Before hanging up, Austin asked one more question.

“Mrs.

Jenkins, if we really are brothers… can I still call you that for a while?”

“You can call me whatever feels right,” I said.

“You don’t owe me a new name.”

After the call, Wyatt rested his head against my shoulder for the first time in years.

I stayed still until his breathing slowed.

I remembered how I’d held him as a baby, terrified that if I loosened my arms even for a moment, I might lose him too.