PART 4 \u2014 THE BABIES WHO WENT HOME WITH THE WRONG FAMILIES
\n“The hospital made the same mistake twice.”
\nFor several seconds, nobody moved.
\nDaniel stared at Emily.
\nI stared at Daniel.
\nAnd my three-week-old daughter slept against my chest as if the world around her wasn’t collapsing.
\n“What mistake?” I whispered.
\nEmily looked frightened.
\n“I don’t know.”
\nDaniel crouched in front of her.
\n“Sweetheart, exactly what did Grandpa say?”
\n“He said Grandma found out.”
\n“Found out WHAT?”
\nEmily’s lower lip trembled.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“He said you’d understand when you saw the bracelet.”
\nDaniel froze.
\n“What bracelet?”
\nEmily reached into her pocket again.
\nThis time, she pulled out a tiny plastic hospital identification band.
\nOld.
\nYellowed.
\nAlmost cracked in half.
\nDaniel took it from her.
\nI watched his eyes move across the faded writing.
\nThen his knees seemed to weaken.
\nHe sat down hard on the bottom stair.
\n“What does it say?”
\nHe didn’t answer.
\nI grabbed it.
\nThe print was difficult to read, but one name was still visible.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
BABY GIRL CARTER.
\nUnderneath it was a date.
\nApril 1991.
\nRebecca’s birthday.
\nAnd below that was a number.
\nDaniel whispered:
\n“Look at the photograph.”
\n“What?”
\n“The picture Emily gave you.”
\nI turned it over.
\nOn the back, beside Rebecca’s name, someone had written another number in blue ink.
\nIt matched the hospital bracelet.
\n“So?”
\nDaniel looked terrified.
\n“My father kept records.”
\n“Records of what?”
\nBefore he could answer, headlights swept across our living room.
\nA car had stopped outside.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Daniel jumped up.
\n“Take Emily upstairs.”
\n“Who is that?”
\n“I don’t know.”
\nThen we heard a car door slam.
\nEmily grabbed Daniel’s arm.
\n“Grandma.”
\nI looked through the window.
\nMy MIL was marching toward the house.
\nShe wasn’t alone.
\nA tall gray-haired man was walking behind her.
\nDaniel stopped breathing.
\n“Dad.”
\nI’d seen photographs of Daniel’s father.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I’d stood beside an empty coffin believing he was inside.
\nI’d watched my husband grieve him.
\nAnd now he was walking toward our front door.
\nAlive.
\nMy MIL reached the porch first.
\nShe didn’t knock.
\nShe tried her emergency key.
\nBut I’d left my key in the inside lock.
\nThe door wouldn’t open.
\n“Daniel!” she shouted. “Open this door.”
\nDaniel didn’t move.
\nHis father stepped beside her.
\n“Margaret, enough.”
\nMy MIL spun toward him.
\n“You stay out of this.”
\n“I stayed out of it for eleven years.”
\n“And you should’ve stayed gone.”
\nDaniel opened the door.
\nHis mother pushed inside.
\nThe gray-haired man followed.
\nFor a moment, father and son simply stared at each other.
\nDaniel’s voice cracked.
\n“You let me think you were dead.”
\nHis father nodded slowly.
\n“I’m sorry.”
\n“Eleven years.”
\n“I know.”
\n“I carried your coffin.”
\n“I know.”
\n“You watched your own son bury you?”
\nHis father’s eyes filled with tears.
\n“I thought disappearing was the only way to keep you safe.”
\n“Safe from WHAT?”
\nMy MIL snapped:
\n“Don’t listen to him.”
\nDaniel turned toward her.
\n“Mom, shut up.”
\nShe actually flinched.
\nI’d never heard him speak to her that way.
\nHe held up Rebecca’s hospital bracelet.
\n“Is she my sister?”
\nMy MIL stared at it.
\nHer face changed.
\nNot surprise.
\nRecognition.
\nDaniel saw it too.
\n“Oh my God.”
\n“Daniel\u2014”
\n“IS REBECCA MY SISTER?”
\nHis father answered.
\n“Yes.”
\nThe word landed like a bomb.
\nEmily stared between the adults, confused.
\nI pulled her closer to me.
\nDaniel looked physically sick.
\n“Then Emily…”
\n“Isn’t your daughter,” his father said.
\nDaniel stumbled backward.
\n“No.”
\n“I’m sorry.”
\n“NO.”
\nHe grabbed the wall.
\n“I had a DNA test.”
\nMy MIL closed her eyes.
\nThat tiny movement told me everything.
\nDaniel saw it.
\n“You knew.”
\n“Daniel, listen\u2014”
\n“YOU KNEW?”
\nHis father pointed at her.
\n“She changed the results.”
\nMy mouth fell open.
\nDaniel stared at his mother.
\n“How?”
\n“I was trying to protect this family.”
\n“HOW?”
\nShe finally broke.
\n“I paid someone at the lab.”
\nDaniel looked like she’d struck him.
\nFor seven years, he’d believed Emily was his child.
\nHe’d secretly visited her.
\nSupported her.
\nLoved her.
\nBuilt an entire hidden second life around a lie.
\n“Why?” he whispered.
\nMy MIL’s voice shook.
\n“Because Rebecca was going to expose everything.”
\n“What everything?”
\n“The affair. Your father. The hospital. All of it.”
\nDaniel’s father stepped forward.
\n“Tell him the whole truth, Margaret.”
\n“Don’t.”
\n“You’ve controlled this long enough.”
\n“YOU left!”
\n“Because you threatened Rebecca!”
\nMy MIL’s face twisted.
\n“I was protecting Daniel!”
\n“No,” his father said. “You were protecting yourself.”
\nI couldn’t take it anymore.
\n“Someone needs to tell me what the hospital has to do with MY BABY.”
\nEveryone went silent.
\nMy daughter stirred in my arms.
\nMy MIL looked at her.
\nAnd I immediately stepped backward.
\n“Don’t look at her.”
\n“Claire\u2014”
\n“Rebecca warned me about you. You put a tracker in my diaper bag. You canceled our daycare behind my back. Now you’re talking about hospital mistakes.”
\n“I didn’t put that tracker there.”
\nI laughed.
\n“Sure.”
\n“I’m serious.”
\n“Then who did?”
\nDaniel’s father raised his hand.
\n“I did.”
\nWe all turned toward him.
\n“You?”
\n“I needed to know where the baby was.”
\nMy arms tightened around my daughter.
\n“That does NOT make me feel better.”
\n“I know.”
\n“Why were you tracking us?”
\n“Because three weeks ago, I received a phone call from someone I hadn’t spoken to in thirty-five years.”
\n“Who?”
\n“A retired maternity nurse.”
\nThe room went silent.
\nHe continued.
\n“She worked at St. Catherine’s Hospital in 1991.”
\nRebecca’s hospital.
\nMy MIL whispered:
\n“Arthur, don’t.”
\nSo that was his name.
\nArthur ignored her.
\n“She called because she’d seen Daniel’s name in a local birth announcement.”
\nI looked at Daniel.
\n“You posted about our daughter?”
\nHe nodded.
\n“My company newsletter did too.”
\nArthur continued.
\n“The nurse recognized our family name.”
\n“And?”
\n“She told me there had been another discrepancy.”
\nThat word made my skin crawl.
\n“What kind of discrepancy?”
\nArthur looked at my baby.
\n“Two newborn identification numbers that didn’t match the discharge records.”
\nI stopped breathing.
\nDaniel said:
\n“Claire…”
\n“No.”
\nI backed away.
\n“No one is touching my daughter.”
\n“No one wants to take her,” Arthur said.
\n“Then explain what you’re saying.”
\nHe swallowed.
\n“In 1991, two baby girls were accidentally switched during an emergency evacuation of the maternity ward.”
\nRebecca.
\nI looked at the bracelet in Daniel’s hand.
\n“Rebecca was one of them?”
\n“Yes.”
\n“Who was the other?”
\nArthur looked at my MIL.
\nShe stared at the floor.
\n“Margaret’s daughter.”
\nI frowned.
\n“Margaret doesn’t have a daughter.”
\nArthur’s eyes filled with sadness.
\n“She did.”
\nDaniel whispered:
\n“What?”
\nMy MIL sank onto the couch.
\n“I gave birth to a little girl.”
\nDaniel stared at her.
\n“You told me your first baby died.”
\n“That’s what I believed.”
\nArthur shook his head.
\n“No. That’s what the hospital told us.”
\nMy mind raced.
\n“So Rebecca…”
\nArthur nodded.
\n“Rebecca was biologically ours.”
\n“And the baby you thought died?”
\n“Went home with the Carter family.”
\nDaniel covered his mouth.
\n“Rebecca’s parents.”
\n“Yes.”
\nThe entire nightmare suddenly had a shape.
\nTwo babies.
\nTwo families.
\nOne hospital mistake.
\nA secret discovered decades later.
\nBut something still didn’t make sense.
\n“If Rebecca is your daughter, why hide it?”
\nMy MIL looked at me.
\n“Because by the time we found out, Rebecca was twenty-seven.”
\nDaniel’s face changed.
\nTwenty-seven.
\nAround the time he and Rebecca had slept together.
\nMy stomach turned.
\n“Did they know?”
\n“No,” Arthur said immediately. “Neither of them knew.”
\nDaniel looked like he might vomit.
\n“So Rebecca really IS my sister.”
\n“Biologically, yes.”
\n“And I…”
\nHe couldn’t finish.
\nArthur stepped toward him.
\n“You didn’t know.”
\nDaniel pushed him away.
\n“Don’t touch me.”
\nEmily started crying.
\n“Daddy?”
\nThat one word broke something in Daniel.
\nHe looked at the little girl he’d loved as his daughter for seven years.
\nThen he dropped to his knees and pulled her into his arms.
\n“I don’t care what a piece of paper says,” he whispered. “I’m still here.”
\nEmily wrapped her arms around his neck.
\n“You’re still my daddy?”
\nDaniel sobbed.
\n“If you want me to be.”
\nShe nodded against his shoulder.
\nI had to look away.
\nI was furious with him.
\nBut watching his heart break was almost unbearable.
\nThen I remembered something.
\n“Wait.”
\nEveryone looked at me.
\n“You said the hospital made the same mistake twice.”
\nArthur nodded.
\nMy mouth went dry.
\n“What happened three weeks ago?”
\nNo one answered.
\nI looked at my MIL.
\n“You knew.”
\nHer eyes filled with tears.
\n“Claire…”
\n“You knew something about my daughter’s birth.”
\n“I wasn’t sure.”
\n“Then why cancel daycare?”
\n“Because I needed time.”
\n“Time for WHAT?”
\n“To find out.”
\n“Find out WHAT?”
\nShe looked at Daniel.
\nThen at Arthur.
\nFinally, she whispered:
\n“Whether the baby you brought home is actually yours.”
\nThe room disappeared around me.
\nI heard Daniel say my name.
\nBut it sounded far away.
\nI looked down at the tiny face against my chest.
\nMy daughter’s nose.
\nHer tiny lips.
\nThe little crease between her eyebrows when she slept.
\n“You’re lying.”
\n“I wish I were.”
\n“She’s my daughter.”
\n“I didn’t say she wasn’t.”
\n“You literally just did.”
\n“Claire, there were two babies born within eleven minutes that night.”
\nI felt sick.
\n“What does that mean?”
\n“Your daughter and another baby had nearly identical surnames.”
\n“No.”
\n“Claire\u2014”
\n“NO.”
\nArthur stepped forward.
\n“The retired nurse noticed a correction in the electronic discharge record. One identification number was manually changed.”
\n“By who?”
\n“We don’t know.”
\nI stared at my MIL.
\n“Is THAT why you wanted to watch her?”
\nShe nodded.
\n“I wanted to get a DNA sample without frightening you.”
\nRage exploded through me.
\n“You were going to DNA TEST MY CHILD BEHIND MY BACK?”
\n“I needed certainty.”
\n“You needed to stay out of my family!”
\n“I was trying to spare you what happened to us.”
\n“No. You were doing what you always do. Deciding what everyone else deserves to know.”
\nMy MIL looked like I’d slapped her.
\nGood.
\nBecause it was true.
\nShe’d paid Rebecca.
\nShe’d helped fake Arthur’s death.
\nShe’d altered Daniel’s DNA test.
\nShe’d spent decades controlling people in the name of protecting them.
\nAnd now she’d tried to do it to me.
\nI turned to Daniel.
\n“Did you know about this?”
\n“No.”
\n“Did you know your mother planned to test the baby?”
\n“No.”
\n“Did you cancel daycare because she asked you to?”
\nHis silence answered.
\nI laughed bitterly.
\n“Of course.”
\n“Claire, I thought she was trying to help.”
\n“That’s your problem, Daniel. You ALWAYS think she’s trying to help.”
\nMy phone rang.
\nEveryone jumped.
\nUNKNOWN NUMBER.
\nThe same number that had sent Rebecca’s message.
\nI answered.
\n“Hello?”
\nFor two seconds, nothing.
\nThen a weak woman’s voice whispered:
\n“Claire?”
\nI looked at Daniel.
\n“Rebecca?”
\nDaniel rushed toward me.
\nRebecca coughed.
\n“I’m sorry.”
\n“You’re awake?”
\n“Yes.”
\nDaniel reached for the phone.
\nI moved away.
\n“Did you send me those messages?”
\n“Yes.”
\n“How?”
\n“I woke up for a few minutes earlier. Emily gave me her tablet.”
\nSo Rebecca had really warned me.
\n“Why did you tell me not to let Margaret take my baby?”
\nRebecca went quiet.
\n“Because she came to my hospital room yesterday.”
\nMy MIL stood.
\n“What?”
\nRebecca continued.
\n“She thought I was unconscious.”
\n“What did she say?”
\n“She was talking to someone on the phone.”
\nMy MIL’s face went pale.
\n“Rebecca\u2014”
\nI put the call on speaker.
\n“What did she say?”
\nRebecca’s voice trembled.
\n“She said, ‘I fixed it once. I can fix it again.'”
\nEveryone looked at my MIL.
\nShe shook her head violently.
\n“That’s not what I meant.”
\nRebecca continued.
\n“Then she said something about Claire’s baby.”
\nMy heart stopped.
\n“What?”
\n“I couldn’t hear all of it.”
\n“Try.”
\nThere was a pause.
\nThen Rebecca whispered:
\n“She said the DNA test could never happen.”
\nI stared at my MIL.
\n“Why?”
\nMy MIL started crying.
\n“Because I already knew.”
\nDaniel stood.
\n“Knew WHAT?”
\nHis mother covered her face.
\nArthur whispered:
\n“Margaret…”
\n“I couldn’t let it happen again.”
\nShe was sobbing now.
\nI stepped toward her.
\n“What did you know?”
\nShe slowly lowered her hands.
\n“The hospital didn’t make another mistake.”
\nSilence.
\n“What?”
\n“The records weren’t accidentally changed.”
\nArthur stared at her.
\n“How would you know that?”
\nMy MIL looked at him.
\nThen she said:
\n“Because I changed them.”
\nMy entire body went numb.
\nDaniel whispered:
\n“Mom…”
\nShe looked at me.
\n“I was there the night your daughter was born.”
\n“I know. You visited.”
\n“No.”
\nHer voice cracked.
\n“I mean I was there BEFORE Daniel called me.”
\nI stopped breathing.
\n“What were you doing there?”
\nShe didn’t answer.
\n“WHAT DID YOU DO?”
\n“I thought I was fixing everything.”
\nDaniel stepped between us.
\n“Fixing what?”
\nShe looked at my baby.
\nI backed away.
\n“Don’t look at her.”
\n“Claire, please understand. When I found out what happened in 1991, it destroyed our family. Arthur disappeared. Rebecca hated me. Daniel nearly lost everything.”
\n“So?”
\n“So when I discovered what had happened at the hospital the night your baby was born…”
\nShe couldn’t finish.
\n“What happened?”
\nHer lips trembled.
\n“There wasn’t a mix-up.”
\n“Then what?”
\n“There was another woman.”
\nMy heart pounded.
\n“What woman?”
\n“Someone Daniel knew.”
\nI turned toward my husband.
\nHe looked genuinely confused.
\n“Who?”
\nMy MIL whispered a name.
\n“Rachel Monroe.”
\nDaniel went white.
\nI’d never heard the name.
\nBut his reaction told me he had.
\n“Who is Rachel?”
\nDaniel didn’t answer.
\n“WHO IS SHE?”
\n“My ex-girlfriend.”
\nMy stomach dropped.
\n“From when?”
\n“College.”
\n“Why was your college girlfriend at the hospital when I gave birth?”
\n“I don’t know.”
\nMy MIL interrupted.
\n“Because she was giving birth too.”
\nDaniel stared at her.
\n“What?”
\n“Same night. Same floor.”
\nI felt the room tilt.
\nMy MIL continued.
\n“And when I saw the name on her baby’s chart, I realized something was wrong.”
\n“What name?”
\nShe looked directly at Daniel.
\n“Daniel Harris.”
\nNobody spoke.
\nDaniel’s mouth opened.
\nNothing came out.
\nI could barely breathe.
\n“Why would his name be on her baby’s chart?”
\nMy MIL started crying harder.
\n“Because Rachel listed Daniel as the father.”
\nThe words hit me like a physical blow.
\nI looked at my husband.
\nHe shook his head immediately.
\n“No. Absolutely not.”
\n“Did you sleep with her?”
\n“Not since college.”
\n“Are you SURE?”
\n“Claire, yes!”
\nMy MIL whispered:
\n“Rachel claimed the baby was conceived from an embryo.”
\nWe all stared at her.
\n“What embryo?” Daniel asked.
\nShe looked at him.
\n“One you didn’t know still existed.”
\nDaniel slowly sat down.
\nYears earlier, before we’d even met, Daniel had undergone fertility preservation before a medical treatment.
\nHe’d told me about it.
\nHe’d also told me the samples had been destroyed.
\nApparently, that was another thing that might not have been true.
\nI felt like I was drowning.
\n“So Rachel gave birth to Daniel’s biological child?”
\n“We don’t know,” Arthur said.
\nMy MIL shook her head.
\n“I know.”
\n“How?”
\nShe looked at me.
\n“Because I had the hospital run a test.”
\nMy stomach twisted.
\n“And?”
\nShe didn’t answer.
\nDaniel shouted:
\n“MOM!”
\nShe flinched.
\n“The baby was his.”
\nSilence.
\nI couldn’t even look at Daniel.
\nThen the worst thought arrived.
\n“If Rachel’s baby was Daniel’s…”
\nI looked down at the child in my arms.
\n“…what does that have to do with MY daughter?”
\nMy MIL stared at me.
\n“Because Rachel died during delivery.”
\nI covered my mouth.
\n“And her baby?”
\n“Healthy.”
\n“Then WHERE is that baby?”
\nMy MIL’s face crumpled.
\nThat’s when I knew.
\nBefore she said anything.
\nBefore anyone moved.
\nI knew.
\n“No.”
\n“Claire\u2014”
\n“NO.”
\nI backed toward the stairs.
\nDaniel stared at his mother in horror.
\n“What did you do?”
\nShe whispered:
\n“I couldn’t let another secret child destroy your marriage.”
\nDaniel’s voice broke.
\n“What did you DO?”
\nMy MIL looked directly at me.
\n“When both babies were taken to the nursery…”
\nI screamed.
\n“STOP.”
\nBut she kept going.
\n“I changed the identification records.”
\nMy knees buckled.
\nDaniel caught me before I fell.
\nI shoved him away.
\n“Which baby did I bring home?”
\nMy MIL sobbed.
\n“I don’t know anymore.”
\nThe room went completely silent.
\n“You WHAT?”
\n“There was an emergency. Rachel crashed. Nurses were running everywhere. I changed the numbers in the system, but someone moved the bassinets afterward.”
\nMy chest tightened until I could barely breathe.
\n“So you don’t know whether this is my baby…”
\nI looked down at the newborn in my arms.
\n“…or Rachel’s?”
\nMy MIL covered her mouth.
\n“No.”
\nDaniel looked like he was going to collapse.
\nThen Rebecca’s voice came through the speaker.
\n“Claire.”
\nI’d forgotten she was still on the phone.
\n“What?”
\n“There’s a way to know.”
\nI could barely speak.
\n“DNA.”
\n“Yes. But you need to do it somewhere Margaret can’t interfere.”
\nMy MIL cried:
\n“I wouldn’t!”
\nEvery person in the room looked at her.
\nShe stopped talking.
\nRebecca continued.
\n“And Claire…”
\n“What?”
\n“If your baby was switched, then your biological daughter is still alive.”
\nMy heart stopped.
\n“How do you know?”
\n“Because Rachel’s baby didn’t leave the hospital with anyone else.”
\n“What does that mean?”
\nRebecca took a shaky breath.
\n“It means another woman took a newborn home that night.”
\nI frowned.
\n“What woman?”
\n“Rachel’s sister.”
\nMy MIL suddenly stood.
\n“No.”
\nRebecca’s voice sharpened.
\n“Tell her, Margaret.”
\n“Rebecca, don’t.”
\n“TELL HER.”
\nI stared at my MIL.
\n“Who took the other baby?”
\nHer face went white.
\nThen she whispered:
\n“Rachel’s sister, Nicole.”
\n“Where does she live?”
\nNo answer.
\n“WHERE?”
\nArthur stepped forward.
\n“I know.”
\nEveryone turned.
\nHe pulled a folded piece of paper from his jacket.
\n“I’ve known for two weeks.”
\nI snatched it from him.
\nThere was an address.
\nOnly forty minutes away.
\nMy daughter began waking in my arms.
\nHer tiny fingers wrapped around mine.
\nI looked at her and felt my heart splitting in two.
\nBecause whatever a DNA test said, I loved this child.
\nShe was the baby I’d carried through sleepless nights.
\nThe baby whose breathing I’d checked twenty times an hour.
\nThe baby I’d kissed before I even opened my eyes in the morning.
\nBut somewhere, forty minutes away, there might be another newborn.
\nMy biological daughter.
\nDaniel reached for my hand.
\nI pulled away.
\n“We’re getting a DNA test.”
\nHe nodded.
\n“And then we’re going to that address.”
\nAnother nod.
\nMy MIL stepped toward me.
\n“Claire, please.”
\nI turned on her.
\n“You are never touching either child again until I know exactly what you’ve done.”
\nShe stopped.
\nFor once, Margaret had nothing to say.
\nThen someone pounded on the front door.
\nNot knocked.
\nPOUNDED.
\nDaniel moved toward it.
\n“Don’t,” Arthur said.
\nThe pounding came again.
\nThen a woman’s voice screamed from outside.
\n“OPEN THE DOOR!”
\nI looked at Arthur.
\n“Who is that?”
\nHis face drained of color.
\nDaniel looked through the peephole.
\nThen he stumbled backward.
\n“What?”
\nHe stared at his mother.
\n“Mom… you said Rachel died.”
\nMargaret didn’t move.
\nThe woman outside screamed again.
\n“DANIEL!”
\nHe slowly opened the door.
\nA woman stood on the porch wearing hospital scrubs beneath a long coat.
\nHer face was streaked with tears.
\nShe looked exhausted.
\nTerrified.
\nAnd furious.
\nShe stared past Daniel.
\nStraight at the baby in my arms.
\nThen she whispered:
\n“Oh my God.”
\nI instinctively stepped back.
\n“Who are you?”
\nThe woman looked at me.
\n“My name is Rachel Monroe.”
\nDaniel grabbed the doorframe.
\nMargaret made a sound like she couldn’t breathe.
\nI stared at the woman who was supposedly dead.
\nRachel took one step into the house.
\nHer eyes never left my daughter.
\n“Please,” she whispered. “I need to see her.”
\n“No.”
\n“Please.”
\n“Why?”
\nTears rolled down Rachel’s face.
\n“Because that’s my baby.”
\nMy entire body turned cold.
\nThen Rachel looked at Margaret.
\n“But that’s not the worst thing she lied to you about.”
\nMargaret whispered:
\n“Rachel, don’t.”
\nRachel reached into her coat and pulled out a sealed laboratory envelope.
\nShe held it toward me.
\n“I had DNA testing done before I left the hospital.”
\nMy hands shook as I took it.
\n“What does it say?”
\nRachel looked at Daniel.
\nThen at me.
\nAnd finally at the newborn sleeping against my chest.
\n“It says Daniel isn’t her father.”
\nDaniel stopped breathing.
\nI stared at Rachel.
\n“Then whose baby is she?”
\nRachel’s expression crumpled.
\n“Open the envelope.”
\nI tore it open.
\nThere were two pages.
\nThe first contained the baby’s DNA results.
\nThe second listed the biological parent match.
\nI found the father’s name first.
\nAnd when I read it, I thought there had to be some mistake.
\nBecause the name wasn’t Daniel’s.
\nIt was:
\nARTHUR HARRIS.
\nDaniel’s father.
\nThe supposedly dead man standing ten feet away from me.
\nMy hands went numb.
\nBut then I saw the line underneath.
\nMATERNAL MATCH.
\nMy eyes moved to the name.
\nAnd the scream that came out of me woke the baby.
\nBecause according to the DNA report, the child’s biological mother wasn’t Rachel.
\nIt wasn’t me.
\nIt was:
\nREBECCA CARTER…………………..<\/p>\n
PART 4 \u2014 THE BABIES WHO WENT HOME WITH THE WRONG FAMILIES “The hospital made the same mistake twice.” For several seconds, nobody moved. Daniel stared at Emily. I stared … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5199,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/echostoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/echostoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/echostoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echostoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echostoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6991"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/echostoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6991\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6994,"href":"https:\/\/echostoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6991\/revisions\/6994"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echostoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/echostoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echostoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echostoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}