The foster father entered in sweatpants.
“You’re aware cereal exists during daylight?”
The boy ignored him.
The man poured himself some.
They ate quietly.
Then the boy asked:
“You knew I didn’t have siblings.”
“I thought you didn’t.”
“So nobody checked?”
“I read your file.”
“That’s not checking.”
The foster father put down his spoon.
“No.”
The boy looked angry.
“You believe her?”
“The nurse?”
“No. The girl.”
“Believe what?”
“That she’s my sister.”
The foster father thought.
“I believe something happened.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only honest one until the test.”
The boy stared into the bowl.
“What if it says yes?”
The foster father waited.
“What happens?”
“That depends on what you want.”
The boy laughed.
“That’s what everybody says when they already know what happens.”
“I don’t.”
“They’ll move me.”
The foster father felt the fear beneath the sentence.
“Who said that?”
“Nobody.”
“Then why are we treating it like fact?”
“Because she has a family.”
“You have a placement.”
“Temporary.”
The foster father looked at him.
“You’ve been with me eight months.”
“That’s temporary.”
The words hurt.
Because legally the boy was right.
The man had considered permanency.
More than considered.
He had begun paperwork three weeks earlier.
He had not told the boy yet.
He had wanted certainty first.
Now certainty seemed dangerous.
The boy mistook his silence.
“See?”
The foster father shook his head.
“No.”
He stood.
Retrieved a folder from a cabinet.
Placed it on the table.
The boy stared.
“What’s that?”
“Something I wasn’t going to show you yet.”
He opened it.
Permanency application.
Background assessments.
Home review.
Intent to pursue guardianship.
The boy stopped breathing.
“You were going to keep me?”
The foster father’s throat tightened.
“If you wanted.”
The boy stared.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I didn’t want another adult making a promise before paperwork could support it.”
The boy looked at the forms.
Then toward him.
“So if she’s my sister…”
The foster father finished:
“You don’t stop being you.”
Silence.
“And I don’t disappear.”
The boy looked down.
Good.
He needed that sentence.
The DNA test came back four days later.
Probability of full sibling relationship:
Greater than 99.9%.