Replacement Baby by Mary Ann Smart

hate for you to waste your whole first day back in London on helping me.” She tried to sound concerned.
    “No, please, it wouldn’t be a waste,” he responded. “I enjoy spending time with you.”
    I guess I could let him come along. Hopefully he won’t slow me down.
    “Okay, then come.” Rose said sharply, turning around again to walk. “Do you know this address?” She read it to him and held out the paper to show him.
    “I know the general area,” he told her. “Come on, let’s take the Tube.”
    The pair walked down the quiet block where the Douglass family lived. They left the tranquil neighborhood and entered the busy streets of London. Cars honked and taxi cabs sped by. Droves of people walked past and trains clanked on their tracks. Lionel led the way to the nearest Tube station.
    They walked down what seemed like a million stairs to the station, where they purchased tickets. Then they waited by the tracks for the train to come.
    “So are you only looking for your mom, or other family members too? Aunts, uncles, cousins?” Lionel asked.
    “Just my mother right now.’
    “What about checking out the orphanage where you were before you were adopted?”
    “I don’t know anything about it,” Rose responded, shrugging.
    “Do you know who your father is?” Lionel asked.
    “Yes, but he’s dead,” Rose told him in a flat voice.
    “I’m very sorry,” Lionel apologized, sounding sincere. “I guess I shouldn’t have asked.”
    “It’s fine,” Rose told him.
    “Well, the stop we need for that address is Covent Garden,” Lionel told her.
    “How do you know London so well?” Rose asked. “I thought you were at Dartmouth for most of the time.”
    “I went to high school here in London for two years,” Lionel responded. “My parents have been here, assisting the U.S. ambassador, for five years. I’ve been over at Dartmouth for three.”
    “Ah, I see,” said Rose, smiling at him.
    “I just graduated, though,” Lionel told her. “I took extra classes so I could finish early. I’ll be heading to New York at the end of summer to take Julie back to school, but I’m not sure yet what I’ll do after that.”
    “And where does Julie go to school?” Rose asked. “I think she told me, where she goes, but I forgot.”
    “Sarah Lawrence,” Lionel answered.
    “That’s in New York, right?”
    “Yes, it sure is.”
    “Well, good for her. I want to go to college someday.”
    “And how about you? Have you always lived in Brooklyn?” Lionel looked at Rose intently.
    “Well, except for when I lived in London as a baby,” she responded.
    Lionel seemed embarrassed. “Yes, of course, that.”
    Rose laughed. “I guess you don’t know too many orphans, right?”
    “No, not so many,” Lionel responded bashfully. “But you aren’t an orphan, are you? Your mother is alive.” He paused. “I really hope you find her soon.”
    Rose smiled. “Thanks.”
    They walked in silence for a few minutes.
    “You sure are lucky to have parents like yours,” Rose noted.
    “Yeah, I sure do love them a ton,” Lionel responded. “They are great people.”
    “My adopted mother was always extremely cold to me when I was growing up,” Rose explained to him. “I guess it makes sense now, knowing now that I was adopted and not her blood-related daughter. I guess she never would accept me as her daughter. Not as her true, daughter.”
    “But I have friends who were adopted, and their parents are wonderful to them,” Lionel was quick to interject.
    ‘Well, lucky for them,” said Rose. “I wish I had had parents like that. I don’t know what went wrong with me.”
    “I’m sorry, Rose,” Lionel said. “I wasn’t trying to rub it in. It’s just that, I know not all adopted children are treated coldly.”
    “I know, it’s fine,” Rose said, walking ahead. She was eager to change the subject. “Race you up that hill!”
    She jolted forward, with Lionel scrambling at her heels. Within thirty