“Same place. Same shape.”
His voice had gone quiet.
“My mother has a picture.”
I looked at him, confused.
“So why are you acting like this?”
He closed his eyes for a moment.
“Because there’s something I should have told you years ago.”
A chill went through me.
“How many years ago?”
He looked ashamed.
“Our entire marriage.”
Before he could say anything else, the door opened.
My mother-in-law, Sadie, stepped inside carrying a pale pink gift bag.
She was smiling until she saw Ethan’s face.
Then her expression changed.
“What happened?”
Her eyes moved toward Lily.
Ethan looked at her.
“Mom.”
Sadie approached slowly.
Then she saw the mark.
Her hand flew to her mouth.
“Oh my God.”
I looked from one of them to the other.
“Would somebody please tell me what is going on?”
Ethan whispered:
“She has it.”
Sadie’s eyes filled with tears.
“That mark runs in the family.”
I almost laughed from sheer confusion.
“Obviously. Ethan just said he had one.”
Sadie shook her head.
“No, sweetheart.”
She hesitated.
“Not Levi’s family.”
The room went still.
Levi was Ethan’s father.
At least, that was what I had always believed.
Ethan took a deep breath.
“Levi isn’t my biological father.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“He is my father,” Ethan said quickly. “He raised me. He was there for everything. He’s Dad in every way that matters.”
“But biologically?”
Sadie lowered her eyes.
“There was someone else.”
I looked at her.
