Hearing him call someone else that sent a strange ache through my chest.
The woman stepped into view behind him — and the moment she saw me, her expression changed.
Her eyes darted from my face to the boy… and then to his eyes.
And suddenly she looked terrified.
“I’m very sorry for your loss,” I managed to say politely. “Your son just reminded me of my boy.”
Jace smiled sympathetically.
“I’m really sorry to hear that.”
But the woman grabbed his arm.
“You need to leave,” she said quickly to me. “We’re very busy.”
Before I could say another word, she pulled him inside and slammed the door.
I stood there on the porch, trying to understand what had just happened.
Then I ran home.
Neil was sitting on the couch reading when I burst inside.
“You’re back already?” he asked.
I sat down beside him, breath shaking.
“The boy next door,” I said. “Neil… he looks exactly like Toby.”
Neil didn’t respond.
“The same hair. The same face. The same eyes,” I continued. “One blue, one brown. And he’s nineteen.”
Neil slowly closed his book.
And the look on his face made my stomach drop.
“I thought…” he whispered. “I thought this would stay buried forever.”
A chill ran through me.
“What are you talking about?”
He covered his face with his hands.
“I tried to protect you,” he said hoarsely. “But you deserve to know the truth.”
“What truth?”
His voice cracked.
“When Toby was born… he wasn’t alone.”
I froze.
“What do you mean?”
“He had a twin.”
The words hit me like a physical blow.
“You’re lying.”
“No.” Neil shook his head, tears streaming down his face. “You were unconscious after the delivery. You were bleeding badly. Doctors were trying to save you.”
My heart pounded.
“And the second baby?” I whispered.
“He couldn’t breathe properly. They rushed him to intensive care.”
I stared at him in horror.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I thought he was going to die,” Neil said. “A social worker came to talk about emergency adoption for critically ill newborns. They said sometimes it was kinder.”
“And you agreed?”
“I signed the papers without thinking. I was terrified. You were dying, the baby was dying… I couldn’t think straight.”
My hands shook.
“When I woke up,” I said slowly, “you told me only Toby survived.”
Neil nodded miserably.
“A week later the hospital called. The baby was still alive… but still fragile.”
“So you just erased him?” my voice broke.
“I thought I was protecting you,” he whispered. “If he died later, you would have had to lose a second child.”
I stood up slowly.
“The boy next door,” I said quietly.
Neil nodded.
“It has to be him.”
We walked to the neighbor’s house together.
This time I knocked harder.
The same woman opened the door.
The color drained from her face when she saw us.
“Did you adopt a baby boy from the hospital nineteen years ago?” I asked.
Behind her, Jace stepped into the hallway.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
Neil looked straight at him.
“When is your birthday?”
Jace answered.
It was the exact day Toby was born.
Another man appeared behind them.
He sighed heavily.
“We always knew this day might come.”
They invited us inside.
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