I Was About to Propose to Another Woman When Four Six-Year-Old Boys With My Face Led Me Back to the Family I Never Knew I Had.

I checked their lunch boxes, made soup from a recipe she had texted, and kept them occupied while Henry slept.

That evening Wyatt asked me to read a story.

I sat between two bunk beds, stumbled over the characters’ voices, and found Theo correcting my pronunciation without mercy.

Halfway through the second chapter, Mason drifted against my shoulder.

I stayed very still.

My arm went numb, and I wouldn’t have moved for anything.

Later, alone in the hallway, I texted Lauren from ten feet away rather than waking the boys.

All three asleep.