I turned to the other child.
He was watching me with cautious, careful eyes.
“What’s your name, honey?”
“Lucas,” he said quietly.
Even his voice sounded so similar to Noah’s.
“Lucas.” I tried to smile. “That’s a nice name. How old are you?”
“Seven.”
“How old are you?”
Seven… Same as Noah.
How was it possible for two children to be so alike?
I pressed my hands flat against my knees to keep them from shaking.
I told myself that coincidences happened.
I told myself there had to be an innocent explanation.
Then the office door clicked open behind me.
How was it possible for two children to be so alike?
I turned toward the sound.
A woman walked in.
She was in her mid-thirties and wore her dark hair pulled back.
She saw me and stopped dead.
Her jaw clenched and her eyes went wide.
She clearly knew exactly who I was and was caught off-guard by my presence.
I took a closer look at her, and that’s when it hit me.
She saw me and stopped dead.
I knew her from somewhere.
I searched my memories.
She stepped inside and turned away slightly to close the door.
When she turned back to look at the principal, I recognized her all at once.
She was a nurse.
She’d brought me medication three days after Noah was born.
I recognized her all at once.
She had smiled at me and said, “You have a beautiful boy. Not every woman is given the gift of having a child.”
It made me cry at the time.
