I could protect her for three days while everything around her fell apart.
But I could not carry my brother’s shame for him.
And I could not build his marriage on a lie just because telling the truth might hurt.
That part belonged to him.
I walked toward Melissa and kissed Hope gently on the forehead.
Her skin was warm.
Her tiny hand curled near her cheek.
For the first time since the delivery room, I felt my body relax.
Ryan looked at me.
There were a thousand things between us that still needed repairing.
Anger.
Disappointment.
Love.
History.
But beneath all of it, he was still my brother.
And now, finally, he was facing what he should have faced months earlier.
The truth.
I didn’t know exactly what would happen to Ryan and Melissa’s marriage.
I didn’t know how difficult Hope’s surgery or therapy would be.
