She didn’t notice.
My heart pounded as I stood up.
“See you later,” I said.
Anna smiled.
But her eyes watched me carefully.
Too carefully.
The second sample was harder.
That afternoon I returned early again.
“Forgot Lily’s water bottle,” I said.
Anna let me inside.
The children were playing again.
Including the other girl.
I knelt beside her.
“Hi,” I said softly.
She smiled shyly.
Up close, it was like looking at Lily’s reflection.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
“Emma,” she said quietly.
Emma.
I reached out and gently brushed something from her sleeve.
My fingers caught a loose strand of hair.
And I took it.
Anna noticed.
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
But she said nothing.
I left quickly.
Two days later, Daniel and I sat in a small genetics clinic.
The envelope lay on the table between us.
Neither of us touched it.
The technician looked uncomfortable.
“Would you like me to explain the results?”
I nodded slowly.
My heart pounded.
She opened the file.
“There were two comparisons done,” she said.
“First: between you and Lily.”
My breath caught.
“And?”
She looked down at the paper.
Then back at me.
“You are her biological mother.”
Relief hit me so suddenly I almost cried.
Lily was mine.
She was mine.
But the technician hadn’t finished.
“The second comparison was between the two children.”
The room went silent.
She slid the paper across the table.
“They are not half-sisters.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“What does that mean?”
The technician’s voice was calm but serious.
“It means they share both parents.”
My brain struggled to process the words.
Both parents.
Both.
“That’s impossible,” Daniel whispered.
The technician shook her head.
“No.”
She tapped the result line.
“They are identical twins.”
The room went completely still.
I felt my pulse roaring in my ears.
“Identical… twins?” I repeated.
“Yes.”
She looked at us carefully.
“Which means these two girls were born from the same pregnancy.”
My hands started shaking.
“But I only gave birth to one baby,” I said.
The technician nodded slowly.
“Then there are only two possibilities.”
My voice barely came out.
“What are they?”
She took a breath.
“Either the hospital made a catastrophic mistake…”
She paused.
“…or someone deliberately took one of the babies.”
The world tilted.
And suddenly, Anna’s nervous smile…
Her refusal to let Lily play with Emma…
The way she watched me so carefully…
All of it made sense.
One terrible, horrifying possibility formed in my mind.
“What if Anna didn’t just happen to run a daycare near us?” I whispered.
Daniel looked at me.
Fear filled his face.
“What are you saying?”
I swallowed hard.
“What if she has been watching us…”
“For four years.”
Because she knew something we didn’t.
That Lily wasn’t the only child I gave birth to that night.
