Once.
Twice.
Then she whispered:
“Oh my God.”
I stared at her.
“You’re Lucas’s mother?”
“Yes. Rachel Hayes.”
“Did you give birth to him?”
The question was too personal for a school office.
I did not care.
Rachel froze.
“No.”
That one word almost stopped my heart.
She looked at the principal.
“Can the boys wait somewhere else?”
Principal Warren immediately called a counselor.
Noah protested.
“Mom, what’s happening?”
I knelt in front of him.
“I don’t know yet.”
That was the truth.
“But I need to talk to Lucas’s mom privately.”
Noah looked at Lucas.
Then at me.
“Because he looks like me?”
“Yes.”
Noah became very quiet.
The boys left.
The moment the door closed, I turned to Rachel.
“How did you adopt him?”
She sat slowly.
“Why?”
“Because I gave birth to twins eight years ago.”
Rachel stopped breathing.
“One survived.”
My voice cracked.
