Chapter 7: The Second Baby
I read the message three times before I looked up at my mother.
“Two babies?””
Darla stared at the photograph on my phone as if it were a loaded gun.
“Emma, I can explain.””
“Then explain.””
Her lips parted, but no sound came out.
I placed the phone on the hospital bed, directly in front of her.
“Someone has a document with your signature on it. Someone knows that two babies were recorded under your name the night I was born. And you're sitting here telling me you can explain?””
Darla began crying.
I didn't move.
For thirty-seven years, I had mistaken her tears for proof that she cared. I had rushed to comfort her whenever she became upset, even when I was the one who had been hurt.
Not anymore.
“Was there another baby?”” I asked.
She nodded.
My knees weakened.
“Was the baby mine?””
“No.””
The answer came so quickly that I almost believed it.
Then I remembered the hospital record, the forged document, and the way Adrian's lawyer had looked at her before leaving the room.
“Whose baby was it?””
Darla covered her mouth.
Cole stepped inside and shut the door behind him.
“Darla, tell her.””
My mother looked at him with open hatred.
“You have no right to speak.””
“Neither of us has the right to keep lying to her.””
I turned toward my husband.
“Don't pretend this is suddenly about honesty. You had eight months to tell me what you were doing.””
His jaw tightened.
“I know.””
“Then be quiet.””
He lowered his eyes.
I faced my mother again.
“Whose baby was it?””
Darla stared at the ceiling.
“Adrian's.””
The room seemed to go silent around us.
“Your biological father's baby?””
“Yes.””
“Born on the same night as me?””
She nodded.
I gripped the bedrail.
“Was he born before or after me?””
“After.””
“By how long?””
“Forty-three minutes.””
I closed my eyes.
A newborn baby. Forty-three minutes younger than me. Born to the same biological father.
A brother.
I had a brother I had never known existed.
“Where is he?””
Darla started shaking her head.
“I don't know.””
“Don't lie to me.””
“I'm not.””
“Mom, someone just sent me evidence that you signed a document connected to two babies. If you want me to believe you don't know where the other one is, you're going to have to do better than cry.””
She reached for the water cup on her bedside table, but her hand shook so badly that the cup rattled against the saucer.
Cole picked it up and placed it in her hands.
She looked at him with something close to disgust.
“Don't touch me.””
He stepped back.
I watched her take a sip.
Then I asked, “Was the other baby adopted?””
“Yes.””
“By whom?””
“I don't know.””
I laughed bitterly.
“You don't know who adopted the child you gave away?””
“I didn't give him away.””
“Then what did you do?””
She lowered the cup.
For a long moment, she stared at the pale blue hospital blanket.
Then she whispered, “I switched the records.””
I couldn't understand the words.
“What?””
“The hospital had two babies in the nursery. You were born first. Adrian's son was born forty-three minutes later.””
She pressed a trembling hand against her chest.
“Adrian's wife, Catherine, had died during childbirth. He was devastated. He blamed the baby for her death, and he refused to take him home.””
I stared at her.
“You're telling me Adrian abandoned his own son?””
“He said he couldn't look at him. He said every time he saw the baby, he saw Catherine dying.””
“And you decided to do what?””
Darla's eyes filled.
“I had already decided to marry Thomas. He wanted to raise you. Adrian had made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with his son.””
“So you switched our records?””
“No. Not exactly.””
“Stop saying things like that.””
She flinched.
“I asked a nurse to help me transfer the boys' identification bracelets. The other baby was placed under a different name and eventually adopted. Your record remained yours, but the paperwork was altered to hide Adrian's connection to both children.””
I felt sick.
“You manipulated hospital records to hide a child.””
“I thought I was saving him.””
“From what?””
“From Adrian.””
I stared at her.
“And what about the child who was adopted? Did you think he deserved to spend his entire life wondering where he came from?””
Darla began sobbing harder.
“I thought he'd have a better life.””
“You didn't even know where he went!””
“No.””
The admission hung between us.
I stepped away from the bed.
For the first time, I understood the depth of what she had done. She hadn't merely lied to me about my father. She had interfered with another child's identity, too.
Two children had grown up with missing pieces of themselves because my mother had decided that she knew best.
“What was his name?”” I asked.
“Alexander.””
“Alexander what?””
“I don't know what name his adoptive parents gave him.””
“Did you ever look for him?””
She shook her head.
“Why not?””
“Because Adrian found out what I'd done.””
My stomach tightened.
“When?””
“Three months after the births.””
“And what did he do?””
“He came to our house. He said he'd destroy me if I ever told anyone. He said he'd make sure Thomas lost everything, and that he'd take you away from me.””
I remembered my father's letter.
If Adrian's other child ever contacts Emma, do not let Darla speak to them alone.
A cold realization settled over me.
Dad had known about the second baby.
He had known my mother had done something terrible.
And he had still chosen to protect me.
“Did Dad know about Alexander?””
“Yes.””
“Did he help you hide the records?””
Darla looked down.
“He helped me keep Adrian away from you. He didn't know about the altered hospital paperwork until years later.””
I stared at her.
“Then what happened?””
“Thomas confronted me. He told me that what I'd done was wrong. He wanted me to find the child and correct the records.””
“Did you?””
“No.””
“Why?””
She looked at me with desperate eyes.
“Because I was afraid of losing you.””
I felt tears burning behind my eyes.
“You weren't afraid of losing me. You were afraid of losing control.””
She shook her head.
“Emma, I loved you.””
“Maybe you did. But you loved your secrets more.””
I walked toward the door.
“Emma, wait.””
I stopped.
“Do you know where Alexander is now?”” I asked.
“No.””
“Does Adrian?””
Darla hesitated.
That hesitation told me everything.
“Mom.””
She looked away.
“I think he does.””
I left the room before she could say anything else.
Cole followed me into the corridor.
“Emma, please.””
I turned on him.
“What now?””
He looked exhausted.
“I want to help you find him.””
“Why?””
“Because he deserves to know the truth.””
I stared at him.
For the first time, he had said something that sounded right.
But I wasn't ready to forgive him for it.
“You don't get to be the hero of this story, Cole.””
“I know.””
“You don't get to betray me, then suddenly become the man who helps me put my family back together.””
He swallowed.
“I'm not asking you to forgive me.””
“Good. Because I can't.””
I walked toward the elevators.
He didn't follow.
Rachel was waiting in the lobby with two coffees. She took one look at my face and set them down.
“What happened?””
I told her everything.
The two babies. The altered records. The name Alexander.
When I finished, she sat beside me.
“Then we find him.””
I looked at her.
“How?””
“We start with the records. We talk to the hospital, the lawyer, anyone who can help. We do this properly.””
I nodded.
My phone vibrated.
An email had arrived from an address I didn't recognize.
The subject line read:
*YOU HAVE A BROTHER.*
The message contained a single photograph.
It showed a man in his early thirties standing outside a brick building, wearing a dark jacket and holding a folder beneath one arm.
He had my eyes.
The same gray-green eyes my father used to say made me look as if I were always planning something.
Below the photograph was a message.
My name is Alexander Cole. I believe we were born on the same night.
I stared at the screen.
Another message appeared.
I know what your mother did.
Then a final line.
And if you want to know why she switched our records, ask her what happened to the third baby.
I stopped breathing.
A third baby?
I turned the phone toward Rachel.
She read the message, then looked at me in disbelief.
“Emma,” she whispered.
“How many secrets can one family have?””
I looked at the photograph again.
May you like
For the first time in my life, I saw a face that might share my blood.
And I had no idea whether the man behind it wanted a sister—or revenge.
