Chapter 5: The Second Baby
Nobody spoke.
Evelyn stared at the photograph until the edges blurred.
Sarah took one step toward her.
“What does it say?””
Evelyn handed it over.
Sarah read the words.
Her face went pale.
“What?””
Evelyn's voice was barely audible.
“They're saying Maya wasn't my daughter.””
Sarah looked at the photograph again.
“No.””
“You said you had my baby.””
“I did.””
“Then explain this.””
“I can't.””
Marcus moved closer.
“Let me see.””
Sarah handed him the photograph.
He studied the hospital bracelet.
Then the handwriting.
“This wasn't in your father's archive.””
Evelyn looked at him.
“How do you know?””
“Because I catalogued every photograph.””
“Then where did it come from?””
Marcus shook his head.
“I don't know.””
Maya stood silently beside the table.
She was staring at the photograph.
“That's not me.””
Everyone turned.
“What?”” Sarah asked.
Maya pointed at the newborn.
“I don't look like that.””
Evelyn almost laughed through her tears.
“You were a baby.””
Maya shook her head.
“No.””
She pointed at the bracelet.
“That's not my birthday.””
Sarah froze.
“What did you say?””
Maya looked at her.
“My birthday is June seventeenth.””
Sarah's mouth opened.
The date on the bracelet was June sixteenth.
Evelyn stared.
One day.
One impossible day.
Marcus pulled out his phone.
“What's your birth certificate say?””
Sarah immediately snapped, “Don't.””
“Sarah.””
“I said don't.””
Evelyn turned toward her.
“Why?””
Sarah's eyes filled with tears.
“Because I never showed her the original.””
“Why?””
“Because I was afraid someone would notice.””
“Notice what?””
Sarah reached inside her coat.
She pulled out a folded birth certificate.
Evelyn took it.
The name was there.
*Maya Sarah Carter.*
Birth date: June seventeenth.
Evelyn looked at Marcus.
“The photograph says June sixteenth.””
Marcus nodded.
“That's not a clerical error.””
Sarah whispered, “No.””
“What is it?””
“A switch.””
Evelyn's blood ran cold.
“You think they switched the babies?””
Sarah looked at her.
“I think there were two babies.””
Maya's eyes widened.
“Two?””
Sarah nodded.
“The night you were born, another baby was born.””
“Where is she?””
Sarah didn't answer.
Evelyn grabbed her arm.
“Where is she?””
“I don't know.””
“You've known about this for nine years!””
“I knew there was another record.””
“That's not what I asked.””
Sarah pulled away.
“I spent years trying to find her.””
“And?””
“I found a name.””
Evelyn waited.
Sarah looked toward the doors.
“Lena.””
Maya whispered it.
“Lena.””
Evelyn repeated the name.
“Who was Lena?””
Sarah shook her head.
“I don't know.””
Marcus interrupted.
“I might.””
Both women looked at him.
He opened his leather folder.
“There was a second infant listed in the hospital's delivery log.””
Evelyn stared.
“Why wasn't she on my records?””
“Because the page was removed.””
“By whom?””
Marcus looked at the signature.
“Your father.””
Evelyn closed her eyes.
Again.
Always him.
She turned away.
“He stole my daughter.””
Sarah whispered, “Maybe.””
Evelyn spun around.
“Maybe?””
Sarah held up the photograph.
“What if he wasn't trying to hide Maya?””
“What are you saying?””
“What if he was trying to hide the other baby?””
Evelyn went still.
“Why?””
Sarah didn't answer.
Marcus did.
“Because one of the babies had a medical condition.””
Evelyn's eyes narrowed.
“What condition?””
Marcus hesitated.
“Something rare.””
“What?””
“A blood disorder.””
Sarah's face changed.
“What?””
Marcus looked at her.
“The records say the infant required an emergency transfusion.””
Sarah shook her head.
“No.””
“What?””
“That wasn't Maya.””
Evelyn looked at her.
“How do you know?””
“Because Maya has never needed one.””
Marcus turned another page.
“This isn't about Maya.””
Evelyn felt the room tilt.
“Then who?””
Marcus read from the document.
“Female infant. Born June sixteenth. Blood type O negative.””
Sarah stared.
“Maya is O positive.””
Evelyn's heart pounded.
“Then the baby in the photograph wasn't mine.””
“No,” Marcus said.
“Then where is my daughter?””
Silence.
Maya stepped forward.
“Maybe she died.””
Sarah immediately shook her head.
“No.””
“How do you know?””
“Because I found her.””
Evelyn's eyes widened.
“You found her?””
Sarah nodded slowly.
“Six months ago.””
“Where?””
Sarah's lips trembled.
“In a group home outside Philadelphia.””
Evelyn stared.
“And?””
“She had the same birthmark.””
Maya touched behind her ear.
“The moon?””
Sarah nodded.
“The crescent.””
Evelyn's eyes filled.
“You're telling me there are two girls?””
Sarah swallowed.
“Yes.””
“Both with the same mark?””
“Yes.””
“How?””
“I don't know.””
Maya looked frightened.
“Is she like me?””
Sarah gave a small nod.
“She has your eyes.””
Evelyn covered her mouth.
“What happened to her?””
Sarah's gaze dropped.
“She disappeared.””
“When?””
“The day after I found her.””
Evelyn stepped closer.
“Who took her?””
Sarah's voice became a whisper.
“Dr. Whitaker.””
Marcus suddenly looked toward the ballroom entrance.
“Wait.””
A soft sound came from outside.
A woman's voice.
“That's not what happened.””
Everyone turned.
The woman from the darkness stood in the doorway.
No one had heard her enter.
She wore a black dress and carried a small handbag.
Evelyn stared at her.
She knew that face.
Not from photographs.
From somewhere much older.
The woman's eyes were fixed on Sarah.
“You never found Lena,” she said.
Sarah backed away.
“Yes, I did.””
The woman shook her head.
“You found the wrong girl.””
Evelyn's heart stopped.
“Who are you?””
The woman looked at her.
“My name is Claire Whitaker.””
Sarah whispered, “No…”
May you like
Claire smiled sadly.
“And Thomas was never the one who took the baby.””
