The Homeless Boy with His Eyes

Chapter 1: The Boy by the Fountain

"Daddy, he looks like me!"

Sebastian Cole turned toward his daughter so quickly that the smile on his face disappeared. Lily stood by the fountain, pointing at a skinny little boy in oversized clothes. The boy looked dirty and tired, but what caught Sebastian first was not the dirt.

It was the face.

The child had the same pale skin, the same small chin, and the same deep-set blue eyes Lily had inherited from him. For one second, Sebastian thought his mind was playing tricks on him.

He crouched near the boy. "Hey. What's your name?"

The boy held a paper bag tightly against his chest. "Ethan."

Lily stepped closer. "I'm Lily. That's my dad."

The boy looked at Sebastian for a long moment. Then he reached into the bag and pulled out a worn black-and-white photograph. It showed a younger Sebastian holding a baby in a hospital blanket.

Sebastian's hand shook before he even took it.

That photo had disappeared seven years ago.

"Where did you get this?" he asked.

"My mom gave it to me."

"What is your mom's name?"

"Maria." Ethan swallowed. "She said if I ever met a man with blue eyes, I should ask if he's my dad."

Lily looked from Sebastian to Ethan. "Daddy?"

Sebastian felt the world go quiet. The fountain was still running. Cars were still moving. People were still passing. But all of it seemed far away.

He remembered the day the photo was taken. His wife Claire had just given birth. The doctors had placed one baby in his arms. A girl. Lily. They told him there had been complications, and that the second baby, a boy, had not survived.

He had believed them.

"You're my..." he began.

But the words would not come out.

Ethan stepped back, nervous. "Mom said maybe you'd know. She said if you didn't, I should just leave."

Sebastian grabbed the edge of the fountain to steady himself.

"Daddy, what's wrong?" Lily asked.

Sebastian knelt again. "Where is your mother now?"

Ethan's face changed. "She died last month."

The answer hit hard.

Lily quietly slipped her hand into Ethan's. The boy looked shocked, but did not pull away.

"Do you have anyone else?" Sebastian asked.

Ethan shook his head. "Just the shelter. Sometimes."

Sebastian looked at the two children side by side. The resemblance was impossible to ignore. The eyes. The brows. The mouth. Even the way they tilted their heads when confused.

Then Lily accidentally pushed up Ethan's sleeve.

Sebastian saw it immediately.

A small crescent-shaped birthmark near Ethan's wrist.

Lily had the exact same one on her shoulder.

Sebastian felt cold all over.

He looked at Ethan again, and this time he was no longer looking at a stranger.

He was looking at a question that could destroy everything he thought he knew.

"Come with me," he said quietly.

Ethan hesitated. "Why?"

Sebastian stared at him.

"Because if I'm right," he said, "you are not supposed to be standing here at all."