“What if he says guardianship wasn’t part of our original plan?”

“You can acknowledge that the household changed.

That doesn’t obligate you to undo the order.

He can decide whether he wants this marriage.”

I appreciated that she left him a choice as well.

I was not entitled to make Elliott enthusiastic about raising my brothers.

I was entitled to stop pretending he had accepted it when he had not.

When he came for another box, I told him plainly that I would not send them away so we could have the wedding.