She offered a reassuring smile.
“He’s shaken up, but he’s alright.”
That helped…
Only a little.
My heels echoed loudly against the polished hallway floor as I walked toward the principal’s office.
The door stood slightly open.
I knocked once before pushing it wider.
And then…
Everything inside me stopped.
Noah was sitting quietly in a small wooden chair beside the wall.
His eyes were red from crying, and tear stains streaked both cheeks. He clutched the edge of his seat with tiny trembling fingers, looking smaller than I’d ever seen him.
“Mom…”
His voice cracked the moment he saw me.
I rushed toward him.
“Oh, sweetheart.”
I knelt beside him and wrapped my arms around his shoulders.
“Are you hurt?”
He shook his head.
“I didn’t start it.”
“I know.”
I stroked his hair.
“We’ll figure everything out.”
Then I looked toward the other child sitting beside him.
And the world tilted beneath my feet.
For several long seconds, my brain refused to process what my eyes were seeing.
The boy looked exactly like Noah.
Not just similar.
Not just enough to make someone do a double take.
Exactly.
The same thick dark hair.
The same warm brown eyes.
The same slightly crooked smile that appeared even when he looked nervous.
The same small gap between his front teeth.
Even the tiny scar above his left eyebrow…
The scar Noah had gotten after falling off his scooter when he was four.
My heartbeat thundered in my ears.
This wasn’t possible.
Children could resemble each other.
It happened all the time.
But this…
NEXT PAGE
