Switched At Birth
Chapter 1
This could not be happening.
The thought raced through Logan Knight's head as his pale hands gripped the rusty old sheet of paper. His brown eyes were glued onto it, his heart pumping fast.
It was a Friday afternoon. Logan had gone to volunteer at the Children's Hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota, where his mom worked as a nurse.
Ever since he was about 5 years, after an incident that he tried not to ever mention again, Logan had wanted to be a doctor. He wanted to help people feel better, even save lives. How better to learn than to volunteer in one of Minnesota's most well-known hospitals?
He had been working for about 40 minutes, pushing around carts and helping with small errands, when luck, or fate, led him to bump into a nurse walking down the hall. Papers spilled out of the woman's hands.
"I'm so sorry! Here, let me pick those up for you!" Logan said hurriedly. The nurse smiled at him gratefully when he handed her the dropped papers. Logan paused for a moment when one of the documents caught his eye.
It was the birth certificate of a newborn baby. The nurse caught him staring at it and smiled. "That's the birth certificate of a baby that was just born a few hours ago. We keep all the kids' certificates in the hospital." She explained.
"Oh, that's neat." Logan replied honestly. He himself had also been born here, about 17 years ago. He made a mental note to ask if he could see his birth certificate later on in the day.
At the end of his shift, Logan approached his "boss", Doctor Arthur Griffin, and asked him if he could see his certificate. "Of course. I'm glad you're so interested to learn about your birth." Dr. Griffin had replied.
Logan followed the man into a room full of files and cabinets. He pulled out a manilla envelope from the sea of all the rest, and took out a sheet of paper. "Here you go. Logan Hortense Knight."
Logan glanced at it, reading it over. Born September 23th. Gender: male. Hair color: blonde.
Logan froze, blinking once, twice, to see if he had read that right. Blonde hair? He didn't have blonde hair; his hair was certainly brown and not blonde. The boy turned to Dr Griffin. "Uh, my hair color's wrong on this thing."
Dr. Griffin squinted to read the type. "Oh. That's strange. There could be a typing error, as have occurred many times in the past. But perhaps your hair started out blonde, and then turned brown as you grew older. We don't usually bother to make those types of changes." Logan nodded, accepting this explanation as valid. His mother had mentioned his hair not being brown when he was younger, now that he thought about it.
He kept on reading. Weight: 6 pounds 3 ounces. Eye color: green.
He shook his head. That was so weird. His eyes had always been brown. Eyes don't change color, do they? Dr. Griffin narrowed his eyes, too, having looked over Logan's shoulder. "That's strange. I've never heard of two errors being made on someone's birth certificates. Maybe we should check this out."
So Dr. Griffin had went to some sort of prominent figure in the hospital, who had looked through his computer files for 10 minutes, and then they told Logan.
"Wow. This is unbelievable." The prominent man had muttered to himself.
"What? What's wrong?" Logan asked, almost frantically.
The man looked at him. "I'm sorry, Logan, but I'm afraid when you were still in the infirmary after your birth, a nurse switched you and another boy. You belong to someone else."
So now Logan's heart was still beating rapidly, and he felt like he was in a dream. It was like a... it was like reading a novel. He had been switched at birth?
This could not be happening.
"Logan? Are you okay?" Dr. Griffin asked softly. Logan shook his head, his breathing getting harder and faster.
"I-I was switched? With whom?" He inquired, afraid that he may actually know whoever he had been switched with.
But the thing that scared Logan the most was not that, it was that all this meant that his mom wasn't his mom, his house wasn't his house, his little brother Carlos wasn't his actual little brother.
His name wasn't even his real name. Nothing was actually his; they all were supposed to belong to someone else?
The doctor typed something into the computer. "His name is Kendall Mitchell."
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"Rough practice today, huh?" Kendall Mitchell muttered as he stuffed his hockey gear and equipment into his duffel bag.
His best friend and hockey buddy, James Diamond, let out a dramatic sigh. "Rough? That was genocide out there, man!" Kendall rolled his eyes at James's over exaggeration. But he was kind of right. Coach Rocque was clearly trying to kill them.
"Well, I guess he's gotta be hard on us. Regionals is in a month, dude." Kendall pointed out. It was true. This year, Kendall was determined to lead Palm Woods High School to State finals. He was the captain of the varsity hockey team, and he was only a junior, so people expected him to be good.
And he was.
"Yeah. I guess." James muttered, rubbing his arms tiredly.
Kendall turned to look at him. "Hey, you wanna hang out at my house today? My mom can pick you up."
James shrugged. "Sure. I just gotta text my mom first."
Kendall's phone suddenly rang as he zipped his bag shut. He checked the Caller I.D. It was his mom. "Hey mom, I'll be out in a second. Can James come home with us?"
"Uh, sweetie, I'm afraid not. I have some... news." His mom admitted grimly. Kendall was confused.
"What is it, mom?"
"Sweetie, the hospital just called." Kendall froze. Had something happened to his father, or to Katie, his twin sister?
"Nobody's hurt. But I'm afraid... I really hate to tell you this on the phone, but it's an emergency... Sweetie, when you were born, a nurse accidentally switched you and another baby boy. You're not my biological son, honey."
Kendall felt like he couldn't breathe. "Wh-what?" He felt James pulling at his shoulder, asking him what was wrong.
Kendall pushed him away. "I-I have to go, James." He rushed out of the locker room, almost tripping over his own two feet.
How could that be?
How could everything he had ever known be... fake?
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"It'll be okay, Kendall, I'm sure you'll get along just fine with him." Joanna Mitchell assured his son. Kendall took a deep breath, wringing his hands together nervously.
"I can't believe this is actually real." His twin sister, Katie, said. "So my twin is actually someone else?"
His father, Jaison Mitchell, nodded. "I'm afraid so, pumpkin. Well, technically, you three are triplets, since you were all born on the same day." He pointed out.
Kendall just nodded, not really listening. His whole life he had thought he was a twin... and now he was being told he wasn't?
His whole life had been just a big lie, huh?
He shook the thought away. No. His life was still his life, his family was still his family; some stupid mistake was not going to change that.
And then the doorbell rang.
His mother rushed to open the door, smiling in greeting at the three people who stood on their doormat. "Come on in, come on in!" She ushered them cheerfully.
Kendall scrutinized them, feeling Katie and his father do so too beside him. There was a woman, the mother who, eerily enough, sort of resembled Kendall. Well, Kendall told himself, she was his mother. The woman had brownish-red hair, grey-blue eyes, and a petite figure.
Then there were two boys. Kendall could immediately tell which one was older, because he was much taller than the smaller one. And the smaller one looked a bit more shy than the older one. Definitely the younger brother.
"Oh, you must be Logan!" His mother's voice shook Kendall out of his thoughts. "This is Kendall."
Kendall met Logan's brown eyes. Logan was pretty normal looking. Average height, average weight. He had soft black hair that looked a bit ruffled, brown eyes, and dimples when he smiled. He was actually quite handsome. Kendall smirked in his head. James would be jealous.
"Hi, Kendall. It's nice to meet you." Logan greeted him politely. They shook hands.
"How about we leave you four kids alone?" Logan's mother offered. "We don't want to hover over you guys."
Kendall just nodded slowly, while Logan smiled at the adults. "We'll be fine." He assured them.
And then they were by themselves.
Kendall cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Wow. This is really weird." He blurted out. Logan chuckled.
"Yeah. Definitely. So what are you? My 'switched at birth' twin?"
Kendall shrugged. "I really have no idea. Oh, by the way, this is my twin sister, Katie. I guess she's your real twin."
Katie smiled at him. "Hey. I guess you're my real brother."
Logan shrugged. "I don't know. Real seems like such a strange word. We're all real. Kendall's still your real brother too, right? We're just related by blood." He put a hand on the boy standing next to him. "This is Carlos. He's my younger brother."
Carlos smiled at them shyly. "Uh, hi. It's nice to meet you guys." He was Latino, with big brown eyes and ink black hair that was even more ruffled than Logan's. He was short, but otherwise pretty normal looking. He was pretty adorable, with his chubby cheeks and his baby face.
Kendall smiled back at him. Carlos was his real- no, his biological brother. It was kind of strange; Carlos was Hispanic, but his mother was clearly not. Kendall wondered why their father wasn't here. He decided not to ask.
They weren't that close yet.
"So, uh, where do you guys go to school?" Kendall asked.
"Cedarwood High School. You know where that is?" Cedarwood was one of the sketchiest cities in Minnesota. It was, well, a bad neighborhood, and the kids in their high school weren't so academically skilled and did a bunch of drugs and stuff. Kendall had heard all about crimes happening around Cedarwood.
Kendall nodded. "Yeah. We go to Palm Woods High." Palm Woods, where Kendall lived, was a rich neighborhood. Every mom was a soccer mom, every dad was pretty much a millionaire, and their school was pretty amazing in academics and athletics. It was the opposite of Cedarwood.
Logan could apparently read Kendall's thoughts, though, because he scoffed. "Why are you so surprised? We're not all 'rich and spoiled' like you people."
Kendall shared a shocked glance with Katie. "What are you talking about? We're not spoiled!" He retorted.
Logan raised his eyebrows at him. "Really? You people live in multimillion-dollar mansions, for God's sake! You guys go to a special rich school where they can afford gourmet food and multiple swimming pools! You don't call that spoiled?"
Kendall shook his head. "We have all that, but that doesn't mean we don't have to work! My parents don't give us any money! We have to earn it ourselves!"
Logan rolled his eyes. "Yeah, by getting a job at a place that pays more than what teachers are getting paid." He mumbled.
Kendall looked at Logan, not believing his ears. "What's up with you? We're not royalty! We don't have it that good!"
Logan glared at Kendall, his brown eyes turning almost black. "Well, you sure have it a heck of a lot better than us! You're future is set! You've all got the money to go to college and get a job, while we have to earn every single penny and still not have enough to pay for it! In our school, if we don't get a scholarship, we're probably not going to go to college!"
Kendall felt a bit bad for Logan. What he said was true. Kendall did have it a lot better. He wouldn't blame Logan for thinking they were royalty. Kendall had never had to worry about anything financially. His parents were rich, being the co-owners of Diamond Cosmetics, James's family, of course, being the owners.
But that didn't mean their lives were easy. Kendall knew plenty of people at his school who had pretty challenging lives. Money didn't make everything better.
But it sure made a lot of things better.
Kendall sighed, rubbing a hand over his blonde hair. "Okay, dude. I'm sorry."
Logan just shook his head. "Come on, Carlos. Let's go see what mom is up to." Carlos followed Logan out of the room, giving Kendall and Katie a somewhat apologetic look.
Katie put a hand on Kendall's shoulder. "Don't let him get to you. What is up with that guy?" She asked.
"He's right. I mean, we do have it a lot better than a lot of people, especially Cedarwood people." Kendall admitted. It was true.
Katie shrugged. "Yeah, but he didn't need to get all angry! I mean, if that's gonna be my brother, then I hate him. At least your brother is nice."
"What are you talking about?"
"Dude, Carlos didn't argue. He barely even said a word. I'd say he's pretty nice."
Kendall sighed. "I just can't process this. You're not my sister, so are we still twins?"
"I guess we are. I mean, blood isn't everything, right? We're still family."
Kendall nodded. They were still family, no matter what some stupid birth certificate said. Logan was probably never going to like them anyway. "Right."
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"Ugh! Can you believe these people! How can they live with themselves, knowing that they have hot tubs and diamond necklaces while there are other people literally living minutes away from them who can barely afford their next meal?" Logan groaned in frustration.
Carlos cleared his throat, adjusting the collar of his jacket. "Logan, calm down. They're pretty nice people. And they've always lived like this; they don't know what other people's lives are like. It's not their fault." He tried to explain to Logan.
Logan just sighed through gritted teeth. "Whatever. I just can't stand those people. They don't understand that not everyone is like them! Some people actually have problems!"
Carlos shifted uncomfortably. He really hated it when Logan got all angry and worked up. He talked really fast and it was hard to keep up. "Logan, please slow down. You barely even know them." He pointed out.
Logan sat down beside Carlos on a wooden bench outside on the huge front porch of the Mitchell's mansion. "I'm sorry, Carlos. Maybe I am being too hard on them. I mean, I have to actually know them before judging them, right?" Carlos nodded. "I'm just afraid... what happens when they find out? About you? I mean, I bet none of them have problems like... like yours."
Carlos shrugged, even though the question had bothered him for a while too. "I-I don't know. I don't know how to tell them."
Logan patted his shoulder. "It's fine, little brother. I'll tell them. And if they say anything stupid about it, I'll punch them silly." Carlos smiled a bit at that.
"Thanks, Logan."
"No problem, Carlos."
A/N- Another story! This is based on ABC's series "Switched At Birth". Some parts are going to be similar, but I tried my best to make this story different from what happens in the show.
Disclaimer: I don't own any plot-related ideas or people that correspond to the show in any way.
Anyways, I really hope you guys do enjoy this story. It's my first AU, but the characters are somewhat similar to their personalities on the show. Please review and tell me what you thought? I don't know if I should continue this, and your reviews really help me to see if you guys are liking this story!
Peace, Love, and Giraffes
Anonymous Skrtle