My New Ethnicity

I grew up in a single parent family consisting of my father and my two brothers. I had always thought that there was something different about me. My brothers and I barely looked like we could be siblings. My older brother has blue eyes, has blonde hair, and stands 6'0 tall. My younger brother has green eyes, red hair, stands over 6'7'', and is loaded with freckles. I have very dark brown hair, brown eyes, and I stand at 5'6''. My hair is much more coarse than that of the rest of my family. Granted, my older brother and I had different mothers, but we should share some common characteristics. Also, I had noticed that I am the shortest person on my mom's side of the family. Even my 15 year old cousin towers over me. I had grown up always feeling that in some way, I didn't belong.
About a year ago, my aunt confessed something that would change my perceptions of myself. She told me that around the time my mother became pregnant with me, she had been cheating on my father with a Hispanic man. Apparently, everyone on my mother's side of the family thought that I was this man's child. This boggled my mind. I let it build up inside of me for a couple months before I finally confronted my mother. I had asked her about this man, and she told me "His name is Luis, he lives in California. That's all I know, and that's all you need to know." This just devestated me. She basically lied to me for 24 years, and still hadn't come fully clean.
Then I began wondering if I should speak to my father about the issue. But then I realized something; my father had raised me, read stories to me, watched me at my softball games and piano recitals, taught me how to drive, and truely loved me. I decided not to say anything to him. I realize that there is a possiblity that I may be multi-racial, but I see myself as the product of my father- a caucasion man with a European History. I even embrace the "family motto" - English, Irish, German, Dutch, never did amount to much. And while the motto isn't necessarily positive, it is something we laugh about and connect with.
In my professional career, this experience will help me a lot. I will understand that not everyone is this or that, or even identifies with the ethnicity to which they belong. What matters most is the family you grew up in, and how you perceive yourself.
How do I perceive myself now? I am my father's pride, my brother's listener, my mother's babysitter, my cousin's role model, and my grandparents happiness. That is how I define myself. Not by the color of my skin, or the person that could be my father, but by the environment in which I was raised.