My Way Home Is Through You

For the second time that day, Ray was trying his best not to shake. He was having less success than he had in his lawyer's office only hours before.

He was in the doctor's office, sitting in the now-empty waiting room. Waiting.

He was waiting for the social worker who would be bringing Jenna's daughter in for the DNA test. At this point, his nerves were just about shot. His stomach was in knots. He'd never even been this nervous before a performance.

When the office door opened, he had no clue what to expect. Slowly, he stood and looked towards the people walking in.

A stern-looking blond lady in a trimmed business suit walked in first. In her hand was a much smaller hand. Ray craned his neck to see who was attached to the tiny appendage.

A little girl in a soft yellow sundress followed the lady in the suit into the office. Ray noticed immediately that her long hair was the same dark shade of brown as Jenna's had been, though it was curlier than Jenna's ever was. The child was chewing her bottom lip, and Ray immediately noticed how wide her lips were. They vaguely reminded him of his own.

The lady steered the little girl towards Ray. Out of nervousness, the little girl lifted her free hand and began to twirl a strand of her hair. She gazed curiously up at him and began to fidget a bit.

"Mr. Toro, I assume?" said the lady. She reached out to shake Ray's hand. "I'm Allison Reming. And this," she said, gesturing to the little girl, "is Anna."

Ray kneeled down, feeling hopelessly awkward. "Hello, Anna," he said in what he hoped was a gentle voice. "I'm Ray."

"Hi," she murmured shyly. She quickly went back to chewing her bottom lip.

Miss Reming smiled down at her. "She's a little shy at first around new people, but she's actually quite a chatterbox once you get her going." She gestured towards the door leading to the examining rooms. "Well, shall we?"

Ray and Anna were both shown into a single examining room to wait for the test to be administered. After an encouraging nod from Miss Reming, Ray lifted Anna up onto the examining table and then hopped up beside her.

A jolly-looking nurse came bustling in moments later, carrying what looked like two long Q-Tips and two sterilized tubes to store them in. She spoke in a kind and chipper voice.

"Hello! Well, let's see what we can do for you folks, eh?" She moved towards Anna first. "Okay, sweetie, now what I'm going to do is just wipe the sides of your mouth with this swab, so can you open up really wide for me?"

Anna nodded and opened her mouth about half-way. The nurse smiled and gently swiped the Q-Tip, then slid it into its sterile tube. Ray noticed that both tubes were already labeled with their names.

The nurse then moved to Ray, smiling wider. "Okay, darlin', now it's your turn!"

With a grin, Ray opened his mouth and allowed the nurse to get a sample from him. He then settled onto the table as she stored his Q-Tip in the tube with his name on it, and made ready to leave the room.

"We should have the results in the next twenty minutes, sir," she said as she bustled out.

And then there was silence.

Ray realized that Anna was still staring at him in curiosity. It dawned on him that she was mainly staring at his hair. He grinned and slowly leaned over towards her and said, "Go ahead."

Slowly, the little girl lifted her hand and tugged gently on one of Ray's locks. It bounced back into place when she let go. Her face lit up with a smile and Ray was certain he heard a giggle.

He cleared his throat and said gently, "Anna, do you understand what's going on?"

The girl nodded slowly and murmured, "Are you my daddy?"

Ray hadn't been prepared for this question just yet. For a moment he frantically wracked his brain to come up with an answer.

"Well, that's what we're here to find out." He hesitated, then continued. "But I think I am."

She looked up at him once more and he was startled to see how dark her eyes were. Jenna's eyes had been blue, but her little girl had eyes the same color as Ray.

Ray had to admit to himself that by now, he was having trouble doubting anymore.

After another few moments of silence, during which Ray watched Anna play nervously with her hair, a doctor and Miss Reming returned with paper in hand.

"Well," said the doctor. "We have the results."

Ray could feel the sweat running down the back of his neck.

"Mr. Toro, you are indeed the father of this child ."