I thought I had rested for ten seconds.
It was closer to fifteen minutes.
When I opened them again, a nurse I hadn’t seen before entered carrying a bundled newborn.
“There she is.”
My heart leapt.
Caleb immediately stood.
The nurse smiled.
“Would you like to hold your daughter?”
His whole face softened.
“Yeah. I really would.”
She placed the baby carefully into his arms.
The blanket slipped slightly as Caleb adjusted her, exposing the top of one shoulder.
For one perfect second, he smiled down at her.
Then his expression changed.
His entire body became rigid.
“Caleb?”
He didn’t answer.
His face had gone pale.
The nurse noticed.
“Sir, are you feeling faint?”
Caleb stared at the baby.
“No.”
Something in his voice made the back of my neck go cold.
“What’s wrong?”
He slowly looked at me.
“No. That’s impossible.”
The nurse frowned.
“What is?”
Caleb lowered the blanket a little farther.
There was a reddish patch on the baby’s right shoulder.
He stared at it.
“The mark.”
I forced myself upright despite the pain.
“What about it?”
“This isn’t where it was.”
The nurse blinked.
“I’m sorry?”
“Our daughter had a dark birthmark on her left side near her collarbone.”
The nurse gave an uncertain smile.
“Newborn skin can change appearance. Redness can appear after delivery—”
“No.”
Caleb’s voice sharpened.
“This isn’t the same mark.”
Suddenly the hospital room felt too bright.
“Caleb,” I said, “tell me exactly what you saw.”
He turned toward me.
“Dark oval. Left side. Right near her collarbone. I told you it looked like a thumbprint.”
I remembered.
Of course I remembered.
The first nurse had even confirmed it.
I looked at the woman standing beside him.
“You weren’t in the delivery room.”
“No.”
“Who was?”
“I can get your delivery nurse.”
Caleb looked down at the identification band around the baby’s ankle.
“Check this first.”
She did.
My name was there.
So was Caleb’s.
The hospital number matched.
Everything on the band said the baby was ours.
I expected Caleb to relax.
Instead, he looked even more frightened.
“The band says she belongs to you,” the nurse said carefully.
Caleb shook his head.
“I know what I saw.”
I held out my arms.
“Give her to me.”
He placed the baby against my chest.
She was tiny and warm and completely asleep despite the tension surrounding her.
That somehow made everything worse.
She wasn’t evidence.
She wasn’t a mistake.
She was somebody’s baby.
“Call the charge nurse.”
The nurse hesitated.
“Just so we can straighten everything out—”
“Now.”
She left.
Caleb began pacing.
“What if I’m wrong?”
I looked down at the baby.
“I hope you are.”
“I stared directly at that mark.”
“I know.”
“The nurse saw it too.”
“I know.”
The baby made a small squeaking sound and tucked her chin against my chest.
A terrible thought entered my mind.
What if this wasn’t my daughter?
And then I hated myself for being afraid to hold her too closely.
A few minutes later, the charge nurse arrived with the nurse who had been present during the delivery.
The charge nurse introduced herself as Denise.
“Tell me exactly what happened.”
Caleb described the birthmark and where he had seen it.
Denise turned to the delivery nurse.
