The hospital room where Cairo lay felt colder after my father left.
I stayed there a few seconds longer than I should have, staring at the empty hallway where Sergio and my brothers disappeared—almost like the ghost of them still lingered in the air. I used to imagine this moment… how it would feel if my past ever barged into the life I built.
I always told myself I'd feel nothing. That I had finally grown numb.
But the ache in my chest proved I was wrong.
I breathed slowly, straightened my shoulders, and forced myself to move. My children were waiting. They would be curious. And they had every right to be—they were my real family. The only people who were ever truly mine.
I pushed the door open and stepped back into Cairo's room.
Paris and Egypt looked up instantly, relief softening their little faces the moment they saw me.
"Mom," Egypt whispered with a pout, "you never told us we had handsome uncles and a grandpa."
