“Oh no,” she whispered.
Dr. Carter sat back down. He pressed both hands over his face and rubbed hard.
“This can’t be happening again.”
The air in the room felt different.
“Again?” Claire said, and her voice came out small and strange.
What Dr. Carter Explained — and What Lena Said That Made It Real
Dr. Carter exhaled. He looked at Claire with the expression of a man delivering something he had hoped he would never have to deliver.
“A few months ago, I delivered Lena’s baby. She was alone too. She named the same father.”
“No,” Claire said. “That’s not possible.”
Lena gave a short, broken sound that was not quite a laugh. There was nothing humorous in it.
“Mark told me I was the only one too,” she said.
Claire looked at her son. At his mismatched eyes, closed now in the particular peace of a newborn who doesn’t know yet what the world is like.
“Both children have the same condition,” Dr. Carter said carefully. “Heterochromia — different-colored eyes. It’s a genetic trait. It’s rare. When I saw your baby, I recognized it immediately because I’d seen it on Lena’s baby. And you gave me the same name.”
Claire looked at Lena.
“Mark is my husband,” she said. “How did you end up having his child?”
Lena’s hand flew to her mouth.
“You’re his wife?”
