Gemotions

"Are you sure you want to do this?" her husband, Daniel, had asked, his voice filled with gentle concern. Now, Sarah wished she could rewind time, erase the click of the 'submit' button. She was in the garden, meticulously weeding her rose bushes. The physical labor was a distraction, a way to channel her nervous energy.

The results had come back. A first cousin. Then another. Then… the name of a man she knew. A neighbor from her childhood, someone her parents had barely spoken to, and certainly never approved of.

She ripped a weed from the earth with a vicious tug, the roots tearing. The image of his face, the way her parents’ faces changed when he was mentioned... it felt like a betrayal.