Mutti

[moonshadows]

"My son!"

I turn and look at the strange woman approaching me. She speaks like a native. "Um...Excuse me, but-" I pause, but there's no delicate way to ask this. The best I can do is make it formal. "-who are you?"

Her skin tone shifts, she becomes slightly shorter, and her hair changes a little. She looks like she came from Germany, now. "I'm your mother, silly goose!"

I back away a little, jump-sense flaring. This is getting weird. "I'm sorry, but I will need solid evidence before I believe you."

"My name is-" I hold up a hand to forestall whatever she was about to say. "I don't know the name of my mother," I interrupt as politely and apologetically as I can, "or my father, either. Anything in my past can be found by a good detective, and if you can change your appearance, I can't trust that, either."

She looks stunned, and a little hurt. "Didn't your Auntie tell you anything about your parents?" Her voice is almost pleading, but jump-sense makes me resistant to emotions like pity.

"Only that my mother was like me, and my father wasn't." I shake my head apologetically. “Unless you can provide proof, or wish to come back with me and submit yourself for a gene test..." I trail off as she shakes her head. She doesn't have anything, and we both know she won't set foot in the mansion. "I'm sorry. Perhaps, another day..." I edge around her and leave. I don't look back.