The Silver Tag Marked Baby #2

CHAPTER 2 - A NAME SHE BURIED

The airport seemed to tilt around Dana Brooks.

People kept moving. Wheels rolled. A boarding announcement echoed from somewhere above Gate 12. But all she could see was the silver tag hanging from the boy's neck.

BABY #2.

Eight years vanished in one breath.

Ryan moved closer to her and grabbed her hand. "Mom?"

The other boy flinched when she looked at him, as if he expected anger. Or worse, pity. Dana knelt anyway, though her legs felt weak.

"Who gave you that necklace?" she asked.

The boy swallowed. "Miss Elena. At the shelter." His voice was soft but careful, as if every word had to earn its place. "She said never take it off. She said if I ever found an airport called Logan, I should wait."

Boston Logan.

Dana shut her eyes for one second.

When she had opened them again, Ryan was staring at her with wounded disbelief. He had never seen her lie. Not openly. Not until now.

"Do you know him?" Ryan asked.

Dana could not answer that question the way a mother should.

Years ago, in a hospital room still full of blood and panic, she had been told one twin had died. She had held only one baby. One. She had named him Ryan and built her life around surviving that loss.

She looked at the second child again. The same nose as Ryan's father. The same left eyebrow that lifted a little higher than the right.

No mistake.

Before she could speak, a woman in a navy airport janitor's uniform hurried toward them. She was in her sixties, broad-shouldered, breathing hard.

"There you are, child," she said to the boy. Then she saw Dana's face and stopped. "Lord help us."

The boy looked up. "Miss Elena."

Dana rose slowly. "You know who he is."

Miss Elena's eyes sharpened. "I know who left him waiting for a mother who never came."

Ryan's hand slipped from Dana's.

Then Miss Elena reached into her cleaning cart bag and pulled out an old folded paper.

"It was pinned inside his blanket," she said. "And it has your name on it."