Umbilicus: An autobiographical novel

BLOOD BANK

'MY SISTER-IN-LAW AMY IS a nurse, and a few years ago, when she was working for the Blood Bank, she shared an office with a woman named Cameron.'

Hmmm. One of Mom's friends called Cameron also works at the Blood Bank. Cameron is the only person with whom Mom smokes. In secret. You always knew when Cameron had been to visit because you'd come home from school and smell traces of cigarette smoke. Mom doesn't have a sense of smell, so she doesn't know just how long the smell lingers.

'Anyway, so one day a friend of Cameron's came to visit her at work and Amy overheard a conversation about their kids' upcoming birthdays. At some point in the conversation Cameron's friend mentioned that her daughter would be turning seventeen on 18th August, and Amy's ears pricked up. Amy was a nurse at Addington at the time you were born. In fact, she had been on duty that night, and even gave you your first bath. As an aunt, she had always wondered what happened to you. She knew your birth date as well as I did. When the friend left, Amy asked Cameron, as casually as possible, how many children her friend had, and Cameron answered, "Two. Both adopted." '

You are stunned. Slack-jawed. What were the chances.

'Unbelievable, hey?' says Beth. 'Anyway, Amy kept the information to herself for another few weeks. She says she was scared it would turn out to be a bizarre coincidence and that she didn't want to get my hopes up for nothing. She knew what a terrible time I had been going through, after recently losing Judson. But eventually she couldn't keep her secret any longer.'

'Oh my God, so what you're saying is that my aunt, who had given me my first bath, was the same woman who found me again, seventeen years later?'

'Yip. Believe me, I was in just as much shock as you are now. Especially when I realised that Dr van Katwijk, whom I had worked alongside for many years, could be your father. I just couldn't believe that this brilliant, sweet, gentle man might actually be your dad.'

'Of course! You said you were a midwife. And Dad being a paediatrician, and Durbs being so small, I can definitely see how your paths would've crossed.'

'Crazy, hey? Anyway, I met with a social worker at Child Welfare who said I was in no way allowed to make contact with you directly, that I had to go through them. I told her that all I wanted was confirmation of the information I had, but after getting no joy from them, I decided to write your dad a letter myself.'

'You're kidding! Did he reply?'

'Yes, he wrote back saying that I was your biological mother but, like the social worker, implored me to not try and make contact with you, explaining that you were not emotionally mature enough to deal with it yet, and what a devastating effect it would have on the stability of your family. I wrote back reassuring him that I fully respected his wishes, and thanked him for his honesty.'

You cannot believe that, for four years now, your parents have known who your birth mother was, and they never once let on anything to you!

'After that communication, I never knew if he figured out who I was. I signed both letters Beth Jones, and nowhere did I let on that I was a nurse. On a professional level he knew me only as "Sister Jones."That said, had he had his suspicions about my identity as your birth mother, it would've been easy for him to find out my first name, and see the physical resemblances between us. If he did put two and two together, he never let on.We just carried on working together. It was so weird knowing that this man,this amazingly talented and highly respected paediatrician, was your father!'