She carried him away anyway, Milo—no, Eli—calling softly behind them, “Don’t forget me.”
At home, her husband Daniel sensed something was wrong. Noah clung to him, pleading. “Dad, please help me find my brother.”
Daniel tried to soothe him, but that night Lauren pulled out old hospital papers. She read them again, eyes catching a faint note near the bottom.
“Twin pregnancy. Complications possible.”
Her stomach turned. She remembered Daniel’s mother signing papers while Lauren lay unconscious.
The next morning, Lauren said firmly, “We’re going back.”
They found Eli alone by the fountain. Noah ran to him, hugging him tight. Daniel froze when he saw the boy up close.
Lauren asked quietly, “When is your birthday?”
“Fireworks day,” Eli said. “Aunt Rosa heard cheering outside the hospital.”
Daniel whispered, “Noah was born New Year’s Eve.”
They went to a nearby hospital. A receptionist, Marlene Vega, searched old files and returned pale. “Someone altered this record. The initials match your mother-in-law’s.”
Daniel’s voice cracked. “Why?”
They confronted her at her adobe-style home. The woman’s smile collapsed when she saw Eli.