He sat down heavily on the edge of the bed.
“Because I had one too. Right there, in the same spot. Mom has a picture of it. It faded before I turned five.”
I hadn’t even noticed it.
My MIL pulled a chair closer and surprised me by taking my free hand.
“Sweetheart, that mark runs in the family. Just not in Levi’s family.”
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I stared at her.
“What are you talking about?”
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Ethan drew in a long, shaky breath. His whole face looked even older than it had ten minutes ago.
“What are you talking about?”
“Levi isn’t my biological father, Eloise. He’s the man who raised me. He’s my dad in every way that matters. But there was another man before him. His name is Sebastian. I’ve never met him. I’ve never even said his name out loud until right now. That’s what I wanted to tell you before Mom walked in.”
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Silence enveloped us. I could hear Lily’s little breaths.
“You’ve known this our whole marriage?”
“Yes.”
“He’s the man who raised me.”
“For four years?”
“Yes.”
I felt tears rise, hot and fast.
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“You let me think I knew everything about you. I sat at your parents’ Thanksgiving table. I called Levi ‘Dad.’ And you never told me.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
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Ethan looked at his hands.
I felt tears rise, hot and fast.
“Because I was terrified you’d see me differently. And because saying it out loud felt like I was telling Levi he wasn’t enough. He’s been enough for my entire life, Eloise. He was there for my first tooth, my first bike, and my wedding. Sebastian is just a name in a story Mom told me once when I was 15. I decided that name didn’t get to matter.”
I swallowed hard.
“So when you looked at Lily and said what you did, you weren’t accusing me of anything?”
