Chapter 8 - THE BABY WHO BELONGED TO SOMEONE ELSE
Alexander Vale had spent eleven months loving Noah.
Feeding him.
Holding him.
Walking the nursery at three in the morning.
Learning the difference between hungry cries and frightened cries.
Now Victor Kane was claiming Noah wasn't his biological son.
Alexander stared at the message.
For a moment, the room seemed to disappear.
"No."
Daniel remained silent.
Alexander looked toward Noah.
The baby slept peacefully in a nearby hospital bassinet.
His tiny hand rested against his cheek.
Alexander remembered the first time he held him.
Sofia had been gone.
The doctors had told him she died.
And a nurse placed Noah in his arms.
"Your son."
Two words.
His entire world had changed.
Now someone was trying to take those words away.
Leah watched him.
"Sir?"
Alexander looked down.
"Yes?"
"Even if he's not your baby..."
She hesitated.
"He still knows you."
Alexander stopped breathing.
Leah continued.
"Maya isn't always nice to me."
A small smile touched his face.
"But she's still my sister."
He looked toward Noah.
The baby stirred.
Then opened his eyes.
Alexander approached.
Noah reached toward him.
That tiny movement nearly broke him.
Leah was right.
Whatever the truth about his birth, Noah knew him.
Trusted him.
Loved him in the simple way babies love the people who care for them.
Alexander gently lifted him.
"Hey, little man."
Noah relaxed against his chest.
Alexander closed his eyes.
"Nothing changes that."
Then he turned toward Daniel.
"We verify the records."
Daniel nodded.
"And no matter what they say, he's still my son."
The investigation uncovered irregularities in Noah's birth documents.
The maternity clinic had used multiple identification numbers.
Several records were altered.
And one medical file listed another infant born on the same day.
A baby boy.
Mother: Sofia Vale.
Father: Alexander Vale.
Alexander stared.
"What?"
Daniel looked grim.
"There may have been two infants."
His heart pounded.
"Twins?"
"Possibly."
Alexander looked toward Noah.
The baby in his arms.
Then toward the documents.
If Sofia had delivered two children, where was the other?
The records showed one infant transferred to a private facility.
The second assigned to Alexander.
But neither file clearly established which baby was which.
Alexander felt sick.
"Someone switched the babies."
Daniel shook his head.
"We don't know yet."
But the possibility was terrifying.
That afternoon, investigators contacted the clinic's former neonatal nurse.
Her name was Rebecca Sloan.
She agreed to provide a statement.
When Alexander spoke with her through his attorney, she began crying.
"I've been waiting for someone to ask."
His chest tightened.
"Ask what?"
"About the two babies."
Alexander stopped breathing.
"There were twins?"
Rebecca nodded.
"Yes."
"Both boys?"
"Yes."
"Where are they?"
She looked down.
"I don't know where the second child was taken."
Alexander swallowed.
"Was Noah one of them?"
Rebecca hesitated.
"Mr. Vale, the infant you raised was placed in your care after the clinic told you Sofia had died."
"Yes."
She nodded.
"But I remember something unusual."
"What?"
"There was a third baby in the nursery that night."
Alexander froze.
"A third?"
Rebecca began crying.
"An infant brought in under an emergency transfer."
"Whose baby?"
She shook her head.
"I never saw the mother's name."
May you like
Then she whispered:
"Victor ordered us to exchange the hospital bracelets before the children were released."
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