When Rich Meets Poor

37|Special Day

September 28,2018
New York City, New York

   The light switch is turned on in the bedroom, I squint my eyes, unable to adjust to such a sudden light change.

    "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you," I sit up in the bed to see Olivia standing by Connor who is holding a cake.

   "Happy birthday dear Harper, happy birthday to you," they finish the song.

   Connor puts the cake down to my level for me to blow out all nineteen candles.

That was the surprise! How could I forget today is my birthday!
   "Make a wish," Connor says before I close my eyes to blow out all the candles.

   After blowing them out, Connor presses the cake to my face.

   "Connor!" I shout before chasing him around the bedroom with the cake that now has my face indent on it.

   I throw the cake across the room, Connor dodges it, causing it to hit Olivia and take her to the ground.

   "Oh my gosh, Olivia are you okay?" Connor asks as we both crouch to her side .

   She quivers her lips as she holds the cakes that is nearly in pieces in her hands.

   "Got you!" She shouts while slamming the cake in Connor's face.

   We all laugh as we sit on the ground, completely covered in cake.

   "We have an actual cake for eating down stairs," Connor explains.

   "And presents!" Olivia adds.

   "Presents? You guys didn't have to get me anything," I shake my head.

   "You always say that, but just admit it, you want blocks of gold and bath tubs filled with diamonds," Connor jokes.

   "Psh! But how did you know it was my birthday?" I ask.

   "Well at your house on the wall there was a picture of two new born babies with a note right beside it saying 'September 28, 1999 was the day our family was complete' and I just assumed that would be your birthday," Connor shrugs.

   "This would be quite an awkward situation if it wasn't my birthday," I laugh.

   "But thank you guys, I love you," I pull them both into a hug.

   "We love you too," they respond in unison.

   After cleaning up the cake, as well as ourselves, we all return to sleep. Connor insisted we do presents and the cake later on in the day.

   "Happy birthday Ryder. Wherever you are," I whisper before drifting off to sleep.

"Wake up!" Olivia shouts while jumping on the bed.

"Olivia, you told me you were going to quietly wake her," Connor growls.

"Oops," she jumps one last time before jumping off the bed.

"I made reservations for the Blue Box Cafe at 10," Connor tells me as I sit up in the bed.

"What time is it now?" I ask.

"8:30," he responds before exiting the bedroom.

I quickly get out of bed to put on a sweater with leggings. I don't even need to check the temperature to know that today will be a cold day in New York.

I leave my hair down before meeting Connor and Olivia downstairs in the living room.

"Ready to go?" He asks, I nod in response.

   After arriving at the building the cafe is located in, I see familiar face from across the street in an H&M window . He is clearly a worker and he looks like a younger version of my father. He looks kind of like me.

   "What are you looking at?" Connor asks.

   "Who me? Nothing," I snap out of my thoughts. That couldn't be Ryder, Ryder is long gone by now, right?

   After eating I can't get the person we saw in the H&M window off my mind.

   "What's wrong Harper? You've been acting weird ever since we got to the cafe," Connor stands in front of me, blocking me from moving forward on the sidewalk.

   "I know, I'm sorry, it's just that I saw a guy who looked like what Ryder would look like today," I admit.

   "Harper that's crazy, why would he be here?" He asks.

   "I don't know Connor, I really don't! But what if?" I put my hands on his shoulders.

   "I guess it wouldn't hurt to check," he sighs before picking up Olivia.

   "But even if it was him, it's not like he would know if he was your twin brother or not. He was kidnapped, he probably doesn't even know his real birthday," Connor makes a fair point.

   "Well today is the day he will find out," I grab Connor's hand as we walk in the crosswalk.

    I slowly step inside the H&M building. My eyes scan the room for the male I saw earlier, and that's when I see him.

   Brown hair, green eyes, if you saw him next to my father when he was younger you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

   "Hi, can I help you find anything today?" He asks as we all stare at him, dumbfounded.

   "Uh yeah, we're looking for her twin brother," Olivia responds while pointing at me.

   "What?" He confusedly questions.

   "This is going to sound crazy, but I think you're my twin brother," I say.

   "I've lived here my whole life, I don't have a twin sister," he shakes his head.

   "No, no. You were kidnapped from our home in Tennessee when we were little," I try to explain.

   "If you're not here to shop, I'm going to have to ask you to leave," he motions towards the door.

   "Please take my number, if you change your mind, call me," I scribble my number on a piece of paper and hand it to him.

    "Happy birthday by the way," I say before leaving the building.

   "That didn't go well," Connor gives me a look of sympathy.

   "He'll call back. I know he will," I say to make myself feel better.

   "Well in the mean time let's go enjoy the rest of your special day and open your presents," he laces our fingers together, holding Olivia with only one arm.

   "Of course," Olivia mumbles while face palming.