“At seventy-nine, I’m still alive, Sylvia.
She pulled back, as if my words had hit her.
I’m not saying you’re not alive.
“Then why are you talking about me as if I were furniture to be put away when they’re too old?”
The judge didn’t interrupt me.
“You said the child was your biological,” he remarked.
My lawyer stood up.
Yes, Your Honor. Mrs. Mileva and Mr. Stoyanov used a medical procedure, legally performed abroad, with an egg that Mrs. Mileva stored many years ago for personal reasons. The pregnancy was worn by a surrogate under a contract that was settled under the laws of the country concerned. There is full medical and legal documentation.
The hall burst into noise.
Sylvia covered her mouth.
Mikhail hit the table with his palm.
“That’s madness!”
The judge raised his tone:
Silence in the room!
Emilia moved.
I started swinging it lightly.
She was so small.
And around it, elderly people were screaming, arguing and trying to decide whether they had the right to exist.
“I don’t owe you with an explanation for every step of my personal life,” I said. “But I owe you the truth because you’re my children.” And the truth is, I wasn’t cheated. I wasn’t forced. I wasn’t confused. I made this decision after months of medical consultations, conversations with Todor, lawyers and specialists.
“You’re seventy-nine!” Michael shouted.
“Yes.
She will be twenty when you are almost a hundred!
You will be fifty-three when she is twenty. That doesn’t make you incapable of being a brother.
He looked at me.
I am not her brother.
You are in blood.
“That means nothing.
My tears flowed.
Not because his words surprised me.
But because they were confirmation of what I had found out the day I told them about the pregnancy.
They weren’t afraid for me.
They feared for themselves.
Six months earlier, I had invited Sylvia and Michael to lunch.
I’ve prepared their favorite things.
Stuffed peppers for Sylvia.
Homemade moussaka for Mikhail.
I had bought a strawberry cake because the grandchildren would come later.
Todor was in Russia at the time. I wasn’t ready to tell them about him yet.
We sat at the dining room table.
Sylvia was telling me about her work. Mikhail complained about some repairs in the office.
I looked after my children and thought about how much they had grown.
Then I said,
I have to share something with you.
They fell silent.
“I’m pregnant.
At first they thought I was joking.
Then they saw my face.
Sylvia laughed nervously.
“Mom, that’s not funny.
“I’m not kidding.
Michael turned pale.
“What does that mean?”
It means I’m expecting a child.
Sylvia started crying.
Not for joy.
“You’re sick?” Anyone blackmail you? Has anyone cheated you?
“No.
“Who’s the man?”
I’ll tell you when the time comes.
Mikhail stood up.
There is no “time.” This has to end.
At that moment, I realized they weren’t talking about me.
They talk about the inconvenience.
For the people.
