I'm adopted.

While my dad was in Missouri, and my mother at work, that left Leo and I alone, all day.

This gave me an opportunity to discuss something with Leo. I had always felt as if I was adopted, but I had never had the proof. I look nothing like my parents. I act nothing like them.

I said to Leo "Wouldn't it be weird, if Nick was really my dad, and not my 'brother' that my parents claim him to be?"

...

So, we get to snooping.

Is this potentially wrong of us to do? Yes.
Do we care? No.
Would my parents have told me the truth if I asked them, without proof? NO. I had asked them before, many times. And it was always "No, see your birth certificate? Now, stop asking."
I would persist, and get grounded. I would get yelled at. They really got upset when I asked them about this.

I started digging, through the filing cabinet, in the scorching hot garage.

I was about to give up.

And then, I saw this leather wallet. It had a lot of cards in it, and some hand written notes.
I opened one of these.

"I give my mother, Linda Hewlette, permission to take my daughter, Katrina Hewlette, to get her shots.
Signed,
Nick Hewlette."

It didn't register at first.

Leo said "WHAT?!"

I read it again.
I.was.right.

I keep digging. I start to find more and more papers.

It was uncovered. Nick was my father, and Gene was my birth mother. Linda was Nick's mother, and my biological grandmother. Sam is Linda's new husband, my step grandfather.

I want to bring this up to my "parents" but I can't... for a long, long time.