The Switch by Heather Justesen

bypass the call so it would go directly to voice mail. She didn’t want to face a barrage of questions over the phone. She anticipated seeing both of them that evening, but she was still surprised to have her mom show up on her doorstep before dinner was over.
    Mona stood in the doorway, her eyes worried, her face pale, as if she already knew the answer. Still, Tia managed to get her to help ready the girls for bed and tuck them in. Before Tia had said goodnight to Samantha, though, the doorbell rang again and Mona let Ron in.
    Both of her parents at once. Tia wasn’t sure if she was glad she’d get it over in one swoop, or if she was worried about the reactions if they were both in the same room. Would the kids actually fall asleep or would the tears and recriminations get too loud and keep them up? She said a quick prayer for strength and returned to the living room.
    She took the chair opposite them and clasped her hands on her lap, unsure what to say or how to explain.
    Mona broke the silence. “Well, you didn’t have to bring me here to say he’s your father. I told you I didn’t step out of him.”
    “Then,” Ron clarified.
    Mona blushed beneath her makeup, but gave a stiff nod of acknowledgment.
    “Actually,” Tia said, fisting her hands together on her lap. “The test proved something else entirely. It showed . . . neither of you are my biological parents.”
    Tia closed her eyes against the noise of her mother’s loud protests. She felt her father take her hand in his large, calloused one and squeeze it. Tristi start to whine down the hall and Samantha asked what was wrong as Mona continued to argue and wail.
    Tia opened her eyes, tears rimming her lashes, to find her father looking steadily at her. He squeezed her hand again, his face sad, but tearless. He laid his other hand on Mona’s shoulder and told her to settle down. His voice was soft, filled with authority. He released Tia’s hand. “Go check on your girls.”
    Tia rose automatically and did as he said. Soon Mona’s protests calmed to a murmur, and Tia was able to settle both girls back into bed. When she returned to the living room, she found Mona leaning against Ron’s shoulder, crying softly. It was a big improvement in her behavior, and odd seeing them like that after all the years of bickering.
    Tia sat and said nothing. She was exhausted, confused, and wanted a few hours to herself to let her mind wander.
    “All right,” Ron started after a moment. “So now we know.”
    “Do we? Maybe they mixed up the results.” Mona wiped at her face with a damp tissue, smearing the makeup worse. “We should have the tests done again.”
    “That won’t change anything,” Tia said. Not that it hadn’t crossed her mind to double-check, but she’d suspected what the results would be, so there was no point in trying again.
    “So where do we go from here?” Ron asked.
    Tia deliberated. She’d been thinking about it for more than a day now. “Do we assume the switch was made in the hospital? Could it have happened later?”
    Ron shook his head. “No. If you were switched, it had to be right after you were born. In the first six hours, most likely, when we’d barely gotten a look at you. We would have realized if it had happened later. I’m surprised we didn’t anyway.”
    Mona’s wails grew louder again.
    “All right.” Tia’s stomach felt tied up in knots. Part of her wanted to pretend none of this had happened and she was still blissfully unaware. The other part of her wanted to know what happened, not because she was looking for something more or better, but because she needed answers. “Then I guess I start with the hospital.” She wondered, with the HIPPA laws, if she would be able to get any information about other females born the same day she was.
    “What can I do to help?” Ron asked.
    “You’re going to look for your real family? We’re not good enough for you?” Mona asked, her voice growing in pitch every few