I wanted to believe grief had made him sound selfish.
So I took the twins home once they were released.
I made them grilled cheese.
I let them sleep in my bed.
I watched their small chests rise and fall.
And I whispered to them that I would never, ever let anyone take them away.
I had no idea then that the only person who’d ever threaten them was the one I trusted most.
I would never, ever let anyone take them away.
***
The front door clicked shut behind Elliot as he strolled inside.
He tossed his keys onto the entry table like he owned the place.
I had just gotten the twins down for their nap upstairs.
The guardianship papers sat in a folder near the fruit bowl, signed and stamped that morning.
“Everything went through?” Elliot asked, loosening his tie.
“It’s official. I’m their legal guardian.”
“Everything went through?”
He nodded slowly, then leaned against the doorway with a strange, careful smile.
“Honey… uh… this guardianship is only temporary, right? You’ll figure SOMETHING out for the boys later?”
I turned to face him fully.
“What do you mean?”
“How long will they be staying with you? Will they be leaving before the wedding?”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“Will they be leaving before the wedding?”
“I became my brothers’ guardian because I love them, and I’m never going to leave them. Until they’re grown, they’re going to live with us.”
The pleasant mask on his face slipped.
His jaw tightened, and he pushed himself off the doorway.
“I’m NOT raising someone else’s kids. Send them into foster care, or the wedding is OFF. What do you think I am, SOME KIND OF CHARITY?”
“Send them into foster care, or the wedding is OFF.”
For a moment, I couldn’t speak.
I just stared at the man I had loved since I was seventeen.
The man who had held my hand at the hospital.
“But they have no one else. I’m not sending my brothers into foster care.”
My voice cracked, but I forced myself to keep going.
“I know this wasn’t something either of us expected, but Elliot… my parents just died! How can you even say that?”
“I’m not sending my brothers into foster care.”
He laughed.
A short, bitter sound that felt like a slap.
“I’m NOT ruining my life for someone else’s kids. So either you send them away, or we’re done.”
Something inside me went very quiet.
The tears that had been threatening to spill dried up completely.
My grief, heartbreak, and exhaustion all folded neatly into something colder and sharper.
“Either you send them away, or we’re done.”
I thought about screaming at him.
I thought about throwing his ring at his chest, telling him exactly what kind of monster he had revealed himself to be, and ordering him out of my house.
But it wasn’t enough.
A man who could look at two orphaned five-year-olds and see only an inconvenience deserved more than a quiet dismissal.
I thought about screaming at him.
He deserved to feel a fraction of what he had just made me feel.
I straightened my shoulders and let a slow smile spread across my face.
“Of course. You’re right.”
Elliot blinked.
“Wait, really?”
“I’ll do exactly what you said… But I have ONE condition.”
“I’ll do exactly what you said… But I have ONE condition.”
He tilted his head.
