Older || Sequel To SOS

Twenty-Eight

31 weeks

"You ready for this?" Luke is grinning like a child, sitting in the vinyl chair across from Elodie on the exam table. Elodie nods back happily though.

"You'll have a scar, and I'd recommend an exfoliating scrub once you get home, casts leave you rather gross." The doctor chuckles, coming back over to Elodie with the fancy scissors used to cut the cast off.

"We can handle that." Luke nods, watching closely as the doctor slips the scissors into the cast, a loud crunching sound coming as he starts to cut away at the plaster.

"Light physical therapy is highly recommended also, you've lost muscle mass while not not using your arm for the last six weeks." The doctor adds as the cast falls away from Elodie's arm and into his waiting hand.

"We've already got an appointment set up with a good friend as soon as we get back from Maui next week." Luke nods, having remembered the suggestion in the info packets he'd been given about her injuries after the initial accident. He'd called up Adam to see if he was around town last week, and it had worked out that he'd be able to help Elodie through the recovery.

"Good, it seems like you're well taken care of then, Elodie." The doctor smiles softly at her. She nods back again, a grin gracing her face. "Your scar looks to have healed beautifully, and the scans we did showed the same for your bones. A month or two of physical therapy and you should be absolutely as good as new."

"Thank you, doc." Luke stands as the appointment ends, offering a handshake.

"My pleasure. You two enjoy your vacation together. Children are a blessing, but life won't ever be the same once that little one is here."

"We are planning on it." Luke chuckles, leading Elodie out by an arm over her shoulders.

"My elbow is so stiff." Elodie mumbles with a small laugh as they head down the hallway, slowly stretching her right arm out straight for the first time in six weeks.

"I'm sure that will go away as you stretch it out. Do you want to grab lunch before we head home?" Luke asks, holding the door open for her.

"I'd love a little lunch date with you." She nods.

"What does our baby Blu want to eat today?"

"Um..?" She debates for a moment, "Chicken and fries."

"I should have known." Luke laughs, pulling Elodie's door open for her and helping her into his car.

"Oh." Elodie nearly gasps a minute later, Luke hitting the brake a little too hard as he panics.

"What? What happened? Did your water break?" His eyes go wide, watching her.

"No, my DNA results just came in." She shows him the screen of her phone, an email notification from the company on the screen.

"Oh, that's a much better thing." He breathes out heavily, "I was very afraid Miss Atlas was coming too soon or something."

"We still have like two months until that's likely." Elodie chuckles, "Plus, we are literally still in the hospital parking lot, if that were the case, we'd be okay."

"Still scared me though." He pouts slightly.

"No, not that. I just... There are answers in this email that scare me." She sighs. "Answers I never thought I would want or have the option of having."

"Hey, we agreed with Stella that we didn't have to talk about those answers until after Maui. You can leave it unopened until we get home next week." Luke offers softly, his hand falling to her knee, rubbing across it softly with his thumb.

"I don't know if it will be better to have the answers or better not to..." She chews on her lower lip as she stares at her phone. "Am I going to be distracted all week if I know, or am I going to be more distracted knowing I could know and don't."

"I can't decide that for you. But I do want you to remember one thing, El. Whatever those results say, they don't change the fact that I am your family, and so is Atlas. It doesn't make Rebecca any less your mom or Peter and less your brother. It doesn't change any family that already exists in your life. The only thing those answers can do is connect you to more family, more people to love and to know."

"Ya..." She sighs, "thanks, I needed to be reminded of that."

"You've got a family, or three. This would just be a fourth if it's what we are thinking."

"Okay, I'm going to look." She takes a deep breath, grounding herself.

"You're sure? We don't even know if Stella's got hers back yet."

"I know, but the worst case is I have no matches at all, right? If she hadn't got her results that's the most likely reason I'd have none."

"I guess that's true." He nods, glancing quickly at her and then back to traffic.

"Okay," It comes out more as a whisper, Elodie clearly trying to steady herself for what the results are going to be. The email links her to the app she'd had to download and set up when she'd done the initial test, a small circle spinning for a moment before the screen appears. "One match... fuck, I have a match." She glances up to Luke.

"Is it Stella?" He asks, now also nervous.

"I didn't get that far." She admits, her eyes glued to him as her phone starts to shake in her hand.

"Well, look!" He almost yells, not out of anger but more from the nerves of what may be coming from this answer.

"Okay, okay." She takes another deep breath, clicking on the match and chewing her lip again as she waits for it to load.

"Jessica Carson? Second cousin? Maternal side..." Her voice drops off as her eyes scrunch together.

"Wait, maternal side?" Luke is glad he'd just pulled into the parking lot of their favorite diner, taking the phone out of Elodie's hand to see the results for himself. "Jessica Carson, second cousin, maternal side..." His eyes raise to meet Elodie's.

"My mom's side?" Elodie's voice cracks slightly.

"Predicted relation second cousin, 5% dna match." Luke reads further from the screen.

"Fuck!" Eodie suddenly yells, her head falling back hard against the seat.

"What?" Luke panics slightly again.

"Does this mean I have to talk to my mom?" She turns to him, her voice having gone weak and vulnerable, eyes brimmed with tears.

"Not if you don't want to. You can always start with messaging Jessica, and see where it goes from there. Or you can do nothing, and simply have the family you already have. Stella may still be waiting on results too, and that could be another match for you."

"This just got so much more complicated than I wanted it to." Elodie whispers, her voice thick with emotion.

"Hey, whatever you decide, I'll support you, pretty girl." Luke offers softly, turning her phone off and setting it in the cup holder. His hand reaches up to catch the tear Elodie lets fall, his other reaching across to hold her hand.

"I thought I knew everyone on my moms side. My mom, her parents, my grandparents, and Charlotte." Her voice is unsteady. "Wait... Charlotte, she had a daughter that was given up for adoption. Oh my god, what if that's her..?"

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Thoughts..? Who is this mystery relative? Will Stella also be a match? How much new family is Elodie about to find???

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I love you guys!!!

~M =)