's tell Mika and Luke what was going on. That conversation was difficult to get through, but the result was less confusion on the children's parts than the adults were prepared for. They accepted the realities of the situation and even understood their parent's choice of helping Michelle with her search if it was proven she was not Sophia.
One thing that the Dixons had done that surprised Michelle, was to offer encouragement to Aaron as he began his own quest for answers regarding his parentage. They had never met in person and had no obligation to do so, but both Daryl and Carol had felt an affinity for the young man. He in turn was grateful for the support of both Michelle and the Dixons.
Milton had been called into service multiple times over the phone, and had even talked to Michelle a few times, offering up his services free of charge. He had left his job at the hospital, not wanting anything further to do with the organization that had displaced so many lives. Knowing that Little Angles was tied in strongly with the hospital had given him the very real fear that the Dixons may not be the only one of his clients that would be going through the nightmare currently upon them.
August 15, 2020
Today, Milton was present in the Dixon home. He had come to offer support services on and off since the day testing had been done. It had been a comfort to the Dixons that no hits had been made against the unidentified decedent database. Today was the day however that the direct testing against Michelle was due to come in. If all went according to plan, they would know by the end of the day if their increasing optimism of finding Sophia was realistic or simply a dashed hope.
The three adults were knocking around the kitchen when Daryl's cell phone rang. Seeing it was Michelle, he quickly took the call.
"Hello?"
"Hi. Any word yet on your end?"
"Not yet. We are keeping the landline open for calls. How 'bout you?"
"Same. Aaron is keeping me company here. This waiting is killing me though."
Daryl chuckled a bit. "Know what ya mean. Feels like we've been waiting forever and it's not even lunchtime yet."
There was a responding murmur, then things on the line got quiet.
"Ya ok over there?"
"Yes … It's just … I don't know. Do you ever feel like maybe we are just hoping too much? That maybe we all just got tied up in hope and aren't considering the reality of the situation? I mean seriously … What are the odds that this search of mine could ever end this quickly? I have only been searching for a year, and nothing really happened for eleven months of that time. It's been less than a month since the article came out. Is it too much to hope that things get resolved from it that fast? Am I being foolish?"
"Naw, you aren't being foolish. You're being hopeful. Nothin' wrong with that at all. For what it's worth, we are here too. You know why?"
"Because you want Sophia."
"No. I mean yeah, we do. But it ain't just that no more."
"So, what is it?"
"Well, Carol and I were talking about this last night. It's one thing to want Sophia. But we also want you. Remember, we are in this with you even if you aren't her. But last night we talked about how much we not only want answers but want a relationship with you. The more we get to know ya, the more we realize that you are somebody we want in our lives, regardless of the tests."
"Oh." There was then a silence on the line.
"That's weird right? I mean ya didn't know us from Adam a month ago."
"No, it's not that … it's just … maybe I feel the same way. I've always said to Aaron that blood doesn't always matter. Blood and legal adoption only get you so far. He will always be my brother regardless of what happens. I mean, even if he and I both found our blood families, he will still be there for me, and I will be there for him. I guess I am seeing you as that too. Like, I hope we are there for each other like we talked about, even if we don't get the answers we are looking for today."
Daryl couldn't help but smile, thankful that they seemed to be on the same page.
"You know, maybe we could …" The sentence was cut off by the ringing of their house phone. Daryl let Michelle know as he waited for Carol to pick up that line. He watched as Carol greeted whoever was on the line. Her frantic nod to him let him know that it was the lab calling with results. He let Michelle know and waited with bated breath to find out what direction all of their lives would go now.
Carol began crying and sank to the floor with the phone in a controlled sit, completely boneless at whatever news she had just received. Daryl waited, nervously putting Michelle on speaker phone while he waited for Carol to be able to tell them what she had just found out. He didn't have to wait long. Carol nodded before speaking.
"It's … it's her Daryl. It's Sophia. Michelle is Sophia."
