The Switch (24 page)

Suddenly everything clicked for Tia. “Grandma, please tell me you aren’t responsible for this.” But there was the way she’d fought the search, keeping back the fact that she’d been working in the hospital. And didn’t Mona say her grandmother had sat with her in the nursery for most of the time between the birth and when she’d been returned to the hospital room? Glena would have had ample opportunity, and as an employee, they would have trusted her. The tightness in her stomach grew worse and she felt a little nauseated.

When there was no response, Tia held onto Glena’s upper arm and turned to face her. “Grandma.” Her voice was pleading.

Glena’s face grew angry and moved to the offense. “I had to do somethin’. I didn’t want my son raisin’
her
daughter. Bad enough that she’s crazy, worse yet that it wasn’t even your father’s child. And now you.” She reached up, put her hands on each of Tia’s cheeks. “You could be sick like that someday. “ She shook her head. “No. You must have found the wrong family.”

Tia tried to separate everything her grandmother had said. It was almost as if she blamed herself that Tia might develop Huntington’s diseases. As if she caused it, instead of it being the luck of genetics. And what was that about the baby? “Grandma, you thought Mom cheated on Dad and I wasn’t his?”

“Well, she did cheat—it’s what broke them up,” Glena reminded her.

“Yes, but not until years and years later.” Tia wondered if her mother had been lying about cheating earlier. “What made you think the baby wasn’t Dad’s?”

Glena’s face twisted into a hate stronger than anything Tia had seen before. “I seen her cattin’ around with another man. Eatin’ lunch with him, the way he touched her hand, it was obvious there was something between them. A couple of months later she came up pregnant. I knew then her baby was his, not your father’s. I couldn’t let her get away with that, passing some other man’s child off as my son’s.”

Shock had Tia moving back half a step. “Grandma! How could you do that? You had no right—”

“I had every right to protect my son.” Glena slammed the end of her cane against the ground to emphasize her words, light flashing in her eyes. “I tried to talk to him, to tell him about you before you were born, but he didn’t believe it. She turned him against me. She even tried to keep me from seeing you, but your dad wouldn’t allow it. I was angry, so I made the switch. If he was going to have to raise another man’s child, she shouldn’t be allowed to raise her own daughter.”

Tia had to sit down, lightheaded from everything she’d heard. She started moving toward a nearby bench, not sure if she even cared if Glena followed her. “But Grandma, how could you?”

Glena trailed along behind, keeping her voice low enough that the others wouldn’t hear. “They left me alone with the babies. And a few minutes later they brought you in. I’d seen the parents while we waited for Mona to deliver. They were so strong and healthy and happy. I could see it, their love, like me and my Grant when we was young and in love. They looked so healthy and I knew their baby would be perfect. My son deserved something perfect considering who he was married to.”

Tia stared at her grandma, wondering how she had hidden how deeply her hatred went for Mona. “So you made the decision and you changed the bracelets.”

Glena nodded and sat slowly on the bench, wincing slightly as she settled. “I knew they were going on break and I’d have time. The two of you looked a lot alike then.” She turned to Tia, her face imploring. “Are you sure you found the right family? You could be wrong.” She sounded more hopeful than believing.

“No, I’m not wrong.” Tia’s shock started to wear off and she felt the disgust and anger rise inside her. “We did DNA tests. Lisa belongs in this family.”

“But did you check your dad?” Glena’s words shot out louder than before. “Or just that woman?”

“Yes.” Tia clenched her teeth, and stood from the bench, too upset to sit anymore. “We did have Dad tested. In fact, we didn’t have Mom tested at all. We only tested Dad against the girls. So guess what, she is Dad’s little girl, and you kept him from knowing
his
child. What did you think you were doing, playing with all of our lives like that?”

Glena’s face went even whiter.

A hand on her arm had Tia looking up into Danny’s face and she wondered how much he’d heard. She hadn’t exactly been quiet. Her emotions were getting away from her.

“Is everything okay?” he asked. “Can I do anything?”

“Grandma, she switched us.” The words sounded foreign. How could it be true? Tia shook with anger and confusion.

He turned and stared at Glena. “What?”

Tia pressed her fingers into her temples, then rubbed her face. “We can’t do this right now.” She turned to Glena, who looked even worse than Tia felt.

“It’s my fault,” Glena mumbled. “I chose wrong. I shoulda chose different. So wrong. Thought I was right, but I wasn’t. How could I been wrong? You’re perfect, the best granddaughter I could want.” She kept mumbling, but was no longer understandable.

Tia glanced over at Lisa, who seemed nervous, awkward as she spoke with Ron. Wes shot a few glances in their direction, obviously concerned, but not wanting to get in the middle of it.

“I have to go keep things together.” Tia felt like her life had been turned upside down again. She looked at Danny hopefully.

“I’m sorry.” He brushed a kiss on her forehead. “I’ll stay here with Grandma. You go ease things with everyone else. It’s okay, really.” He pressed a warm palm to her cheek, offering comfort.

“Thanks.” She didn’t want to step away from him, wished she could curl up in his arms for a good hour or two, but she couldn’t. Not right now. There would be time for that later. Now she had to get away from Glena and think about something else for a few minutes, though how she was supposed to do that in the middle of lunch with everyone else, she had no idea.

Tia returned to the rest of the group, still feeling overwhelmed. She moved through the motions of facilitating the conversation, got the food out and helped set up lunch. She saw Danny and Glena sitting with their backs to her, out of ear shot, and tried to wrap her mind around what she had learned.

* * *

When Tia returned to the group, Danny took Glena by the wrist and guided her to a nearby bench. She was still muttering nonsense and when he said her name, she looked up at him with confusion. “Grandma, are you okay?” Danny kept his hand on her wrist, felt her pulse beating against his fingers. Too fast. Even without counting, he knew it was too fast. He checked his watch and counted the beats. One-twenty-two. He couldn’t believe this sweet old lady was responsible for everything Tia had gone through in the past few months, and he felt angry and defensive for her, but he worried about Glena too.

She still hadn’t answered, so he spoke again. “Hey, I know this has been a bit of a shock, can you take a few deep breathes for me? Come on, in and out.” He caught her eye and sucked in a long, deep breath as an example, then blew it out, glad to see her following suit. “Let’s do that again.” He prompted her through a few more good breaths. “Okay, what are you feeling?”

“I made the wrong choice. How could I have known?” the muttering continued.

Danny’s breath caught as he watched her speak. The left side of her face wasn’t moving in tandem with the right and her words were slurred. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed 911.

* * *

“Hey, Danny’s waving at you,” Wes said, nudging Tia.

She looked up and saw the worry on Danny’s face. “I’ll see what’s going on.” She left the group with a backward look at Lisa, but Wes took over the conversation, drawing Lisa in, and Ron seemed to be having a nice conversation with Rose. Maybe their families would work out all right after all. Not that she had any choice now, since her grandma interfered.

When Tia reached Danny, she realized he was speaking on a cell phone. “Yes, heart rate about one-twenty, sagging face and weak arm on the left side, confused.”

Tia’s eyes strayed to her grandmother, and she saw what Danny was talking about. Stroke, she thought. The sagging face told her it could be a stroke, but the thought was too frightening. All of her anger evaporated in an instant as worry took over. She knelt in front of Glena and took her hand. “Grandma, what’s going on?”

More muttering, Glena looked right through her, then seemed to focus and gave a lopsided smile. “You’re sho beautiful. I shaw the muver, knew you be bootiful too, love what you become. You make old lady proud.” The words slurred, and were barely understandable.

“I love you, Grandma. Danny’s getting you some help. We’ll take good care of you.” Everything tangled up inside Tia and she struggled to stay calm and focused.

The sound of footsteps had Tia turning and looking up into her father’s concerned gaze. “What’s going on?” he asked.

Danny hung up his cell phone and put it away. “I think your mom is having a stroke. I’ve called an ambulance.”

“Don’ need ambance,” Glena protested.

Panic filled Ron’s eyes. “Can’t you do something for her?”

Danny didn’t look up, focused on his patient instead. “Just monitor her until the ambulance arrives. They’ll give her oxygen, get her to the hospital where they have clot busters available to help her.”
 
He touched Glena’s cheek. “Grandma, take another deep breath for me, okay?”

She muttered some more, but then paused to breathe.

“Good.” Danny nodded and glanced up at Ron. “If you catch strokes quickly, get them the medication, the recovery is much faster, and much more successful than it used to be. Sit down if you need to, but don’t pass out on me or anything. I can’t deal with two patients.”

Tia noticed how awful her father looked and grabbed his arm, pulling him to the other side of his mother, and pushed him into the empty space on the bench. It wasn’t very big, but it would do. “Come on, Dad, you need to breathe, too.”

“Do you know anything about your mom’s medications?” Danny asked. He alternately kept Ron and Glena busy answering questions until the ambulance turned the corner. Tia flagged them down, relieved her father was starting to look better, act more centered. She was glad she hadn’t told him yet about his mother switching her and Lisa.

By the time the EMTs had the gurney out, everyone else from the group had gathered around Glena.

Danny looked at Tia, “Get everyone back out of the way.” He turned to the ambulance crew and started giving them a rundown about her medications, surgeries and allergies, according to what Ron had told him.

Tia stood and snatched up Samantha as she cried and ran toward Glena. “Hey, kiddo, let’s get out of the way, okay?” She turned to the rest of them. “Grandma’s not feeling well. Danny thinks it might be a stroke, but they’re going to take good care of her and get her to the hospital. Let’s move back and let them have some room.”

Mona turned to Lisa. “Heart problems, that’s what you’re going to have to deal with. My side of the family doesn’t have heart problems. She always said my family was crazy, but look who’s laughing now.”

That irritated Tia. “
No one
is laughing, Mom, because this isn’t funny.” Tia gestured for everyone to move out of the way, but as soon as they had cleared out, she turned back to watch the proceedings. Danny helped strap Glena on, said a few last words to the closest crew member, then turned to Ron, who handed him a set of keys.

Danny walked back to them. “Ron’s riding along. I’ll bring his car out to the hospital in a minute.” He pulled keys from his pocket and handed them to Tia. “You take my car.”

Tia turned to Lisa. “I’m sorry you drove all this way to meet us.”

“Don’t worry about it. You’re all going to the hospital?” Lisa set a hand on Tia’s arm.

“I’m not,” Mona said, folding her arms over her chest. “The woman hates me, and I’m not going to the hospital for her.”

“Unless you want me to leave you behind,” Wes interjected, “Yes, you are.” He shifted his gaze back to Tia. “Let’s load everything into the cars and head over. Once we hear something from the doctors we can grab a bite in the parking lot if we still have an appetite.” He sifted his gaze to Lisa. “Will you come with us?”

Lisa looked at her mom, who appeared concerned, but not upset. “Yes. We’ll come.”

“The woman always hated me. Why should I sit in the waiting room?” Mona asked, her arms crossed in front of her.

“Because she matters to the rest of us, and she’s the one who brought us all together,” Tia said, then winced as she turned away, wondering if that was a little too explanatory. The anger and betrayal had been buried by concern for her grandma for now, but she’d have to deal with it again soon.

Danny pulled out his phone and looked up directions to the hospital from where they were. Wes wrote them down, then made copies to pass around while the women put the food back in the cars. As soon as he’d passed the directions on to Wes, Danny got into Ron’s car and headed out.

Everyone else was only minutes behind him.

Tia found Ron and Danny in the waiting room when she arrived with the girls. Samantha ran to Danny, throwing her arms around his middle. “Will Grandma be okay?” She turned her face up to his, trust in her eyes.

He crouched to her level. “The doctors are doing everything they can for her. Don’t worry, they’ll take good care of her.”

Tia appreciated that he hadn’t lied to Samantha, though she didn’t feel all that reassured. She watched him give Samantha a hug, then he stood and walked over to Tia, pulling her into a hug as well, Tristi sandwiched between them. “That not-worrying thing? It goes double for you,” he said, then brushed his lips over her forehead. “Come, sit down. It’ll be a while yet before they’ll send someone out to give us an update.”

Tia did as she was told, and the others joined them a few minutes later. Wes had apparently helped Lisa with her mom and the wheelchair, and entered the room pushing Rose. “Any word?” he asked.

 
“Not yet,” Ron said.

“Are you sure we’re not in the way?” Lisa asked.

“No, were glad to have you,” Ron told her. “Come sit by me. We haven’t had much chance to talk. Tell me about your dad. I need the distraction.”

Tia smiled, watching them together. Danny pulled a couple chairs over to face Lisa and Ron, then gestured for Tia to sit in one of them. He settled in the other and Samantha crawled into his lap. When he took Tia’s hand, she thought she couldn’t ask for more in a man.

* * *

The doctors came and went. Everyone walked out to the cars in shifts to put together plates of food, then returned to the waiting room to eat. Ron was allowed back to see his mother, and Mona complained and worried and fussed constantly. Tia was glad she hadn’t bothered to ask about Rose’s condition. She didn’t think she was up to dealing with the hysterics that would have ensued if Mona realized Tia could end up like that someday.

Finally she and Danny were allowed in to see Glena, though she was totally out of it, so they didn’t get to talk. It was just as well, since Tia had no idea what to say anyway. She was grateful for Danny’s hand, for the silent support he’d been all day. They had opted for a short engagement, which made their wedding less than a month away. Barely.

After an hour, the doctor came in and told them they were transferring Glena to a larger facility in Kansas City.

Everyone gathered their things and returned the chairs to where they belonged.

“Do we get to go home now, Mom?” Samantha asked.

“Yeah. We can go home.” Tia kissed her on the head and gathered the sippy cup Tristi had dropped on the floor beneath the chairs.

“Is Nana going to be okay?”

Tia felt that familiar ache in her chest. It was even worse trying to explain to Samantha than dealing with it herself. She took the seat, then pulled Samantha close so she leaned against Tia’s knees. “I don’t know, honey. Danny called for help really fast, and the doctors were able to get her good medicine right away, so hopefully she’ll be fine, in a while. But Nana is getting old, so it’s hard to know if she’ll get all the way better. We’ll have to wait and see.”

Samantha pursed her lips, then nodded. “Okay. Let’s go home now.”

“All right, sweetheart.”

Danny came back over, Tristi asleep in his arms. “We about ready?”

Tia stood, looked around the room again to make sure they hadn’t left anything behind, then nodded. “Let’s go say goodbye to Lisa and Rose.” The whole day had been cut short, and Tia didn’t feel like she had time to speak with Lisa, to ask Rose about her life, to really watch how things were going with Lisa’s introduction to the family.

Wes was helping Rose into the passenger seat when Tia joined them. He picked up the wheelchair and took it around to the trunk.

“Thanks for everything,” Lisa said.

“It’s no problem. And Tia threatened not to make her cannoli for me again if I wasn’t nice to you.” Wes winked at Tia.

“You’ve gone above and beyond nice. So thanks,” Lisa said. They stood looking at each other for a moment, as if uncertain what to do next.

“It was good meeting you. You’ll have to join us again sometime, though I’m warning you that all of our get-togethers tend to be somewhat on the exciting side lately. You may wish you never heard of us,” he said.

Lisa laughed. “I doubt that.” She tucked her thumbs in the back pockets of her jeans.

He gave a little wave, then headed for his car where Mona was already waiting. “See ya, sis,” he said to Tia as he left.

“See you later.” Tia waited until he was out of the way, then gave Lisa a hug. “Thanks for meeting us, and again, I’m sorry this all happened.”

“No, it’s fine. It was interesting to see how your family worked together when there’s trouble. Danny’s so cool on his feet, too.” She gave Tia’s hand a squeeze. “I know you two are going to be happy together.”

“Yeah, I can’t argue with that.” Tia wanted to tell her, right then and there about Glena, about how it had all happened, why it had happened, but she wasn’t ready. She still wasn’t sure how she felt about it.

“Keep in touch,” Lisa said.

“I will.” Tia walked to the passenger side of the car and leaned down to the opened window. “Rose, it was great to meet you. I hope I get to see you again soon sometime.”

“I’m happy to meet you too, dear. Did I tell you how much you remind me of myself at your age?”

Tia laughed. “You did. I’m happy you think so. You’re a great example for me.” She touched the woman’s hand, then straightened and waved goodbye before turning away. Tears pooled in her eyes, and she needed a moment to get herself back together. She looked at Danny buckling Tristi into her car seat and knew quiet wasn’t going to happen anytime soon, but she’d get through it.

* * *

Tia stewed about everything she’d learned at the picnic, not ready to hash it out until she had a handle on it. When they finished putting the girls to bed after dinner Monday night, Danny slid his arm around her as they returned to the living room.

“So, you’ve had time to brood. Want to talk?”

Tia tipped her head against his shoulder. “I don’t know. Will it help?”

“Maybe. You won’t know if you don’t try.” He sat on the sofa and snuggled her close. “That was a big shock. I know you didn’t expect it. Have you told anyone else?’

“No. I don’t know
how
to tell anyone. Or even if I should. How could she do that to us, Danny? What was she thinking? I mean, I know what she said, but it just doesn’t make sense.” She rubbed her face with her palm.

“It can’t be fixed, and no matter how much you might understand on some level why she wanted to get back at your mom, you’ll never get what made her do something so extreme. The question is whether you can accept it and forgive her or not.”

“I know.” Tia had stopped by the previous evening, intentionally going while her father would be there so she wouldn’t have to face Glena alone. She was conflicted: she still loved her grandmother, but couldn’t forget what she’d done. “I just wish I could see things the way she did, for a minute, so I could let this go. And on the other hand, I never want to forgive her for doing this, for being so stupid.”

“You know I love you?” He pressed his lips to her head.

“Of course.” That went without saying.

“You know your parents love you?”

“Yes.”

Danny took her hand in his, giving it a squeeze. “You don’t have to forgive your grandma, but think about how you want to remember your relationship with her, because she won’t be around forever.”

Tia pressed her cheek to his shoulder, pain knifing through her. “I know.”

* * *

Several days passed and Tia had stopped into the hospital to see her grandma three times, but she hadn’t gotten the chance for a quiet chat alone. This time when she walked into the room, she slid into the chair beside the bed. No one else was around, and Glena appeared to be sleeping.

“Go ahead and say your say, child. I know you’re angry.”

The slightly slurred words made Tia jump, she didn’t know how Glena could tell who had walked in. She still hadn’t even slitted her eyes. “I don’t know what I am. How could you do it, Grandma?”

“It was impulse. I held Lisa in my arms, rocked her, wondered about the man I seen Mona with. Knew your mother had been cheating on my boy. It made me sick to think of your dad raising another man’s baby and not knowin’ it. I was angry, at Mona, at the baby for existing. I was alone for a while; I had the chance to take her daughter away and give her another, so I did it. I never regretted it for a moment. You’ve always made me proud.”

That didn’t help. It was hardly explanation. “You didn’t think about what was best for me, for Lisa, to be raised in the families we were born to? You never wondered about Lisa, how she was doing? You realize the DNA tests were done with Dad, so she
is
his daughter. You gave her away out of spite.”

Glena pursed her lips for a moment, as if trying to accept that she’d been wrong, at least about the baby’s paternity. “I never thought about the other baby. I had you. I chose you. What more did I need?” She lifted her right hand and covered Tia’s. “It’s too late to be sorry, child, except for causing you worry.”

Tia didn’t know what to say to that. Glena was recovering well, but the doctor expected her to spend the rest of her life with a walker—and that was the best-case scenario. The stroke had done significant damage and it couldn’t be completely undone. Though Tia didn’t think God worked retribution like this, it seemed almost like a kind of twisted divine justice.

“I love you too, Grandma, but I don’t understand how you could do it.”

When there was no response, Tia wondered if Glena had fallen asleep. Her theory was confirmed when her grandmother took a deep breath and sighed. She squeezed Glena’s hand and headed back to her car.

She hadn’t told anyone besides Danny about Glena’s secret. It would ruin her father’s opinion of his mother, and give Mona more reason to hate her former mother-in-law. Wes could handle it, but didn’t seem to care one way or the other. Tia decided someday, after Glena and Rose had passed on, she would share the truth with Lisa. Between now and then, Tia would try to forgive her grandma for interfering. She didn’t expect it to be easy.

No matter the struggles she’d had in her family, the difficulties that had come her way, she was happy to have been raised by Ron and Mona. Having discussed this aspect with Lisa the previous night, she knew Lisa felt the same about her parents. Whatever the case, their lives were what they were, and that couldn’t be changed. And maybe that was all right.

At least once she had time to adjust a little longer.