The Case of the Killer Divorce by Barbara Venkataraman Page A

pasta, cereals and peanut butter, Grace kept checking her watch and giving me sideways glances. I just ignored her. I figured she'd tell me what was going on when she was ready. At 11:30, she jumped up and left the room without an explanation. Where the heck did she go? Bathroom break? Next thing I know, she comes bouncing back into the room with a kind-looking older blonde woman in tow and they are chatting excitedly. Grace points at me and says, "That's Jaime!"
    The woman reaches for my hands and pulls me off the floor into a tight embrace. She is holding me like I'm a life preserver and she's about to jump ship. I have no idea what's going on. She starts crying and murmuring, "mi cariño, mi corazón," and then pulls back to examine my face.
    "Dios mio! Look at you--you're identical!" And she starts crying.
    "I'm sorry , I don't mean to be rude but, who are you? Identical to whom, exactly?"
    " To your father, sweet girl! You look just like him!"
    In a daze, I look at Grace who is smiling so hard, her face is su rely going to freeze like that.
    "Is…this?" I stammer.
    "Meet Ana Maria Suarez, the director of the shelter." Grace gives me a wink. It's her best stunt ever.
    I turn back to Ana Maria with tears in my eyes. I lo ok at her face and all I see is unconditional love, for me, a total stranger. I give her a fierce hug right back. You can never have too many people to love in this world. Or people who love you back.
    Grace is sniffing and wiping her eyes. "Jamie, can you and Ana Maria come with me, please?"
    At this point , I'm just doing what I'm told; I doubt that I could say anything coherent anyway. We walk into another room and somehow there's my Aunt Peg, my cousin Adam, and Duke, and they're all clapping and cheering. Grace spins me around and there's a giant monitor on the wall. And on that monitor a man is waving and smiling. It's my father . I think my heart is going to explode. He looks much older than he did in the picture Duke gave me, but it's definitely him.
    "Hello, Jam ie," he says, choking up. "I am so happy to see you that I have no words to express it."
    " Me too," I say. I've waited all my life to find my father and all I can say is 'me too.'
    "I can't believe it's really you," I manage to say before I burst into tears.
    He is emotional, too. "Finding out I have a daughter is like a gift from God, Jam ie. We have so much to talk about.
    "Yes, we do," I say with a lump in my throat. "Where should we start?"