Randy received the lab report which he went on to examine carefully.
Josh and Venus gathered close and scrutinized it with their big bright eyes.
The younger boy waited for some time before he asked, "Do you know what's on it, Randy?"
"I can recognize this, " Venus said as she placed the tip of her plump index finger against the
one-hundred percent figure on the report. "Can't understand much of anything else though."
"These two I know." Josh pointed to the text that came before that. "Paternity… is!"
Zayn was speechless.
He had been speaking to them so earnestly, but all the rambunctious trio seemed interested
in discussing was which words they could read.
"Quit messing around, you two, " Carla said. "It's okay if you can't understand it, Randy.
Let Mommy…"
Randy raised his head to regard Zayn. "It states that the probability of paternity is
one-hundred percent. I know what that means."
"That's good." Zayn nodded in relief. "So from now on…"
"Can I have a couple more questions answered?" Randy asked. "Could I?"
"Of course you could. Please ask away." Zayn was quite impressed with the boy's
assertiveness at his age.
"You didn't know we're yours before the discovery of my allergy, did you?" Randy asked.
"Yes." Zayn nodded.
"Would you have treated our Mommy and us equally well if you did not have this set of tests
done?"
It was a crucial question that the boy had just tabled, and one which elevated the tension in
the room in an instant.
The two other tots did not get the underlying implications and knew only to echo his words.
"That's right, would you?"
Mrs. Borah looked at Zayn intently, as she too was interested to know.
Carla was surprised at Randy's incisiveness. It was a question that she herself had not
considered before.
Zayn deliberated before he offered up a response. "I was aware that she had kids right
from the beginning, and was quite upset with her because I thought they were conceived
with someone else. I must admit that I've overreacted and did some things that I'm not
proud of. However…"
He raised his head to regard the three children, and continued with sincerity, "I've never once
had the intention to harm any of you, nor have I hated your existence, and never have I
considered giving up on your Mommy because of it. Therefore, my answer would be that I
would have loved your mother and accepted all of you just the same, even if you were not of
my own."
His words touched Carla profoundly. When she revisited the countless occasions in
which she had doubted him previously, he had not tried to harm the children once even
while he was under the impression that they were Brad's.
When she assumed that he was the one who had abducted her children when they went
missing, he did not try to defend himself. Instead, he quietly went out to find them and
return them to her. Even though he did threaten her then out of spite, he had not brought
harm unto them, just like he said.
Out of consideration for the safety of the children when she got into some trouble, he had
Thompson fetch the children and put them up with Jombo. It may be a credit to his
kindheartedness that he incidentally found out about Randy's allergy to the kiwi fruit, which
in turn led him to the truth about their parentage.
He really was a tough talking softie.
"That's good to know." Mrs. Borah was almost tearing up at this point. "It's beyond question
that the children are yours. I know Miss all too well. She had kept herself chaste all these
years and had never been with any other."
"I know." Zayn curled his lips.
"Thank you!" Randy took a deep drawl before he continued, "The next question is, does Mr.
Jombo know that we are your kids? If he doesn't, would he be able to accept us?"
"He doesn't know yet." Zayn thought Randy was one with a rigorous mind, being able to
adopt a multifaceted approach to considering issues. "He has always been fond of all of
you, so I expect that he should be very happy when he does."
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