“Tay! You knocked over my tower!” Zac stuck his lower lip out.
“Zac, you’re such a baby!” Eleven-year-old Taylor said.
“Boys, don’t argue. Taylor apologize and Zac don’t whine,” Diana, their mother, said firmly. Taylor threw an evil glare at his little brother, and stormed out. He went looking for his elder brother, Isaac. Isaac was in the boys’ room.
“Did you hear, Taylor?” He said.
“Hear what?” Taylor said, sitting at the desk with his cherub-like face resting in his hands.
“We get to go this time, to pick a baby,” Isaac said, staring at the paper in front of him.
“Really? How come mom and dad didn’t tell me?” Taylor questioned.
“They didn’t even tell me! I was listening to them talk last night. They said that they were going to go, and we get to go this time.”
“That’s cool! I hope we get a boy this time!” Taylor was excited.
“Shhh, Taylor!”
“I want another little brother, can we trade Zac or something?”
“No, stupid, you can’t trade.”
“Oh, too bad.”
Taylor bounced around, full of energy. He was playing chase with Zac. Also being a sore loser.
“Zac! Let me catch you!” Taylor pouted.
“No way!”
“Boys! Calm down!” Their father, Walker, snapped. Both boys froze and cast guilty glances at their father. They sat down in the hard airport chairs. Isaac rolled his eyes at them. Him, being a teenager, was much too old to play chase. The flight number was called. Maine, that was their first destination. Walker and Diana gathered up their five children and boarded the plane. Taylor was beside a friendly looking old woman. She smiled at him.
“Hello there, young man. What are you going to Maine for?” She said, in a grandmotherly voice. Taylor fidgeted nervously.
“To, um, see a family member,” he said, looking at his feet.
“That’s nice, sweetheart,” She smiled. He forced a smile. He really hoped she wouldn’t be too talkative, it made him nervous.
They were taking a ferry out to the island. It was chilly, the wind stung Taylor’s face. He loved it though, he felt like he was flying across the icy Maine water. They were headed to a little secret island. Excitement grew inside of him. This is where he had come from. He was finally getting to come back. They docked, and a man met them. He smiled warmly.
“Ah, the Hansons! I see you brought the others along!” He patted Zac on the head. Zac hated to be patted on the head. He glared at the man behind his back, and fixed his hair. They followed the man on a path threw the trees. Taylor felt like he was in a movie. He pretended he was sneaking away from spies. The man and the Hansons were chatting up a storm. Taylor heard him say something about a new shipment. A new shipment? Would they get one from the new shipment? Taylor was giddy. Zac was holding onto Isaac’s belt loop with wide eyes. Taylor knew he was scared. He took his free hand, and Zac smiled.
“Thanks, Tay,” He said. They neared a small cluster of buildings. There were men guarding the doors. It was eerily quiet as they walked down the hall of the building they entered. Click, click, click. Heels tapped on the floor. They headed toward the back. The man who led them opened a door. Taylor’s eyes were wide with surprise. There were literally rows of babies. They were lined up against the wall. They were all quiet.
“This is the weirdest thing I have ever seen,” Isaac’s words echoed Taylor’s thoughts exactly.
Diana and Walker walked around the room. They picked up the babies and examined them, almost like you buy fruit. Only they didn’t knock on their heads to see if they echoed. The other children just stood back and watched. Taylor kept thinking about when he was picked. Did they treat him like this? Could some other child have been picked, instead of him? He could be living with some other family. Taylor shook the thoughts out of his head. He had been a cute baby, they picked him straight out. Diana brought a blond baby boy over to her other children.
“What do you think of him?” She asked.
“Um, he’s cute,” Taylor said, looking at the baby. Diana held the baby out to him.
“Do you want to hold him?” Taylor took the baby from his mother.
“So,” The man who had brought them, said, “Have you picked one?”
“I think so, I really like this one,” Walker said, looking at the child in Taylor’s arms.
“Good! Good!” The man exclaimed.
“What about a name?” Isaac asked.
“I was thinking Joshua...” Diana said.
“Mackenzie.” Walker said at the same time. They looked at each other.
“We can do both,” Walker said. Everyone walked back down the hall. Taylor watched his parents’ sign papers and give the man a check. Then they walked out. They started their trek, going the other way. Taylor couldn’t believe how simple it had been. They had been there only a couple of hours. It was weird, now he had another sibling. Just like that. Thanks to the baby market.