The Silver Tag Marked Baby #2

CHAPTER 1 - THE BOY BY THE BENCH

"Wait... why do you look exactly like me?"

Ryan's voice cut through the airport noise.

A second earlier, he had been walking with that proud little stride children have when they know they look sharp. His pale blue three-piece suit fit him perfectly. His brown shoes clicked across the glossy marble floor. Behind him, his mother hurried to keep up, her gray dress moving around her knees, her pearl necklace catching the cold white light from the glass wall.

Then he saw the boy by the metal bench.

The child was his mirror.

Same round face. Same wide eyes. Same short black curls. But everything else was different. The other boy's pale yellow shirt was stained. His jeans were old. His sneakers were split at the toe. A scrape marked his cheek. He sat curled beside the bench as if he had learned to make himself small.

He stared up at Ryan with shaking lips.

"I thought I was the only one," he whispered.

Ryan's confidence vanished. He grabbed the edge of his jacket with both fists. For the first time in his eight years, he looked afraid of his own reflection.

Behind him came the sound of quick heels and a breathless cry.

"Ryan! Ryan, where are you?"

His mother reached them and stopped so hard her whole body locked. One hand flew to her pearls. The other stayed frozen in the air.

"Oh my God..."

Ryan turned to her, tears already spilling.

"Mom, why does he have my face?"

The boy on the floor looked from Ryan to the woman. His eyes filled, not with confusion, but with a hurt that seemed older than he was. Then, with dirty trembling fingers, he pulled open the collar of his shirt.

A silver chain slipped free.

A metal tag swung against his chest.

BABY #2.

And Ryan's mother made a sound like someone had struck her in the heart.

"His name isn't Ryan," she said.