Chapter 3

My mom caught on instantly.

She threw her arms out toward my dad and looped them around his neck.

"Honey, I didn't do it on purpose."

"It's the middle of the night. I really didn't feel like drinking chicken soup."

"Val kept pushing me, and she's the one who knocked the soup over. I already said I was sorry!"

Sure enough, after that little display, the way my dad looked at Valerie changed on the spot.

"Val, if you knocked over the soup yourself, why did you say Zara splashed it on you?"

"You slandered Zara right in front of me on purpose. What are you really after?"

Valerie's face went white in an instant.

She waved her hands quickly.

"You've got it all wrong."

"I wasn't slandering Zara. It was probably just a misunderstanding."

"If Zara doesn't want the soup, that's fine. I'll clean it up!"

In no time she had swept the broken shards into the trash can.

But as she backed out of the room, the look she gave my mom was ice-cold.

I knew this wasn't over.

She'd definitely be waiting for her next chance.

Better to give her that chance and expose her than to keep guarding against her like this.

The next day, the smoke alarm in the maternity ward went off out of nowhere.

Valerie came rushing in with a hand over her mouth and nose, scooped me up, and grabbed my mom, trying to pull her outside.

"Zara, someone next door was smoking and set the whole hallway on fire. Come with me, hurry!"

Sure enough, the hallway was thick with smoke.

The alarm wouldn't stop. People were putting out the fire, moving the newborns out.

My mom panicked. "Where's my baby? Give her to me!"

Valerie said, "Your incision hasn't healed. Let me carry her for you!"

I hurried to calm my mom.

"Mommy, don't be scared. If she swaps me out, just swap me back."

My mom went calm at once.

On the way down the stairs, someone had spilled oil on the steps, and my mom slipped and fell.

Valerie helped her up and handed her off to a nurse.

"Zara, I'll get the baby somewhere safe first."

"Nurse, take care of Zara and get her downstairs right away!"

Half an hour later, the fire was out.

The nurses started taking count of the babies in the nursery.

ID bracelets, birth dates, blood types, parents' names.

Once everything checked out, they brought me over to my mom.

"Ms. Henson, this is your daughter!"

My mom looked at the baby girl in her arms and her first instinct was to push her away.

"This isn't..."

The words my daughter caught in her throat.

Because I called out to her from the crib next to her.

"Mommy, I'm over here!"

My mom's head turned toward me right away.

Once she'd confirmed my bed number and the code on my bracelet, she gave me a little nod.

While the nurse was checking the next baby, my mom switched me back at once.

Soaked from the sprinklers, Valerie came back in a fresh change of clothes.

Seeing me in my mom's arms, the corner of her mouth curled into a smug little smile.

"Zara, let me carry her for you!"

And with that, she took me from my mom's arms.

Her eyes darted back and forth between me and the baby girl beside us.

She thought her plan had worked.

She saw my mom back to her room.

Set me down in the crib.

And when my dad came in, she let out a deliberate little gasp.

"Oh, Zara, don't you think the baby looks a lot like your ex-boyfriend?"

Then she turned, pretended she'd only just noticed my dad standing in the doorway, and quickly clapped a hand over her mouth in shock.

"Sorry, sorry, I misspoke!"

"Maybe it's just some throwback to an earlier ancestor!"

"After all, Zara did date her ex for three years, so who knows, maybe she already..."

My dad's face went dark.

Anyone would feel sick hearing something like that.